Lyme Facial Palsy: What to Log Day by Day

Updated 29 Oct 2026

Facial weakness is frightening, and in the first days it is hard to remember when it began, which side it affected, and what changed after treatment started.

This guide explains what to log about facial palsy when Lyme disease is part of the picture: when it started, eye and mouth changes, treatment dates, recovery, and the signs that need urgent help first. It does not tell you the cause; that is for your clinician.

Get urgent help first

A new droop on one side of the face needs help before any log. The NHS advises calling 999 if somebody's face droops on 1 side, the mouth or eye may have drooped, if a person cannot lift up both arms and keep them there, or if a person has difficulty speaking, with speech that may be slurred or garbled (NHS Bell's palsy page). It notes these can be signs of a stroke, which is a medical emergency (NHS Bell's palsy page). In the US, call 911 or go to the ER for these signs, and use urgent care or your primary care doctor where the NHS mentions a GP.

For Bell's palsy symptoms, the NHS advises an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111, because treatment for Bell's palsy is more effective if started early, within 72 hours (NHS Bell's palsy page). Getting seen quickly matters more than a tidy record.

The CDC advises seeking medical attention for later Lyme signs if you have recently had a tick bite, live in an area known for Lyme disease, or have recently traveled to an area where Lyme disease occurs (CDC). Tell the clinician about any tick bite or rash.

Once you are safe, start the log. In Lyme Journey, My Care Team keeps the number of the clinic you were told to contact.

What to record about the start

Write the date and time you first noticed the change, which side, and how it came on. The NHS notes Bell's palsy weakness usually happens over a few days (NHS Bell's palsy page). The CDC describes Lyme facial palsy as loss of muscle tone or droop on one or both sides of the face (CDC).

Add the Lyme history beside it. The CDC lists facial palsy among later signs and symptoms, days to months after a tick bite (CDC). The NHS notes some people with Lyme disease develop more severe symptoms months or years later, including nerve problems such as pain or numbness (NHS). Note the date of any tick bite, any rash and its dates, and any earlier symptoms.

The CDC lists other later signs, including severe headaches and neck stiffness, additional rashes, joint pain and swelling, heart palpitations or an irregular heartbeat, and shooting pains, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet (CDC). Tick any that came in the same weeks.

For dates going back, see how to rebuild the story for the next visit. In Lyme Journey, the Daily Journal holds the first note with its date.

How to log eye and mouth changes

The NHS lists symptoms of Bell's palsy including a drooping eyelid or corner of your mouth, drooling, a dry mouth, loss of taste, and a dry or watering eye, and notes you may find it difficult to close the eye on the weak side (NHS Bell's palsy page). These are useful headings for any facial palsy log.

Each day, write whether the eye on the weak side closes fully, whether it felt dry or watered, and whether eating or drinking was harder. Add a note on taste.

Log eye care as you were shown it. The NHS lists eye drops and ointment to stop the affected eye drying out, and surgical tape to keep the eye closed at bedtime, among treatments for Bell's palsy, and notes that if you cannot close your eye, you may need treatment to prevent damage to your vision (NHS Bell's palsy page). Write each step with the time, and any eye pain or change in sight.

In Lyme Journey, the Daily check-in holds a daily score for the face and the eye.

How to log treatment dates

Record each medicine your clinician prescribes, with the start date, the dose they gave you, and the planned end date. The NHS notes treatments for Bell's palsy include a 10-day course of steroid medicine, sometimes with antiviral medicine (NHS Bell's palsy page). The NHS notes that if a GP thinks you might have Lyme disease, they will prescribe a course of antibiotics, and that most people get better after antibiotic treatment, though this can take months for some people (NHS).

Keep the dates exact, because recovery is easier to read against a clear start and end. Note any missed doses in plain words.

Note any side effects in your own words, with the date. Do not stop or change a medicine on your own; ask the clinician who prescribed it.

For nerve symptoms at night, see what to capture on nerve pain nights. In Lyme Journey, My Meds keeps each course with its dates.

How to track recovery

The NHS notes Bell's palsy symptoms should get better within 6 months, but it can take longer for some people, and advises going back to see a GP if your symptoms are not getting better after 3 weeks (NHS Bell's palsy page). A weekly entry makes that three-week point easy to see.

Once a week, score how well you can raise the eyebrow, close the eye, and smile on the weak side, from 0 to 10, and add a short note. Some people take a photo in the same light each week for their own record.

The NHS notes some people can have lasting symptoms such as pain in the face, around the jaw and behind the ear, a constantly watering eye, difficulty eating and drinking, changes in taste, and difficulty with loud sounds (NHS Bell's palsy page). It notes living with facial palsy can make you feel depressed, stressed or anxious, and to speak to a GP if it affects your mental health (NHS Bell's palsy page). Log mood too.

For thinking and memory changes, see what to capture in neurologic fog weeks. In Lyme Journey, the Doctor Report builds a dated summary for a saved doctor.

How Lyme Journey can help

A notebook can hold one bad day. The harder part is keeping facial changes, eye care, treatment dates, and other symptoms in one dated record.

Lyme Journey is a personal Lyme disease tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. It records symptoms, medicines, test dates, and visits in one dated history. Below is what you can use and how each part helps:

• Daily check-in — A short guided pass across symptoms, mood, nutrition, sleep, exercise, meds, and external factors, including fatigue, joint pain, and brain fog, so links you would not remember on your own show up side by side.
• Daily Journal — Freer notes, including voice when typing is too much, such as rash changes, which photos you took, and visit debriefs, that add detail a score alone cannot show.
• Flare Tracker — Mark a day clearly worse than usual, so you can tell a one-off bad day from a repeating pattern.
• My Meds — Antibiotics and other medicines with timing, so you can line up start and end dates with symptom days.
• My Labs — Result dates for blood tests, heart checks, and other tests, so each result sits next to how you felt that month.
• Weekly Goals — Set one small aim, such as a regular bedtime or a paced walk, and see whether it held and whether symptoms changed.
• Learn — Short education topics on Lyme themes such as joints, fatigue, sleep, and visit preparation.
• AI companions — Clara and specialist companions already see your logged history, which helps with visit wording.
• My Care Team — A profile for each clinician, plus upcoming appointments and notes for each visit, used before, during, and after appointments.
• Doctor Report — Two views: the Appointment Planning Report helps you prepare what to ask, and Generate Report, opened from a saved doctor, builds a dated summary of your recent progress for that doctor.
• My Assessments — Structured check-ins that add context about you across weeks.
• Food Tracker — Meal and drink lines, so you can line up meals and appetite with energy.
• Period Tracker — Cycle dates, so you can see whether pain or fatigue days cluster at a certain point in the cycle.
• Weight Tracker — Weekly weights, useful when appetite or activity is changing.

Everything you log builds one history. Guided forms include the key questions, and you can add custom symptoms when you need your own labels. Lyme Journey is free to download.

Sources

• CDC — Signs and Symptoms of Untreated Lyme Disease
• NHS — Lyme disease
• NHS — Bell's palsy

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