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Suggest Treatment For Dizziness In A Person With Bell's Palsy
Question: I had bell's palsy 3 months ago and completely recovered. I was dizzy or had vertigo before the bell's palsy started then 2 days before the bell's palsy came the bone behind my ear and jaw started having pain (never had that pain before)
I had ct and mri scans done with and without contrast and everything was normal. Also all blood work was normal. The dizziness lasted about 3 weeks and went away. Now it came back and I'm making myself worried. I feel like I'm off balance, my ears seem to feel full and are ringing especially in the morning. I am 33 male normal BP and in shape. What could this be
I had ct and mri scans done with and without contrast and everything was normal. Also all blood work was normal. The dizziness lasted about 3 weeks and went away. Now it came back and I'm making myself worried. I feel like I'm off balance, my ears seem to feel full and are ringing especially in the morning. I am 33 male normal BP and in shape. What could this be
Brief Answer:
Recurrence of symptoms.....or is it?
Detailed Answer:
Good afternoon.
If you are within 24-48 hrs. of the onset of these new similar symptoms then, you MAY BE suffering from a recrudescence of the Bell's paralysis. It unfortunately can happen in roughly 50% of patients who suffer a first attack. Usually it won't come on so quickly after resolving the 1st bout, however, if you did not receive any type of medication for the problem then, perhaps this time you should be treated more definitively.
Generally, in my patients I will give them a tapering course of steroids (MEDROL dose pak) of either 2 or 3 weeks in a slowly reducing format. Your physician will guide you. But in addition, and very important is to take an antiviral such as valcyclovir or acyclovir (less expensive) and this time around I would take at least 800mg. daily if not up to 1 g. in either 1 or 2 divided doses. You'll want to drink LOTS of fluids as they medications can cause kidney stones to form and avoid caffeinated beverages or foods as this will also promote the formation of stones.
The antiviral medication can be stopped after 2-3 weeks as well.
NOW, HAVING SAID EVERYTHING I SAID ABOVE....understand please that the only reason I gave you that initial rationale for steroids and an antiviral is because you painted a picture that SOUNDS like, "It's baaaakkkkk....." Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) is not the MOST common way Bell's presents but it can be..nor is dizziness...but it can be as well...so the bottom line is you should be examined..preferably by a neurologist to make sure you don't simply have a viral labrynthitis of the inner ear or some other easily explainable diagnosis for your symptoms as opposed to blaming the Herpes Virus all over again (that's where we think Bell's comes from...).
I definitely don't think you need more imaging studies or any of that but if there is any thought that there may be a bacterial ear infection of any sort then, perhaps a CBC wouldn't be overly zealous but not much more than that.
If your question was adequately responded to could you do me the favor of CLOSING THIS QUERY?
I sincerely hope you start to feel a bit better sooner rather than later and recommend you speak to your doctor about some of the items I've mentioned to see if they agree to implement any sort of workup for your symptoms.
This query has utilized a total of 15 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.
Recurrence of symptoms.....or is it?
Detailed Answer:
Good afternoon.
If you are within 24-48 hrs. of the onset of these new similar symptoms then, you MAY BE suffering from a recrudescence of the Bell's paralysis. It unfortunately can happen in roughly 50% of patients who suffer a first attack. Usually it won't come on so quickly after resolving the 1st bout, however, if you did not receive any type of medication for the problem then, perhaps this time you should be treated more definitively.
Generally, in my patients I will give them a tapering course of steroids (MEDROL dose pak) of either 2 or 3 weeks in a slowly reducing format. Your physician will guide you. But in addition, and very important is to take an antiviral such as valcyclovir or acyclovir (less expensive) and this time around I would take at least 800mg. daily if not up to 1 g. in either 1 or 2 divided doses. You'll want to drink LOTS of fluids as they medications can cause kidney stones to form and avoid caffeinated beverages or foods as this will also promote the formation of stones.
The antiviral medication can be stopped after 2-3 weeks as well.
NOW, HAVING SAID EVERYTHING I SAID ABOVE....understand please that the only reason I gave you that initial rationale for steroids and an antiviral is because you painted a picture that SOUNDS like, "It's baaaakkkkk....." Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) is not the MOST common way Bell's presents but it can be..nor is dizziness...but it can be as well...so the bottom line is you should be examined..preferably by a neurologist to make sure you don't simply have a viral labrynthitis of the inner ear or some other easily explainable diagnosis for your symptoms as opposed to blaming the Herpes Virus all over again (that's where we think Bell's comes from...).
I definitely don't think you need more imaging studies or any of that but if there is any thought that there may be a bacterial ear infection of any sort then, perhaps a CBC wouldn't be overly zealous but not much more than that.
If your question was adequately responded to could you do me the favor of CLOSING THIS QUERY?
I sincerely hope you start to feel a bit better sooner rather than later and recommend you speak to your doctor about some of the items I've mentioned to see if they agree to implement any sort of workup for your symptoms.
This query has utilized a total of 15 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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