Turn for the Worse

On April 20th, 2022 I had my Botox for Migraine as usual. I get it every three months. It's a big deal when I'm eligible to have it done again as I'm usually a good month past needing it. This time I felt I was around six weeks past needing it.

Each time I get it the results are different. But typically every other time it is a solid 6-8 weeks of no migraine headaches and greatly reduced other symptoms (like aura's, vertigo and other vision issues.) The last two times were a bit of a dud, so I had high expectations for this round.

This must have been what Norm felt like rolling into Cheers every day.

This Botox session was different from the start. It hurt a lot more and I bled a lot, which had never happened before.

So that was April 20th.

Two days later on April 22nd a small blood vessel burst in my left eye. No big deal. I call the left my "bad side" because that's where I had brain surgery three short years ago. Although I haven't had a burst blood vessel in my eye in five years.

Three days later I could tell I was getting some kind of mouth and tongue infection. It felt like thrush maybe? But I had blistering too. Shit was starting to get a little strange.

Blisters under my tongue.

Webbing and redness inside my cheeks.

"Geographic tongue" (the spotting) and coating.

I tried treating it myself with salt water gargles, but by May 3rd it was bad enough for me to just go to my local Urgent Care. The doctor there wasn't so sure it was thrush and thought it might be an autoimmune reaction. She prescribed me two disgusting mouth washes and I went along with my life.

When I went in I had tongue pain, a sore throat and pain deep in my left ear.

Just four days later on May 7th, a large blood vessel AGAIN in my left eye burst. WTF! Now I was getting a little freaked out. I messaged my doctor and he confirmed it was just a burst blood vessel. Nothing to do but wait it out. It wasn't painful. Just a little itchy. And I felt like I looked like a zombie for Mother's Day. How fun!

My husband took this graphic picture for me.

It looks like it burst up, then the blood trickled down.

Nasty!

You'd think that would be the end of it.

But wait! There's more!

Now the excruciating migraine headaches started.

The first one lasted 24 hours. From May 9th-10th. I took my usual trio of medications to try and help. Compazine (for pain), Naratriptan (for nausea) and 1,000mg of Ibuprofen (just over the counter stuff.) I call it my "trio of helpers." I can't take them more than three times a week though. 

The second migraine was thwarted by the "trio of helpers" and only lasted five hours. That was the very next day on May 11th. On May 12th I was hit again, but couldn't take my meds so close together, so I tried to ride it out. Nope. Now I was getting scared. On the 1-10 pain scale I was at about an 8 and seriously considering going to the hospital. 

During the middle of the night on May 12th I awoke in the middle of the night to the familiar tingling feeling of a fever blister forming on my top lip. I hustled to the bathroom to dig out my herbal treatment and "doctored" it. Shaking my head I went back to bed. 

Hello fever blister.

Welcome to the party!

During the night on both the 12th and 13th it felt like something was draining down my throat. I started to wonder if I had formed some kind of abscess from one of my shots and it was draining now? The pain in my left inner ear was worse, but that could be from some kind of inflammation or pinched nerve. I was also now 100% sure that my poor immune system was being severely compromised. 

My nurse practitioner who did the Botox shots has ordered a shot of Compazine and Toradol for the head pain. I wanted to go and get it yesterday before the weekend hit, but my insurance didn't approve it yet. Seriously!?! She also ordered me a nasal spray to try through our local compound pharmacy. But it's a special order and will take some time to create for me. As much as I appreciate her solutions, it's not helping me right now. 

Today is May 14th and I'm typing this with a fever blister, migraine headache (though it is slowly improving) left ear pain, mouth discomfort and a sore throat. I'm constantly torn between trying to "ride it out" and going to the hospital. I also can't stand not knowing what's going on with my body. I like answers and solutions. 

UPDATE (June 1st):

So I believe I had a severe sinus infection that I just couldn't feel because of the Botox. What a weird thing to have happen. I suspect it was caused by my BiPap machine, so I have completely stopped using it.

After three days of "drainage" (nice word for puss) down my throat all night long I felt much better and the pressure was off my ear. I think the pressure from the infection caused those blood vessels to burst in my eye. Then my body fighting the infection caused all the other things (tongue issues, fever blister, etc...)

I had my doctor test me for sepsis just to be on the safe side. Everything was negative. I still have a strange rash that he'll check out for me Friday. I was pretty sick for almost the entire month of May. I may never know what really caused it, but I'm being much more cautious now. I'm also very impressed that my body fought it off all by itself.