Russy, Thanks! Will go that route next. No more Botox!
Sundance

HI,
I had severe crippling cluster migraines for almost 7 years. The traditional Dr's tried out every new anti-seizure and migraine drug that came out. The last thing in their bag was the Botox. 25 shots in the head later and it did not help at all. they said when a new drug came out they would let me know.

I finally was referred by a friend to a local Naturopath. He worked thru diet and nutrition. In 6 weeks they were down to 1/2 and in 6 months they were totally gone. I've only had a couple in the last 10 years.

Everyone's issue and body are different. And at the time, insurance would not cover it, but it was worth every penny to be cured.

We called him the Voo Doo Dr. (He thought it was funny) because he used the a method called Applied Kinesiology (muscle testing).

Many people (esp traditional Dr's and me at first) said it was/is quackery - I completely disagree now.
Traditional western medicine ran about $200,000 worth of testing and drugs on me and came up with nothing.

He "cured" me in 6 months.
Our bodies are incredible and able to repair themselves IF we have not already become toxic in areas due to our western lives.
He actually said - my goal is to get your body back to a baseline where your own immune system can heal your body.

I was at the point where I would try ANYTHING, so what did I have to lose - my migraines I guess.

Carl

I am a 71 year old active female. I had a severe headache since the fall of 2013 and tried everything for relief. Most pain killers were out of the question due to GERD issues. Oxygen therapy worked for a while, but it became less and less effective. Last February I had a Botox treatment for migraines. My head felt better, but my face changed. My left eyebrow arched severely and looked very strange. It was so obvious that people asked what happened. I decided Botox was not for me. I wrote online to the doctor telling him about the result. He said that he could place the needles in different positions so that it would not be a problem again. May 2nd I decided to try it again. Unbelievably, I have not had a headache worse than level 1 (out of 10) since then. I feel like I got my life back again!

You're lucky with the Headaches. I did not have the eye droup, but I had the worse headaches of my Life for two weeks! There is another drug that I understand may be better than the Botox. My doctor offered no assistance with my headaches. Will not do another treatment.
Sundance

IF BOTOX doesn't work OR you as a patient do not want to go the route of injections in the forehead, neck, and shoulders, then perhaps the next option would be the newest drug called 'aimovig/ally' which the neurologist can provide information about for you. It is advertised on TV all of the time. This medicine is also a program that allows you to give the medicine to yourself. It's not a scary as the BOTOX and it has good results I am told. I may consider going this route now that I have relocated to a more sunnier location, have fewer migraines and have managed to control my overall health to make the jump. With a new physician that specializes in Migraines, this would be a good time to weigh the pros and cons. Remember, looking at all of the possible ways to control your day to day life and what options you can take to manage it with the best controls is the target here. Evaluating what brought on a migraine will allow you to seek out the cause and the eliminate it to the best of your abilities.
I am glad you were able to re-evaluate your options by talking with your doctor about the effects brought on by the Botox and seeking to change it. That is good communication both for you and for the doctor. Good Job and I know it will continue to help you.

Botox didn't work at all for my 8-12 migraines monthly. I tried Amovig and had severe nightmares. My neurogist indicated that he hadn't heard of that problem. The nightmares were very upsetting me. I would have to get out of bed or awhile until I got settled. on one of the cases I went back to bed only for the nightmare to come back. The nightmares were about people in my family getting killed. I have now tried Emgality for two months. I'm down to 3-4 migraines a month. I've had no side effects.

Did the physician give you any 'break through medication (triptan) for taking to control your headaches? When you put on the BOTOX program, there will be headaches in between the injections and they are suppose to give your Imitrex to control them. If the physicians is certified to give the injections, he/she was not following protocol in writing a subscription for you. The script calls for having enough of the medication so that you can have one pill - take it and if the headache didn't go away, two hours later you could take another one. Call the doctor right away and let him know that the BOTOX was NOT helping. Also....some doctors do not give the higher doses of 200 mg but give only 150 mg (total amt) that could help you more. It is up to the doctor as to the amount that they give. ALWAYS call the doctor if the medicine is NOT working for you within the week post injections. And make sure you have standby medicines for ''Break-through" medicines to get you through until the next Injection in 12 weeks. As time goes by - you will need less and less of this. BUT both you and the physician need to understand how the program works.

Was on the Triptan for a couple of months, did no good. Have let the dr. know about my constant and horrible headaches. She told me to take Tylenol. That was a joke. Then she said she had not heard of anyone with my reaction to the Botox. As I said our state is not known for our medical prowis! It has really gotten frusturating dealing with this.
No one has an answer or will not go out of their area to find anything out about what I have. I have had offers from friends in both Houstan and Phoenix to come stay and go to one of the Specail clinics.
Just can't do it now.
Sundance

Okay....this physician does not know that there are levels of Triptans to prescribe for BOTOX Step System . If one level of the breakthrough medications does not work, there is the next level of triptan can be tried but there are steps that need to taken in order to get insurance to cover it. Imitrex (sumatriptan) is the first standby med that is normally prescribed for those first starting on this regime. After a course of using and documenting this with your diaries, you will need to show that you at least tried it and it did't work. Your doctor can then prescribed the next level up on the Triptan list to help rid you of your breakthrough headaches. A prior authorization may be needed in order to obtain the medicine but it will be worth it. This worked for me because the Imitrex did nothing for me. My neurologist showed my diaries and wrote the letters, I called my insurance and they authorized the new triptan which works in 10 minutes flat. I rarely get a migraine now. And I like that ...
As far as information - go to the National Migraine Foundation to start with understanding where to go....https://headaches.org/

I have migraines since I am a child, I had a bike hit me in 2018 I fell and hit my head on the right side had a headache for a year and it left, last year in Aug I decided to try Botox for the migraines, the Dr. injected the shots across my forehead, they were not helping so he told me to come back and 2 weeks after the first shots he gave me more shots across my forehead, after the second batch of shots I developed severe pain on the side where I had hit my head, when I told him about it he said it was not the Botox, I have been to 4 neurologists and no answers because the MRI or Cat Scan don't show anything, I have had this severe pain on the right side of my head for almost a year, it is getting me depressed, when I cough the pain is excruciating wonder if anyone can help me...