Botox Approved for the Treatment of Migraines

I just heard on the news that the FDA has approved Botox for the treatment of migraines.

Has anyone tried this with success?

Personally I am scared of sticking all those needles of poison in my head. Seems it would cause a migraine!

I was going to have botox to control my neck spasticity which is probably a trigger for my migraines, but it wasn't covered by insurance and was quite expensive ( and has to be redone every few months). Now maybe my insurance will cover it.

I imagine it will work well for me, as there is an obvious problem that needs controlling. People with migraines only have been getting mixed results with botox.

But it is only approved for people who have chronic migraines 15 or more days a month, with each migraine lasting at least 4 hours.

In the USA, Botox is now approved for migraine treatment with one shot every 12 weeks. Those tested had two less migraines in twelve weeks than those that did not get the Botox. Doesn't seem like it is worth the effort to me. However, any help is better than no help at all. It just doesn't seem that two less migraines in twelve weeks is enough to prove that Botox really helps.

I guess they inject it into your brain and it paralyzes the brain so you don't feel the pain.

Just kidding, but like some, I do not like the idea of being injected with a pure form of one of the most toxic substances on the Earth.

Hal

my nurse-practitioner several years ago used botox with success, otherwise she would not have been able to continue practicing medicine. i've lost track of her now, so i don't know if the good results continued.

it seems like everything stops working after awhile. me....i paid for it out of pocket years ago, and had a neurologist do it. all it did for me was to make my eyelids droop for 6 months. i didn't need that, in my 60's. i only tried it once.

now i'm 70, and droopy in general by virtue of age. if i could find another very experienced neuro, i might try it again, but would insist they stay away from my eyes. no way do i want to look as bad as i feel! dianne

Botox has been safely and extensively used for migraines and chronic daily headache since 1997; I believe, looking at the studies(about 400 studies) and my experience(about 900 patients), that it is more effective than our usual preventives(60 to 65% success rate, for 2.5 to 3 months...60% may not seem great, but with chronic migraine it is significant) vs 37% for our best(Topamax,etc.) preventives. Botox clearly has less side effects, short term and long term, than the other drugs people take for migraines(that has been proven in a number of ways). The only major drawback in the US(it was approved in UK several months ago) has been the money. There are now 2 other Botulinum Type A drugs to compete with Botox, which could possibly help the cost. In the latest large 1 year study, people recieved Botox every 3 months; the headaches kept improving over the year. Botox may have a long-term beneficial effect, not just 2 to 3 months. the mechanism of action may very well be CGRP inhibition(anti-inflammatory at the nerve level).
Larry Robbins,M.D. http://www.headachedrugs.com

Thanks for explaining this Dr Robbins. My neuro here in the uk is one that is offering it.
We have a few around the country at the moment.
BUT there is a criteria to meet and it seems unless you have tried every other thing out there for a certain amount of time, you dont qualify.
THAT will likely be the cost issue at £300 a time. Doesnt sound such a lot to me considering that when I first took Imigran it was £22 a tablet and I got 6 a month.
So it only has to last over the two months......

I get a lot of neck pain and I was hoping it would help me with that as well.
But I dont think I will qualify and they are not giving them until January I believe....

Pen

Thanks Dr. Robbins, that sounds alot better than the news report. I was hoping you would make a comment on Botox usage for migraines. I was aware that it had been used for some time, but was not aware of the success rate.

Hal

I received my first round of Botox at end of July. I was suffering from chronic daily headaches/migraines that were so severe I was about to lose my job. I had exhausted all other options for relief.

I no longer have the daily headaches. I used to have a migraine daily. I now only get one maybe once a week. I am lucky that my neuro wrote my insurance and got them to pay for it but only for one year. They said since it wasn't FDA approved they couldn't pay longer than one year. Now I won't have to worry.

I am so thankful for Botox. It has been a lifesaver for me. I have gotten my life back. The migraines WILL NOT win!!

I tried Botox 3 times. After every series of injections, I suffered from really bad neck pain. I could not turn my head for about 3 days! Had to use muscle relaxors and naporxen.

I told my neuro about it, but he said it wasn't from the Botox, I beg to differ with him!

They did help, but only for about 3 weeks. So I quit getting them, wasn't worth the terrible neck pain.

I have heard it really works well for others.

Sherri B!!

I am going to see if I can get it covered for my daughter and I. We applied seperatly, but were turned down due to it being "experimental". Time to try again!
Cindy

See what Dr. Grumpy has to say:

http://drgrumpyinthehouse.blogspot.com/2010/10/attention-all-my-migraine-patients.html

Ha, this Dr. Grumpy is quite a hoot! I bookmarked him so I can look later, but I like his style!

Love that Dr. Grumpy!!!

I'm following a CaringBridge Site of a girl from our community who has a rare form of brain cancer (and terrible head pain). She is being treated by the most well known headache guru in my state. She saw him yesterday. He said Topamax and Botox are the only proven headache meds.

Cheryl

If Dr Grumpy has already had 47 patients begging for the treatment then I'd say he/ she has a whole lot of under treated patients. A$$hole!

botox is so expensive

Hey Sherry B, nice new picture. You look a lot happier in this one.