[at-l] Botox update

[jbryankramer@xxxxxxx (J Bryan Kramer)]

Some of you asked to hear how the botox injections I got in my back and neck
turned out. Well I got the back injection around mid-January and it
basically wore off last week. I just got another set of injections in the
back Wednesday. For the 9 weeks that it was effective I would have to rate
it as very effective, it essentially completely alleviated the pain I've had
in that area for years. My problem comes from some nerve root irritation
near the spine which effects a thoracic nerve and one set of muscles that it
enervates.

I've been given all sorts of drugs and other treatments, PT, massage,
exercises, ultrasound, electrozaps and God knows what else with no real
effect except for some help from massage and some benefit from one drug
delivery device: Lidoderm patches.

I think the Lidoderm desires a bit of comment: these are skin patches, maybe
4 inches by 2 inches that contain 5% Lidocaine (procaine or novacaine). You
slap a patch on the problem area and the Lidocaine diffuses into the skin
and numbs it up fairly well. I'd say they are maybe 50% effective for back
pain. YMMV I am definitely carrying some of these on any long hikes, they
don't work too well on hairy patches of hide so carrying a throw away razor
would make sense. I think they'd work on any painful spots but maybe not too
well on joints where they'd probably fall off from all the motion. You can
cut them up in small patches and stick them on areas like that though. No
side effects but the doc made some comment about how damn expensive they
are, my insurance is covering them 100% so I don't know the cost. I can't
find a cost on the net I'll ask my pharmacist next time I see him.

My doc is trying to get the botox to last for 90 days so he adjusted the
dose this time. I got neck/shoulder injections about a month ago and they
are also working well. The doc wants to get both areas synchronized so I
don't have to run back for shots all the time.

Like the Lidoderm I have no idea what this botox is costing. But I
personally am very enthused about it. When it wore off it was a big shock, I
forgot what my back normally feels like.

Bryan

 "The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the sheep
thanks the shepherd as a
liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of
liberty."  Abraham Lincoln