Day 7
It's been exactly one week since I had my Botox injections and it's time to update you guys on my progress. Now keep in mind that I still have another week before the full effect of the injections takes place.
The main thing that I am noticing right now is that my legs feel alot lighter. It doesn't feel like I'm dragging around 100 pound weights on each leg anymore. Also, as a result of that, my mid-section (abs/stomach, core) don't hurt as much. I guess before it took so much energy to lift and move my legs forward that I had to use my core muscles which, caused alot of pain and discomfort. My stride has also become a little longer and my balance has slightly improved. It feels like I'm walking a little smoother compared to stomping my feet around like Frankenstien.
The true test came today when I went to the gym to workout my legs. This is the first time since the injections. I normally try to do 10 minutes on the elliptical machine at about 138-148 strides per minute. Usually after about 7 minutes my legs start to hurt like crazy and I have to use the arm bars to take some of the weight of my body off of my legs. The past couple of weeks my legs have become so tight that I've had to stop after seven minutes due to the extreme pain. Well today, I went the full 10 minutes at 150-160 strides per minute and I finished really strong.
I did really bad on the reverse leg curls which works the hamstring (where I got the injections). I normally curl 80 pounds 20 times. Today I could barely do that much. I guess the injections have relaxed that muscle to the point I lost a little strength. That's okay I'm willing to deal with that.
I have an appointment with my neuro next Thursday for an evaluation on the Botox. He will also probably start taking me off the Baclofen. I will report back then with his findings and any other improvements that I have noticed.