Botox!

[susiestar]

I might get botox soon!! NOT for wrinkles or vanity, but for migraines. My pain doctor says he has been truly amazed at how well it works. He was incredibly skeptical at first, but the responses he has seen in patients is phenomenal - his word!

I had a pain doctor appointment today and was quite pleased. I just love my doctor - he is awesome and he really cares.

He is also trying to get approval for synvisc shots for my knees. new insurance so I don't know if they will cover it, but it cannot hurt to try!

The idea of only 1 or 2 migraines per month seems like a dream to me. I have them more days a month than not, often upwards of 20 days a month. they will go away for 6-8 hrs with imitrex (only medication that works for me) but them they are back just as bad as before. They truly are stealing my life, in my opinion, and if this works it would be a miracle, in my opinion!

 

[HaoZi]

Hope it works for you, I've heard good things about botox for migraines from people who've used it.

 

[hearts and roses]

Wow what a relief that will be for you! I hope it works-fingers crossed!

 

[DaisyFace]

Sounds like a good idea - good luck!

And just a thought....as long as they are using Botox anyway - why not do a little wrinkle reduction?

 

[TerryJ2]

Let me know ... I might try it. I thought that some people who used it for cosmetic reasons could get migraines as a side effect, though.
Maybe a different concoction, in a different spot?
Best of luck! Let us know!

 

[InsaneCdn]

I have heard of botox being used for a number of medical situations - one of them being small but continuous facial tics. If it can help the migraines... I'd be looking for something, anything, too. Migraines are not just pain - somehow, I can handle pain - but it can affect vision, balance, and other things. To deal with those "most days"? I just hope this brings some relief!

 

[susiestar]

Terry, everything have heard/read says that it was people using botox for cosmetics that told their docs that it stopped their migraines and how awesome that was. I know quite a few people (my hs class seems to be addicted to plastic surgery - the reunion was hilarious because so many of the girls had such awful plastc surgery done. of course we didn't laugh in their faces, but it was astounding.) who were shocked to get their lives back after botox injections.

The amt they use for migraines is higher than for wrinkles and it does work very very well for those too. You have to be careful as they do it to make sure your face is as symmetrical (eyebrows at the same height esp) as they do the shots. Otherwise you can look a tad odd, lol!

Insane, yup, migraines are a lot more than pain. and I get them from a ton of things but NOT the normal triggers for most people. I have been in several research studies and was the first patient in my town to get imitrex. The docs stood watching me for an hour after the shot, lol. But it was incredible. It just doesn't work as well for me now, 20 yrs later. I want my life back!

 

[witzend]

Where is the injection site for this treatment?

 

[TerryJ2]

Good question.

 

[susiestar]

I think they put it in various spots around the head, and it will at least be in/near the temple. The doctor pointed to different spots. He was explaining that the occipital nerve blocks that I have had go in the back and only treat the nerves there (these are awesome, in my opinion - shots of steroid and lidocaine type medication and they really help with the tension aspects of my migraines. I rarely get just migraines - they are complicated immensely by muscle knots. So these are a big help because the whole migraine/tension headache cycle is vicious.

He says that the botox doesn't help just in the front as if for wrinkles and not just in the back like the nerve blocks, but it works all over. And he was pointing to about six different places. So I could be wrong, but I think it goes in different places.