[j.lindsay]

i had my botox done for the 1st time 1 week ago today , i see absolutly
no diffrence i can still scrunch my whole face up. Does this mean it just did not work for me?

[David]

Lindsey:

Same here. read my post of 4/24 under Botox didn't work.
David

[windowShopper]

did they tell you that there was a chance it wouldn't work? If so what is it?

and is it particular to some people and not others?

I think if it doesn't "take" you should get some kind of refund at least.

[ry]

I am not an expert. But from my knowledge the doctor or practice that buys the botox can get it in concentrated doses and then "water it down" to their selected level. If you can...find out what exactly was used, how much and potency. It could be that the physician used a very watered down batch and either didn't do anything or wore off very very quickly. Again, I AM NOT AN EXPERT, just what I've read and heard. My wife had it done and I'm a sucker for the details stuff (i watch the surgery channel too :lol: ) good luck you two, sorry to hear your first experience was not ideal.

[theplc]

I've had a similar experience with Botox. I've had several Botox treatments for brow wrinkles, but each treatment seems to last less than the previous one. I had an injection ONE MONTH AGO and I can already see movement again! I can't afford to have a treatment every month, and I don't think it's recommended to receive Botox that often.

I've heard conflicting stories. One doctor told me that you can't be immune to Botox. Another told me that the effects last according to the way your body metabolizes the Botox. So much for 4-8 months ...

[joet]

I had Botx on my forehead three weeks ago, and it didn't take. I asked my doctor, and he said I may be immune to it, which sucks cause I spent $400 on it. He said I should write the mfg. and let them know my case. Has anyone gottent a guarantee from a doctor?

[carol]

Did the doctor say to you in his/her consent form or verbally that the Botox may not work? If the doctor did not tell you or the form did not tell you that there was a possibility that Botox would not work, then I believe the professional way of treating this is for the doctor to refund your money.

joet wrote:

I had Botx on my forehead three weeks ago, and it didn't take. I asked my doctor, and he said I may be immune to it, which sucks cause I spent $400 on it. He said I should write the mfg. and let them know my case. Has anyone gottent a guarantee from a doctor?

[Alexis Red]

I know how frustrating it is for it not to work but eep in mind that it can take up to 2 weeks before it works. I am doing it for migraine treatment and the last treatment didn't take... not cool because my headaches are now unbearable. I am having another treatment in the beginning of Jan. Good luck!

[carol]

Are you using a neurologist who specializes in the clinical trials of treating headaches with Botox? Botox is off-label for headaches, not FDA approved. The skill of the doctor is exceptionally important. Injected in the wrong muscle or too deeply and serious problems may arise. Serious complications can occur in some people after a period of treatment. Some have had serious mind altering headaches, respiratory problems, muscle pain, difficulty swallowing and so ill that the are bedridden for 6 weeks. Do your homework more before deciding to continue.

Alexis Red wrote:

I know how frustrating it is for it not to work but eep in mind that it can take up to 2 weeks before it works. I am doing it for migraine treatment and the last treatment didn't take... not cool because my headaches are now unbearable. I am having another treatment in the beginning of Jan. Good luck!

[John H]

I know of three reasons it won't work. Wrong injection site, over-diluted or mishandled botox, or antibodies.

The first goes without saying, the site is important.

From what I know, Botox must be kept frozen or refrigerated depending on which type. If it gets warm, it is rendered ineffective.

And, some people build up an immunity to it. It is a foreign substance. That is unusual for the first injection, but not when one has had several injections.

After having had some bad reaction to it, I wish it didn't work at all on me either.

John H.

[alexisb]

I also had botox a couple of years ago - it was from the physician's assistant of a very reputable dermatologist that I trust. She appears to have been doing a lot of it and they only scheduled you on certain days when they had new toxin so it appears it was fresh. I paid $300 initially. Other than a slight feeling of not being able to squint (it was two vertical frown lines between the brows) that lasted a short time after a few days, I saw no results - my appearance of being tired or mad didn't alter at all. They redid it a couple of times - one time it was a higher dose - I paid $100 for the additional ones. Still NOTHING happened.
They had no explanation and said it had never happened before. I too feel that when something doesn't work one should get a refund because I was never told there was any possibility that it wouldn't work. But that doesn't seem to be the norm in medicine from my experience!

Someone once told me a neurologist had told her that if you had a "history of botulism" you could be immune. I have no such history - no one in my family has had it either.

I would still love an explanation but fear I'll never get one. I can't risk hundreds more dollars going to someone else to see if it works with them either so I guess I'll spend my remaining time being told I look tired or asked why I'm frowning on occasion!

[JH]

I have read that for some people, it won't work. That is generally after repeated injections, however, because one builds an immunity.

A more likely explanation for it not working is that the botox was mishandled or over-diluted. From what I learned from my doctor, it must be kept frozen and then thawed and mixed and used right away. Once a vile is opened, it may not work if saved for other patients a day or two later. Also, botox has a very large molecule that is easily destroyed by rubbing or scratching the injection site. The stuff is fragile.

After reading all these other posts, maybe it's best to avoid the stuff.

JH

[jfkf]

I've had botox done around 5 times. It worked great the first few. The doctors I saw made many injections in the two "sites" and were all reputable. The third to last it didn't work. I went back and she re-did the injections for free! Still didn't work. I thought she was incompetent and saw another doctor. He did the shots, and they still didn't "take". He said, and it was the first that I'd heard of it, that scarring in the musculature from the shots themselves can impede the botox from working. Something new to think about...

[bam21702]

I'm having a similar experience. Just had my 2nd (at no charge) round of Botox after the 1st one I received a week ago produced no results at all. The Dr. said he likes to "go light" the 1st time, although he failed to tell me this at my initial appointment. This seemed reasonable and I even appreciated him using caution. It's only been 3 days since I received my 2nd dose of it but with still NO results, I'm beginning to wonder. The Dr. even admitted that the 1st batch could have been outdated and claimed to have given me a larger/stronger dose the 2nd time. So far, nothing's changed. Any input??

[Mindylu]

I had a total of 9 shots, 3 in the forehead and 3 on each crow's feet . I waited 2 weeks. Then went back to the doc, i could not tell a difference.She took before & after pictures, it looked like it was very subtle. I thought it was supposed to paralyse the muscle completley? She said i needed more? Now, 5 weeks later, the lines are back/ Am i getting ripped off? I still owe 200.00-

[mjb225]

My wife an I just had our first experience w/ botox 9 days ago. My wife has excellant results. Any lines on her forehead and her brow are almost totaly smooth. Crowsfeet lines are very diminished too. She is 44. I'm 43 and saw considerable improvement, though I can still squinch my brow. When I am not trying to move though, my head looks very smooth. For the past several days I've noticed a lot of people a work staring at my face with a curious look. I went back to the doctor yeaterday and expressed my concern. He advised me that I shouldn't be able to move my brow, he offered to "touch up the brow", which I thought would be on the house. He then advised me he would do it for $250. I declined. My wife and I went together and paid a total of $1200 for the forehead, brow and eyes area. That was supposed to be a deal because we went together. The doctor did advise me that men typically have stonger musscles than women in the brow and they require more Botox. Any way we have seen considerable improvement, but I'm disappointed he wanted to charge me extra for what I feel he should have gotten right in the first place, especially charging me almost half the original fee just to touch up one area.

[boet]

I'm in the same boat with botox. I had it done for the first time 7 days ago on the vertical line between my brows and have seen very little improvement. Although I don't seem to be able to scrunch up my brow very much, the line is still very prominent! Perhaps my brow is too strong too even though I'm a woman (age 43)

[kintn]

I do personally believe some of the information I have read about the diluted botox. I work for Fedex who provides insurance through CIGNA. I had Bells Paulsey at age 7 and a very severe case. I am now nearly 43 and my face looks like it's split in half. Let me explain.... The Bells Paulsey paralyzed the muscles on the right side of my face. I have absolutely no wrinkles whatsoever. As my age progresses, the left side of my face has deep crows feet on the left side of my left eye. I also smoke so I am starting to get the lines from smoking on just the left side of my lip. I also have the forhead crease on the left side. I went this reputable Plastic Surgeion after waiting for 5 months for my insurance to approve it. I suppose the office expected full repayment but the treatment was nearly $300 and they had a contracted rate and the insurance only paid $78. I went back and was told I would have to pay it myself the next time. Since the first time it gave such wonderful results I expected the same. OK, here we go, last Monday Aug. 8, I went back for the 3rd time telling them it didn't work. I started in early June. I really believe they diluted the solution trying to win back the difference in the money they lost in their contracted rate. If a doctor accepts a contracted rate, they have to accept what ever the insurance will pay them.Their anticipation at first was they were to be paid in full for the procedure and when they obviously didn't get it, they took it out of me!! Has anyone else had this experience?? Maybe I could get lucky and get Bells Paulsey on the left side of my face and then I'd never have to go through this again!!!!! Thanks..Karen.TENNESSEE

[cillakat]

it's also not uncommon for botox to work very well the first time....and when it does work the first time, it's often not for very long (3 mos is great for the first go).

the second and third time will generally show improved result.

each tx generally shows it's best result at 1 month....so a week in might be a little early to judge.

katherine in atl

[moonlight8uk]

Hi, I am a 24 year old female and I had four botox injections, two around each eye as I already have quite deep lines there. I had the injections a week ago and I do not see much difference and the lines I wanted to go have not gone. I also seem to have a new one underneath one of my eyes. It is upsetting as I wanted to see an improvement. The muscles still contract as normal although it looks a tiny bit better - not much though and I didn't want a new wrinkle. I feel like I am too young to be having all these lines and wrinkles. Is there anyone else out there my age who has had botox?

[k1cataldo]

I had botox 3 separate times before christmas with no results. I had 25 units to start, then 2 weeks later i had 10 more units, then 3 weeks later 35 units. Add it up, thats a lot of botox. The nurse told me she had never seen this happen. I have significant crows feet lines. I never saw ANY change. I still don't understand how it could have not worked. The place where i got it was running a "special" at the time so as for now I think it may have been watered down. If i go somewhere else and it doesn't work again I'll believe then that it just doesn't work for me.

[Gowest]

I also have experienced Botox Type A not working and started researching Myobloc (Botox Type B) which is suppose to work if you have built up antibodies. Type B did work for me for a couple of years and now does not... Any one try this yet?

[AnneMD]

Reading thru some of the post I can add: Botox is usually not metabolized by the body-- its basically called selective chemodenervation-- which means no nerve anymore--and in theory our muscles will resume there function as a result of collateral nerves-- or growing of NEW nerves.
With this said--being just a theory--a lot of things could have been the result of this poor response. Concentration might be one thing- however up to 2 U has shown to be effective. I do recommend you ask the provider the dose? and total units used as well?
Immunoresistance (not responding to botox) is very rare--that was in the old days- since 1998 Botox has been reformulated (with less protein content) to avoid this complication.

[Tattoo MD]

As a Botox injector myself, it is very interesting to read patients' posts on this forum. I can say that of all the patients I've injected, I've never had botox "not work." I have had it not give the results that someone wanted but I've never seen it not have any results at all.
Something needs to be clairified though - Botox only relaxes muscles, it does not erase the wrinkles themselves. That may happen over time if your skin is young and resilient.

I can think of a few reasons, most of which have been mentioned here, of why botox wouldn't work:
1) not enough was used - a particular area may require 15-25 units
2) technique - botox requires injection into the muscle being treated
3) storage - botox must be refrigerated, not frozen, and must be used within at least a month or two
4) anitbodies - this is rare and shouldn't happen on the first time

You can see some before and after pics on my site, www.tattoomdla.com
If someone has an unsatisfactory response, they should consider a repeat treatment, maybe in a different area. If they continue to be dissatisfied, consider a different injector to correct for technique. Unfortunately, botox is expensive and about half the cost is just the botox itself, not counting supplies, labor, and other overhead. Botox may not work for everyone but you have to know that it is still a bit of a gamble and that you may not always be satisfied with the results of any medical treatment. As they say, medicine is an art, not a science!

[Ludmila]

As much as I know after having Botox for almost 10 years, it must be kept frozen and once the vial is opened (needle pricked ) it should be used within 4 hours, otherwise thrown away. You need to find the doctor who you can trust and who will not dilute or use the 'old' Botox because it is very rear when Botox does not work.

[msindiana]

Crumbs!.......Everyone should just do what I am doing and just become a "model" for the training classes and courses where they teach professionals how to inject the fillers that work in spa's and medical clinics etc.

I have been doing this for a couple of years now and I have never ever had a problem whatsoever with the people who run these courses.

I found them by researching for courses on google and I made sure that they were in fact fully board certified, safe, professional and fully qualified and that they knew what they were doing as well before I became a model for them.

I pay less than half price for botox, restylane and other treatments they offer as well.

Seriously, if anyone is interested in knowing more about being a model for these courses email me as they run these courses all over America!!

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Ms Indiana.

[unhappybunny]

Well in answer to the botox administrator, if we were told there was a chance it would not work then im sure we would not have it done, we are given lots of hope but never told there is a chance it may not work, i feel your comment was rather tactless and hurtful to those who have had no effect from botox!

[johnreal]

I know how frustrating it is for it not to work but eep in mind that it can take up to 2 weeks before it works. I am doing it for migraine treatment and the last treatment didn't take... not cool because my headaches are now unbearable. I am having another treatment in the beginning of Jan. Good luck!

[pnrteach]

Botox did not work for me. I have tons of bruising on my forehead that really hurts and the lines are still there after a week. I am very disappointed because I can't really afford this splurge. Now, not only are my wrinkles still there, but everyone is asking why my head is black and blue!

[shenglu]

Each treatment seems to last less than the previous one. I have an injection a month ago, I can already see a movement! I can not afford to have a treatment every month, I do not think it's recommended to regular Botox.