I had cosmetic botox about a month ago. 4 days later I was in the hospital and it turns out I had a urinary tract infection, so it is hard for me to seperate the botox effects (fever, etc.) from the infection. I do, however, feel pretty confident that some of the reactions I have had are headache and almost cold-like feelings - sinus type stuff. I also believe I am having some of the anxiety feelings. I would describe it more as restlessness and a hyper feeling and I am no longer sleeping through the night. The cold-like symptoms left after 2-3 weeks. The restlessness is still here. My dermatologist is in NYC and sees a lot of patients. She assures me of the safety of the drug. She pointed out that they use 4 times as much drug in small children for non-cosmetic purposes. I don't know what to think anymore.
As a consumer we owe it to ourselves to educate ourselves about the risks/benefits of any treatment. In the case of drugs - always ask the pharmacist (or in this case get it online or from your treating physician) for the "package insert" not the patient insert which is usually given at the pharmacy. This document not only gives you information about potential side effects but also the percent who experience each side effect. It also address contraindications or other meds that should not be mixed with the med in question. There is a lot in information in there - stuff about the molecular structure of the drug and so forth - just go to the sections on adverse events and efficacy (how effective it is.) Drs today are very busy and unfortunately don't always cover the things we would like them to. The other comment I would make is that any drugs you consider taking should be evaluated from a risk/benefit perspective. Nothing is without its risks. Once you educate yourself, weigh those against the benefits and make your decision. This is coming from someone who had cosmetic botox injections last night and am having severe flu-like symptoms. I knew up-front this is a risk and was prepared to pay to piper if I was one of the unfortunate few to experience them. I know my issue is not as extreme as some of these others, but I was willing to take the risk on getting the extreme reactions as well and went into the procedure taking the responsibility for that choice. Hope this helps people about taking medicines in general.
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Posted to Did you have flu symptoms after Botox? on 6 Oct 2011
Posted to Did you have flu symptoms after Botox? on 7 Sep 2011