12 ms·
From my own experience I can very much believe an SSRI could have an effect on the immune system and/or the respiratory system. I was a heavy cigarette smoker
by _ywdj 5y ago
From my own experience I can very much believe an SSRI could have an effect on the immune system and/or the respiratory system.
I was a heavy cigarette smoker in my 20s, and over those years, I experienced worsening asthma and also worsening anxiety and depression.
Eventually I was prescribed an SSRI (Zoloft), and found that not only did my mood change, my asthma completely abated, even though I was still smoking just as much.
After a few months I decided I didn't like all that the SSRI was doing to my psyche, so when the prescription finished I tapered off it, and sure enough the asthma returned a few months later.
I've never enquired much as to what what was going on - I didn't speak to doctors or other people about it. But the correlation between SSRI intake and asthma abatement was very clear.
(And yes I know it was very stupid to be smoking as an asthmatic - I quit completely the following year and have stayed off them for coming-on 15 years. I've also been mostly asthma-free in that time, though it returned for a few months about 7 years ago, after a period of intense career-related stress, but then cleared up after I undertook some healing work that included both immune-system support and emotional healing.)
- fnord77 5y agomy AD/immune system anecdote: I have an autoimmune disease. Some ADs make the disease flare up. Some (particularly tricyclics) improve the disease's symptoms.
- bencollier49 5y agoInteresting - probably spurious but has there been any research into a link between depression and asthma?
- jb1991 5y agohttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4349604/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4349604/
- jb1991 5y agoThere are other known links between emotion and asthma. For example, children are more likely to develop asthma if they grow up with a parent who is depressed or high-stress.
- eru 5y agoThough just keep in mind that all kinds of health problems are comorbid.
- DantesKite 5y agoIf you continue having issues, consider taking NAC. It's very commonly used to treat bronchitis and my asthmatic mother has had tremendous success with it.
- johnisgood 5y agoNAC has many other health benefits. It helps your liver, for example. It is given for acetaminophen overdose, FWIW.
- argonaut 5y agoI would caution against anyone supplementing with NAC for general health reasons (e.g. other than a specific condition like bronchitis). In mice, very high doses of NAC causes tumors to form. https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/n-acetyl-cysteine-warning-shot https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/n-acetyl-cysteine-... More broadly, there is a lot of emerging evidence against directly taking antioxidant supplements. For example, it is well established that antioxidant supplementation counteracts the benefits of exercise in humans (free radicals are a cue the body uses to initiate recovery). https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/NFS-03-2013-0038/full/html https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/NFS-03-2.... You can find similar articles/studies for other antioxidants.
- phonypc 5y agoI'm not sure you can apply those findings regarding antioxidants. NAC isn't itself an antioxidant, but a prodrug for an amino acid that is the rate limiting factor in producing glutathione, the bodies primary endogenous antioxidant. Presumably if you're already "full" on glutathione, the NAC does nothing.
- johnisgood 5y agoI am not sure how well known it is, but I already have known this. Immunostimulants are not necessary a healthy thing either, especially not for people with an autoimmune disorder. It can cause flare-ups for example. There is a case of a woman whose condition deteriorated rapidly after having consumed some common herbs and died within a day or two. I think she had MS. Another example: it has been known that many substances do prevent, but if you already have cancer, than your condition will worsen. Back to NAC: it is healthy for you in the typical doses which is about 200-1000 mg I would say. If you take acetaminophen on the daily, then it is especially recommended. In any case, I do not recommend taking it long-term, or not without breaks in-between. Take it for 2 months, stop for a month, take it for another 2 months, then stop for a month and so forth. You can do 1 month on then off, and so on. Up to you.
- ttul 5y agoAren’t many SSRIs antihistaminergic?
- jinder 5y agoMany antidepressants are (e.g. Mirtazapine), but not Sertraline (Zoloft).
- johnisgood 5y agoAnd some old antihistamines were SSRIs.
- podgaj 5y agoNo SSRI's are antihistaminergic. It is right in the name. SSRI only inhibit serotonin reuptake. Many antipsychotics have histamine receptor inhibition, but there are no antidepressants that block the histamine receptors.
- adminscoffee 5y agoi actually have the opposite problem certain ssri's have made my asthma really bad so that's interesting to hear how different people respond to different medications
- philjohn 5y agoCitralopam is also a mild antihistamine - so not beyond the realms of possibility.