Botox dosage


Posted by Jodi ® (jodi,Jodi), Jul 09,2001,12:18   Archive
I had my first Botox treatment last Thursday (July 5) and am still having blinking spasms. The doctor gave me 21 units, which he noted in my file was a "conservative amount". Does anyone know how/what I can measure this against? I'm concerned because when I went for my injections, the doctor I had didn't originally diagnose me and my spasms were very minimal that day (like taking the car to the mechanic!). Eventually, the spasms started, but I'm afraid he didn't believe I had the condition and treated my conservatively because of this. I'm just feeling a little discouraged... any words of wisdom or encouragement would be appreciated!!



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  • Re: Botox dosage --- sylvia lew ( Jul 09, 14:06, 2001 ) Re: Botox dosage

    Re : Botox dosage --- Jodi
    Posted by Lynn Yarbrough ® , Jul 09,2001,14:17 Top of Thread Archive
    Hi Jodi,

    Welcome to this forum, and please accept our condolences. BEB is not fun, but you can get through it.

    You should not expect results so quickly -- five to ten days is normal response time for Botox injections.

    The 21 "units" the Dr. used is measured by how many laboratory mice that dose will kill. One unit kills one mouse. You got enough to evacuate a barn! IIRC, my normal dosage is about 40-45 units, every 6-7 months. Yes, your Dr. is being conservative, since Botox is about the second most toxic stuff on earth (radioactive Plutonium is worse), so be patient until the two of you work together to find _your_ optimum dosage.

    Unfortunately, it may take a couple of years to do that. You need to face the fact that you are in for the long haul - you will need repeated treatments, AFAWK, for the rest of your life. You will need the support of your family and things like this forum to help you get through this.

    My Dr. is retiring next month, so I have the task of breaking in a new one. Whoopee. (A good sense of humor is essential.)

    There is a trick that experienced BEB docs use to verify that you do indeed have BEB: you close your eyes, the doc puts a finger lightly on each eyelash, holding your eyes shut, and urges you to try to open your eyes. This test normally brings on full-blown spasms.

    Good luck and be patient,

    --- Lynn

    --modified by Lynn Yarbrough at Mon, Jul 09, 2001, 14:19:16




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    Re: Botox dosage/Respone right on the money!

    Re : Re: Botox dosage --- Lynn Yarbrough
    Posted by Sally - in - Idaho ® , Jul 09,2001,19:13 Top of Thread Archive
    Jodi ... Lynn has given you an excellent response, although possibly not what you were hoping to hear. After two years of Botox injections every eight weeks, I am now at 90 units each time, also having started at very low dosage. Too little is better than too much to begin with. We don't want to kill all those mice at once!!

    I saw a doctor on TV recently who said that a thimbleful of pure botulinum was more than enough to totally eradicate the whole human race on this earth. And I am willingly letting someone squirt that stuff into my face???? The things we won't try for relief.

    Good luck. As Lynn says ... a sense of humor (even black at times) is one of the requirements for dealing with this "problem."

    Sally in North Idaho where it is HOT.




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    YABA

    Re : Re: Botox dosage --- Lynn Yarbrough
    Posted by Virginia ® , Jul 09,2001,20:43 Top of Thread Archive
    OK, Lynn, I give up. What's IIRC?

    Virginia in AL
    (YABA=Yet Another Bloody Acronym)




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    Re: YABA

    Re : YABA --- Virginia
    Posted by Lynn Yarbrough ® , Jul 10,2001,17:51 Top of Thread Archive
    Sorry about that -- I got lazy.

    IIRC = "If I recall correctly"

    I also used AFAWK = "As far as we know".

    Most of these abbrev's are for kinda empty expressions that we use constantly without realizing it.

    --- Lynn




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    Re: YABA

    Re : Re: YABA --- Lynn Yarbrough
    Posted by Shirley-Arkansas-USA ® , Jul 10,2001,20:43 Top of Thread Archive
    That is much nicer than my CRS (can't remember s--t). I think that I will stick with it-IIRC is too hard to remember. :-)

    Virginia, I liked YABA. I won't remember it either, though.

    Shirley




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    Re: Botox dosage

    Re : Botox dosage --- Jodi
    Posted by June in Toronto ® (June Floyd,June in Toronto), Jul 09,2001,16:14 Top of Thread Archive
    Hi Jodi, as others have said, it might take longer for your botox injections to work fully (mine take a month). Also next time you see your doctor, if the spasms have continued, he most probably will increase your dosage - 21 units is very conservative. Each time you have the injections you will need to report your progress to the doctor so that he can adjust the amount accordingly. I went from 45 units to 90 units in 3 years and have been stable at that amount for 4 years now.

    Best wishes

    June in Toronto




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    Re: Botox dosage

    Re : Botox dosage --- Jodi
    Posted by Virginia ® , Jul 09,2001,20:41 Top of Thread Archive
    Jodi,

    I think most doctors start out conservatively. It is hard to predict how much an individual will need, because we all respond differently. It just isn't an exact science. The first time I got 40 units (because that is his standard dosage - forever), but I went back a month later and he gave me a "booster" of 40 more units and that combination worked pretty well for a while. Some doctors won't give botox again that soon, but I was lucky that he did.

    Hang in there and give it some time. This may work for you yet. If not, there's always next time. Most doctors will adjust based on your response to treatments. I hope the botox works for you.

    Virginia in AL




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    Re: Botox dosage

    Re : Botox dosage --- Jodi
    Posted by jodi ® , Jul 17,2001,18:05 Top of Thread Archive
    Thanks everyone for your responses.

    I has now been 16 days (who's counting?) and still no results. I called my doctor's office yesterday and was told I should come in for another treatment seeing as there is no relief from the first one. Any insight??




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    Re: Botox dosage

    Re : Re: Botox dosage --- jodi
    Posted by Shirley-Arkansas-USA ® , Jul 18,2001,13:34 Top of Thread Archive
    Hi Jodi,

    I'm sorry to hear that you haven't gotten any relief with the botox injections. I would just say that usually doctors do not like to give the botox more often than every 8 weeks to 3 months. Some stick with the 3 month guideline and others will go with 8 weeks. I have also heard of others that got very minimal dosages and then would go back weeks to a month later and get more. One of the problems with this being that your doctor will not really know how much botox he actually needs to give you as the little bit that he gave you earlier will continue to have some minimal effect for around 3 months. You will just be kind of staggering the effect and you don't want to be going in every month for botox.
    I would probably go back, though and have more given if I was miserable and hadn't gotten any relief. I don't really think that this is the best way of doing things. What kind of doctor is giving you your botox and is he familiar with giving botox to BEB patients?

    Shirley in AR. Sorry I couldn't help more.




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    Re: Botox dosage

    Re : Re: Botox dosage --- Shirley-Arkansas-USA
    Posted by coleen dennis ® , Jul 18,2001,18:50 Top of Thread Archive
    Hi Jodi,

    I'm pretty new to this but wanted to throw my 1/2 cent in.

    I just had my second set of injections last Wednesday and on Monday I noticed that my eyes were actually staying open and I didn't have to walk around the office with my cane. I had 33 units in each eye and am surprised it has started working already. The first set didn't seem to work much either. Was this your first time?

    Are there some people that it kicks in later than 16 days. Maybe a poll of users here to determine what is the average to latest amount of time could help you with your decision about having more.

    I am one that is medication sensitive and so would be very leary about having a another set of injections with the same dosage. Can someone out there tell me if someone has the minimum dose and it doesn't seem to be working, and another small amount be used to increase it to another level? Or would her doctor be giving her the same amount and it would be doubled? I have a insert with Botox information from a medical journal here and it states not more than every three months.

    Good luck, looking forward to hearing how it goes with you.

    Coleen in PA




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    Re: Botox dosage

    Re : Re: Botox dosage --- coleen dennis
    Posted by Shirley-Arkansas-USA ® , Jul 18,2001,21:19 Top of Thread Archive
    I first notice the effects of the botox within a few days and it generally takes up to two weeks for me to get the full effect of the botox.
    I think that if Jodi was going to have some effect from the botox, that she would have seen it by now.
    She had a very minimal dose.

    Doctors are all different in what they will do with the botox and don't always go by the product literature and guidelines.

    Maybe some others will comment.

    Shirley in AR.




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