Oh okay then, if you insist, I will give you a brief, non medical so sorry about any little inaccuracies, summary. You get about 31 injections around the head, so it's not for the fainthearted. Botox famously gets rid of wrinkles by relaxing muscles. People who were having Botox for cosmetic purposes found that they were not only looking smoother, but they weren't getting as many migraines. An opportunity lay in waiting for the manufacturers and a few proper medical trials later (nearly 70% of those treated with Botox had a 50% reduction in the number of migraines compared with before the trial) hey presto here we have a miracle cure. Ok, so it only lasts for between 3 to 6 months, but that sounds good enough for me.
Back in October 2011 I had a very positive consultation with my local NHS specialist. He said that based on what I had told him I was an ideal candidate to qualify for Botox on the NHS. You have to have at least 15 chronic headaches per month with at least 8 of them being a migraine. I hadn't kept a diary for years so wasn't sure whether I would qualify for that. But, he was confident that I would and said "if you are close, then between you me and these four walls, just tweak the figures a little."
Um, "tweak?" Is that ethical, but then do I want the treatment and what do I care as long as I get the treatment! I was told to come back again in 3 months with the diary by which time he was hoping to have full funding.
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To my surprise the diary didn't need any tweaking of any kind. Right from the start it showed a pattern that has continued until today. I get 19 days per month with chronic background pain of which 9 of them are migraines. So I easily qualify for the treatment as was eager to attend my second appointment which, as it happens, was last week. I had got it into my mind that at the very least, I would get a date for the injections and he might even do the injections there and then (for some reason I had got it in my head that there were only 8 injections and not over 30). This is the first treatment that I have genuinely been excited about for a long time. Sadly, the appointment was a little quicker than I was hoping for. I showed him my diary with great pride; went over my medication history again; and he told me that he still hadn't received funding. He gave me an open appointment, which is something I suppose, and said that I was to phone in 2 months time to see if funding had been received yet.
Disappointment. Dejection. Thesaurus, find me some more words beginning with "d"... ah thank you, depressed, demoralized, despondent, dimple, um sorry what?...
So I go back to Migraine Action and low and behold, there is a news article (http://www.migraine.org.uk/index.php?sectionid=1586) stating that we are all waiting for NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) to approve the treatment. Hey, I'm not going to tell you about it here so go read the article already. We can wait....
Anyhoo, that's pretty much where we are. I contacted some local cosmetic surgeries who dithered and spluttered before telling me that of course I could have Botox and for the sum of £400 for 1 treatment it might even cure my migraines for me as well. By the way, don't try this at home folks. For migraine cures always use a proper medically trained practitioner. I have put my name down for the Allagron Botox trial which seems to have been going on for ages but haven't hear back yet and have also put my name down for an alternative trial (more on that in another blog if it comes off).
I hear through the grapevine (I know somebody who knows somebody at NICE) that NICE should be publishing guidance by the end of May, but you didn't hear that from me!
Until then, I guess that we all have to wait a little longer.
I too have grapevines and I heard through mine that a research programme has been done showing that people respond positively to any type of skull injections. They didn't need to have Botox in the syringes... but you didn't hear that from me.
ReplyDeleteEven if botox proved to be very effective in treating many ugly affections I noticed that most patients that had it to remove migraines are not so satisfied about it.
ReplyDeleteOnly approximately 60% of patient said their migraines disappeared after they had botox Toronto and the rest of them said they saw an improvement but they still have to face this uncomfortable affection.
Rosalind: If that is the case, then why are they not offering acupuncture as a cure? I tried it once and... well, that would be the topic of a future post.
ReplyDeleteJulia: I agree that the findings aren't as encouraging as some would like you to believe. But in the absence of any real progress in the world of migraine treatments, if it really has got any chance of working at all then it is worth a try.
Good point, A.M. It can be well worth the try as Botox has been proven effective to some people. After all, the cause of migraines can vary from person to person. The chemical of Botox can help dull out the sting, and it can also be applied to a variety of other maladies, ranging from cerebral palsy to excessive sweating.
ReplyDelete--Katie Hallison
Hi Katie,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. The only problem is that the press are now saying that the effects of BOTOX are not as good as first thought. This means that NICE might not approve it and everybody who are on the waiting list might miss out. There are very few provate options and they are very expensive. I may have to try a few other preventatives and will report back here when I have!
As a matter of fact, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommends that Botox be considered as an option to prevent migraines. The fact that Botox relaxes the muscles around the head and reduces the nerve’s ability to send pain signals supports the research regarding its effect on chronic migraines.
ReplyDeleteGeoffrey Lelia
Hi Geoffrey,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. I had the Botox done just over a week ago (http://anothermigraine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/botox-for-migraines-part-2.html) and so far it hasn't worked. I haven't experienced any reduction in pain or any relaxed muscles (that I can notice) which is really frustrating. But I am sure that it will work for others. The docs said that it could take up to 2 weeks for it to take affect so I will call them next week if I don't see any improvement for advice.