For all those interested in unilateral injections for AD I have a personal update. I know Jenni and Vici were particularly interested and David Barton was the one that gave me the idea. I had my first unilateral injection with Dr. Bastian, in Chicago, January the 6th (a week ago today). As of today, I am experiencing some weakness of voice but no significant breathiness (both of which were always a significant post-Botox side effect). My voice is a little weak but the "quality" is better than it was prior to the treatment. Perhaps, it’s too early to tell but as of now I’m happy with the results. I start back to teaching this Wednesday and I always dread the post-Botox period. Hopefully, with just one vocal cord affected I won’t have the 5-6 week “cure is worse than the disease period.”

I keep you up to date as the shot runs its course.

When I changed from bilateral shots to unilateral, over a period of time, I did need to have the dose upped somewhat but it has now been stable at 10 units over the last 3 years or so and I'm now finding I can go 6 months between shots instead of 4 months.

I do need my next shot (in 3.5 weeks' time) but I feel much less urgency (or panic even) that I simply must have the next shot than I used to.

We'll look forward to hearing more from you as the experiment pans out.

Thanks for the update on your unilateral injection. Sounds like it is working well for you so far. I, too, dread that post-botox period and am back to teaching tomorrow after a week off following my (low dose bilateral) injection. We'll see if the weak voice holds up! Good luck to you in the next few weeks, and keep us informed as to how this treatment pans out for you.

I received my first unilateral injection January 6th (1.0 unit on the right side) for my AD/SD. I'm still experiencing some weakness of voice but not as bad as when I had the bilateral shots.

The anxiety I feel when talking to others only makes it worse. And as much as I love my coffee I've GOT to give it up. It ALWAYS makes my voice 10x worse!!

I think, next time around, I'll suggest .75 to .50 units of Botox (I seem to be pretty sensitive to the stuff). Still in all I'm relatively happy with the unilateral results and will continue to experiment with it at least a few more times until I decide to try something else.

I hope being back to school (me too, I'm a college librarian) is not too trying for you.

[David Barton, if you are reading this, I want to thank you for your support and for the suggestion of getting the unilateral injections].

Jenni, I'm wishing you continued good results with your treatments. Please keep me in touch.

Thanks for your kind words! That's what this BB is all about - educating each other and providing support.

I certainly wouldn't suggest unilateral Botox injections are the way to go for all AD/SD patients, but they do help with the extreme post-Botox breathiness in a significant number of cases. On the other hand, I know of several other patients who get low-dose bilateral shots and sound almost perfect almost all the time.