Face Little Stiff Or Like Paralyzed When Chewing?

[Radha]

does anyone feel like their face muscles get heavy and stiff after some chewing, not total paralysis, but alittle like that? coudl this be because of POTS?

thanks for any input,

Radha

[persephone]

sounds more like mumps?

[Radha]

i had all my vaccinations when i was a child and i really dont think i could have mumps, where would i catch it? i cannot leave my home at all, but thanks for your suggestion

Radha

[smiles]

I have that problem too but mine goes way beyond that at times. It may start like that while I am eating or talking. Then sometimes it spreads to the rest of my body. If it continues (or if I don't lay down immediately and cease all activity-including talking) I end up completely limp. I can still hear though. When it happens when I am eating it is called swallow syncope. It is a rare condition--less than 50 people in the U.S. It is caused from a hyper sensitive vagal response.

Smiles

p.s. It's not the mumps.

[MomtoGiuliana]

If it continues or worsens you should check with a doctor.

I know when my POTS flares that my muscles tire easily, so it certainly sounds like it could be POTS.

[Heiferly]

I get my face going numb sometimes, almost like it feels like shots of novacaine from the dentist. It happens most often on exertion like if I've gone up a flight of stairs or something, but sometimes it will just happen randomly. I don't think it usually happens to me while eating, though.

There is something called a swallowing study that you can have performed (it's a radiology test, usually performed by a trained speech language pathologist) if you're concerned that this might be causing you to choke or swallow things "down the wrong tube," as people say.

[Radha]

thanks for all your replies, i dont get numbness, just like muscles are getting stiffer and harder to move as i chew and its soft food too, not an apple or anything like that, and its very painful, my cheeks and jaw, and i do choke easily and have trouble swallowing at times, like i have swallow a few times and really push to get the food down, too bad there is no pill to help all this! thanks again to all of you

Radha

[futurehope]

If I were you I would have my doctor check my blood for Achr antibodies. If this test is positive, a neurologist can then do a work up for Myasthenia Gravis. And, yes, there are helps for this, such as the medicine pyridostigmine (Mestinon) which is already in use for some POTS patients.

MG can cause muscular weakness and can affect chewing and swallowing.

Best wishes and I hope you can get to the bottom of this.