caitgrania

Botox-Never Again! - Paramus, NJ

Hi ladies - I had botox in crows feet on 12/7 and developed bags and wrinkles under my eyes when I smiled. I mostly recovered although I will never have my previous face back. I am 42 and I think my age has a lot to do with it. But - I think I am the only one who really notices the difference. I have the starburst effect under my eyes when I smile now, which I never had before. I never had any wrinkles under my eyes, only in the crows feet. I just try to take care of myself - drink lots of water, eat well, exercise a lot. Slather my face in cream to keep it hydrated. For 42 I look pretty good, I just looked better before and I know I prematurely aged my face. I can live with it and just go on and enjoy my life. I'd rather have the wrinkles and experience real joy than be frozen and miserable like I was post-botox. I admit to being tempted to get botox just in my forehead/between my brow but I'm scared that I'll have another bad reaction.

Valerie - I think about you a lot - please post back after your appt with the surgeon. I have read here that for some people it took a year to get their faces back. I have to believe that you are close to turning the corner. What a nightmare.

Crazyface, I know exactly what you are feeling. I didn't smile for weeks, felt trapped in my own face, had panic attacks, etc. Hid behind glasses, avoided eye contact. Awful! I'd say the worst was at about 3 weeks and then it slowly got better from there. Around 7-8 weeks is when I saw real improvement and started to feel like me again. You will get there and we will help you. In the meantime, drink tons of water, exercise (sweat that stuff out!), eat lots of fruits/vegetables, sit in the steam room. A few products that helped me - Fresh lotus eye gel and keihls avocado eye cream. I was never without them in my bag and constantly applied. Go get a facial. I tried acupuncture and while I'm not sure it really helped at least it relaxed me. Check in and let us know how you are.

Hi Natalie sorry to hear that this happened to you too - I had the same result. I had 5 units injected on each side for crow's feet, and also did the 11s between my brow and forehead. I developed the dreaded eye bags and wrinkles under my eyes when I smiled. I was miserable and I completely understand what you are going through. Good news is that it does get better.

I can't say that the bags/wrinkles are completely gone 5 months out but they aren't nearly as bad as they were and no one but me notices. I am 42 years old so that has to be taken into account too - if you are younger I think you will make a full recovery. By 8 weeks I had seen a lot of improvement, to the point where I wasn't obsessing over it and felt comfortable going out in public and looking people directly in the eye. Until then I hid behind dark rimmed glasses and avoided smiling - not good. My advice is to drink tons of water and exercise as much as you can - sweat that stuff out! I also slathered my under eye area with creams to keep the skin hydrated - the skin under my eyes felt very irritated after the injections and I found that Fresh Lotus Eye Gel and Kiehls Avocado eye cream both were great for sensitive skin. Also, on a rec I read here (I think), I bought Earth Therapeutics Cucumber Eye pads that seemed to help with the swelling a bit.

If you can, push back the bridal photos a few weeks so that you will feel more confident. I am certain that others didn't notice my bags and wrinkles as much as I did but it really affected my self esteem and I felt that I looked so much older than before I got botox. I have a new appreciation for my crow's feet - I love to smile and laugh and really hated the restrictive feeling I had after the botox. I also had a pull under my left eye which is gone for the most part but if I get little sleep or have a bad allergy day I can still feel it.

Hang in there, it will wear off and you will be back to your normal self. Good luck.

Hi all - just checking in to see how you all are and to wish the moms a Happy Mother's Day. Hope everyone is well and seeing lots of improvement.

Laura, I think I started seeing real improvements around the 8-10 week mark and slow improvements after that. You will get there!

Janine, glad to hear you had a great Easter. Its so nice to hear you happy and upbeat after the botox nightmare. :)

My upper eyelids have wrinkles on them that were never there before. I get upset when I think about it so I try not to. I can't believe what a botched job your MD did on you. It is amazing to me that doctors don't advise on the possible side effects. I asked my derm if botox would change my smile and she flat out said no. Such a hideous lie.

I think acupuncture is worth a try. I've been going weekly for a few months. If nothing else it helps with the anxiety I have over all of this. It also could help you with allergies, which definitely contributes to the puffiness in the eyes.