Posted by barbaracat on December 13, 2004, at 1:29:51
In reply to Re: Lithium skin problems (Barbara), posted by prodgirl on December 13, 2004, at 0:15:18
My skin got a little oilier and I broke out somewhat at first, but I'm on a very small dose at 600mg and never got anything that was too bad. I'm also 53 so I'm not exactly zit prone like I was earlier on. The other thing I noticed that I've heard mentioned is that your hair might change. The texture of mine got strange for a while, like it was coated. My hair coloring looked off for a few months. Lithium is a metallic salt so it would figure that it would interract with hair coloring. All these things resolved in time though.
A few things come to mind. Because it is a metallic salt and some gets excreted through the skin, you may have a sensitivity to it which could be a simple irritation sensitivity or a more problematic one due to an actual allergy. Vitamin C at about 4M a day really helps with allergies and helps the skin alot because it builds collagen.
If the bumps are red and inflamed it's probably a sensitivity, but it sounds like it's blackheads and closed pore bumps which is more of a problem when excess oiliness is combined with thick sebum and slow skin cell turnover.
Have you had your thyroid checked? Lithium is notorious for causing low thyroid. It's made mine worse and is the main problem I have with it and why I attempt to quit every so often. A low thyroid will cause skin problems, and down the line other hormonal problems as well. Estrogen and thyroid are very linked and look what happens pre-menstrually with those zits. A low thyroid will also cause sluggish elimination and if those toxins aren't getting eliminated the normal way, the skin is the second best route.
If you're not taking fish oil it may help. It certainly can't hurt. You'd think oil is the last thing you need right now but after an initial break in period of a few extra zits it helps keep the pores clearer by emulsifying the sebum and keeping it from getting hard and oxidized, which is what a blackhead is, just oxidized too sticky oil. At any rate, my skin and hair are back to normal and the fish oil has helped all around. Vitamins A and E also help with turnover rate of skin cells. If your skin isn't inflamed, use a scratchy washcloth or something to exfoliate.
The other thing is you've GOT to drink extra water with lithium and it's good to put a pinch of sea salt in it to replace the electrolytes lithium pees out and to make the water more absorbable. The rule is to take your weight and halve it and that's the number of ounces you should be drinking a day, so if you weigh 120 lbs you should be drinking 60oz of water a day.
If all else fails, a dermatologist will probably put you on Retin-A to speed cell turnover. But give things time if you're just starting lithium, although Retin-A isn't a bad thing for wrinkle patrol.
As far as expensive skin products, you might want to go as pure and simple as you can for a while to reduce any possible irritants. Department store skin care products are loaded with them. You know what the best moisturizer is? Macadamia nut oil. It's the closest to natural skin oil, softens the blackheads and is and a heck cheaper than Clinique. I put a squirt of lavender essential oil in it for the extra disinfectant properties. Plus it's great to cook with - just leave out the lavender! A great skin cleanser is - you'll love this - unflavored yogurt, something like Nancy's or even better, Pavel's, using a washcloth. It's antibacterial, has natural alpha hydroxy exfoliators and restores a perfect acidic pH. The only thing is it's a pain in the butt to retrieve it from the fridge every night and it's cold. But I just put some in a squeeze bottle (otherwise it's way messy from the carton) and it works great. Cheap and better than the expensive stuff. As much as we love to believe that rubbing on a product will product miracles, good skin is mainly an inside job, a product of hormonal balance, good nutrition, good elmination of toxins, adequate water and good skin cell turnover rate. Gee, maybe I should open a booth at the mall. I just won't tell them it's yogurt. - Barbara
> Barbara -
>
> Any chance you had problems with your skin as a side effect from the Lithium? I saw my Pdoc this week, she said that it's normal and she would recommend a dermatologist. My pores have gone nuts, black heads on my face and weird non-pimples on my chest, upper arms and my sides. I spend alot of money on high end facial product as is, and I still can't figure out what to do.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
poster:barbaracat
thread:425540
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041211/msgs/428723.html