Mother issues urgent warning after she was left paralysed following routine Botox top-up
Amanda Wolaver, 33, from Goodhope, Georgia, thought she was 'slowly dying' when her 'severe' headaches left her unable to move and made her housebound for months.
The sales director had gone for her routine anti-wrinkle injection in her face to smooth out her crow's feet, eleven lines and forehead, and went to sleep early because she had developed a migraine.
But the next morning, she had to go to the hospital as she 'couldn't function or string sentences together'.
A CT scan in 2023 showed her symptoms had 'nothing to do with the injections' even though she would eventually find that not to be the case.
Amanda went on to have spinal tap surgeries and had a heart monitor implanted to find the cause, with doctors suspecting MS or an autoimmune disease.
She could not cook her children's meals or leave the house, becoming wholly dependent on her husband, Josh, 39, as strong smells or loud noises would trigger her dizziness.
'It was the worst decision I've ever made. I couldn't be the mother I wanted for my three children,' she admitted.
The mother of Landen, 16, Braxton, 11, and Havyn, five, said she was unable to walk, move or drive.
In the end, she had to fork out more than £22,000 in March 2025 on tests for an MRI to confirm she had experienced TIA strokes - temporary disruptions of blood flow to the brain - and was suffering from iatrogenic botulism, a rare condition where toxins attack the nervous system and cause paralysis, according to the NHS.
This was caused by botulinum neurotoxins, which are the active ingredient in the neurotoxins Botox and Dysport, which the mother had been injected with for the first time.
Dysport is an anti-ageing compound with the same ingredients as Botox, but is said to have longer-lasting effects.
'That knocked me back,' the mother said, 'to be told I had suffered from multiple small strokes in my brain made me think that this would eventually kill me.'
Two years on, she still is not fully recovered and is waiting for time to detoxify her body, as there is no specific treatment.
Ms Wolaver changed her diet completely to manage her symptoms, cutting out caffeine and soda, as well as having her breast implants removed to let her body detoxify fully.
She hopes that by sharing her story, she highlights the risks so that the same thing will not happen to others.
It was, after all, her sleuthing in the Botox forum that led her to stumble on botulinum neurotoxins and directed her to ask her doctor for the test.
'I learned the cost of beauty the hard way,' she said, and admitted she had finally embraced her wrinkles.
It comes after a woman revealed insight into the process of having lip filler dissolved - and admitted that she was left looking 'botched'.
Georgia Goldstein travelled to Hart Medical in Westminster, London, a few months ago to undergo the procedure.
While she said that it was 'the best thing I've ever done', the process wasn't pain-free and left her lips looking swollen.
Taking to TikTok, she said, 'A few months ago, I got all my lip filler dissolved, and it was the best thing I've ever done.
She went on to share images from throughout the process, adding, 'Trigger warning, my face looked butters [ugly].'
Georgia explained that, when the aesthetician put the dissolver in her lips, they swelled drastically.
'Like, imagine, I have to go into work right now and they [her lips] look botched,' she said while showing her bloated lips to the camera.
She continued to show photographs from throughout the process, saying, 'This was pretty much just after going into work and this was the next day, my lips were black, like you can see in this video, they were so, so bruised.'
Georgia added, 'I even tried covering them up with makeup, and it was just all black above my lips.'
The content creator said her lips then 'shrunk', making her feel 'really young', she said, adding, 'And they also went really wrinkly.' One week later, the bruising had gone, she said.
At the end of the process, Georgia went for an ultrasound to check if there was any filler left in her lips, before concluding that getting her fillers dissolved was the 'best thing ever.'
Viewers took to the comment section to share their thoughts on the end result, and one wrote, 'Great more natural result, love.'
A second added, 'Trust the process hun.' While a third user said, 'Look so much better. Love them!'
A fourth commented on Georgia going into work immediately after getting them dissolved, saying 'Honestly the bravery going into work.'
What is a botulism?
Botulism is a rare but serious condition, which caused by a toxin that attacks the body's nerves.
Botulism can cause life-threatening symptoms.
Symptoms can include:
Facial weakness
Drooping eyelids
Blurred or double vision
Paralysis
Trouble breathing
Source - Mayo Clinic
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