POSTED UNDER Botox REVIEWS
44 First and Last Botox Experience, Not Eye Lid Droop but Some Eye Brow Droop and Swelling! No Thanks! - Bentonville, AR
ORIGINAL POST
Think really hard before you get botox girls! It...
Sterling80170April 20, 2016
$250
Think really hard before you get botox girls! It is not as straight forward as they would have you believe! First let me say I did my homework. I went to a very recommended dermatologist/ plastic surgeon who specializes in botox. She has been doing this for many many years. She has amazing reviews. I thought I would be safe! Boy was I wrong.
I have gotten a little ahead of myself; let me tell you the whole story! I wanted to do something nice for myself as I have had some recent tragic losses in my family. I have never had botox before; It was supposed to be a "momma makevover." I am 44 and had some wrinkles on my forehead that I didn't like. I decided I would take the botox plunge. I got Botox (Only twenty units) on the 5th of April. I have deep set eyes so I spent quite a while speaking with Dr. Clifton about my concerns about brow droop. She was careful to inject me in places that would not make my brows look heavier! When I woke up the next morning both my eyes were swollen, but I thought that it would go down in just a day or so. I I was told to expect a little puffiness. I tried all the normal things for puffiness: Cold spoons, cucumber, ice packs, the usual suspects. It had no affect on the swelling. After the fourth day I was still swollen and I called the clinic. They had me come back. Dr. Clifton looked at my eyes and told me I was having an allergic reaction. I was told to take zyrtec, benadryl, and I got steroids for the reaction.
14 Days post Botox I still had swelling, the steroids and antihistamines had very little effect. My eye brow ridge was swollen as well as my eye lids on both sides. I didn't have full on eye lid droop just really heavy lids ! My whole eye sockets have been swollen on both sides. My right side was worse. It also made my upper cheeks, eyebrows, and under my eye area swell. Dr Clifton, did an ultrasound procedure to help break up the edema I was having. (Edema is water retention that causes swelling, a common allergic response.) That has helped some. I am now 20 days post botox, I still have some swelling in both lids, and heavy looking eye brows. I look a little cave man-ish. I have now spent nearly three weeks walking around looking like a freak show. I have both laughed and cried about this at this point.
I am trying to keep my humor about this but going to work has been super embarrassing. I hate explaining to people what happened to me. I am almost back to the point I can wear makeup/ eye liner. I still don't look like myself, and I am having to use Instantly ageless, to keep my eyes under control enough to wear eye makeup. I am super disappointed in the way I look. Thankfully this should continue to improve as the botox wears off. I will NEVER NEVER DO THIS AGAIN! JUST BE AWARE THAT EVEN WITH A VERY QUALIFIED INJECTOR YOU CAN END UP WITH LARGE ISSUES!
The clinic I went to, Premier Dermatology, has been very easy to work with. They refunded me for the botox, and have been treating me for free. The down side is, I am still living with this wretched side effects.
I have gotten a little ahead of myself; let me tell you the whole story! I wanted to do something nice for myself as I have had some recent tragic losses in my family. I have never had botox before; It was supposed to be a "momma makevover." I am 44 and had some wrinkles on my forehead that I didn't like. I decided I would take the botox plunge. I got Botox (Only twenty units) on the 5th of April. I have deep set eyes so I spent quite a while speaking with Dr. Clifton about my concerns about brow droop. She was careful to inject me in places that would not make my brows look heavier! When I woke up the next morning both my eyes were swollen, but I thought that it would go down in just a day or so. I I was told to expect a little puffiness. I tried all the normal things for puffiness: Cold spoons, cucumber, ice packs, the usual suspects. It had no affect on the swelling. After the fourth day I was still swollen and I called the clinic. They had me come back. Dr. Clifton looked at my eyes and told me I was having an allergic reaction. I was told to take zyrtec, benadryl, and I got steroids for the reaction.
14 Days post Botox I still had swelling, the steroids and antihistamines had very little effect. My eye brow ridge was swollen as well as my eye lids on both sides. I didn't have full on eye lid droop just really heavy lids ! My whole eye sockets have been swollen on both sides. My right side was worse. It also made my upper cheeks, eyebrows, and under my eye area swell. Dr Clifton, did an ultrasound procedure to help break up the edema I was having. (Edema is water retention that causes swelling, a common allergic response.) That has helped some. I am now 20 days post botox, I still have some swelling in both lids, and heavy looking eye brows. I look a little cave man-ish. I have now spent nearly three weeks walking around looking like a freak show. I have both laughed and cried about this at this point.
I am trying to keep my humor about this but going to work has been super embarrassing. I hate explaining to people what happened to me. I am almost back to the point I can wear makeup/ eye liner. I still don't look like myself, and I am having to use Instantly ageless, to keep my eyes under control enough to wear eye makeup. I am super disappointed in the way I look. Thankfully this should continue to improve as the botox wears off. I will NEVER NEVER DO THIS AGAIN! JUST BE AWARE THAT EVEN WITH A VERY QUALIFIED INJECTOR YOU CAN END UP WITH LARGE ISSUES!
The clinic I went to, Premier Dermatology, has been very easy to work with. They refunded me for the botox, and have been treating me for free. The down side is, I am still living with this wretched side effects.
Sterling80170's provider
Replies (47)
May 4, 2016
Just curious as to if you are allergic or have a sensitivity with eggs?
May 4, 2016
No I don't, I have had the allergy test my only skin sensitivity was to adhesives.
May 6, 2016
November 27, 2016
I am still having issues with Botox, this has damaged my skin permanently and I went to Missy Clifton who is one the top ten botox list in the country. I will never be having botox ever again, nor would I encourage anyone to seek this out.
May 6, 2016
That's a shame. I love Botox but am im the midst of finding an honest 1 in my area.
July 28, 2016
Where did she inject you- what exact location in the forehead?
November 27, 2016
I only had 12 units, and I told her to avoid my areas that would make my eye brows heavy.
UPDATED FROM Sterling80170
28 days post
Nearly a month later and I am still suffering
Sterling80170May 3, 2016
Its now been a full month since I had botox. This was one of the worse decisions of my life. I am still struggling with the eye lid swelling and the eye brow droop! I have also developed some asymmetry in my eye brows. My left is now higher than my right. I just don't look like myself. I have summer trips coming up and its really embarrassing ! This is definitely not something I will ever do again. I am truly wishing for my old face back. Waiting three more months for this to go away seems like more than I can tolerate. I can't tell you how much I have cried about this. It is horrible to look like crap and have to go to work/ social occasions.
Replies (4)
May 4, 2016
I've been getting Botox for almost three years and I've never had swelling or pain after the injection. I bruise and swell really easy and I've gone to two different doctors with no problems. With the symmetry it is best to go to a doctor that actually uses Botox on themselves...they seem to be more precise. My doctor always tells me to give it 7-10 days to make sure my results are what I want and if it is not come back and she can "tweak" it. Luckily I've never had bad results from her. I've seen friends get too much and some looks like they need more. Although I know you don't want to get anymore...if you want more symmetry you may want to find a more experienced doctor and get more Botox so you can start to feel better. So sorry your experience was not pleasant.
May 5, 2016
She had a severe allergic reaction to the Botox...getting re-injected would make the problem exponentially worse. The droopiness is most likely from the edema and other side effects finally subsiding a little.
May 14, 2016
Hi backonpoint, although she was told to take Benadryl her symptoms are not common with anaphylaxis which is what an allergic reaction to the ingredients would have caused (swelling of the airway, difficulty breathing). Thanks for your comment though.....
December 26, 2016
Hang in there ypu will have better days ahead! I felt awful that first year! My face never recovered and has fallen.. But that sick feeling is no longer everyday.. I changed the way I wear my hair and sunglasses are God sent..
UPDATED FROM Sterling80170
28 days post
with photos a month out
Sterling80170May 3, 2016
As you can see in my photo with the blue hair, my right eye is so puffy the top of my eye droops over the lid. The other two photos were recent right before this. You can also see the bridge of my nose is still swollen looking , as is the area right above my eye brows. This is a month after the injection.
Replies (15)
May 3, 2016
Hey, thanks for sharing! First of all I think you are still pretty. But I understand your view. I made the same experience, my brow drooped and I have puffy eyes! I also said I don't want to get Botox cause of this disadvantage but the dr meant he would use so less that that wouldn't happen and I could still move my front head. I am two month post and I can't move anything... Looking like an angry mr spok if you know that movie....
My dr agreed got me a refund and recommended to use a lot of green tea, coenzyme Q10 and I use spirulina and aspirine. And doing a lot of sports should be useful to have an active body to fight the botulinum toxine. In my opinion wearing a pony tail is a good way to look a bit more like before... Wish you all the best and hope to hear good news from you!
My dr agreed got me a refund and recommended to use a lot of green tea, coenzyme Q10 and I use spirulina and aspirine. And doing a lot of sports should be useful to have an active body to fight the botulinum toxine. In my opinion wearing a pony tail is a good way to look a bit more like before... Wish you all the best and hope to hear good news from you!
May 4, 2016
I am with you on this! I discussed my concerns about brow droop as well and that is why I only got the twenty units. I am so glad........If I had more I can only imagine how bad it could have been. So sorry to hear you are looking like Spock! I know how hard it is to look different than you are used to. I am still having better and worse days where the swelling increases/ decreases. Hopefully this will wear off soon! It's definitely been hard on my self esteem! I wish you all the best, keep me updated on how you are progressing!
May 4, 2016
Sorry to hear about this. I have thought about getting Botox in the fore head but I have not yet. I am using something by skinceuticsls called B5 gel I put it under my moisturizer then I put a dab of it on top of my moisturizer .is not Botox but it does make the lines better!
May 4, 2016
Pics are lovely. I would not have known !
May 4, 2016
Thanks so much Angie! I have been doing the best I can to hide it! I am using a lot of creams and heavy makeup to try to disguise the asymmetry and droop!
May 4, 2016
Hello. I so understand your dissapoinment. I am 48, an esthetician and have received botox more than a dozen times with at least 6 different injectors. There are injectors who are better than others and personally I prefer a Dr always as I feel they are more knowledgable. No disservice to any Other injectors this is just my experience. With all that being said an allergic reaction has nothing to do with the injector... it's all you! I realize the Dr could have done a patch test first to see if you have any issues but the chances are so rare for a allergic reaction I have never heard of that being done. I myself had a allergic reaction to the numbing cream used when doing fillers in the past. Same response...Benadryl, Zyrtec, etc. I ended up going on steroids and was miserable for a while but this had nothing to do with the injector but the fact that my body has an allergy to the numbing cream. Also, recently had a botox experience with a slightly droopy lid...I hated it and wished I would have used my normal injector but hey...it is in the fine print and &@?! happens. Great news is it wears off eventually!! Hang in there it will get better!! Botox is really absolutely amazing and can shave 10 years off!!
May 4, 2016
Thanks for your comment. I am taking it day by day, some days I am more swollen and terrible looking than others. I try to work from home on the worst days! I do realize botox can shave years off, but honestly I would rather look older than like I went five rounds with a prize fighter. I know experience with botox varies, but in research I have found the problems with botox are much more frequent than is reported!
May 14, 2016
it wil take a while. two months from now you may begin to enjoy the results. I had a nasty botox experience twice , second time ( end of November 2015) less ugly. Each time it took a while for it to dissipate enough to produce a good result. I am not excluding trying it again.
Thank you for sharing your experience here on RealSelf. I hope you find support here in the community.