I wanted to share my experience in case it can help someone else. Dec. 20, 2016, in the evening, my face started drooping. Looking back, it was a perfect storm of exhaustion and stress over the holidays and lack of sleep had a lot to do with it. I wasn't freaked out because I tested myself for stroke AND I had a friend who had had Bell's Palsy a number of years ago. I ended up in emergency the next day because my doctor sent me for tests to rule out stroke. They gave me Prednisone and an anti-viral medication (which, they admittedly don't know if anti-viral meds do anything to help). It is now 25 days later and I'm ALMOST back to normal. It was hard being patient, not being able to smile normally (I missed that the most) and my eyesight was messed up which forced me to drop this semester in school (it's almost back to normal).
I was told to tape my eye closed at night and use eye drops, since letting it dry out too much can cause damage. I discovered that using an aromatherapy eye pillow with lavender oil worked well, as lavender is good for nerves and I really think it helped (I tried the tape once and didn't like it). I made sure I was getting enough sleep and started practicing some meditation to keep the stress low. My blood pressure has gone down and I am determined to not repeat the circumstances that created this problem in the first place (I believe stress has a lot to do with it), as it CAN come back again.
I paid attention as I was healing and noticed that I had twitching which usually ended up meaning that that part of my face was healing--interesting. Just before the drooping, my ear on that side hurt on the outside, then stopped--then as I healed, I had some pain again with that ear, but it went away as I continued to improve.
I've never been a smoker, and I was walking regularly, but had to back off until I felt my immune system was built back up. I've been taking it easy and avoiding long exposure to the cold--just kind of an intuitive feeling--until I'm completely well.
There are certainly worse things in life, but it does feel a bit like you have the rug pulled out from under you while you're in it. Just know, it does get better, albeit ever so slowly. I hope your healing journey is short and complete and you have a new compassion, as did I, for others who are handicapped in any way.