Cathelijne's personal experience
“Severe headaches. As a child, I had occasional mild headaches, but as I got older, I started having more and more severe headache attacks. And my doctor, unfortunately, could not help me.
Various therapists. When I turned 14, I visited several therapists, including a homeopath, a chiropractor and an acupuncturist. After each visit to a therapist, I thought that my headaches were diminishing slightly, which ultimately were not. Still it was not clear that I was suffering from migraines.
Migraine caused by hormones. It wasn’t until I was 18 that someone pointed out to me that there was a doctor in Amersfoort who specialized in migraines. I made an appointment, and immediately this doctor found out that I was suffering from migraines, and that it was caused by the pill/hormones. I was advised to stop taking the pill. I did this and it appeared to help, but after a few months the migraines returned.
Migraine medications. The moment it was clear that I had migraines, I immediately contacted my own doctor. He prescribed me Maxalt (with the active ingredient Rizatriptan). These pills helped very well.
Choosing between “medicine headaches” and migraines. But after I ordered the medication for the umpteenth time in a short period of time, the doctor called me to say that I did use a lot of Maxalt. My doctor thought I was most likely starting to develop drug headaches as well. But I made a choice. Do I not take Maxalt because I develop medicine headaches, or do I take 1 pill and the migraine is quickly gone. Then the choice is quickly made for me.
Appointment for Botox. At that time, I was taking Maxalt(rizatriptan) for about four days in a “bad” week. Then my sister-in-law, who also suffers from migraines, told me that she had heard that botox might help against migraines and that she was going to do it. I thought what’s not shot is always wrong, so I made an appointment with Dr. Tom van Eijk. My sister was already treated by him for teeth grinding and that went fine.
I first checked on the internet whether Botox actually worked against headaches. This was the case, I saw a number of (including scientific) articles stating that Botox can be a good solution.
The atmosphere in Tom van Eijk ‘s clinic was very good, the lady who received me was very friendly. I entered and immediately I was offered a cup of tea, then I was given detailed information on paper.
The treatment. Doctor Tom asked me how severe the migraine was and that there were 2 possible treatment options, either just my forehead (frown, above my eyes and at the crow’s feet) or both my forehead and my neck/the back of my head (just below the hairline). I chose the first option. If this didn’t work, I could always choose to do the back of my head as well. He told me exactly where he was going to inject the Botox and before I knew it, it was done. I did not feel most of the punctures, only in the sensitive areas (near a scar).
The migraines stayed pretty much gone! Botox treatment works for me for about four months. After the four months I made another appointment, then I was helped the same way again and the genuine interest remained. Moreover, this interest was shown not only in me but also to the other “patients. In the treatment room, they asked how the past 4 months had been, whether the migraines had diminished, etc., and then explained again where the migraines were injected. This was also true for the 3rd treatment.
I am now about 1.5 half years along and I still only have migraines once a month, instead of 3 or 4 times a week! But this usually has a cause, such as menstruation or stress. And my frown disappeared right away too :).”
Kind regards,
Cathalijne Mooy