Hawry1

Dr. Verret, What is your feeling on Myobloc being used in place of Botox when it is ineffective? I've heard that it may be unstable and that it may migrate? As for handling facial lines around the eyes and forehead is laser skin tightening effective? Perhaps in conjuction with some feathering of fillers when Botox does not work? Thanks for your feedback

Myobloc is apparently a competitor to Botox used more widely in Europe. It is the botulism type B rather than A (Botox). Allergan is very opposed and says that it is very unstable. I'm in Canada where it has not yet been approved, however I've spoken with a clinic in Syracuse NY who uses it. Their comment is that it doesn't last as long as a successful Botox injection, no more than 3 months but you see the results within 48 hours. My doctor has been great, she is very concerned that if this is happening to me it will happen to others and if Allergan is putting this out as a no fail solution it could be real bad press down the road as more people spend money they may not be able to afford on a drug that doesn't work. The deeper we dig into this though I get the feeling that Allergan would rather sweep these cases under the carpet, as their claim is that this doesn't exist and it is impossible. We will, see I had a meeting with one their doctors this week. I should be hearing more in the next few weeks.

have had the same experience with Botox. The first couple of times I was injected it worked fabulously. Then it became less and less effective. My doctor thought it might be a bad batch and each time she did injections from that time on she used a new, fresh bottle and still no results. She then contacted Allergan who said this was impossible either the botox had not been stored properly or her technique was wrong. Of course I was the only one of her patients to have this happen. Allergan then sent one of their reps to witness the injections as this doesn't happen to verify the injection method, massive amounts of botox were used and three weeks later the rep came back to see the results and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the method and that I had indeed become a non-responder. From then on my doctor has been in contact with Allergan and their medical department in order to examine this further. My case is being reviewed in order to determine why this is happening. Therefore my advise would be to have your doctor contact Allergan as this is not supposed to happen and apparently has not happenned to anyone else. The more people who come forward with this the more seriously Allergan will respond in examining why and how to overcome this. Apparently Myobloc may work??