Ohio woman issues warning after Botox injection left her with horrible side effects for years
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: SWNS
A mom who got Botox after noticing wrinkles during a Zoom call was left unable to breathe 12 hour after getting injected, and was still breaking out in hives two years later.
Jen Hauer, 41, had only tried Botox once before when she started struggling to breathe and swallow following her appointment.
She Googled her symptoms and realised it could be botulism, a life-threatening condition which, according to the NHS, can be caused when too much botulinum toxin (Botox) enters the system.
The marketing coordinator from Cincinnati, Ohio, forced herself to lie awake for the entire night as she was terrified she would die if she fell asleep, but decided not to go to the hospital, as she felt embarrassed.
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For the next month, Jen had intense migraines and pain in her jaw, and for two years after her appointment, she would come out in hives after eating certain foods.
She never went to the doctors about her condition, as she feared they would not believe her, and she will never use Botox again.
She is now calling for more awareness of the risks associated with getting Botox, and is advising people that it is not worth risking their health over.
The mom-of-three said: "I should have taken myself to the hospital, but I felt embarrassed. I didn’t think anyone would believe me.
"I stayed up the entire night. I was so scared I would die in my sleep.
"I remember thinking I would never again risk my health just to try and look physically better for everybody else. It’s absolutely not worth it.
"I would never get it again, and would encourage people not to, it’s like playing Russian roulette with your health. What if I did die, or lost the ability to swallow?
"It could have changed the whole course of mine and my family’s life, just because I didn’t want wrinkles on my face. It seemed selfish to me."
During the COVID pandemic, in 2020, Jen, who was then 35, began working from home and found herself constantly examining her own face on Zoom calls.
"I was seeing myself up close, and I started to feel insecure about the wrinkles around my eyes," she said.
When lockdown restrictions lifted in her area in May 2020, Jen booked herself in for an appointment.
As it was her first time, Jen got a very small amount of Botox, just three units in each eye, which was administered by a nurse practitioner.
"I couldn’t really tell a huge difference," she said.
Jen, who has a history of autoimmune disorder, was worried that she might have a reaction to the Botox, but since she felt fine after the first injections, she went back to get more in December 2020.
Feeling confident, this time she went for four to five units of Botox in her forehead, as well as around her eyes.
That evening, just as Jen was heading to bed, she started struggling to breathe and to swallow.
She said: "I couldn’t catch my breath, I thought, 'What’s going on, did I not drink enough water?'"
Realising that her symptoms may have something to do with the Botox which had been administered earlier that day, Jen Googled the side effects of the injectable and realised that it can cause difficulty breathing and swallowing.
Anyone suffering from these rare but severe Botox side effects should seek medical attention immediately.
But despite her panic, Jen decided not to go to the hospital and to 'tough it out', instead staying awake all night as she was scared that she might die in her sleep.
She drank pint after pint of water in an attempt to 'flush out' the Botox from her system, and by morning, her breathing was returning to normal.
However, for the next month, Jen had regular migraines, and her whole face ached intensely.
"I’d never had anything like that before, I never get migraines, so it must have been from the Botox," she said.
She also developed histamine issues and would come out in hives after eating foods high in histamines, such as chocolate.
A 2023 study on the effects of botulinum toxin injection by professors at UCL found that 69 percent of those surveyed reported having long-term effects, including histamine and autoimmune issues.
"It took me a while to connect that that was also connected to the Botox," she said. "I healed myself by drinking bone broth and lemon water and eating a whole food diet."
It was two years before Jen felt herself fully again, and she is now advising people against getting Botox themselves.
"There needs to be more awareness around the risks; they never read the side effects to me or told me what to watch out for," she said.
"I just want to educate women and help them understand that it’s not worth losing your health over."
Following her health scare, Jen said she has become much more body positive and has embraced natural ageing.