Botulinum Toxin Type A (BOT-yoo-li-num TOX-in type A)

Treats uncontrolled muscle spasms or paralysis in your neck (cervical dystonia), your eyelids (blepharospasm), or around your eyes (strabismus). Also treats excessive underarm sweating (hyperhidrosis). Also used to reduce the appearance of wrinkles between the eyebrows.

Brand Name(s):

Botox, Botox Cosmetic

When This Medicine Should Not Be Used:

How to Use This Medicine:

Injectable

• Your doctor will prescribe your exact dose and tell you how often it should be given. For neck disorders, this medicine is given as a shot into a muscle on the side of your neck. For eye disorders the shot is given into your eyelid or into a muscle around your eye. For excessive sweating, you will receive up to 15 injections at one time into your underarm. For wrinkles, the shot is given along your eyebrow.
• A nurse or other trained health professional will give you this medicine.
• You may be given medicine to numb the area where the shot will be injected. If you will receive the medicine around your eyes, you may be given eye drops or ointment to numb the area. After your injection, you may need to wear a protective contact lens or eye patch.
• If you are treated for excessive sweating, shave your underarms but do not use deodorant for 24 hours before your injection. Avoid exercise, hot foods or liquids, or anything else that could make you sweat for 30 minutes before your injection.
• This medicine works slowly. For neck disorders, you should have improvement within 2 weeks after your injection and peak improvement at 6 weeks. Eyelid disorders should improve within 3 days after your injection, with peak improvement at 2 weeks. Strabismus should improve within 1 or 2 days after injection, and this improvement should last for 2 to 6 weeks. Once you reach peak improvement, the effects of the medicine will slowly decrease. For excessive sweating, you will need repeat injections when the effects of the medicine wear off.

If a dose is missed:

• Call your doctor or pharmacist for instructions.

Drugs and Foods to Avoid:

Ask your doctor or pharmacist before using any other medicine, including over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products.

• Make sure your doctor knows if you are also using an antibiotic such as amikacin, gentamicin, streptomycin, Amikin®, Garamycin®.
• Tell your doctor if you have received botulinum toxin for any reason in the past several months.

Warnings While Using This Medicine:

• Make sure your doctor knows if you are pregnant or breast feeding, or if you have heart disease. Tell your doctor if you have a nerve or nerve-muscle disorder, such as myasthenia gravis, Lou Gehrig's disease, Lambert-Eaton syndrome, or Parkinson's disease.
• Your doctor should know if you have had any swelling, infection, surgery, or unusual pain or weakness on the body area where your shot will be given.
• This medicine is made from donated human blood. Some human blood products have transmitted certain viruses to people who have received them. The risk of getting a virus from medicines made of human blood has been greatly reduced in recent years. This is the result of required testing of human donors for certain viruses, and testing during manufacture of these medicines. Although the risk is low, talk with your doctor if you have concerns.
• Your doctor may need to check your progress at regular visits during your treatment. Be sure to keep all appointments.
• If you are receiving this medicine for dystonia and you have been inactive, be careful to resume your activities slowly.

Possible Side Effects While Using This Medicine:

Call your doctor right away if you notice any of these side effects:

• Allergic reaction: Itching or hives, swelling in your face or hands, swelling or tingling in your mouth or throat, chest tightness, trouble breathing.
• Bleeding, bruising, or swelling in or around your eye.
• Blistering, peeling, red skin rash.
• Eye pain, redness in the whites of your eyes.
• Irregular heartbeat, chest pain.
• Severe trouble swallowing, breathing, or speaking.

If you notice these less serious side effects, talk with your doctor:

• Double vision, trouble judging depth or distance.
• Drooping or swelling of your eyelid, dry eyes, watery eyes.
• Dry mouth, nausea.
• Increased body sweating.
• Mild skin rash.
• Redness, pain, tenderness, bruising, swelling, or weakness where the shot was given.
• Unusual weakness in other muscles (not where the shot was given)