[_ywdj]

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.)

[adminscoffee]

i 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

[jb1991]

There 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]

Though just keep in mind that all kinds of health problems are comorbid.

[fnord77]

my AD/immune system anecdote: I have an autoimmune disease. Some ADs make the disease flare up. Some (particularly tricyclics) improve the disease's symptoms.

[ogwh]

Tricyclics (and tetracyclics) tend to be incredibly potent antihistamines, which may explain this.

[fnord77]

I just looked and desipramine has a Ki of 60 for H1, which makes it sort of a weak antihistamine.

Tricyclics are TNF-alpha inhibitors. I believe that's the MOA in my case.

[ttul]

Aren’t many SSRIs antihistaminergic?

[podgaj]

No 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.

[jinder]

Many antidepressants are (e.g. Mirtazapine), but not Sertraline (Zoloft).

[johnisgood]

And some old antihistamines were SSRIs.

[philjohn]

Citralopam is also a mild antihistamine - so not beyond the realms of possibility.

[bencollier49]

Interesting - probably spurious but has there been any research into a link between depression and asthma?

[jb1991]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4349604/

[DantesKite]

If 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]

NAC has many other health benefits. It helps your liver, for example. It is given for acetaminophen overdose, FWIW.

[argonaut]

I 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-...

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-03-2.... You can find similar articles/studies for other antioxidants.

[phonypc]

I'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]

I 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.

[revolvingocelot]

>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.

I'm so, so glad I can finally downvote friend-of-a-friend rumourmongering like this. Maybe this is something legitimate, but handwaving an entire anecdote on a forum like this, with no definite information except "a case" involving "a woman" and her "condition", is baffling.

Maybe don't listen to this user's suggestions about NAC without verifying something about it, which was too much trouble for them.

[johnisgood]

I am too lazy to look for it. It is on PubMed. In any case, there are many cases of n=1 on HN. Plus, it is not unheard of that immunostimulants may be quite harmful for people with an autoimmune disorder, say, MS. I merely mentioned this case because it is an odd one. She was fine. She took some herbs, and her condition worsened until she died like a day after. I will never forget it. Too bad I cannot seem to find it.

[citboin]

“ 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.”

I have M.S. What herbs did she take?

[johnisgood]

Sadly I cannot remember. The story stuck with me because of the quick deterioration. Unfortunately I cannot even remember enough to find it! :(

I have MS as well. Propolis seems to be fine as immunomodulation goes. I also take ALA. There are conflicting results with regarding to resveratrol. You could take a look at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6311642/ if you have not yet done so.

[_ywdj]

Cheers. I take a small selection of supplements - mostly minerals/vitamins and digestive support but also some amino acids. Not NAC these days, but I may again. My main antioxidant supplement at the moment is Alpha-lipoic Acid.

[m0zg]

FDA banned OTC NAC sales after it found out it might help with COVID [1]. Can't have that. And yeah, I know you're suggesting it for something else, but it's hard to get now.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7649937/

[spamizbad]

The FDA didn't ban it: it just cannot be marketed as a health supplement. Mostly because it was originally approved as a drug back in the 1960s. It would be like selling Tylenol as a vitamin. A dumb technicality that'll likely be reversed.

And you can still purchase it online:

https://www.bulksupplements.com/products/n-acetyl-l-cysteine...

https://www.lifeextension.com/vitamins-supplements/item01534...

https://www.thorne.com/products/dp/cysteplus-reg

[_ywdj]

There are many brands listed on iHerb (all with "dietary supplement" prominently listed in the product description), though most of the items are marked "out of stock", so it looks like many people have been stocking up.

https://www.iherb.com/c/n-acetyl-cysteine-nac

[tallanvor]

Well, no. It appears that the FDA became aware of companies marketing N-acetyl-L-cysteine as a hangover remedy and started the process of taking action at that point. And once they start taking action, they can't ignore some off-label uses for something that's considered a drug. And while this action started in the middle of 2020, there's no evidence that this decision had anything to do with research around the drug and COVID.

An example letter sent by the FDA in July 2020: https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-c...

[pitspotter2]

It does seem to work as a hangover preventative provided you take it before starting to drink alcohol. (Somewhere between 15 minutes to a few hours before.)

[johnisgood]

Are you serious? The FDA banned NAC? This is absurd.

[m0zg]

I think they re-classified it and it's no longer available over the counter. As far as I'm aware it was not banned entirely. I wouldn't know, I stocked up considerably right after the ban, before it disappeared from online stores (but after it already disappeared from Amazon). I figure they wouldn't ban it if it didn't work, like most supplements.

[johnisgood]

NAC is amazing! We have it available here OTC. I wanted to get in higher quantities from the US but I might not be able to do that, then.

Check this random factoid out: "After about two weeks of 2,400mg NAC supplementation, cigarette usage appears to be reduced voluntarily by around 25%."

I personally take it for my liver. It does wonders to it, similarly to silybilin.

[IAmGraydon]

How are you measuring the “wonders” that it does to your liver?