Bells palsy symptoms and conditions

Prednisone has messed up my head. I had Bells Palsy (which is paralysis of one half of the face) and can be very scary. I have had some depression before but this stuff made me fall off the face of the earth. I went from someone in control and quite happy to the absolute pits. The depression was quite severe and sudden and I had no ability to stop the downward spiral. It has played havoc with my life. In its defense, it cleared the Bell's Palsy up very quickly but the grief it has caused me through my altered mind state wasn't worth it. Insomnia (eg - no sleep for 6 nights straight) was a trigger and then the mood swings took over and then bang....full blown depression and an inability to focus, work properly or function. I am now on the road to recovery but it has been a pretty turbulent 2 months. Be very careful with this drug....very, very careful.

hey everyone...reading every post makes me even more scared now. I was diagnosed with Bells Palsy on Jan. 13th. My doctor prescribed me prednisone and valtrex. 5 days, twice a day, 20 mgs. On the 18th i was finished with the pills. Very happy because the bells palsy went away. On my birthday, January 23rd. I washed my faced with Biore skin cleanser (which ive used for years) and it felt like as if my face was peeling off as i was washing it! I got so scared when i rinsed my face i actually felt my skin turning to leather. I got out of the shower and my face was round and beet red and my eyes were puffy and face was very very dry...The next day i woke up and my face was worse. I called my doctor and he told me go straight to the emergency room that i was having an allergic reaction to a skin chemical and get treated for an allergic reaction. I did just that. The hospital gave me another dose of prednisone. 60mgs the first day then again the same dosage that my other doctor prescribed me. Im scared to death now to take this pill. Yeah, my face went down and is not beet red anymore but what's going to happen next week once i come off??? i don't want to go against what the hospital gave me, but as im reading these posts, im up at 2:55 am and not sleeping..! help!

Hi. I was diagnosed yesterday with Bells Palsy, (the entire right side of my face is completely paralyzed) and given prednisone, a tapering dosage. I started my first dose of only 20 mgs last night and went to 60 mgs today, will keep on that dose tomorrow as well as one more day, taper down to 40 mg for two days, then 20 mgs for two days. My heart feels like it's going to beat out of my chest! I can feel it it's beating so hard and I can also hear it when lying down .Very freaky. My blood pressure today was 164/107. My normal bp is 110/70. I take medication for high blood pressure but it's not doing much good. I am also a diabetic and my sugar is whack! Had to increase my Metformin. I'm assuming since no one has died from taking this HORRIFIC medicine, we'll all live through it but at times, I feel like I am going to have a frigging massive panic attack! I have to calm myself down, listen to music, meditate. That does help some but not enough .I will be sooooooooo glad when I'm done taking this SH*T! Another thing I've noticed is I am bone weary weak, like I've run the Boston Marathon, competed in the 1000 meter butterfly medley and then played 3 sets of tennis on top of that! GOOD GRIEF, HE INVENTED THIS CRAPOLA?

My father was in for a quintuple bypass and had a stroke on the table. After surgery they put him on Levaquin, unbeknownest to me. He is now in a rehab facility and had I not walked in one morning and saw the IV drip, I would not have known. He has been having wild hallucinations and confusions so I asked them about it and they discontinued the drug right then. He was on this drug for 22 days, and 6 days later there has been very little change in him. I am very concerned about this, he was always very independent (only 73 years old) he did everything for himself and to see him like this breaks my heart. I hope it will eventually will get out of his system, but from what I have read I am doubtful. Make sure no one you know and love is put on this crap, I sure wish I would have known 22 days sooner.

Just wanted to update my situation. Well the shaking muscles have subsided a bit (it's been 8 days since I've stopped levaquin) been to the dr's 2 more times and had new blood work done yesterday. One doc says 90% sure it's from the levaquin but wants me to take the doxycyline anyway and then see a rhumatologist. My primary disagrees, did more blood work believes it definitely from the levaquin and is sending me to rhumatologist. They also they are updating their warnings in their office to make sure that it states this is a SERIOUS side effect (she also printed me off all my symptoms that are side effects of levaquin from their computer but say "rare") My knees started to subside until I bent down and BAMN just like it was all brand new, they are burning like no tomorrow! My ankles (achilles) and my shoulder tips (where the tendons are) are still killing and I am getting muscle contractions in my thighs and left arm but not as much, this may be due to the muscle relaxers and motrin. I have also been taking diazapam for the spasms so who knows how I would feel otherwise. I am disguising the pain with medication it seems and my fear is I am going to hurt myself worse. One dr told me that if the tendons were going to rupture then there is NOTHING I can do about it, they're going to rupture, the other dr. disagrees. My primary feels I need to be seen and diagnosed asap with tendon and joint pain and feels as though it's serious, but also believes it will not last as long as the other dr said (about 4 months). I am going to go swimming tomorrow because it's suppose to be good excercise for the tendons and joints. I have been putting hot pack and nuprin cream on the knees and ankles (cold seems to aggravate it and make them feel like they're ripping). If I type (like now) I can feel the burning in my shoulders and my left elbow now. This is a serious disease this medication has given me and the second I see the rhumatologist and I am diagonosed with something I do NOT want to hear (like permanant, or long term) I am calling a lawyer. I am not a sue happy person but who the hell does this company think they are making MILLIONS off of this medication and leaving people disabled or dibilitated for long periods of time. I am too young (early 40's) to be feeling like a 80 year old as a matter of fact my mom is 70 and goes to the gym every day and walks and swims, I was the same way until this medication poisoned me. I have herniated discs in my spine and they are aggravated because I have not been able to excersise that is part of my life and routine and I am furious.

If anyone has contacted this company, can you post it here and let me know what they have said? Thank you all and I hope you are all feeling better!

I am normally a very physically fit specimen, working outside every day. One 500 mg. tab of this poisencompletely debilitated me. Within six hours of taking levaquin I experienced excruciation soreness in my arms and shoulders. My throat swelled up and I could barely breath. I was perscribed steroids to stop the swelling - I took only ONE 500 mg time release tab 7 days ago and today I am still experiencing incredible pain.I am so sore I can't sleep. If anyone wants to start a call action suit I am in - I have NEVER sued anyone - but I am furious.Any advise out there as to how I can flush this poisen out of my system?
Chris

I'm taking this for bells palsy. I guess this is rare, but my major side effect is ABSOLUTE fatigue! Has anyone else encountered this? I know it's supposed to give you the jitters, but it does the opposite for me. I've been on 60mg/day for four days, and I've tried taking them together, or spacing them apart (w/ the ok of my doc) but the formula is basically the same -- for every 20 mg pill I am PASSED OUT for at least an hour, so for multiple doses it's hours at a time. And not a nice sleep either. When I wake up I have moments of feeling ok but the fatigue always comes back. This is crazy! Also, I've lost my appetite, not gained any. (Although that might be the result of anti-viral medicine from shingles I'm just finishing...)

I can't wait to be tapered off this drug!

I had started taking Lamasil for toe nail fungus infection for about 20 days. I came down with fevers, chills and sweats about 20 days into 30 day doseage. My doctor prescribed Levaquinn for the fevers. I had a blood test and found my liver was very effected by the Lamasil. I was to take about 8 day of Levaquinn which I did. After 4 days of the Levaquinn my fever was gone but muscle pain developed for which I took Ibuprofen even after the levaquinn ran out. The pain became excrutiating. My calves felt as if they had been kicked and charle horsed. My shoulders felt as if they had drills drilling into the scapulas, My blood vessles felt as if they had gasoline running through them. My right hip started to get a deadened spot on top of the front of my hip joint, Pain flashed at various spots as if stuck with a knife. about two days fter stopping the Levaquinn, I had a period of three nights I could not sleep or lay down the pain was so great. Three weeks after stopping Levaquinn I am still in pain. My hip joint feels like it is being stabed by 40 Ice pics at time, it is sensitive to pressure and quick movement, my calves are still sore and make it hard to walk at times. Over the period I was tested for hepatitus A, B, C, HIV Lyme disease, Shingles Herpes, had Cat scans of my head and Abdomen, I developed Bells Palsy on my left face. After 7 weeks of pure hell and none of my local doctors culd think of any more test to give me, I went to a Nurologist on my own at the Lahey Clinic who identified the culprit the Levequinn. He tells me the pain will eventually go away in 1 to 3 months it has gotten more bearable after the many weeks but I still take Celebrex to sleep. No one thought to read the contra indications including me, least of all my doctors-except the last one at Lahey Clinic. Two medications suposed to cure damn near did me in!
Stay far away from this stuff unless you are dying- or want to.

I have been diagniosed with bells palsy, a tempory acute auto immune responce to an infected facial nerve. Within days I began to suffer from insomnia, mood swings-anger, hunger, thirst, blurred vision. I find it impossible to relax my mind and I am very restless.

Not sure whats wose bells or Prednisone!

I am a 55 year old female with recurrent mesothelioma. I am being treated with Navelbine and I am now on my 2nd cycle ( 1 cycle = 4 weeks/infusion every week for 3 weeks and 1 week off) My oncologist isn't sure that my symtoms are from Navelbine, but they started immediately after my first infusion. First episode was weak muscles in the face, almost like Bells Palsy (1st cycle). During the 2nd cycle I passed out and then gradually got weaker and weaker during the 3rd week of 2nd cycle until I started to experience, dizziness, light-headedness, difficult walking with a loss of balance, unusual tiredness and headaches. I haven't been able to find these type of side effects listed on any of Navelbine's websites.

I am taking 60 mg of Prednisone a day for Bells Palsy, and my muscles are becoming very sore. They don't appear to be weak, but very sore. Like when a limb falls asleep and you are waking it up again, without the pins and needles. I am only on the drug for another 3 days, today, tomorrow and monday. I don't see the doctor again until wednesday afternoon, should i worry? I only was prescribed 7 days worth of the drug.
Please help!