Friday, April 13, 2012

Is the Botox Working?

So on Feb 29th I got Botox injections to try to help with my migraines. I think overall it is helping. With the exception of this week, I have been having fewer migraines and have not had multi-day migraines. This week has been pretty bad though. I talked to the nurse at my neurologist office yesterday and she said that everyone she has talked to has had a horrible week with some of the worst migraines; the general consensus is the weather!

The other "benefit" of the Botox is I have found I have additional problems with my neck.  I have had neck pain for some time, usually on and off.  But once I got the Botox, it was everyday and very intense.  Since the Botox was also injected into my neck (and hence numbing those muscles), my doctor decided to look into it further and thought I may have disc problems.

After an MRI, we found out I have a protuding disc between my shoulder blades, stenonis (narrowing of the spinal canal), and degenerative disc disease.  My neurologist is going to be doing an EMG (Electromyography) to find out if there is any additional nerve damage before we start any plan.  This will be on April 25th.  Does not seem at this point that my doctor thinks I will need surgery; possible cortisone shots, hopefully just physical therapy!

I am hoping that if we can fix these neck issues, it will help with the migraine situation - so the Botox may be even better for me than the normal uses to reduce occurrences of migraines, reduce frequency and allow medications to work better.  For me, it may have helped find an underlying cause!!!

In other, semi-unrelated news, I have a finally made an appointment to try acupuncture!  April 24th.

No comments:

Post a Comment