Based on meeting you in person in Scottsdale and remembering your case as AB and taking Neurontin over time (right?), you should definitely discuss this with your doctor(s).

Botox affects the muscle into which it is injected. Botox is not going to travel into a different part of your body. It's isolated and localized. In general, the biggest problem posters on this BB have with Botox is that their shots have not hit the right muscle or the doseage isn't correct, thus they are sometimes ineffective for our voices. The laryngeal muscles are extremely small and hard to hit precisely and difficult to tune. A vocal shot will not affect your eyelids, unless it hit completely in the wrong place.

Droopy eyelids could be from allergies or from numerous other situations. As the docs at various symposiums have educated us (especially the excellent ones at the Michigan Symposium in March, 2001) - alot of things might happen to our bodies at the same time (with age or whatever) but it doesn't mean one causes another.

It's good to keep track of your own body and everything that is going on, as you are doing, but we all have to be careful with "cause-and-effect." Some posters have suggested in the past that menopause might cause SD (because they often happen at the same time). But, men get SD also. So, be careful with whatever you get back (re conclusions), on this request for information.

The most common adverse events following injection [of botox] were headache, respiratory infection, flu syndrome, blepharoptosis (droopy eyelids) and nausea. Less frequent adverse reactions (less than 3% of patients) included pain in the face, redness at the injection site and muscle weakness. These reactions were generally temporary, but could last several months.

Micki

I would bet a large amount of money that blepharoptosis can not result from botox injections for spasmodic dysphonia. There is no logical connection (and just to be clear, the logic that "one cannot prove otherwise" is a non-argument). The fact that "pain in the face" is also listed as a side effect, further confirms to me that these side effects are not related to laryngeal injections.

One comment: Systemic reactions would not depend on where the botox was injected.

I don't usually post on this BB but I was browsing and your post caught my eye. I get botox injections for blepharospasm and if the dosage isn't right or the doc hits the wrong muscle, I get what is called "ptosis" or droopy eyelids. It goes away as the botox wears off. Blepharitis is more of an inflammation of the eye lid. Micki posted a link to the Allergan web site and I think it would be good to read that. It does say that sometimes the botox can "travel" from the injection site to other muscles. I don't know about SD, but for those of us with the blephs, we can't lay down for about an hour after we get our shots. I usually feel a little flu like after my shots, but it goes away quickly. I have been very luck and have had minimal side effects and great results. Good luck.