Commonly Asked Questions about BOTOX:

How long does the pocedure last?

Your office visit should take about an hour.  The BOTOX treatment usually only takes about 20-30 minutes and then you will be observed for about a half hour before you leave the office.

How quickly will I see results?

Don't expect to see results right away.  Talk to your doctor for more information.

How long will results last?

In clinical trials, patients who were treated with BOTOX experienced an average of up to 6 months of response.

What about the risk of retention?

In clinical trials, 6% of patients experiences a temporary inablity to fully empt their bladder following a BOTOX treatment, which is called retention.

If you have difficulty fully emptying your bladder after getting BOTOX, you may need to use disposable self-catheters to emtpy your bladder up to a few times each day until your bladder is able to start emptying again.

What are the most common side effects?

In treating overactive bladder (OAB), the most common adverse reactions with BOTOX are urinary tract infection (18%), dysuria (9%), which means painful or difficult urination, and urinary retention (6%), which means not being able to empty the bladder.

***THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF SIDE EFFECTS.  FOR A COMPLETE LIST, REQUEST A MEDICATION GUIDE.

What about bleeding?

Some blood in your urine is normal after injections and will go away.

What if I'm not happy with the results?

If you are not happy with the results after 12 weeks, talk to your doctor.  Again, its not permanent.  If not re-injected BOTOX eventually does wear off.

Important Safety Information:

The dose of BOTOX is not the same as, or comparable to, another botulinum toxin product.

Serious and/or immediate allergic reactions have been report.  These reactions include itching, rash, red itchy welts, wheezing, asthma symptoms, dizziness, or feeling faint.  Tell your doctor or get medical help right away if you experience any such symptoms; further injection of BOTOX should be discontinued.

Tell your doctor about all your muscle or nerve conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), myasthenia gravis, or Lambert-Eaton syndrome, as you may be at increased risk of serious side effects including severe dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) and respiratory compromise (difficulty breathing) from typical doses of BOTOX.

Human albumin and spread of viral diseases.  BOTOX contains albumin, a protein component of human blood.  The potential risk of spreading viral diseases via human serum albumin is extremely rare.  No cases of viral diseases or CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) have ever been reported in association with human serum albumin.

Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, including if you: have or have had bleeding problems; have plans to have surgery; had surgery on your face; weakness of forehead muscles, such as trouble raising your eyebrows, drooping eyelids; any other abnormal facial change; have symptoms of a UTI and are being treated for urinary incontinence; are pregnant or plan to become pregnant; are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed.

Tell your doctor about all the medications you take, including prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal products.  Using BOTOX with certain other medicines may cause serious side effects.  Do not start any new medicines until you have told your doctor that you have received BOTOX in the past.

Especially tell your doctor if you: have received any other botulinum toxin product in the last 4 months; have received injections of botulinum toxin such as Myobloc, Dysport, or Xeomin in the past (be sure your doctor knows exactly which product you recieved); have recently received an antibiotic by injection; take muscle relaxants; take an allergy or cold medicine; take a sleep medicine; take anti-platelets (aspirin-like products) or anti-coagulants (blood thinners).