[Editor here: The below rather rambling style is an indication of how Gretchen's mind is firing right now, three and a half hours after her second round of Botox.]
Where to start this blog entry? Well, as you probably guessed by the title, it's got a lot to do with Botox. In fact, it's got everything to do with Botox. I'm having my migraines treated with Botox and have been since December. I just got my second series of injections today, and decided that it was a good time to make a blog entry, or several, about my experiences with Botox so far, as I've now done a full three month treatment cycle, and have a vague idea about what I'm writing now.
That, and I was going through so much shock during that first initial time, that I couldn't blog about it. My brain was just on overload. I did keep a kind of Botox diary in my personal journal, so I'll be quoting myself as I discovered the way that I reacted as time went by. So, with out further ado; my journey with Botox:
Slowly over the course of 2012, since my jaw surgery in early February, my daily head pain/migraines changed. This was great, as I'd have hated to think that I had my jaws broken in five places for nothing. But as my jaws healed, I noticed that while my daily migraines were still there, I was getting a lot more of the ice pick headaches on top of that. I talked to my neurologist Dr B about it after I was finally healed and he decided that it was time to try the Botox treatment as my symptoms were presenting much differently in such a manner as now indicated it was worth a shot. (No pun intended)
After I got pre-authorization from my insurance, I came back and got a total of 19 little injections. Some were just over my eyebrows, some at my hairline around my ears, and then some at the nape of my neck. I had no idea what to expect. Later that evening, I typed up what was going on.
Excerpt - I'll admit that I'm almost creepily calm. The throbbing of my head's nearly gone, and I don't really know how to deal with that. The gnawing in the back of my head is gone almost entirely, and I don't know how to live without somebody eating the back of my head all the time. It's just been a part of my life for several years now...
My mom also said that I'd been acting slightly doped ever since the injections earlier that day. I didn't really care, as I was still giddy.
The next morning, I made another short entry after doing some math and a fair amount of self-reflection and research. My migraine, I decided, was a 5/10. The last time I'd had a 5/10 was April 12, 2010.
Excerpt - I have never had a recorded 4/10, and my pain record keeping goes back at least 4 or 5 years. So this is... awesome.
Yes, it really was awesome. It was also going to prove to be something of a Thing. I started noticing other things going on just a matter of days later.
Excerpt - I'm still at a 5/10 to a 6/10 pain wise. It's weird tho, as I'm really not used to it. Every now and then I'll get a rush of blood to a part of my head, not necessarily raising the pain level, just making me kinda dizzy for a couple of seconds. It's annoying, and I think that it's my body's way of searching for the pain that's missing.
The 5/10 to 6/10 was wonderful when I had been living at close to an 8/10 for several months.
Then I noted the most noticeable, and so far only slightly-more-than negative Botox related thing. It was going to get interesting from here on out.
Excerpt - I turned into a total space cadet [yesterday]. I couldn't smell dinner burning until Mom pointed it out. I mostly just stood in one place and stared at air. I was so tired, and could not concentrate long enough to brain or sleep.
In fact, I was acting exactly like I would with a migraine. Only there was one problem: I didn't have any notable head pain.
So I'm wondering if, with the Botox, this is the new migraine I'm going to be getting. And if so, what am I to do about knowing when a silent migraine's come, and when I'm just tired, or being stupid?
So anyway, be it now noted that I think I'm getting silent migraines, and that I'm scared regarding that as the pain was always my justification for being as dysfunctional as I was.
This is as far as I think I can take this blog entry, because the next excerpt is close to a full blog length itself, and is pretty stand alone.
Where to start this blog entry? Well, as you probably guessed by the title, it's got a lot to do with Botox. In fact, it's got everything to do with Botox. I'm having my migraines treated with Botox and have been since December. I just got my second series of injections today, and decided that it was a good time to make a blog entry, or several, about my experiences with Botox so far, as I've now done a full three month treatment cycle, and have a vague idea about what I'm writing now.
That, and I was going through so much shock during that first initial time, that I couldn't blog about it. My brain was just on overload. I did keep a kind of Botox diary in my personal journal, so I'll be quoting myself as I discovered the way that I reacted as time went by. So, with out further ado; my journey with Botox:
Slowly over the course of 2012, since my jaw surgery in early February, my daily head pain/migraines changed. This was great, as I'd have hated to think that I had my jaws broken in five places for nothing. But as my jaws healed, I noticed that while my daily migraines were still there, I was getting a lot more of the ice pick headaches on top of that. I talked to my neurologist Dr B about it after I was finally healed and he decided that it was time to try the Botox treatment as my symptoms were presenting much differently in such a manner as now indicated it was worth a shot. (No pun intended)
After I got pre-authorization from my insurance, I came back and got a total of 19 little injections. Some were just over my eyebrows, some at my hairline around my ears, and then some at the nape of my neck. I had no idea what to expect. Later that evening, I typed up what was going on.
Excerpt - I'll admit that I'm almost creepily calm. The throbbing of my head's nearly gone, and I don't really know how to deal with that. The gnawing in the back of my head is gone almost entirely, and I don't know how to live without somebody eating the back of my head all the time. It's just been a part of my life for several years now...
My mom also said that I'd been acting slightly doped ever since the injections earlier that day. I didn't really care, as I was still giddy.
The next morning, I made another short entry after doing some math and a fair amount of self-reflection and research. My migraine, I decided, was a 5/10. The last time I'd had a 5/10 was April 12, 2010.
Excerpt - I have never had a recorded 4/10, and my pain record keeping goes back at least 4 or 5 years. So this is... awesome.
Yes, it really was awesome. It was also going to prove to be something of a Thing. I started noticing other things going on just a matter of days later.
Excerpt - I'm still at a 5/10 to a 6/10 pain wise. It's weird tho, as I'm really not used to it. Every now and then I'll get a rush of blood to a part of my head, not necessarily raising the pain level, just making me kinda dizzy for a couple of seconds. It's annoying, and I think that it's my body's way of searching for the pain that's missing.
The 5/10 to 6/10 was wonderful when I had been living at close to an 8/10 for several months.
Then I noted the most noticeable, and so far only slightly-more-than negative Botox related thing. It was going to get interesting from here on out.
Excerpt - I turned into a total space cadet [yesterday]. I couldn't smell dinner burning until Mom pointed it out. I mostly just stood in one place and stared at air. I was so tired, and could not concentrate long enough to brain or sleep.
In fact, I was acting exactly like I would with a migraine. Only there was one problem: I didn't have any notable head pain.
So I'm wondering if, with the Botox, this is the new migraine I'm going to be getting. And if so, what am I to do about knowing when a silent migraine's come, and when I'm just tired, or being stupid?
So anyway, be it now noted that I think I'm getting silent migraines, and that I'm scared regarding that as the pain was always my justification for being as dysfunctional as I was.
This is as far as I think I can take this blog entry, because the next excerpt is close to a full blog length itself, and is pretty stand alone.
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