After developing iatrogenic botulism in 2024 from trying just 12 units of Xeomin for the first time, Megan quickly realized that there was a need for easily accessible, organized, and evidence-based resources regarding this harrowing and potentially life-threatening illness. After showing up at the ER more than 5 times in the first few months of her illness with new onsets of heart arrhythmias, daily anxiety attacks, severe insomnia, dry mouth, and difficulty swallowing, most doctors she met simply shrugged their shoulders. She was sent home on anxiety medications and told she probably needed a psychiatrist.

 

After she began digging into the clinical trial data for botulinum toxin injections, as well as pertinent medical literature and case studies on iatrogenic botulism, she realized that her symptoms were not, in fact, unique. They were all well-documented adverse effects of botulinum toxin injections that can occur when the toxin spreads systemically into the bloodstream, and begins to disrupt the autonomic nervous system.

 

As Megan continued to learn more about her illness, she found that most of the information about iatrogenic botulism was hidden in exclusive, private online support groups that were not readily accessible to the general public, let alone frontline doctors and nurses. 

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In one of those support groups, she met a botulism historian, J.A. Talkington, PhD., who mentored her and taught her the ins and outs of botulism. Inspired by her conversations with Dr. Talkington, Megan began writing books about her experience and meeting fellow iatrogenic botulism sufferers from around the world. The idea for a hub where patients and healthcare providers could easily access vital information about the disease was born: IatrogenicBotulism.com.