To start out grimly, Botox treatments for hyperhidrosis there have been semi-rare spontaneous fatalities. Sometimes these deaths are associated with dysphagia, pneumonia, and/or other significant debility or anaphylaxis, after the hyperhidrosis procedures with botulinum toxin, or Botox for hyperhidrosis, as it is commonly known.

There also have been quite a number of incidents where adverse events involving the cardiovascular system, which consists of arrhythmia and myocardial infarction, caused fatal outcomes for the hyperhidrosis patients. However, it is to be noted that some of these excessive sweating patients had risk factors such as cardiovascular disease. What is really disturbing is that to this day, the exact relationship of these events to the hyperhidrosis treatment of botulinum toxin injection has not yet been fleshed out, so to speak. They simply cannot figure out how these fatalities happend or where the hyperhidrosis procedure went wrong.

These situations have been reported since the hyperhidrosis remedy has been advertised, however a direct causal relationship to the botulinum toxin injected for axillary hyperhidrosis is yet to be discovered: skin rashes (including erythema multiforme, urticaria and psoriasiform eruption), pruritus or sever itching of often times undamaged skin, and many allergic reactions. Did we mention that Botox is a toxin? However, hyperhidrosis for some individuals is so severe that they’ll risk all fo the above and below to be averted of there extreme sweating problems.

The timeline of these unfortunate events related to the excessive sweating treatment is that these side effects usually occur within the first week of the injection of the hyperhidrois treatment. Some of these side affects may be transient, however they may last a grueling two to three whole months. It is also often times the case that axillary hyperhidrosis patients tell of stories of severe pain around the armpit and chest region, near where the hyperhidrosis treatment had been injected. Furthermore, this localized region around the sweating treatment area may experience tenderness and/or bruising. With the previous in mind, it is to be expected that the muscle tissue feels weak in the localized area of the Botox injection, but more often than not, the adjacent muscles become weak as well, possibly due to the spread of the toxin for the patients sweating condition.
adjacent muscles may also occur due to spread of toxin.

Hard Statistics for Use of Botox for Primary Axillary Hyperhidrosis:

The most frequently cited adverse situations (3 – 10% of patients) following injection of BOTOX® in double-blind studies included extreme injection site pain and hemorrhage, non-axillary sweating (the spread of the sweating problem to other areas), infection, pharyngitis, flu syndrome, headache, fever, neck or back pain, pruritus, and a severe increase in anxiety.

The data reflect 346 patients exposed to BOTOX® 50 Units and 110 patients exposed to BOTOX® 75 Units in each axilla.

Due to the fact that clinical experiments are operated with widely varying or different conditions, undesirable events observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not be predictive of rates in the field or upon release into the world.

Botox for Hyperhidrosis Interactions with Other Drugs:

Co-administration of BOTOX® and aminoglycosides or other active substances interfering with neuromuscular transmission (e.g., curare-like compounds) should only be carried out with extreme prejudice as the effects of the toxin may be increased and/or brought to the toxins extreme potential.

The effect of administering different botulinum neurotoxin serotypes at the same time or within several months of each other is yet unknown and should be taken note of. Extreme neuromuscular weakness may be increased by the occurrence of another botulinum toxin prior to the resolution of the effects of a previously administered botulinum toxin for axillary hyperhidrosis. Meaning that once botox is administered for the stopage of armpit excessive sweating, the patient should take extreme precautions as to the exact timeframe at which he or she may administer the procedure for their excessive sweating again.

In conclusion, while it is stated often that Botox for excessive sweating is for excessive situations with hyperhidrosis, there have been case where the patient has simply used Botox for more vain, cosmetic and less severe reasons. The situation with past and future misuse of the treatment for axillary hyperhidrosis is the scary drawback of Botox as an option for extreme cases of excessive sweating. Simply stated, less severe cases of excessive sweating may be treated with this very harsh and expensive treatment for axillary hyperhidrosis.

REFERENCES

Information gained by Allergan, Inc. 1999.

Allergan, Inc. Arandomized, multicenter, double-blind, parallel clinical trial to study the safety and efficacy of BOTOX® (botulinum toxin type A) purified neurotoxin complex manufactured from neurotoxin complex batch BCB2024 to that was created from neurotoxin complex batch 79-11 in blepharospasm subjects. 1997.

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Lindsay Lohan has reportedly denied the rumors that she has botoxed her armpits, and confesses she does know someone who has gotten botox shots for their excessive sweating. She also claims that after the botox treatment for excessive sweating, her friend sweat more on her nose and face, which is a common side effect of the hyperhidrosis treatments. Botox is an excessive treatment for most cases of hyperhidrosis and has a spotty history of complications. It’s also a very expensive procedure for hyperhidrosis.

Botox for Excessive Underarm Sweating: Part of Hyperhidrosis History

FDA approved Botox back in 2004 to treat severe and excessive underarm sweating known as primary axillary hyperhidrosis. The hyperhidrosis procedure was at first meant for those who’s excessive sweating cannot be managed by strong topical agents (treatments that are applied to the surface of the skin) such as prescription antiperspirants. Botox for hyperhidrosis involves the injection of about 20-25 drops of Botox directly into the skin where the sweating problem occurs. Often times, in the span of 48 hours after the hyperhidrosis treatment, some people have shown remarkable results of up to an 80% decrease in excessive sweating in the sweating problem area. In the span of a week later, the sweating problem maybe resolved in a sizeable percentage of the people. Bad odor coming from excessive sweating of course also disappears as the two are like the conjoined twins of the sweating world. Cutting one sweating problem away will invariably lead to the death of the other in most cases.

The hyperhidrosis treatment has a few killer drawbacks. It is cost prohibitive as the procedure is quite a bit more then the average person can afford. Furthermore, to add to the cost, Botox for hyperhidrosis, is a temporary fix. Yes, you read that correctly. The hyperhidrosis procedure has to be repeated in 6-12 months for the maintenance of the sweating problem. There have also been heavier sweating in other areas after the treatment for excessive sweating. This sweating ‘karma effect’ has been reported often by patients of the hyperhidrosis procedure. The side effects of Botox treatments for hyperhidrosis is so numerous that we’ll be dedicating a whole post to this sweating treatment topic in our next post: Botox for Excessive Sweating: Part Two.

Another limitation of the Botox solution to excessive sweating is that it can only really be applied to the armpits or underarm area. For example, with palm sweating or palmar hyperhidrosis, Botox is really too painful of a procedure to be practical. The discomfort of the process of the hyperhidrosis treatment in other areas of the body confines the procedure to the armpit area. So painful is it in other areas, most doctors will not even list it as an option for other areas of the body that excessively sweat.

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