Dark Gray-Blue Skin
In the more recent case report, Ms. Patel and Dr. Phelan described a 30-year-old White male patient who presented with dark gray-blue skin coloring on his cheeks, back of his neck, and the backs of his hands and forearms. He had no other medical conditions and did not take any medications or supplements that cause hyperpigmentation while using kratom.
The patient had been taking kratom for years in the wake of an opioid addiction following medications for a high school injury. He developed an opioid use disorder and tried to replace his pain medications with kratom.
“The patient stopped using kratom in May 2022, but the discoloration remains. It has not regressed in the following 16 months after discontinuing kratom use,” the authors wrote, noting that “whether or not the hyperpigmentation is able to regress is unknown.”
Dr. Woolery-Lloyd is a consultant for AbbVie, Incyte, Johnson & Johnson Consumer, LivDerm, and L’Oreal; a speaker for Eli Lilly, Incyte, L’Oreal, and Ortho Dermatologics; and a researcher/investigator for AbbVie, Allergan, Eirion Therapeutics, Galderma, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Vyne Therapeutics.
According to an information page on kratom on the Food and Drug Administration website, health care professionals and consumers can report adverse reactions associated with kratom to the FDA’s MedWatch program.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.