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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by CareBear04 on May 17, 2009, at 1:22:05
Hi everyone--
Does anyone know if there is a connection between serotonin (SSRIs, especially) and acne? For most of my life, I've been lucky enough not to have skin problems, but I'm having them now, which is very concerning. I started Luvox approximately six weeks ago, and almost right away, I started breaking out. I hoped this problem would go away, but it hasn't. It didn't seem to get worse when I increased from 25 to 50mg, but it certainly hasn't gotten better. The only other time I've had anything resembling acne was some years ago when I started Zoloft. I ended up seeing a dermatologist and was prescribed, I think, a topical antibiotic and Retin-A micro, which helped. I've been so busy that I haven't thought about seeing a dr. about the acne, but I'm wondering whether i should. I'm embarrassed about it, though, and I hate to call attention to the problem.
Anyone have experiences or advice?
Thanks much!
CB
Posted by Phillipa on May 17, 2009, at 11:24:00
In reply to serotonin and acne?, posted by CareBear04 on May 17, 2009, at 1:22:05
Now I'm much older than you but have been on luvox for so many years at baby dose but never acne. Phillipa why be embarrassed?
Posted by bleauberry on May 17, 2009, at 11:38:44
In reply to serotonin and acne?, posted by CareBear04 on May 17, 2009, at 1:22:05
Our psychiatric meds impact diverse biological functions throughout the body in diverse ways that we don't know much about.
All I know for sure is that several of us have noticed profound immediate skin improvements when trying the supplement 5htp (converts directly to serotonin). Whether it was a direct impact on skin function or whether it was an impact on the immune system, I don't know. Maybe SSRIs prevent serotonin from going places where it needs to go? Take it out of circulation? Dunno.
Extra circulating serotonin seems anecdotally awesome for skin health, skin elasticity, and skin infections such as acne and boils, but unfortunately not many have found it miraculous for depression.
My doctor is a genius and has found that many cases of acne and boils are actually yeast and not bacteria. Whenever someone is having a hard time treating acne with ABs, they should maybe try topical and systemic Nystatin instead. And just maybe accidentally find out that yeast was the whole psychiatric problem all along.
Anyway, off on a tangent. Sorry. There is no way to know or predict the diverse weird things our psych meds do to our whole chemistry.
This is the end of the thread.
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