Hi all, and Happy New Year. Hope you are all keeping safe and well.
Can I ask for people’s experience with having cosmetic Botox? Have people found that practitioners are reluctant to do Botox on them because of their MS?
Have people generally disclosed their diagnosis/Is it necessary to disclose? I’m minded to not tell anyone so generally leaning more towards not saying anything.
When I mentioned it to my nurse previously, she didn’t see an issue with having it. But would appreciate hearing other people’s experiences.
You can build up antibodies to Botox over time, and it then ceases to work. You may be in need of Botox to do with your MS in the future. It also has ‘black box’ warnings, because of its potential very serious side effects.
I am someone who has had a serious adverse reaction to botulinum toxin, twice - generalised weakness that is still a major problem 3 years on, and who has brain atrophy in the area of my brain that has a strong correlation between number of botulinum toxin injections and degree of atrophy. I’d say steer well clear of it for non-essential purposes. I was being given it for dystonia, a neurological condition (ie for medical purposes), and by fully trained specialist nurses or neurologists. Botox is into the CNS and brain within minutes to hours of injection (by retrograde action). They don’t tell you that though.
I’ve had it twice for cosmetic reasons and will continue to do so. Wrote ms on the form you fill in prior so they had the info but wasn’t something we discussed really. Hasn’t affected me in an ms way at all. Really pleased with the results and tend to think having ms is (removed by moderator) enough, so if I can do things to make me feel good then I will. Serious side effects are extremely rare, but as poster above pointed out can happen - I wonder if the dosage is higher when used for medical purposes?
For me though I was nervous the first time but once that was fine it’s not something I worry about.
Thanks for the replies, appreciate it! Really helpful to hear different perspectives. I’ve got a call with my nurse later this month so will bring it up again to get some firm guidance one way or the other
Dosage for blepharospasm will be similar to botox for wrinkles, as the eyelid muscles are tiny. Cervical dystonia dosages will be much higher as the neck muscles have to hold up the head, which is heavy. However in both cases (2 different papers and different sets of patients) the brain atrophy was found in the parietal area of the brain, and the degree of atrophy was correlated with the number of botox injections.
I’ve had it on and off for years in my face, before and after my MS diagnosis, performed by doctors, and have never had any problems. I’ve also had it for chronic migraine, all up both sides from top of shoulders and over the scalp. That helped a lot too. Tbh, psychologically, it has been something of a godsend to look in the mirror and not look quite as bad as I feel!
I have Botox for blespharospam, it kills off nerve endings and this stops the tight spasms I get around my eye. I also have them in my foot and leg to stop dystonia, again it stops the the spasms and cramping. I have to have these every 8 weeks.
Botox is one of the most poisonous substances on the planet and whether you have it for cosmetic or medical reasons it is still kills the nerve endings that will result in muscle weakness.
I have a friend who regularly has Botox in her lips and she must like the results, but it does effect her speech as she cannot articulate her mouth due to muscle weakness.
But the effects are short term so if you don’t like the results it will return to normal in a few months.
This conversation about Botox is interesting. While I understand the desire to look youthful, there’s something about embracing natural beauty that resonates with me.
Hi! I have gotten botox for cosmetic purposes- actually got a top up this morning. My injector is a nurse practitioner and she advised me that over the years she has had quite a few people come to her with MS, so she was more than happy to work with me. I find it helps with my headaches/migraines- maybe I’m not frowning as much haha!
