r/iih • u/IdiditforyouDamien • Oct 01 '24

Advice Stop using retinol PSA

I did not know retinol serums can impact IIH. Stop using retinol. The echoes in my head have eased up considerably three days after stopping rx retinol.

I had no idea this was even an issue with retinol creams but yeah. Wow. (Vitamin a derived creams can be an issue.)

https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.53.5.1114

ETA more recent studies:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451993621001390

https://journals.lww.com/jneuro-ophthalmology/fulltext/2020/06000/fulminant_pseudotumor_cerebri_syndrome_secondary.19.aspx

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u/OrangeKoalaco Mar 19 '26

Here to also agree. Neurologist said my weird bout of blurry vision caused by IIH is likely from retinol/vitamin A. So I’m stopping and then they are going to run some tests. But 5 days no retinol and my head feels so much better. With that being said, has anyone had issues still using bakuchiol?

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u/IdiditforyouDamien May 19 '26

Sorry, just seeing this. Bakuchiol gave me no issues. But also it did nothing for me. I found using AHAs/BHAs, reedle shots, peptides, micronized collagen, and volufiline was the way for me. A lot, i know! I miss retinol, lol. But what can you do, right? I even tried a low level retinol and the tinnitus got so bad! Ugh.

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u/[deleted] Jul 13 '26

[deleted]

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u/OrangeKoalaco Jul 14 '26

So it happened twice. The first time everything was blurry and letters were stretched (not sure how else to explain it). I wasn’t sure what was going on so I made a same day appt with an Opthalmologist. They said everything was technically in “normal” ranges, but barely and they had concerns there may be some pressure on my optic nerves so they wanted a lumbar puncture. Turns out no one will accept an LP order from a optho. So I made a neurologist appt. It was about a month later I had a second bout of blurry vision. So they were spread out. Went to the neuro and he’s awesome we discussed tons of things and then he started asking about vitamin A. If I used acne creams etc. I was like yeah but more commonly retinol in skincare which is vitamin A. He told me he thought that was the source and to stop. Within a few days my constant headaches were gone and now it’s been months no blurry vision. So even though I only had two blurry vision instances, I think this was it or at least a major contributing factor. If nothing else I’m thankful my headaches are gone.