A TERRIFIED woman suffered a rare botox complication which paralyzed her neck muscles and left her choking on her own spit and unable to lift her head.
Alicia Hallock, 36, had Botox injections to treat migraines for five years before experiencing “terrifying” side effects after the anti-freeze drug spread to the muscles in her neck.
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In February, the mom posted a photo of her arm attached to an IV on Instagram, sharing that she had been admitted to the hospital after her routine treatment.
“It’s been a scary week to say the least,” Alicia wrote.
“I ended up having a rare complication from botox injections for my migraines.
“It spread to my neck muscles and now it’s causing a lot of problems. My eyelids are droopy, causing a lot of pressure, blurred vision and dizziness.
“The muscles in my neck are practically paralyzed so I can’t lift my head.
“I have to wear a neck brace to keep my head up. I just go crazy without it.”
Alicia also experienced an even scarier side effect from her Botox injection.
“It also caused dysphagia, which was the scariest part of it all,” she wrote.
“I had a few days where I was choking on sips of water and even my own saliva.”
Dysphagia describes when you have difficulty swallowing, usually caused by certain medications or conditions such as acid reflux or stroke.
It can lead to symptoms such as:
- Coughing or choking when eating or drinking
- Bring food back, sometimes through the nose
- A feeling that food is stuck in your throat or chest
- A gurgling, wet voice when eating or drinking
Alicia shared that she was moved to the ICU to be under constant observation and that “they put tubes in my throat to get all the mucus stuck in my lungs and throat.”
“I can barely speak. It’s muddled and hoarse,” Mom continued.
“They have a speech therapist to try to help retrain the muscles and see what we can do for my vocal cords.”
Alicia said she had been seeing the same nurse at a neurology clinic for nearly five years, at three-month intervals.
The popular anti-wrinkle drug had helped relieve her migraines and had never caused any problems in the past.
The troubling symptoms appeared after botox was injected into a specific muscle in her neck for the first time.
But doctors weren’t sure why the Botox spread or why it suddenly reacted so badly.
Ms Hallock began experiencing symptoms such as a stiff neck within three days of the injections, which gradually worsened over the course of Next week.
He said he waited “stupidly” nine days to go to hospital, where he was immediately admitted to ICU.
“Scary scary and totally winning”
Alicia came back with another update a few days later, saying she “temporarily stopped breathing” after doctors tried to suction mucus from her throat.
“They had to put me in bags to raise my oxygen levels and keep me from tanning. It was extremely scary,” she wrote.
“I’m relatively well now, but I’m on oxygen. I’ve had a few less severe episodes since then.”
Using Botox for migraines
BOTOX is a type of nerve toxin that paralyzes muscles derived from a bacterium known as Clostridium botulinum.
It is regularly used to stop the formation of wrinkles, but is also licensed as a chronic migraine treatment in the UK for adults.
It’s not clear why Botox is effective in migraines, according to the Migraine Trust.
However, doctors believe it works by blocking chemicals called neurotransmitters that carry pain signals from your brain.
Botox aims to reduce how often you get migraine attacks and how severe they are.
Most people have at least two treatment cycles before deciding whether Botox is effective.
Although generally well tolerated, it can sometimes cause side effects such as neck pain, muscle weakness, and drooping eyelids.
These side effects are temporary because the treatment wears off over time.
Botox is only available on the NHS for people with chronic migraine who have tried at least three other preventative treatments.
Doctors were concerned that Alicia might develop botulism – a very rare but life-threatening condition usually caused by eating food containing clostridium botulinum bacteria
These bacteria produce highly poisonous toxins that attack the nerves, brain and spinal cord and cause paralysis.
But in Alicia’s case, doctors feared the migraine treatment could trigger the sometimes fatal condition.
The drug in Botox injections is made from the same toxin that causes botulism (but they are purified and meet medical control standards).
Alicia said: “One doctor had treated food-borne botulism, but no one involved in my care had ever seen it from Botox injections.”
He said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent a special botulism antitoxin to try to reduce the effects.
She was also placed on a feeding tube so she could be given medication and soft foods.
A distraught Alicia wrote: “This was terrifying and terrifying and a complete winner.
“There were times when I cried hysterically and told Brian and my mum and my nurses that I don’t know how to deal with this. I don’t think I can.”
Fortunately, mom was released from the hospital after 18 days and went home to continue her recovery.
“I’ll be doing some basic exercises at home, but I won’t be able to safely resume physical therapy and outpatient therapy until four to six weeks from now, when the Botox starts to wear off more and I can use and rebuild strength in my neck muscles. she explained.
After a week at homemom shared that she was doing “very well” and was able to swallow soups and mashed potatoes.
Still wearing her neck brace, she thanked her followers for their concern.
Because Alicia’s reaction to Botox was so rare, the hospital is doing a case study on her case.
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