don't do it!!!! - Edmonds, WA

Six months post Botox. It's VERY SLOWLY wearing off, but my left eyelid is still hooded, sagging and drooping (with extra folds), which it NEVER WAS BEFORE THE BOTOX injections. My "elevens" are back, so I assume most of the Botox is gone. I fear I am stuck with this eyelid now, as well as the horrible long vertical wrinkles that extend down through both eyebrows every morning (also never had those before) unless I use "Frownies" at night. Never thought I'd have to go to bed with brown paper stuck all over my face, and if they aren't in the exact right spot, you get other creases because of that. I am still praying for my old face back. It was better than this one. In the meantime, I took advantage of a coupon for Ultherapy (see my other nightmare posts on that) in hopes it would help. It was expensive, EXTREMELY PAINFUL, I was dreadfully ill afterward, my forehead and scalp are still very sore and tender, and I would never have done it if not for the botched botox.
I'm sooooo weary of all of this.

Update: 13 Weeks (about 3 months) post bad botox injections in forehead. It supposedly lasts 3-9 months.

I continue using my home version Galvanic Spa (by Nuskin) three times a week. It helps lift my eyelids on the days that I use it.

Some of the botox is starting to wear off...in particular, the tiny injections that she put over the outsides of my eyebrows after she over-injected the middle of my forehead and "Spocked me" (her words).

The supposedly "conservative amount" that she put between my eyebrows in the frown lines (which turned out to be waaaaay too much) is very slowly lessening, and I have a tiny bit more movement in my forehead now, and my eyelids aren't quite as droopy. BUT, because the middle part of my forehead still doesn't move, while the outsides do, and because I'm a side sleeper, I have very deep vertical creases that run down through the middle of my eyebrows every morning. Because this has been happening for three months now, the creases are becoming permanent and don't relax or go completely away during the day. I've tried taping these areas before bed, but my forehead just wrinkles up elsewhere and looks bizarre.

I also still have the other eyelid wrinkles that I did NOT have before which start at the inner eye and "splay" across the eyelids. These are because there is still a lot of botox in the lower middle of my forehead and between my eyes and those areas now sag, which means I can't hold my eyes open, so the extra folds of skin bunch up.

My forehead is STILL "numb" and leaden (feels heavy, like it's hanging down, which it IS). I've forgotten what my "old" eyes used to look like (bright and open). They were a great canvas for dramatic eye makeup. I haven't been able to wear hardly any since this nightmare began. All I can do is some liner at the base of the lashes and mascara. My droopy eyes have also been more susceptible to allergy irritation.

My class reunion is coming up, and the prom queen won't be going. I look at least ten years older than I did last year because of what this doctor did to me. HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT, AND STILL WANT TO WARN EVERYONE ABOUT IT. THERE'S NO WAY RISKING THIS DISFIGUREMENT AND PRE-MATURE AGING OF YOUR EYES IS WORTH 'SOFTENING' A FEW WRINKLES.

2 Months Post Injections Update

Botox still very obvious in my forehead, which feels like it has permanent Novocaine. It makes me nauseous to focus on it, so I try very hard not to think about it. The tiny amount she injected higher on my forehead over the outer ends of my eyebrows to correct the "Spock" effect created by the original injections over my nose in the frown lines, is wearing off faster than the original injections between my eyes, so when I raise my eyebrows (which I can do a tiny bit now), there are deep wrinkles and puckering over my outer eyebrows that weren't there before. My eyelids are still hooded and droopy and have an extra fold now that I didn't have before.

At my age (63, though I used to look 50), I don't know if the skin will recover. Because my eyebrows have now "fallen," I also have extra new crows' feet type wrinkles on the insides of my upper eyelids (next to my nose) which I did not have before. Don't know if they will go away after this or not, either. As the middle third of my forehead is frozen, and the outside two thirds not, when I wake up every morning I now have deep prominent vertical lines that extend from the middle of my forehead, down through my eyebrows and onto the tops of the eyelids on both sides. Obviously, that happens because I'm a side-sleeper. Never had even a hint of these lines before. VERY aging.

I continue to use my Galvanic Spa (a home-version from NuSkin) almost daily, and it makes a huge difference. My eyelids are completely droopy before a treatment and are significantly lifted afterward. Still nothing close to my normal appearance. I used to love making up my eyes with shadows, liner, etc..for the big, smoky effect. All I can do now is put on dark liner and mascara in hopes of looking less old and tired. I can hardly wait for this poison to completely go away, and pray that I will again have full function of my forehead muscles, which I read on a doctor's blog that an older person NEEDS to keep their eyes more open.

If you're 50 or older, you should know that Botox will disable those muscles and your eyebrows will drop as a result...which definitely does not make you look younger! I would NEVER, had I been informed, have opted for fallen eyebrows and droopy eyelids in trade for fewer wrinkles in my forehead. I didn't have that many, and was told that the Botox would just "soften" the frown lines. The irony is that the frown lines are still very prominent, but frozen.

Still hating it, but getting through it. Scared I won't completely recover. Looking into Ultherapy now.