Sculptra experience - terrible - please be careful

Hi - I have fatigue, runny eyes, muscle tremors/twitching, numb patches, joint pain, trouble swallowing.. Like I said, I absolutely can't attribute it to Sculptra. All I know as the symptoms started at around the same time the Sculptra started to develop, and I was completely healthy beforehand. I hope you're doing better.

Honestly, consider yourself lucky the Sculptra is dissolving. You don't need that crap in your face as it is a irritant to your immune system. I on the other hand am still dealing with swelling and draining of this stuff and am having an awful time getting rid of it. It makes me look weird and I can't wait till it's all out.

I really feel for you. I'm still having all sorts of auto immune problems - I only hope they eventually clear up. How does the sculptra make you look 'weird' if you don't mind me asking? Is it swelling? The more I read, the more risky I think this stuff is. Terrible

The volume has come down some but my cheeks are sinking down and feels like soft fluid. A nice lady I talk with told me her ps said when it dissolves it becomes fluid which drains downward into the jaw and slowly metabolizes. It is so very uneven and lumpy looking. Hard sometimes to believe theres hope but many people have told me they are back to normal.

Thank you for your hopeful reply. I'm going to see a specialist next week for more tests. My eyes look terrible - they are red and constantly watering. I also have so many other scary symptoms - difficulty swallowing, fatigue, joint pain, trouble with speech. I'm worried this won't disappear? The sooner this stuff is out of my body, the better. It's been six months now - and I seem to be getting sicker :(

You are probably in the worst of it and it will be a slow recovery back to your old self. Try not to stress as I did. It makes healing so much more difficult. I don't know if you get swelling or pain in the injected areas but I sure do. The more stressed I am the more it swells. This has been confirmed by many people I've talked with. There is hope, you are not ruined for life. It is a slow process but with each passing 6 months or so you will see gradual improvements. As for the other symptoms go see a lyme doctor not a regular doctor. I have Lyme disease and I know that Sculptra made things a lot worse.

When did your volume start coming down and is the drainage noticeable in your jaw as it metabolizes? Thank you

The volume started to slowly come down around 2 years and I mean slowly. And yes the face begins to morph back to the way it was but I don't think will ever look exactly the same as some is collagen/ scar tissue growth. I still get swelling so I know the product is still there.

That's so true! I was completely healthy before sculptra. I'm doing everything I can to boost my immune system now and detox my body.

They got worse but I have Lyme disease and did not know that at the time. My symptoms are very similar to yours and several other people that have posted comments on this site. If you have some type of underlying infection in your system and add Sculptra to the mix, it will bring out the symptoms to a higher level. I am now on antibiotics and have some good days so I am hoping with continued treatment it will all go away.

That makes sense. Did you have nervous system symptoms ie. heavy legs, clumsy, trouble swallowing etc?

Oh my gosh yes. If you have the financial means, please get the lyme igg/igm western blot test. I tested negative with my pcp but when I went to a Lyme literate specialist he orders through Igenex a lab in CA, they test for 5 strands of the bacterias vs. the 2 most labs test for. Lyme is a fast growing epidemic and the longer you wait the harder it is to treat. Make sure he is a lyme literate doctor otherwise you are wasting your time. Some natural doctors also diagnose and treat lyme.

I find it very interesting that the physician told you it is not the "best product". In my experience the doctors are very secretive. The occuloplastics dr who tries to help me said he does not use it because it is too unpredictable. I really wish that the doctor who put it in me was not so reckless with my health. I really hope the granulomas I have go away. They are still there.

I was told a few weeks ago the product manufactured by Sanofi Pharm had sold the product to a company in Europe. I have not verified but I believe the plastic surgeon that I went to for a second opinion would have no reason to give false info. He also said he does not use Sculptra on his patients.

How are you now?

I am on antibiotics for the Lyme and symptoms are a little better. How about you?

Every individuals body reacts differently to a foreign body & Sculptra consists of PLLA (man-made) which is injected into the deeper tissues. Some patients react terribly to the product, other minimally, each case is unique.

How are you lumps now? Have had any other problems?

Wow, I should have read your post more thoroughly, I glanced at the lumps going away and totally missed the other horrible stuff - are you feeling better physically?

Hi - sadly no, the autoimmune problems continue. I was very healthy before Sculptra, so it seems a strange coincidence.

How do you deal with all this on a emotional level? I have days where I can barely function. No job, no self esteem, and people in my family sick of hearing me complain

Unfortunately I have isolated. I do see a shrink and I have tried really hard to accept what is now, but I have lost so much and not just things but my identity, my confidence. This has made me not only very ill but also very disfigured. For me it was put under my eyes. Muscles under my right eye went necrotic and had to be cut out and the lower lid destroyed. So making eye contact is a challenge. You know how you feel with a zit well this is exponential. People try, but it just makes everyone including myself feel awkward and uncomfortable. It is easiest to not go out or to go to a place where people did not know what I used to look like (strangers). What makes me so darn angry is when the Drs say it is natural and then you learn it is a synthetic polyester. When they say on this site and others that it is absorbed in 2 years and then you have it show in biopsy 3 years later. Then they say well it must have been done wrong or you are so unique. That is so much hogwash because I am really a pretty average human being and searching pubmed identifies how common and predictable this reaction is. My family and physicians are also tired of my problems. People like problems they can fix or help with but once you are maimed and chronically ill people want to move on. They still have full lives and do not want to dwell on your particular misfortune. I wish I could just move on but having seen my life hijacked and blown up at my age, I can not build it again. I must accept I am chronically ill and disfigured. Thank You Dr. for injecting this chronic inflammation into me and ruining my life.

I asked doctors why some people have inflammation for years, when doctors claim sculptra particles dissolve within 6-12 months. I have not heard one answer. Could it be they have no answer

The FDA and Sanofi Aventis both say the duration of particles is >24months. At that time on histology "large remnants" remain, consistent with the "persistent particle nature" of the implanted material. Greater than 24 months but never a less than what? One doctor told me the particles erode slowly like a ship at the bottom of the sea. it is call bio erosion of a polyester. The stuff may never be completely gone and my body does not like it at all. I wish I had never heard of the stuff. Safe, Natural collage my behind.

So sad for you. I am fortunate as I have not had any serious granulomas or necrosis. But at 22 months the inflammation is still going, less now but all the same I know it's still in there.

Just a thought but were you ever checked out for Lyme disease. I was diagnosed in a non traditional way by a Chinese medicine acupuncturist. My regular doc's came out that I was exposed but don't have it. Anyway, Lyme is running rampant in our neck of the woods. I not saying for sure, just possible, it could be keeping your immune system down.

That is so very sad and very much reflects my experience with sculptra

Dru - what kind of treatment are you receiving for your auto immune disorder? How long since you had sculptra and is it getting any better? I can't believe sculptra is being used on people if it causes this reaction. How many other people have it now - but don't associate the two things?

I think that's what happened to me. I have inflamed joints and pain in my hands. I went the Drs for it the other day. I had a sculptra injection a year and a half ago and now beginning to have problems. I wished I never did this

How are you doing now Dru? x

Are you crazy? Why would you take a chance with Sculptra, it has ruined too many people. Please be good to yourself and use a HA filler instead. At least it's something your body will like and recognize rather than a full blown immune reaction with Polyester Sculptra

Sculptra destroyed my life and my health. I am very sick with multi organ systemic sarcoidosis. Sculptra caused this.

Any updates Deda! I tried to message you but RS wouldnt let me

I feel like sculptra is killing me and that I will have a heart attack from it. I have severe cardiac sarcoidosis caused by sculptra.