I Developed Hives a Few Days After Botox, Within 3 Weeks the Symptons Were Severe. Nothing else Has Changed, Can It Be Related?

I had my 2nd treatment of Botox between my brows on 12/13/12, within 2 days I started waking up with random spurts of hives on my hands, arms and ankles. The hives come and go but are persistent. Then on 1/5/13, the hives went crazy and my throat started swelling shut, we went to the ER and they injected me with epinephrine, gave me oral Benadryl, Zantac and prednisone. I am still on the prednisone and have EpiPens now. Could this be from the Botox? I didn't think to mention it to my doctor.

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hives reaction 3 weeks post-op second round

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7 Doctor Answers | Asked by lifeonpurpose

Doctor Answers (7)
Community Comments (1)

I Developed Hives a Few Days After Botox, Within 3 Weeks the Symptons Were Severe. Nothing else Has Changed, Can It Be Related?

With severe allergic reactions, it's always best to be evaluated by an allergist in a safe environment. Until you are tested with a Botox solution and found not be allergic, I would not consider additional Botox treatments if you were my patient.

Botox and allergies

Botox and severe allergies are very uncommon, however I would suggest following up with your primary care physician to see what else might be going on and hold off on treatments until then.

Sam Naficy, MD

80 reviews

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.seattleface.com

Botox Allergy

Allergic reactions to Botox can occur and, in the absence of allergen testing, no further Botox should be administered.

Hives After Botox?

Hi Life. In 10 years we have seen 2 patients with an allergic reaction to Botox. But when this happens they git the hives immediately after injection. Because fo the delay you experienced, we think it's unlikely that this is related to the Botox, but further testing is required. We would recommend you contact your primary care physician about the issue. Good luck.

Harold J. Kaplan, MD

4 reviews

Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.celibre.com

It is improbable, but....

BOTOX is amazingly safe with very few issues given that there were something like 12 million treatments last year. However, I for one am very uncomfortable dismissing any type of symptom that follows a BOTOX service as unrelated. Perhaps you happen to be exposed to a new allergen other than your BOTOX treatment at about the same time. We might wrongly be pointing the finger at your BOTOX treatment. However, I recommend that you either avoid future BOTOX treatments or... more

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD

8 reviews

Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon

Hives, allergic reaction after Botox

I would agree that your allergic reaction does not sound as if it would be caused from your Botox treatment. I would recommend investigating other potential causes.

Hives after Botox

No, these are not related. Any side effects from Botox (though side effects and allergic reactions are very, very, very rare), any would happen within minutes or hours of injection. Not days, and then weeks later.

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Comments (1)

lifeonpurpose 26 Feb 2013

To follow up.... I've continued to have major allergic reactions to nothing in particular, I get triggered by many different things. After a couple of months of dealing with this and being on high doses of anti-histamines and prednisone and many doctors visits, they did a blood test to check for an autoimmune issue and it was positive. And I've been reading about how SEVERAL people have autoimmune issues after receiving Botox. My doctor and allergist have both recommended that I avoid Botox.

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