Bristol Palin reveals sobriety journey while battling life-altering condition

Amid her life-altering battle with facial paralysis, Bristol Palin has shared a shock revelation with fans.

The daughter of Sarah Palin, 34, revealed on Monday that she's been sober from alcohol for an entire year.

It marks the first time that Bristol has openly discussed her relationship with alcohol and her sobriety journey.

Bristol celebrated the milestone in a now-expired text post uploaded to her Instagram Story.

'365 days without alcohol.. *which sounds dramatic because I've never been a big "drinker,"' wrote the influencer, who boasts over 550,000 followers.

Bristol went on to say that she prefers navigating life with a 'completely sober mind' and she recommended her fans do the same.

She continued: 'But this year of having a completely sober mind has allowed me to reevaluate a lot. I don't want to alter the state of my mind, and don't want to 'take the edge off' of anything. 10/10 would recommend.'

One day after revealing she's one-year sober, Palin returned to Instagram to provide an update on her facial paralysis, which she's been battling for 10 weeks.

The mystery condition has left her with 'no muscle movement' on the left half of her face.

And as of Tuesday, Bristol reported that she's experienced little improvement in the last 71 days.

'this feels so vain to talk about, but here's the update.. 71 days and my face is still half paralyzed,' wrote Bristol, who included footage of herself struggling to make facial expressions.

She also spoke in the video about getting 'nerve blocks' in her neck and back during her recent visit to Alaska.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, nerve blocks are an 'injection of medication close to a targeted nerve or group of nerves to provide temporary pain relief.'

Bristol believes that the injections 'have improved' her condition and she is experiencing 'a lot less' of a pulling sensation in her face and neck.

While she is now able to move her left eyebrow 'a little,' Bristol said that's the extent of the improvement.

She concluded her update by revealing her plans to return to Alaska in a few weeks to get 'something more extreme because this is a very bad case [of facial paralysis].'

Bristol first revealed her shock ailment in January.

She said that the first sign something was wrong was when she noticed that her face had suddenly started 'pulling' to the left.

'I woke up nine days ago with a little weird sensation in my face - my mouth was pulling [to the left], and it just felt a little off,' she said in a January 29 Instagram video. 'Within a couple of hours, the entire left side of my face was numb and just paralyzed,' she said at the time.

She said she couldn't blink her eye and 'definitely had no movement on the side of [her] face.'

At the time, Bristol said that her doctor believed she had a case of Bell's palsy — which is temporary paralysis or weakness of the facial muscles — as the tests she underwent turned up 'nothing.' 

Since then, the mother-of-three has been doing acupuncture '4 times a week' as part of her ongoing search for a cure.

Bristol's recent Alaska trip wasn't entirely medical related.

She was also there to visit her son Tripp, 16, who moved to Alaska last year to live with his father and Bristol's ex-fiance Levi Johnston.

During the trip, Bristol got to see Tripp attend his first prom.

On Monday, the proud mom uploaded a photo of Tripp, rocking a navy blue suit and Nike sneakers, twirling around his prom date before heading to the dance.

'tripp had prom this weekend, how is this even possible [smiling teary-eyed emoji,' Bristol captioned the post. 

Bristol is based in Texas with her other two kids — daughters Sailor Grace, eight, and Atlee Bay, seven — who she shares with ex-husband Dakota Meyer, 36. 

She revealed that Levi had moved out of their Texas home in an August 2024 Instagram post.

Bristol had posted an image of her two daughters on the doorstep of their house to commemorate their first day of school, while detailing the changing dynamic in her family. 

The Wasilla, Alaska native posted an image of her younger two daughters in the post, with text explaining how she's dealing with the move.

'This has been the hardest 'first day of school' yet with one of the biggest pieces of my heart missing,' Bristol said. 'Tripp has decided to finish out high school in Alaska to be closer to his dad and our entire family.

'If you know Tripp, you know he lives for hunting/fishing and I honestly can't blame him for wanting to be back home.'

Bristol said she was doing her best to cope with the change. 'As hard as it is has been to come to this decision – it's truly not about what I want,' she penned.

Bristol cited her son growing older and the value of him spending time with his father in explaining how she's handling the family issue.

'He's almost 16 years old and that relationship with his dad is a lot more important than my own selfish desires of having him with his mama forever!' Bristol said.

Bristol said she was still highly emotional about the situation, and hoping for as seamless a transition as possible.

'I can't talk about it yet without crying,' Bristol said, 'but selfishly praying for a quick year and easy transition for us.'

Bristol was thrust into the national limelight in 2008 amid her mother's vice presidential campaign alongside then Republican presidential candidate, late Arizona Sen. John McCain.

She appeared at the Republican National Convention in September 2008 alongside Johnston, as her pregnancy with Tripp when she was 17 made headlines, amid her mother's swift rise to political prominence as McCain's running mate.