Migraine
About Chronic Migrain
-
15+ days
15 or more days of experiencing headaches each month (also called headache days) -
4+ hours
Each headache lasts for 4 or more hours each day
Understanding Botox®
BOTOX® is a treatment that can be used to prevent headaches in adults with chronic migraine, and in fact, it has been shown to significantly reduce the number of headache days per month in migraine sufferers.
How BOTOX® works
BOTOX® is a muscle relaxant that is injected into the muscles or deep into the skin. It works by partially blocking the nerve impulses to any muscles that have been injected and reduces excessive contractions of these muscles. The muscle relaxation is reversible with a time-limited duration of effect.
In the case of chronic migrain, it is thought that BOTOX® blocks pain signals, which indirectly block the development of migraine.
How Botox is Administrated®
BOTOX® is given via an intramuscular (into the muscles) injection. In the case of chronic migrain, BOTOX is injected into 7 specific head and neck muscle areas that may be contributing to the development of headaches.
Your doctor will determine the number of injection sites required to treat your specific condition.
BOTOX® injection sites for chronic migrain include the areas shown here:
The recommended dose of BOTOX® is 155 units in 31 sites, but if your doctor thinks it is necessary, he or she may decide to inject additional units of BOTOX
It is recommended that you receive your BOTOX® treatments 12 weeks apart.
There are several possible explanations for a lack of or diminished response to an individual treatment with BOTOX®. These include: the dose given may not have been adequate, the selected areas of injection may not have beed appropriate or the muscles selected for injection may not have been easily accessible.
Should you feel that you had a lack of or diminished response from treatment, be sure to talk to your doctor.
Preparing for treatment
Keep in mind that:
What you should know before starting treatment
To help avoid side effects and to ensure propert use, talk to your doctor before talkin BOTOX about any health conditions or problems you may have if you:
- Have myasthenia gravis or Eaton Lambert Syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or another muscle disorder
- Are allergic or sensitive to BOTOX®
- Have an infection at a proposed injection site.
- Are taking or are likely to take antibiotics, especially aminoglycoside antibiotics.
- Are pregnant or planning to become pregnant while taking BOTOX®.
- Repeated doses of BOTOX given to rabbits during pregnancy have caused abortion or fetal malformations.
- Are nursing
- It is not known whether BOTOX is excereted in human milk, but many medications are excreted in human milk
The effects of BOTOX may be increased by:
- Aminoglycoside anitbiotics (e.g. streptomycin, tobramycin, neomycin, gentamicin, netilmycin, kanamycin, amikacin)
- Spectinomycin
- Polymyxins
- Tetracyclines
- Lincomycin
- Other medications that interfare with neuromuscular transmition.
Be sure to talk to your doctor about all medications you are talkin, incuding any vitamins, minerals, natural suppliments or alternative treatments.
BOTOX should not be used if you:
- Are allergic or sensitive to any of the ingredients.
- Have an infection in the muscles where it would normally be injected
- Have any muscle disorders in other parts of your body, including myasthenia gravis, Eaton lambert Syndrome or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
- Medicinal ingredients: OnabotulinumtoxinA for injection, a sterile form of purified botulinum neurotoxin type A complex.
Medicinal ingredients: OnabotulinumtoxinA for injection, a sterile form of purified botulinum neurotoxin type A complex
Non-medicinal ingredients:
Albumin and sodium chloride
If you are not sure if you are allergic to any of these ingredients, talk to your doctor.