Has anyone tried Botox for headaches?

I too have tried Botox, helped at first but hasn't helped the last time done at all. I have been dealing with daily headaches and frequent migraines for 40 years. I have tried so many medications with no relief. Relpax does help sometimes. I am currently on day 5 of migraine, went for tornado shot and phenergan at urgent care, helped for a few hours but awoke with severe pounding headache again. I have been approved for SSDI thankfully as it makes it so hard to work with continuous migraines (as well as back issues). I have have been to multiple doctors, pain specialist, etc. might see about getting appt at Mayo to see if they can make any suggestions to get relief.

Botox is great and I’ve used it for a variety of muscular ailments where the muscles were tugging on things they shouldn’t have been and thereby causing pressure and pain. So if you have a migraine that is pressure related, it helps. Since I’ve done both talks for well over a decade and I don’t do it anymore because I don’t need to. I want to point out a couple things. Botox works by paralyzing your muscles that are causing the problem. So it gives you the opportunity to resolve and isolate the muscles, which are causing you a problem. If your problem is bio, mechanical, for example, like bad posture, you’re going to need to fix your posture when the Botox starts wearing off. Also, it weekends your muscles so if you’re doing Botox in your back shoulder areas like I did, you have to be willing to strengthen the weekend muscles with exercise or you’re going to fall back into the same problem. My neck needed a spine surgery. So the Botox was something that was useful until my doctors all figured out that the spine surgery wasn’t necessity. I had headaches because of the deterioration of my neck vertebrae and the compensation undertaken by my muscles. More and more over the years, the compensation involved more and more muscles. Be sure to find a good MFR deep myofascial release therapist as they will untangle muscles which start glowing together and moving as a unit which reaches from your shoulders to your neck into your head and causing headaches. If your problem source is my muscular, there are different muscle relaxers to try as well, which will help you diagnose your problem and where it comes from. You should consult with a good kinesiology doctor. I didn’t realize that different muscle relaxers work on different pathways in your body. Here’s to your good health!

I guess Botox can work for some people for some things, some of the time. However losing sight from it freaks me out and I have heard of it. So, I guess, pick your poison.

It would be so rare that like breathing, it can be risky. Less rare is a "temporary" paralysis of the eye muscles from a bad injection. The solution is to select a REPUTABLE doctor who doesn't take risks and has oodles of experience. I had been doing it for years before surgery was recommended. It can be super helpful and there is simply no reason to do it by your eye muscles.

You would think......but my neurologist gave me such a heard time about avoiding the eye area. She had a protocol to do it a certain way. I had to get a note from my retina doctor for her to do what I asked. I'm done with Botox. If there is a low percentage of anything going wrong, I will be in that category.

Who's "ranking" it? People go there expecting miracles and get disappointed.

Your neurologist is correct. I certainly would. There are other areas to be avoided. And the Botox area does spread in the week it is administered. But like I said, if one uses a reputable doctor and considers sensitive areas, there would be no problem. (ie, put the Botox in your back shoulder or neck to relax the muscles that run up into your head. They won't be near your eyes. It's physiologically impossible! People shouldn't be fearful of safe procedures. Nothing is foolproof in any procedure, anytime, anywhere. One has to use common sense and investigate. Botox injections themselves are not toxic. It has nothing to do with macular degeneration or glaucoma. I think you are conflating things which don't need to go together. So I don't want you to unecessarily scare other people because you have a particular issue and are afraid. I understand the concern. But you have a particular issue and your doctors are being proactive. I've had TWO retinal detachments and have glaucoma. The injections I've had don't come anywhere near my eyes.

Yes, I have Botox administered for my migraines. It definitely helps, but it doesn’t completely eradicate the migraines. I take propranolol as a preventative. My rescue meds are Fioricet and Ubrelvy. I also use peppermint oil on pulse points. Plus, ice packs help me. I try to rest. They are pretty debilitating.

I also have lupus SLE. Research shows people with lupus are twice as likely to have migraines.