Ack, I'm a teenage! (Cymbalta=acne?)

August 7, 2009 10:16 PM

Anyone taking Cymbalta notice an increase in facial acne?

I've been taking Cymbalta (60mg) for about 3 months now, it has worked wonders. However, for the last 6 weeks or so, I've had breakout after breakout of "whitehead" acne around my mouth/lips.

I've never had problems with acne my entire life (nearly 40), so this is wierd.

No changes to diet, but life is stressful (working 4 jobs - usually I only work 2 at a time).

posted by anonymous to health & fitness (2 comments total)

I can't find anything in the medical literature to suggest that this is a known side effect, although Cymbalta is a new enough drug that the research isn't as exhaustive as with older antidepressants. I did find one case report* of a skin reaction, but that was rash and edema, not acne. Personally, I've taken Cymbalta in the past, and I suffer regularly from adult acne, but the Cymbalta never aggravated it.

Stress is a huge acne trigger, and no responsible antidepressant therapy will make you immune to the consequences of totally legitimate life stresses (four jobs!?). Just because you've never had acne before doesn't mean you can't be getting stress-induced acne now. Many adults discover that they start breaking out in their 30s and 40s worse than they ever did as teenagers.

I also know that, in my experience, relief from depression changes so many of my other habits. I eat and drink differently, sleep differently, and so on. And, annoyingly, acne can be triggered by all kinds of things in different people: too much sleep, not enough sleep, alcohol, rich food, not enough food, sweat from exercising...

So: you could be having an unreported side effect of the Cymbalta, or it could be plenty of other things. If it doesn't clear up, see a dermatologist. I'm sorry, and I feel for you. Feeling better and then looking lousy really sucks.

* Oulis, P. et al. (2008) Duloxetine-induced cutaneous adverse reaction. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 28:1, 104-105.
posted by miagaille at 7:02 AM on August 8, 2009

I don't have any experience with Cymbalta specifically, but two sites that are useful for seeing other people's reactions to specific medications are Ask a Patient and Crazymeds (including the forums).

Be aware though that people who post on the internet about a particular drug are the usually the ones that have extreme experiences--the ones who want to rave about how incredible it is or the people who want to warn others to stay away at all costs (usually the latter more than the former)--so take everything you read with a grain of salt.
posted by cosmic osmo at 10:42 AM on August 8, 2009