Migraine

I had my first set of botox injections today. There was hardly any discomfort or pain. The only bad part was they did 30 injections so by the time the neurologist was over I was getting pretty tired of being poked.

I'm really hoping the botox provides some relief. So far it's been a long road looking for a prevenative that works. Topamax gave me a good 4 months of relief (not total but manageable) from my migraines...before I had to quit taking it.

I will keep everyone posted on how my injections turn out.

Hi psk! Im glad it went well, and I hope it works for ya! I got my first botox injections on May 29th. So far it hasnt helped me one bit, but I have been on my cycle, the worst time for migraines! So we are giving it more time to be sure. But I do hope they work well for you!
Do keep us posted hun! good luck!

Tawsha

May as well put my update here.

I went for my first round of Botox yesterday afternoon. My doc gave me about 12 injections, in my forehead/brow, back of the head, neck and shoulders. It stung for sure, but the pain wasn't nearly as bad as the migraine I had when I was there. I was feeling pretty achy last night. It's too early to tell if it's going to do anything, but my doc has seen about a 60-75% success rate in his clinic, and only about 20% who have seen no help at all.

He's also given me the go-ahead to stop the Topamax. Normally he doesn't like to make two changes at once, but since the Topa is treating me badly, not helping me and I'm on such a low dosage (50 mg) he doesn't see any harm in stopping it.

So, the only preventives I'll be on now are magnesium, B2 and Botox. I call him in 3 weeks to let him know how I'm doing. He thinks I should start to see some results in a week or so. I'll keep you guys updated for sure!

Good MJ!

I hope you see some results quickly!

Did your doctor happen to mention what preventive he would like to try you on next?

I hope everyone's botox treatments start working for them fast!

quote:

Originally posted by EileenHOST:
Did your doctor happen to mention what preventive he would like to try you on next?

No, he didn't, but when I call in in 3 weeks, he wants to do a phone consultation with me himself. So I expect we will talk about it then, depending on the effect the Botox has had and how I'm feeling off the Topa.

I forgot to mention I do have a follow-up visit scheduled with him in 3 months, which will either be my second Botox treatment or just a regular visit, depending on how this Botox goes. He did also discuss the possibility of me coming in sooner if I need to, but we're going to get as much accomplished as we can over the phone, which is fine with me. When he called me a few weeks ago we talked for about 10 minutes so he could answer all of my questions.

Let's hear it for a real keeper of a doc!!

I was just telling my mom last night that I'm actually glad my last insurance company rejected the Botox, because if they had approved it I would have stayed with my last doc (a real turkey). Rejecting the Botox meant it became very obvious very fast that she was not a good match for me. And I moved on and found this guy. So it all worked out a lot better than I could have hoped for. It's about time my luck turned around. Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the Botox helps.

MJ,

I can't tell you how happy I am to read your post! I'm keeping everything crossed that the Botox works for you.

I'm also so thankful you found a great doctor too! What a nice change of pace for you, you deserve it. I love the fact that he does phone consults too, it saves time plus if you're not feeling all that hot, it won't matter if you're in your p.j.'s and pink bunny slippers when you talk to him. Very cool!!

Let us know how the Botox progresses. It can sometimes take up to a week for me to see any difference. And it can be as quick as the next day. I can't tell why there's a difference.

Huzzah for your doctor doing telephone consults.

Gret

I hope you guys get some real results from the injections.

And I'm thrilled to hear such good things about the new doctor, MJ. Awesome news!

Diana

psk and MJ,

I sure am hoepful for you both!!! I'll keep you and your heads in my prayers!

Please keep giving us your updates...

Lots of love coming your way!

jenny

Thought I would post an update.

It's been just over a week now since I got the Botox. I noticed a difference in my head pain immediately (next day). It isn't gone, but my pain levels have been lower. I've gotten down as low as a 2, which I've never gotten on my own. I've still had a few bad days in there with some high pain, but it seems not to stay as intense as long as it did in the past.

My new abortive, Relpax, also seems to do a fairly good job.

I'll be calling my specialist in another 2 weeks to give him an update. He wanted to give me enough time to start to see a new pattern after the Botox, so I've been diligently tracking everything in my headache diary.

I don't expect the Botox to be enough on its own, but it seems like it's getting my pain to lower levels, which may give another preventive a better chance to work.

I'll keep giving you guys updates!

PSK, how have you been doing after your Botox?

After a little bit of a set-backI'm finally able to follow up on my original post.

So far, I feel great after receiving the Botox injections. I've noticed that my forehead has tightened up and it's weird when I raise my eyebrows, but other than that I've been doing great. I noticed that most if not all of my head pain has been diminished. I have not had to take any of my abortives or rescue meds. I have noticed that it didn't do anything for the neck pain, but it has allowed me to take just Advil for that.

One interesting thing is that my wife has noticed how much my mood has improved since the injections. I think it's because I haven't been in so much pain and having to deal with my migraines.

I was on successful botox for about 2 years. It did take almost a month each time to get me completely headache free. I would a wonderful 6 weeks and then they would start coming back although always milder and less frequent. I had them every 3 months which kept the headaches a lot milder, but I would be back up to 2/week at the beginning and the end.

They don't work for me anymore because I had an eyebrow lift when I was having other plastic surgery due to some literature that indicated a good rate of headache relief from a form of that. At that time, nobody had a clue of why the botox worked.

Tracie