botox update

This picture was taken one week after the botox injections.  You can see that I still have some wrinkles on my forehead and that I have some bruising where the doctor injected the botox above my right eye in two places.  See the wrinkles in the middle of my forehead?  I can still move my forehead there.  The botox works to imobolize the muscles.  After doing some more research into how botox is supposed to work, it inhibits some of the neurotransmitters that are overactive in people who get lots of migraines.  It blocks the extra chemicals our brains produce.  At least that's the theory.  Since I don't get a migraine in my forehead, but rather behind the left eye, I couldn't figure out how it was supposed to work for me.  After reading about the blocking the neurotransmitter part, it started to make some sense.

 Look ma, no wrinkles.  I'm doing the same thing with my forehead, trying to lift my eyebrows and now, at three weeks post botox, I can't.  I have lost all control over my eyebrow lifting muscles and cannot move my forehead.  I've lost my 'teacher look' and have had to resort to staring like a crazy person to get kids to listen to me.  Pretty effective still and the fact that the wrinkles are gone is a bonus.  Plus, the migraines are much less as well.  the last time I got botox it did nothing.  NOTHING!  This time I would say it is 75% effective.  That's pretty successful.  I've had two really bad ones in the last 3 weeks and I think 3-4 mild ones.  Not bad compared to the 35 days of continuous migraines I had before the botox.

Other side effects are a sore neck from where he injected the botox into the back of my head for about the first two weeks.  I would say the past 3 days have been better, but those first two weeks were rough.  It was hard to hold my head up straight and I'd find myself holding onto the back of my neck several times a day.

If you are considering getting botox for migraines or have tried it in the past and it didn't work for you, I say give it a try.  I was very skeptical the first time and very disappointed after it didn't work.  I thought for sure it wouldn't work again, but am happy with how much it has helped out this time around.