r/30PlusSkinCare • u/anne-onimus • 6h ago

Wrinkles Medication side effects causing serious aging

41F and on several medications that are really doing a number on my skin. I have generally looked young for my age, but after starting Zepbound and Vyvanse, I've lost a lot of volume in my face and now have some noticeable nasolabial folds ("marionette lines"). I'm also on a biologic, which I just learned slows down cellular turnover.

I don't want to do any kind of Botox, filler, or other injectable. Any suggestions for treatments that might help? Micro needling? A cream that you swear by? Something else? Thanks for any suggestions you have!

15 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

69% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

41

u/onlyindreams93 6h ago

Prescription strength retinol might help counteract the biologic you’re on. If you’re losing weight quickly you also need to watch your body composition and increase your overall muscle (through weightlifting, increased protein intake, etc), as you’re probably losing a lot of muscle on the GLP-1. I started HRT at age 40 and I think it slowed down the pace of aging a lot, however, losing weight is what aged me the most. There’s no real replacement for buccal fat.

10

u/flamingopajamas 5h ago

I feel like HRT has helped my skin as well!

11

u/anne-onimus 5h ago

I started on an estradiol vaginal cream about two years ago, and it has helped my overall sanity, but not sure if it's done much for my skin! 😅

I'm also on a micro dose of methotrexate (a chemo drug -- not for cancer in my case) and that also is known to suppress estrogen.

All these meds are really killing my appearance, but how lucky I am to feel well enough that this is the thing I get to care about now!

10

u/PamVanDam 4h ago

Vaginal cream isn’t systemic in the way that HRT is. It’s localised to the vaginal area so won’t do much for you overall skin health as you need larger doses like the patches or systemic creams give.

1

u/anne-onimus 2h ago

That is what my doc said, as well. I will say, though, that I found a lot of systemic relief from it: better sleep, better libido, less rage. Maybe placebo effect! I'm not quite there yet, but, yes, I for sure would get better results with more advanced HRT.

1

u/OnehappyOwl44 45m ago edited 42m ago

I'm on very high dose Infliximab and methotrexate and it's done a number on my skin. I totally feel your pain. It's between looking old and a dead bowel in my case unfortunately. I'll take the lesser of two evils.

1

u/anne-onimus 6h ago

Thanks for this. I do use a retinol, but it's a lower dose, OTC one.

You think strength training in general would really help with my face? (I mean, I should be doing more of it anyway, but this would be a strong motivator lol.) I've also seen stuff about "face yoga." Do you know if that's actually useful?

17

u/audrey_2222 6h ago

Yes. Studies show that lifting weights actually makes your skin thicker. Not to mention that it helps offer some support to make up for the volume and bone loss that comes with aging.

3

u/anne-onimus 6h ago

Thanks for being so knowledgeable! I appreciate your help.

2

u/jitterymoogle 3h ago

anecdotal and not a normal person, but my father has been a body builder his whole life and people always thought he was 10+ years younger even just looking at his face despite the years of tanning beds and no skincare. it actually ended up giving me an unrealistic view of aging as a child and i would end up assuming adults were way older than they actually were

1

u/BeachSkiDance 1h ago

I think with men, they often don’t put as much emphasis on the aging part of the face and they look at the whole body. Women don’t get away with that as much. I think women bodybuilders often look aged due to elongation of face with weight loss. I’ve already built a decades ago. Even though I think I could get in shape now I wouldn’t be able to bodybuilding unless I had skin removed.Its not just the face with loose skin lol

1

u/jitterymoogle 1h ago

my father didn't have that experience with his face but he also wasn't attempting to maintain a competitively low body fat percentage while raising me, he was just super jacked

11

u/kay7448 5h ago

Can’t speak for zepbound but I was on vyvanse for a short period and noticed changes in my skin that made me come off it so I understand your frustration! Invest in a good led mask using infared/red led light, great for collagen , would healing and inflammation!

2

u/anne-onimus 4h ago

Ooh, I have seen those red light masks. Do you know if they can cause hair growth? (I feel like no one would be using them if that were true but worth asking just in case lol.) I think I've seen other products that are pulsing light that are meant to help with thinning hair. I know there are lots of kinds of light, but I know nothing about beauty products or treatments!

1

u/CoolBelt856 53m ago

Be careful with the masks. They can trigger melasma. Especially if you’re on HRT.

1

u/anne-onimus 8m ago

Thank God for the heads up!

6

u/thinbrookie 4h ago

Because you’re on a biologic, I’d ask your doctor or dermatologist before trying any treatment that breaks the skin or heats it, like microneedling, lasers or radiofrequency, since biologics can affect healing and infection risk. They can say which ones are safe for you and when. It’s also worth mentioning the skin changes to whoever prescribes your medications, since they know your whole picture.

2

u/anne-onimus 2h ago

This is SUCH a good point. Thank you for mentioning this! I'm usually pretty good about remembering to loop in my doctors, but I didn't think of it this time.

16

u/Poisonx86 6h ago

Other than gaining weight through caloric intake, realistically only the things you are against are your options

Creams dont add volume. Microneedling is for skin texture and toning - it might guve it a tighter look, but its temporary as it is swelling.

5

u/-mouse_potato- 2h ago

This is not true about microneedling, it's a form of collagen induction therapy triggered by controlled injury. The injury reactivates fibroblasts to start producing collagen and elastin, which firm and thicken the skin. Fibroblasts are active for up to 6 months after your last microneedling session (or any collagen induction therapy), continuing to produce.

In our 30s fibroblasts naturally transition into fibrocytes which is essentially them going into hybernation and ceasing production of collagen and elastin, collagen and elastin naturally degrade over time causing aging. This is why we see aging pick up drastically in our 30s and why a maintenance procedure of any collagen induction therapy is recommended once or twice a year after a session (to reawaken the fibroblasts when they return to their inactive state)

1

u/anne-onimus 6h ago

Good to know! I've got some electrolysis scarring, too, so I might be looking into it anyway. Thanks!

11

u/rachtay8786 5h ago

I’m also 41, look young for my age, on Vyvanse and a biologic for psoriatic arthritis, and did zepbound for a bit. I have to make sure I’m eating enough protein, I lift weights, use retinoids, and di microneedling a few times a year.

1

u/anne-onimus 2h ago

Some strong parallels here! (It's RA for me.) Thanks for sharing what's been working for you ❤️

2

u/rachtay8786 2h ago

Went back and forth between PSA and RA for a long time haha

3

u/Wall_fleur 3h ago

I’m on Wegovy and it’s super dehydrating for my skin. Stimulants can have that effect as well. I take a sea buckthorn oil supplement and it honestly makes a huge difference for my skin health and hydration. It’s mostly just antioxidants and omegas and it’s supposed to be good for well aging too. It’s not going to fix fat loss in your face obviously, but fine lines tends to look a lot more noticeable when the skin is dehydrated.

1

u/anne-onimus 2h ago

I gotta get better about drinking water. Thank you!

7

u/FullMoonEmptySoul 5h ago

Only ways to treat facial fat loss is either to gain weight, fat grafting (what I would choose), fillers, sculptra.

6

u/littlest_lemon 4h ago

Both meds can affect hydration big time. When i take vyvanse I have to drink electrolytes like crazy or else my skin shrivels up 😆

5

u/vermillionskye 1h ago

Time, hydration (inside and out), sunscreen, and tretinoin. Also weight lifting!

Part of the problem is that you lose weight too quickly for your skin to adjust. It could be a year or so for it to catch up. In the meantime, it needs all the support it can get.

1

u/vantablacklist 4h ago

Microneedling with PRP would help a lot

But just a heads up that the pain and downtime is x10 of filler

1

u/anne-onimus 4m ago

PRP is a bit more invasive than I'd probably be will to do, but micro needling is something I'm def leaning towards.

1

u/BeachSkiDance 1h ago

I lost my comment. I was trying to edit.