Botox injections and neutropenia
July 20, 2012 7:17 AM   Subscribe

Are there risks in having botox injections for a neutropenia sufferer? A relation of mine is determined to have botox injections to get rid of wrinkles, however, they suffer badly from cyclic neutropenia which means that their immune system is often weak and have white blood cell issues and consequently they get infections frequently. I am aware that botox is botulinum toxin and I have kept trying to persuade her to see her doctor before having botox injections, to check whether they are safe for her in light of neutropenia. She is desperate to go ahead with this and it is hard to persuade her to get medical advice on this. From a layman's perspective, I am concerned that this may be dangerous for her. Does anybody with medical knowledge, perhaps haematology, know if this botox is safe for neutropenia sufferers? Many thanks!
posted by conrad101 to Health & Fitness (1 answer total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Botox is made from the toxin produced by a bacteria. It is my understanding the live bacteria are not in the product as well.

I think it was loving of you to suggest she speak to her doctor first given her neutropenia. However, it is ultimately her decision. She has hopefully done her research and assessed her risks. She will also, hopefully, be open and honest with whoever administers the botox about her neutropenia. That person may choose to not administer it to her.

I too have cyclic neutropenia. Mine is severe. My neutrophils regularly drop to about 350 per million. A count above 600 is a good day for me. I'm telling you this because I've found that when I say "neutropenia" in settings where it is important, I get handled very differently than I was before my diagnosis. For example, I had a cut and went to urgent care. When I told them my diagnosis, they stopped all work and told me to go to the ER "in case IV antibiotics are needed."

I, personally, won't do botox. Not because it is derived from bacteria but because I am just not interested in it. I would be annoyed, however, if a well-meaning loved one was trying to dissuade me from a decision based off my diagnosis if my own research into the issue didn't lead me to believe it was any more risky for me than for my loved one. Let it go. She's a grown up who probably knows her condition better than you.
posted by onhazier at 8:36 AM on July 20, 2012


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