how many ppl have had positive results rom the botox treatments?

By stacey Sunday, May 20, 2012

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i just recently had a series of botox injections this past week. I was unsure about them at 1st because this was a last resort.I've gone through topamax, depakote (had a very bad reaction 2),i take amitriptalyn every nite, nueroton every nite, imitrex tablets and torodol as needed. I know it's alot but the are so severe i am not able 2 drive because the pains come on so suddenly. I've had a migraine for the past 90 days with no relief. I got very tired after the botox and slept 18 hrs. I'm at my wits end with these and so are my doctors. Can anyone offer any advice for me?

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Nancy Harris Bonk

5/21/12 7:55pm

Hello, and welcome to HealthCentral's Migraine Community!

I haven't had Botox, but maybe others will be in shortly to give you their accounts. Because you've had a Migraine for such a long time, the most important thing now is to break the cycle. Unfortunately, there can be times when a Migraine just doesn't respond to the medications we have, and it goes on and on. If your regular medications haven't stopped this Migraine by now, it's time to talk to your doctor for help. Sometimes, a steroid taper such as a Medrol DosePack will break the Migraine. Sometimes, the best treatment for intractable Migraines that aren't responding to medications is IV infusion therapy to get the cycle broken. For more information, see IV Treatment of Refractory Migraine.

I know how easy it is to feel as if you've tried everything out there, but there are so many medications that can be used for Migraine and headache prevention that it's literally impossible. You can find a list of potential Migraine and headache preventives in Migraine preventive medications - too many options to give up!

Thank you for creating a SharePost. You can share an experience, suggest something that's helped you, use SharePosts as a Migraine and headache journal, and many other things.

We also have a discussion forum that you may want to check out. Especially if you have questions or are looking for information, you may find the interaction on the forum to be quite helpful. To get there, go to the Migraine home page and look on the left hand side where you'll see a row of boxes. The Forum box is at the very bottom. Click on it and scroll down to the bottom of that page, and you will see the log-in spot. Because our forums are maintained by a third party, you'll need to register for the forum. You can use the same information you used to create your community log-in if you like. If you want to go directly to the forum, you can click HERE.

Along with your personal "My Home" page and the discussion forum, you'll find links to a great deal of helpful information on the main page of our site, http://www.MyMigraineConnection.com. Under the Find, Manage, and Connect tabs on the left side each page, you’ll find a wealth of information – educational articles, tips, quizzes, workbooks, support and advocacy information, and more.

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debs

5/24/12 5:33pm

Hi--- My deepest empathy for your pain--- sigh--- I have been getting migraines for over 30 years. I started trying Botox shots 6 years ago, after my daughter begged me to try it, since Botox was approved for migraines. She supplied me with plenty of evidence in favor of giving it a shot---(no pun intended!) It does sometimes help, and other times it doesn't, but that's with any meds i've tried for migraine pain relief. I must say, though, Botox gave me more of a functional life back than I had in a very long time. The pain-free days were minimalized in a month. I was using Frova before that, as it was the best thing for pain relief. But, when that continually failed, I started Botox. I also stopped all other pain meds then for a while to check out its effectiveness, to make sure I wasn't throwing myself into a tail-spin rebound headache and eliminating the possibility of negating a potential help. I've been going for them regularly every 3-4 months since. It does take a few days to settle in, so give it a chance. There are rigid rules to follow right after injections, so do what the doc says for the greatest effectiveness! You should note the muscles "feeling" tension, but the pain is not intense and you can function. Also, it took a few rounds of every 3-4 months to really notice the nice change of muscles relaxing longer. I do go to a dermatologist, not a neurologist, because she was a migraineur and targeted areas she knew would be most effective. (i.e. Forehead, around the eyes, the "bunnies" area on the side of the nose for sinus muscle relaxing, etc....) I sure hope you get relief! Oh, besides botox now, I use just one acitomenaphen and one sudafedren for pain i do feel. I learned that one from a physician assistant that got horrible migraines and found effective relief from that combo. Best wishes.... d

tucker317

7/19/12 1:22am

I just got my 7th round of shots from the neuro. I've recently had a discussion with my hubby trying to decide if they are working or tapering of faster or what. (b/c he is trying to decide to change jobs and therefore insurance which may or may not cover them). I've also still had to change preventives over the past 2 years along with some other medical meds that can be used as preventives along the way so I'm on A LOT of meds that potentially could be used as preventives if you go to the list on the board (there a like 100 or so in all different categories).

So botox, it took at least 2 cycles for any real difference as I recall. life was definitely better for the second half of the year. Unfortunately, I've had a medical problem with chronic nausea until they figured it out and got me on track well over a year later so some days it's hard to tell your brain pain from your belly pain- which came first, the chicken or the egg? A vicious cycle kind of thing - being nauseous makes it hard to eat _> headache -> nausea -> migraine -> cycle. So I'm really hoping that now that I'm eating better and feeling better this round of botox will help my migraines/chronic daily headaches (brain pain of any kind!) lessen again.

At any rate, I have a new neuro in the same practice since my old one left and at my 3rd visit for botox only, she finally "talked" to me for a long time about my migraines like I was a new patient to her. So we are getting somewhere. We didn't make any med changes but I feel like she at least gave me an understanding of my migraines and their hormonal triggers. At the first visit she mentioned that botox can stop working after a while if you build up immunity to it. She didn't say when this would happen. I had 72 headache days (4+) in 3 months, but only 19 Frova days. I hold out due to limits. So while I guess I am feeling rather crappy, it could be a lot worse relatively speaking.

However, I also have a page full of medications - really - it's embarassing to give my list to a new doctor. Migraines rule your life and if I didn't have them I would just have Asthma, allergies and ok, a heart problem to mix in, but all the rest of that page is migraine prevention or migraine treatment stuff. If your doctor is suggesting botox and you've tried other meds and your insurance covers it (I have to sign a waiver every time and have paid $1000 that wasn't covered once after tussling back and forth and just got tired of dealing with it). You may have to go 2-3 rounds for decent results. Good luck in your decision.

how many ppl have had positive results rom the botox treatments?

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