Hello , I’m a slight intruder on this forum because I don’t have MS but I’m interested to know if anyone has had the same side effects as my wife . She had a serious stroke about 15 years ago and her disability has got gradually worse . She had botox treatment recently to try to help the spasticity of her leg . Ten days after the treatment she became very weak and four weeks later it still continues . Even standing up is a great effort . The doctor can find nothing wrong with her and the epecialist who gave the treatment says that he doesn’t think it was caused by the botox . She has no other symptoms at all , just profound weakness
Hi
This is a known serious side effect with Botox - botulism-like generalized muscle weakness. At 10 day botox reaches its maximum paralysing effect, so definitely points to botox being the cause.
I have cervical dystonia and was treated with botulinum toxin for nearly 10 years without major problem, and then out of the blue on one session I developed generalised weakness within a few days of the injections, though most strongly in my legs. Injections were in my neck, so a very distant spread (botox spreads through the brain and cns). Gradually over the following 12 weeks the weakness wore off, and I was back to almost normal. As I’d had botulinum toxin for many years I didn’t connect the two, given that I have had neurological symptoms for many years including episodes of weakness. However on the next round of injections I got the same generalised weakness, in exactly the same timescale after the shots. This time it didn’t wear off but gradually spread from my legs upwards to include core muscles, arms and eyelids. 3 years down the road it hasn’t improved.
Hoping for your wife that the weakness does gradually lesson over the next 12 weeks or so. But don’t let them give it to her again.
The specialist should know that generalised weakness is a known issue, but there seems to be a tendency for them to have very closed minds about the adverse effects of botox. You should tell him that a yellow card re adverse reactions must be submitted. If he won’t do it, you can submit one yourself. My neurologist did accept it was caused by the botox and did submit a yellow card.
From PubMed:
The use of intramuscular injections of Botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT-A) is common in the treatment of hypertonicity and movement disorders. While most side effects are mild, systemic effects, manifested by generalized weakness distant from the site of injection, have been reported.