Thanks
@Dr_Oates
Can I ask you a question? How much do you think alcohol, caffeine, and meds like adderall have an impact on neocollagenesis? Specifically Ellanse although I’m sure this is relevant the same to PMMA as well.
I can’t find any studies directly referencing these substances effects on dermal fillers, only their effect on aging and collagen. For adderall I can only find that it dehydrates you and causes oxidative stress.
When you google drinking and it’s effects on dermal fillers, every site or dr. says it won’t effect the filler long term (and some of the fillers are involved with neocollagensis) and the only recommendations are to avoid alcohol immediately before and after treatment.
I don’t get this. If you google alcohols effect on collagen it isn’t pretty. It’s right up there with smoking and sometimes labeled as worse. There are plenty of references citing the damage alcohol does to collagen. I get that there’s a difference between drinking in moderation and heavy drinking. But is getting drunk on 6-8 drinks once a week considered moderation? If I’m going to drink I’m going to drink and it won’t be 1 or 2 beers. It’s really hard to imagine recreational drinking not having a negative impact on the collagen growth spurred by the microspheres. If you read Sizemic’s old posts, he reported zero gains from a round of PMMA. I want to say it was his third round. Back then they were doing lower percentages of PMMA but he still should have gained something. He reported no gain. During this time he was reporting how his lifestyle involved that of the common college student, a lot of drinking. He even used the term “drinking season” and almost all of his female hookups, which were a lot, were acquired along with alcohol.
Then there are studies on caffeine’s effect on collagen. There’s a study that shows caffeine has a negative effect on collagen growth yet I’d place a bet that most of your patients drink either coffee or tea.
Adderall is known to cause oxidative stress. Oxidative stress has a negative effect on collagen growth. So one would think to avoid this too.
I have avoided all these things a little before and since my procedure 9 weeks ago and growth is going fine. I stopped drinking caffeine all together about 5 years ago so that wasn’t an issue at all. However, for the past year and a half I’ve been taking low doses of adderall to help with my work. Since not taking it, I have seen some effect on my work even though the adderall at a certain point was making me more distracted, not less. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t more focused and had more energy throughout the day even with a low dose of 5-10 mg. When I quit adderall I thought, well, maybe I should start drinking coffee but then I saw that study showing it inhibits collagen growth. Furthermore, I figured that I would just build up a tolerance like most people do and I’d just be drinking coffee to feel the way I am now. So I’m currently working and going throughout my day with zero stimulants in my system (I’m trying mushroom and adaptogen supplements but I really don’t notice any effect). I feel great. Along with diet , exercise, certain injectable peptides, vitamin supplements, sauna, I’m probably the healthiest I’ve been in a real long time if not ever.
However, I feel like this world was built on stimulants, workers using caffeine, coffee or tea. Workers had to compete with other workers and if one is being more productive on stimulants than the other had to match it. I find very little information on the amount of professionals, no matter what field, working without caffeine. I can’t help but think this whenever my work requires a lot of mental capacity. Like is said, I’m able to be productive and because of diet and exercise I’m never tired, but sometimes I feel like my mind is a Ford escort when it could be a corvette.
Drinking was easier to quit than the adderall. I would drink 1-2 times a week but it would be a handful or more of whiskey drinks so not 1-2 glasses. If I were to have 2 whiskey drinks I’d want more. I do miss it, but the thought of it hurting gains is just too much.
Just wondering your thoughts on all this. Thanks.
