From Ang: Who we are blown away by her courage and determination. Real not Rare, 2.
Follow Ang's journey on Instagram, as she navigates recovering from iatrogenic botulism poisoning, (IBP.)
𝓜 I want to share with you all what almost 3 months of a special kind of hell I've been living is like and what caused it.
After two ER visits, a 3 day hospital stay and countless testing, I was diagnosed with FND, (Functional Neurologic Disorder,) which couldn’t be further from the truth.
I, as well as my OBGYN, NP and PCP all suspected what this was a week after my hospital stay, even though I brought this up in the ER and hospital a few times. No one would listen. When something like this happens and because of the financial interest people have in these products, no one wants to admit that this rare, but not so "unlikely" thing can and DOES happen.
What I have is Dysport Toxicity. A severe reaction to botulinum toxin type A that causes systemic botulism, AKA "distant spread of toxin effect." Now finally, after nearly 3 months, it's officially recognized as my primary diagnosis in my medical records.
I've had hospital medical professionals try to tell me this was "panic," a "manifestation of something," that a reaction from injection is, “unlikely," (False, it's rare but not unlikely,) that my body might not know, "how to relax." (What in the actual f....,) "FND," (Hmmm bullsh*t,) and all sorts of other things that made absolutely NO sense.
I've jumped through testing hoops with my body suffering from a toxin, allowing the medical realm to search for more answers, when the answer had been in plain sight the entire time. I had SEVERAL severe side effects listed right on the black box warning. All within the timeframe of migration. I was dismissed for months.
Yep..for the sake of fine lines, wrinkles and neck cords.
I'll be honest, when that fountain of youth was so gloriously dangled in my face by society, I had no idea what I was consistently putting into my body, for YEARS! I was like, "sign me up," because if I could stay looking youthful, it must be worth it!
I don't even know what a 38 year old woman is supposed to look like at this point. Society told me that when my faced moved and when wrinkles started to appear, that it's not a good look. I should fix that. I believed it.
It is SO. DAMN. HARD. Being a woman. I looked forward to my injection visits like how Mother Gothel must feel when Rapunzel sings that one song to her, then all of a sudden she's young again and ready to go!
That was me, frozen in time and feeling like freshly printed money! Only the song I was being sung wasn't, "Healing Incantation."
I consider myself a veteran at getting these kind of injections, I've been getting them off and on for around 10+ years. I've only seen the best of the best of injectors. When society told me these injections were safe and effective, I believed it.
Safe means free of harm, but these products aren't free from harm. This product has a black box warning. It says you can have severe consequences, if it migrates into a system it's not intended to. It is effective..I will say that!
Botulinum toxin A is neurotoxin designed to inhibit the release of the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine from peripheral cholinergic nerve endings. The product doesn't "wear off," your nerve endings are permanently paralyzed. Then our body regenerates and create new paths to communicate, so when this spreads throughout the body, hold on to your tits because you're in for a wild ride! I never knew how this product worked and what could happen if it happens to cross over into your CNS, like it did in mine. How is that possible? By a mechanism called axonal retrograde transport. Everyone reading needs to know, this can happen to someone from injection of ANY commercial botulinum toxin A products. Botox, Xeomin, Jeuveau, and Daxxify ALL carry the exact same risk of systemic poisoning.
I know what some might say, "But I've never had a problem with it," or "But that's rare," and "Who did you go to? Maybe it was the injector?" Just don't. I'm gonna tell you to save all of that, because if you want me to run you in circles, I absolutely will.
I've had to fight for my health while being poisoned for almost 3 months with ZERO medical intervention. When I tell you I'm fed up with the bullsh*t, gaslighting, the ones that think they know more about my body than I do, and the ones that want to remain comfortable in their bubble of, "How great this stuff is." Instead, of recognizing what happened to me..I am as serious as the heart issues that I am having (due to this drug.) I will not tolerate being challenged by anyone!
It has nothing to do with, if you've never had a problem with it before, it has to do with the fact that you're pumping your body with a neurotoxin that is not meant to be in your body, EVER! Sometimes the body can no longer handle it, even after 10 years of use. Sometimes this happens the first time you use it!
At this point absolutely nothing can be done to help me. My body will just have to, "figure it out." Our bodies are brilliant though, and they do regenerate, but at what level? That remains unknown for me.
I have residual symptoms that may or may not be permanent. I have heart palpitations and flutters. My heart will sky rocket when I'm resting (the highest was 172 sitting,) and it makes me dizzy, nauseous, and it feels like I could pass out. I still have episodes of tremors, shortness of breath, trouble swallowing, all over body weakness, brain fog like no other and then some. I am better off than I was when this first happened back in December of 2023, but I am not the same.
Please know, that I'm not here to put anyone down, at the end of the day people will do as they wish and take their own risks.
I am here to share what has wreaked havoc on my entire being and to spread awareness. If you decide to do it, that's gonna be your business. You won't find me on your posts disrespecting your choices.
What happened to me is my business and I'm certainly going to be sharing it. If that makes you uncomfortable, that's also going to have to be your own business. If you want to learn about this, talk to me about it or know what to look out for..I'm an open book and welcome the conversation!
Lastly, I don't have a history of any of this. All of this started on 12/3/2023, 17 days after 189 units of Dysport injections. For the record I have been advised to never touch these products again as the outcome could be catastrophic, if I decided on a next time.
Then, I will not be pointing fingers and will not be shaming or sharing my providers information, because again, this doesn't have to do with that. This has to do with my personal experience, with Dysport.
I will conclude by saying, I do not recommend using botulinum toxin A products to anyone, for any reason. It is NOT worth the risk. I only know that now.
Thank you for sharing