Karina Whyte thought she might be having an allergic reaction or a stroke after her face started drooping whilst she was drinking a cup of tea, a visit to the doctor revealed the truth
A woman has described the horrific moment her face became paralysed after she drank a cup of tea, just weeks after giving birth to her daughter.
Karina Whyte, 30, gave birth to daughter Mackenzie Whyte on August 8, but just 10 days later she had a strange experience while drinking a cup of tea and felt her lips “start to go numb” as the left side of her face started to droop.
Originally, disability support worker Karina believed she may be having an allergic reaction before she started to fear it might be a stroke. After quickly getting to hospital both the allergic reaction and stroke were ruled out as it was discovered that she had Bell’s palsy.
According to the NHS, Bell’s palsy is a condition that can lead to a “temporary weakness or lack of movement that usually affects 1 side of the face”.
Following her diagnosis, Karina was given steroids for five days to help treaty the palsy. But she has since been forced to pinch her lips together to stop water from “dribbling out” when she drinks and has even resorted to taping her left eye shut whilst she sleeps.
Speaking about what it was like when the condition struck, Karina explained that it came as she recovered from giving birth.
Karina, who lives in Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland, said: “I was devastated. I already have self-confidence issues and being freshly post-partum and trying to learn to love your body again and all those hormones then having half your face paralysed.
“I woke up and I was completely fine and I went to the couch to have a cup of tea and I was breastfeeding. The side of my lips started to get numb. I thought ‘this is weird’ and I thought it was an allergic reaction. Within an hour half of my face started to droop and I thought I was having a stroke.”
Furthermore, Karina has also taken to TikTok to post footage of her facial paralysis, a clip which has achieved over 100,000 views since it was posted.
Karina has also highlighted just how much her experience compounds the difficulties of being a new mother, one that is already filled with challenges without dealing with a fresh diagnosis.
She added: “Being a new mum is challenging enough and I have a toddler too and am a single mum. I didn’t leave the house for a good week or two.
“I had pain for two weeks and I felt like I was being trampled on but I’m not in pain now. I can’t drink without water dribbling out. I have to pinch my lips when I’m drinking a cup. When I talk I have a lisp.
“The first two weeks I was getting food all over my face but I just learned how to eat properly. It’s so inconvenient. Today I have the slightest little movement on my left lip, enough to make a half-assed smile in photos but it’s still paralysed.
“It causes irritation on my eyes and I was using eye drops. Every now and then throughout the day I physically close my eyes with my finger to stop it drying out. I still have to tape my eyes at night.”
While Karina says the doctors have told her she will get better, she admits it is “always” in the back of her mind that she won’t.
Despite her fears, she remains resilient and wants to raise awareness of her experience while providing hope to others in the same position.
She said: “It’s definitely been hard but try and deal day by day by having the same routine. Try to not let it affect you and still go out in public. Put yourself out there. Keep doing the things that you’re doing.”
According to NHS Scotland, Bell’s palsy is one of the most common types of facial paralysis in the UK. Furthermore, the NHS says that symptoms of the condition can include:
- A dry or watering eye
- Loss of taste
- Dry mouth
- Drooling
- Drooping eyelid or corner of the mouth
- Weakness on one side of the face or not being able to move a part of the face