Most, if not all, of you know that I suffer from incredibly painful and frequent migraines. Just this past week I had four migraines in a row. Needless to say, my weekend sucked. Oh, well. Anyway, these horrid migraines have gone on for the better part of ten years, and I am still trying to find something, anything, that will take them away forever...or at least bring it down to one every month or longer. These three and four times a week ones just have to stop.
I'll spare you all the awful details of my world while I am having migraines as I'm sure I've told most of you how bad it really is. And for those unlucky enough to experience migraines for themselves, my deepest sympathies. ~shudder~
Having tried, and failed, many (MANY) different drug therapies in order to reduce the amount and severity of my migraines, my doctor thought it might be time for me to try Botox. Yes, that's right. That Botox. It's not just for wrinkles, my friends. Many studies have been performed and research gathered into the wondrous effects of Botox for chronic migraine suffers, much like myself. My doctor has been "injecting people for 19 years" (his words, er, the words of his nurse), so I felt confident that he knew what he was talking about. Besides, I had already heard of the benefits of Botox injections for others with migraines, but never thought it would be something I could do. I don't know why. I just didn't. Perhaps it was the thought of having toxic poison injected into my face that kind of turned me off to it. However, there is a point that all migraineurs reach in which they will try anything in the hopes that it will reduce their migraines even the smallest amount. I've more than reached that point, so I thought I didn't really have anything to lose. I researched it more on my own. I asked lots of questions. I sought advice from others who had been injected with Botox. Finally, I was ready to try it.
Yesterday James and I went in for my first Botox treatment, (My insurance approved me for four treatments over a year. Botox injections are given at three month intervals) and it would be an understatement to say that I was nervous. However, my doctor and his nurse were both really good at catering to me and answering my repeat questions. It was good to have James there, both for moral support and to drive us home in case I had some odd reaction to it. I really wasn't sure what to think about the whole process and wasn't sure how I would feel afterward, so I thought it would be best to bring him along. Besides all that, he was rather good at taking pictures of the experience, the first picture being his favorite.
The process itself only took about 20 minutes. They connected some little sensors to the back of my neck so they could hear the muscle movements and activity. The needle was connected to a long thin wire that in turn connected to an EMG machine, which is what monitored the muscle activity. My doctor said my head and neck muscles sounded like a jet plane about to take off and that indicated that they were extremely tight. Apparently they aren't supposed to be that way. He started in the back of my head just above my neck on the left side. He'd insert the needle, listen for the jet plane sound (it wasn't long at all) and then inject the Botox at that exact spot. Doing it this way assures that the Botox gets exactly where it needs to be and helps relax the muscles that cause the migraines. The only thing that hurt in the back of my head was when he stuck the needle in. I didn't feel the Botox being injected, it didn't burn, and it didn't make me feel weird. There was one spot, on the right side of my head just above my neck that hurt pretty bad, but I think it must have been just a sensitive spot.
After he did the back, he moved around to the temporal muscle that is by your temples. Let's do this. Bite down hard, right now, and then feel the muscle on the side of your head by your temples. Bite up and down a few times until you find it, then bite down hard when you do. Can you feel the muscle? If not, then you are good. If you can feel it a little bit, then it's a little tight. But if it causes your fingers to move away from the side of your head then that's really really tight and it shouldn't be. That was what mine were like when we did it yesterday. The doctor and the nurse just kept commenting about how tight that muscle was. I had no idea. I told them I was a gum chewer, though and they said it could contribute to it, but not that much. What can I say? I have really tight muscles. Then he injected Botox into the muscles in my cheek next to my jaw on both sides of my face.
Once that section was complete, he moved to my forehead. This is where the stinging pain took place. He injected the muscle in between my eyes first. He made me scowl and then quickly injected the muscles. Then he did about 6 or 8 injections into my forehead (you can see the red marks on my forehead in the last two pictures below), but I had to have him stop a couple of times and wait for a minute until the pain settled a bit. I could feel the Botox being injected in my forehead, but it was nothing bit and that didn't hurt. It was just the needle itself being stuck into my skin that hurt.
Then it was done. It didn't take long at all and after it was over, some of the spots didn't even hurt and felt like they did when I first walked in. A couple of spots took a few hours to die down, but the pain was minimal to say the least. This morning I woke up with a headache, but it was similar to the start of the migraines I had four days in a row last week. It was interesting because I knew that any other day it would turn into something horrible and I would be incapacitated for the rest of the day. However, it's almost as if my muscles and nerves have refused to acknowledge most of the pain. I have a bit of a headache around my forehead and eyes, but that could be from looking at the computer screen. I am extremely hopeful that this will work. It takes three to ten days for the Botox to settle in and then lasts for about three months before I have to go back for another treatment. Sometimes, it takes a few sessions before it really starts to take full effect. I'm definitely going to be monitoring my migraines much closer than I have before (if that's even possible) and see if there is any difference. I think this might actually work. At least I hope it does.
You're gonna do WHAT?!?!
Oh, man. That one hurt bad. On the side in the back of the neck.
Injecting into the muscles in the back of the head and neck.
This is where the temporal muscle is.
Right in the forehead. That hurt the most.
Happy smiles again. I survived.
ok, you can stop taking pictures now.
2 comments:
AH! That sounds traumatic!! But at least Botox is actually good for something productive. I do have migraines from time to time, but usually nothing that some Excedrin doesn't cure.. I'm sorry to hear yours are so intense. I'm glad you survived and I hope this treatment helps!
I'm so happy for you that your insurance covered the treatment! I had to pay out of pocket to try it for my chronic migraines. It didn't end up doing the trick for me, but it was worth a try. It seems to help so many people who are resistant to other treatments.
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