Thursday, April 19, 2012

Botox and Heart Palps

The two months or so I have been experiencing heart palpitations several times a day, lasting up to 3-4 hours! Pretty scary! I saw my cardiologist about it, and he assured  me that as long as I wasn't experiencing shortness of breath, chest pain or other related symptoms that the palpitations were nothing to worry about. This eased my mind a bit, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about the cause of the palpitations. What had I been doing/eating/taking that I hadn't been three months ago?  I thought maybe it was the Butterbur but I quit taking it and the palpitations did not go away. I wondered if it had something to do with going off the Topamax. Then..

Today when I visited a migraine forum, I clicked on a link to a Botox support group page and discovered that tachycardia (rapid heart rate, palpitations) was a side effect of Botox injections that many people have experienced! Reading that floored me--my increased palpitations started shortly after my first round of Botox and I just received a second round on the 4th of April and the palpitations have been really bad all month!
Now, though, I feel a bit relieved that I think I found the reason for the tachycardia, I am royally pissed off! Why didn't my neurologist warn me that this was a possible (and fairly usual) side effect of the Botox?! If I had known this, I would never have gotten it done! So, now, what?!

7 comments:

  1. Hi, found your blog on the migraine forum. Just wondering why you have or have not tried propanolo - my neurologist is really pushing it. Thanks,
    evary

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  2. I have tried propanolol. It did nothing for me. How's it working for you?

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  3. So far I don't think it's working. In fact, I think it may be giving some strange side effects, as well as dizziness.

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    1. I've noticed the dizziness, too! And, muscle cramping. Have you experienced that? What other side effects have you noticed?

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  4. You should definitely be pissed off because your physician should have told you about any side effect of this treatment before performing it.
    When I went for my first botox Ottawa session they made a set of investigations to see if I'm allergic to a botox component or if I have some other health problems that can increase the risk of side effects.
    Only after everything prove to be OK they performed the procedure, and it was a treatment for wrinkles and not for migraines that is more demanding....

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  5. Thanks for your reply. I probably don't need to tell you this, but I will NEVER go back to that particular doctor again nor will I ever get another Botox injection.

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  6. Here is a link to more info. and personal experiences with heart palpitations or tachycardia associated with migraines:
    http://botoxsupportcommunity.com/tachycardia-2.

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