Today has been as bad as Tuesday. Can't really concentrate on anything else but the pain and the dizzy feeling. It's almost like I'm drunk because I'm even stumbling a bit.

By the night I have noticed that my mouth feels numb. It's almost the same kind of feeling as a visit to the dentists or as if I have been eating Bonjela!

I have woken up and had a wash. Got water in my eye and when I went to dry it I have stuck the towel right into my eyeball! What's going on? I've looked in the mirror and noticed that I can't really move the right side of my face.

Booked an appointment to see the doctor at 4pm but off to work for the moment.

Now it has been really hard at work. I'm not feeling good at all. I don't think I should be here but there's so much to do at the moment.

The doctor notes that I have decreasing control of the right side of my face and does a few routine tests like holding my eyelids shut and asking me to open my eyes. He also stuck some cotton wool into the corner of my eyes to see if I could feel it or if I would blink. I definitely felt it but I didn't really blink.

He recommends that I go to see a neurologist and makes an appointment ASAP. Suffice to say that I'm kind of scared in case there is something seriously wrong upstairs. As far as the pain is concerned well that's kind of dulled down now. Perhaps 16 tablets a day has a part to play but I can touch my hair and move my face with only a slight and infrequent pain.

I called the surgery immediately this morning as the symptoms have become worse. I have no movement on the right side of my face at all now and apparently I slept with the right eye open. The doctor says it looks like something called Bells Palsy. I'll look that up online.

He says it's really important to protect the open right eye because I am in danger of damaging the cornea. Apparently I am now risking ulcers on the eyeball! To help he says I should get some false tears (prescribed Hypromellose Eye Drops BPC but this costs a fraction over the counter) and some micropore tape to tape shut my eye at night. I bought the 25mmx5m Micropore Surgical Tape over the counter again.

The pains in my head are still there and my right ear has become even more inflamed. Tonight I have noticed that a lump has developed under the right ear lobe but I suspect this is a swollen gland. Although I haven't been messing with the ear the skin seems to be be breaking and becoming sore to the touch. This dizzy stuff is quite bad aswell. I'm getting a bit disorientated so I think I'll have to stop driving for safety's sake.

Found out quite a bit of information online about Bells Palsy. This isn't looking good at all. I am scared.

I feel REALLY dizzy today. So much so that I have been sick several times and still I feel terrible. I think this may be as a result of not eating anything before the Cocodamol and Nurofen.

Called the doctor and they suggest comming off the Cocodomol because it can have the side effect of nausea and vomiting. I did this and felt no better. I've also stopped taking the Nurofen for the same reason but this has made no difference either. Can't really make any more comments on this until the pills have left my system but hours later I still feel bad.

No choice but to go to see the emergency doctor at the Co-Op at 8pm. I feel horrible, sick and really dizzy. I need a hand walking now because this is becoming too much.

The doctor has diagnosed it as Bells Palsy and mentioned the possiblity of Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. Apparently a viral infection of the Chickenpox/Herpes strain which can occur on very rare occassions. Great.

He was really quiet open to discussion especially as we had looked up personal Bells Palsy testimonies online. Some of the recommended courses of action were steriods so we mentioned it to him. He did say that there was no solid evidence that this would be the solution but he said that it was a recognised method to follow under these circumstances.

He prescribed 30Mg Prednisolone a day and gave me 2 days supply to last the weekend and to see my GP on Monday for further medication. He also gave me some Bucastem for the sickness but this did not help at all.

I've come home feeling horrible and I just want to go to bed. I can't eat, can't relax... this is hell.

Woke up feeling worse. Again I feel really dizzy and I have been sick several times.

All I can do is sleep today. I'm not eating at all. Just sleeping non-stop. Whenever I open my eyes I feel sick. I can feel so much acid building up that I can't do anything but concentrate on keeping it down. Sod it. Been sick a few more times but no relief at all.

There's no way I can cope with this so I've called the emergency doctor again. She suggests that I have an injection for the sickness and says that the visiting doctor will phone back.

The doctor has called back with a really bad attitude. Wants me to get into a taxi and come down to the Doctors Co-Operative. I've no idea why he won't come out and he tells me that he has other important cases to attend to!

Finally get to the doctors at 9pm and I'm sick on the way. Can't manage to walk to the building and when I finally get there I collapse onto the chairs in the waiting room. The doctor isn't happy that I had to come down at all and wonders why her colleague has taken this attitude.

She says it is almost certainly Ramsay Hunt Syndrome and wants to admit me into Hospital so that they can make me comfortable and see me in the morning. Nope. I refuse but agree to be treated as an out-patient. She gives me a Stemetil intramuscular injection for the nausea which should help within about half an hour but I can't do anything but cover my eyes up and lay down on the bed in the consultancy room. The lights and sound are really making me ill.

An appointment has been made with the ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) Senior House Officer (SHO) at the hospital for 9am.

The taxi ride home was a real rollercoaster again. When I get home I can hardly get up the stairs even though I am being helped every step of the way. I get back into bed and wait for this damn sickness to go. Luckily enough after about an hour or so I start feeling a bit better and I don't feel I need to vomit. The dizziness is still there but I just want to get to sleep. This is too much to take.

Went to Hospital to see the ENT Consultant at 9am. She's confirmed the diagnosis of Ramsay Hunt Syndrome and again wants to admit me. Nah. I refuse but request that I have the necessary medication to take home. Basically I have worked out that my 4 walls, comfort and lack of noise at home are the most soothing. Everytime I see faces, hear voices, see bright lights, have to deal with movement or cope with varying distances I feel much much worse. So a bright hospital full of moaning sick people jumping about. Nah.

The SHO prescribed 30mg Predisolone steroids (six 5mg tablets) four times a day, one 800mg Aciclovir Zovirax antiviral tablet five times a day, and one 50mg Cyclizine anti-sickness tablet three times a day.

I need to come back on Friday at 2pm for a progress check but I could call back anytime.

The head pain is pretty much gone now so I'm happy not taking any painkillers at all. I mean 32 tablets a day is quite enough for anyone. My ear does hurt alot though both from ear ache and as a result of the lesions and blisters that have started to appear. I'm still extremely dizzy but haven't been sick since the Cyclizine tablets took effect.

Feel quite bad again today, really dizzy, and i have been sick 5 times. My ear is about the same today but the ear ache has gone. I've got Tinnitus quite badly now and am almost completely deaf in the right ear. The sores are giving me quite a bit of pain too.

Called the Doctors again at 20.15 to see if they could do anything about the sickness e.g. another intra muscular injection. She called around to administer the jab because there really is no way I can move about today. This is serious stuff now and it's getting me down.

As promised the injection works after about an hour and I just want to get some sleep.