I just received Botox Injections & Started Venlafaxine

Hello everyone. I just got back from the Neuro, and we decided that the plan going forward would be a) botox injections, and b) the introduction of effexor.

The botox was essentially painless, so don’t let fear of botox put you off.

I will update the forum on my progress on these two drugs in this thread.
Hope everyone is doing well,
Best, D

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Hi
Thats my preventative strategy at the moment…Botox and 75mg of Venlafaxine…its made a LOT of difference…ive had 4 rounds if Botox so far
Jo

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That’s great to hear, Jo! (for you AND me… hehe)
Best, D

Good luck!!!

Thank you, Diana!!

Appreciate you’d be glad to see some swift improvement after all your sufferings but did he/she really suggest starting both at the same time. If that is the case I’d be interested to know how they assess what does/does not work. Surely that’s an added complication. All the same I do wish you all the best for a successful outcome whichever drug brings it about! Helen

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Hi!
Great to hear there is a plan in place for you! I wish you success with both!
I also like @Jojo65 have had my 4th round of botox 2 weeks ago… I don’t know as to how much it helps with the dizzies but I can say it definitely helps with the actual migraine pain. Part of me wishes I would have started the migraine diet before taking any meds because now I am unable to attribute whats coming from the meds/botox and the diet! Either way, aslong as we get some relief I can’t complain!

Good luck :+1:

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Thank goodness. Another simple soul like me. One thing at a time does seem to be the way to go. Helen

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@Onandon03
Helen,
I am hoping in time once I have gained decent control of this beast to come off all meds/botox… if I can achieve getting to that 70% place consistently I would absolutely love to come off any drugs! It pains me to have to take them but I can’t manage without them and that my friend is unfortunately a certainty :roll_eyes:

If only I’d have found this site sooner :thinking:

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We of course considered that it would be difficult to tell which treatment was helping. However, after 18 months and 6-7 failed preventatives with 0 improvement we elected to try combinations moving forward.
Best, D

Thanks for the well wishes and I’m glad to hear you’re getting some relief :slight_smile:
D

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Morning!
Well, I was getting some relief but since I’ve had botox everything is exacerbated which has happened the previous 3 times after botox - around 5 weeks after it starts to help! For now migraine glasses are needed! :see_no_evil:

Evening from Australia!
Interesting that it exacerbates your symptoms in the beginning. I haven’t noticed anything good or bad yet. Will be starting Effexor in the morning as well (and i’m already on 15mg Amitriptyline) so I can relate to not knowing what’s helping and what’s not.
Sending you well wishes from across the globe,
D

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Can you remind me which failed you, apart from your initial attempt at Ami. Just out of interest. Helen

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Of course:

  1. Amitriptyline (~10 months at various doses)
  2. Propranolol (had to discontinue due to side effects - bad breathing problems)
  3. Topamax (had to discontinue due to side effects - bad pain when urinating and caused stomach issues which I’ve still got)
  4. Flunarizine (~5 months)
  5. Gabapentin (didn’t get to a particularly high dose but was instructed to move on by neuro)
  6. Verapamil (~4 months)
  7. Aimovig (10 weeks)
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Not to mention
8. CBT [before my migraine diagnosis] (~18 months)
9. PPPD-specific CBT (~10 weeks)
10. Meclizine and Maxolon as abortives (no positive effect)
11. Triptans, NSAID’s, Phenergan (moderately effective abortive value)
12. Valium (very effect abortive value on headache and dizziness - little effect on anxiety however)

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Thx for doing that list. Wow. Pretty much the Full Set then. All the common ones then. Doesn’t half make one wonder why one of them didn’t do it for you. It really is about time somebody medical ‘in high office’ got stuck into and extended MAV research programme. I’d be only too happy to leave my body to a researcher. Just hope they aren’t in that much of a hurry to get started. That’s all. Helen

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Yeah! I’ve tried to be very strategic about the treatment plan, but I think its time to resort to trying several meds at once; i really feel that a drastic chemical change will have to occur in my body in order to up end such a deeply entrenched (40 months with no progress) set of constant and severe symptoms.
Thanks for listening,
Best wishes,
D

Oh I won’t say not to worry because you seem pretty well grounded to me and, like me, kinda stoic which serves us well. I’ve had this episodic (totally unmedicated) since 2003,
went chronic in December 2014, didn’t get a dx until late 2015, and didn’t get sufficiently high dose of medication until April 2017, started migraine diet and much reduced caffeine August 2018 and, at last, after all that protracted experience, I’m much improved now. Chin up! You’ll get there too and I do hope it’s soon. Helen

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Thanks so much Helen it’s great to hear one can recover after suffering for so long. I’m very grateful for the mentorship and information found on this site.
Wishing you continued remission, D

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