MarshallBlathers

Lol, which Boomer in the CIA ordered this AMA without knowing how the internet works?

I'm seeing a lot of studies popping up on the relationship between chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and microbiome dysfunction. what is your group's view on this topic?

i started taking the supplement NAC recommended for liver health and noticed many reviewers mentioned it helped their hair pulling or skin picking disorders. there have been studies done showing marked improvements:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27007062

Compared with placebo, N-acetylcysteine treatment was associated with significant improvements in the NE-YBOCS...

and

N-acetylcysteine treatment resulted in significant reductions in skin-picking symptoms and was well tolerated. The glutamate system may prove a beneficial target in treating SPD and other compulsive behaviors.

Basically glutamate is an amino acid that "excites" parts of your brain. Glutamate dysregulation can wreak all sorts of havoc on behavior (including for me in terms of chronically heightened general anxiety), and NAC helps modulate glutamate in the brain. it seems to have calmed me down considerably and I've been taking for a week.

/u/PokeYa /u/StarTracks2001 /u/CatCuddlersFromMars /u/pixiehobb