Acne Success Stories

GorillaHead

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Not a sixes story just looking for advice. My acne is mainly only in my back like practically exclusively.

Is this an internal problem or a hygiene problem?
 

Peachy

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Apr 21, 2021
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I don't think you should expect to NEVER have any pimple, especially if you have the tendency to have acne.

I had moderate acne as a teenager, and it would completely disappear in the summer when I was outside playing and swimming in the pool, only to come back during the winter.
Vitamin D levels play a big role, and nutrient deficiencies can be covered with liver and oysters.

So it's not really about finding a ''cure'', more about meeting your body's need.

I still get acne, but never if I make sure to eat nutritious foods, and take some aspirin to lower the inflammation. Vitamin A and zinc (found in liver and oysters) are very important to the skin.

Low thyroid leading to low progesterone is associated with acne, alopecia and hirsutism in young adults and older. Fix the thyroid (by covering D, sun, nutrition, stress) and you probably will be free of acne most of the time.
I like your approach! I’m looking for a few more ideas for my 16-yr old son. The aspirin idea is interesting. And when you say progesterone, is that for males with acne as well? If so, internal or on the spots? I’m also considering a little desiccated thyroid.

He’s 6’4”, 200lb. Went through puberty a little early and grew very fast. But I’ve always suspected metabolism issues - starting with slow digestion and eczema as a child.

I thought we had the acne under control, but still having up and down results and he’s frustrated. I don’t blame him because he really tries.

(Current regimen - 2 oysters daily, raw carrot daily, raw liver occasionally, decent diet but still teenagery, dandelion tea cleanse one week/month, topical niacinimide and retinol, honey masks. 10,000iu d weekly (he tends to run low). Experimenting with a spore probiotic. Was having a lot of collagen but dropped it - maybe that was helping. About to drop topical retinol because he’s getting too much sun now. Going to try a topical cream with pregnenolone.)
 

mrchibbs

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I like your approach! I’m looking for a few more ideas for my 16-yr old son. The aspirin idea is interesting. And when you say progesterone, is that for males with acne as well? If so, internal or on the spots? I’m also considering a little desiccated thyroid.

He’s 6’4”, 200lb. Went through puberty a little early and grew very fast. But I’ve always suspected metabolism issues - starting with slow digestion and eczema as a child.

I thought we had the acne under control, but still having up and down results and he’s frustrated. I don’t blame him because he really tries.

(Current regimen - 2 oysters daily, raw carrot daily, raw liver occasionally, decent diet but still teenagery, dandelion tea cleanse one week/month, topical niacinimide and retinol, honey masks. 10,000iu d weekly (he tends to run low). Experimenting with a spore probiotic. Was having a lot of collagen but dropped it - maybe that was helping. About to drop topical retinol because he’s getting too much sun now. Going to try a topical cream with pregnenolone.)

I went through a similar ordeal at his age. He probably needs a lot of extra nutrition which you've been doing, but I would up the liver specifically. He likely needs a lot of it, so maybe make him a big plate of fried liver and onions (along with homemade fries maybe) at least once weekly, that extra vitamin A and nutrients will help. People underestimate the amount of nutritious food a teenage boy needs to truly grow into a man, what you do now will affect his development and wellbeing for the rest of his life.

I would simplify the approach with him though. Liver 1,2x a week (cooked is more palatable and can be delicious with butter and onions), seafood (oysters, mussels, shrimps, all shellfish is wonderful and highly nutritious. It has a lot of micronutrients like zinc, selenium, copper which are essential especially for sexual development.

Aspirin (dissolved in a bit of hot water and baking soda) can be added to juice or coke and is very useful to counter the inflammatory influences in our environment.

So for your son, I would specifically say, up the liver consumption, along with general nutrition, and maybe send him to the tanning salon 2-3x a week. That will help his skin and increase his vitamin D much more effectively than supplements. 10k UI is weekly is totally insufficient for him. Aspirin is just generally helpful and will make him feel better.

Topical creams, and other specific detox approaches are marginal at best and unecessary for someone so young. Even exogenous progesterone is not much help for someone like him. Fix the problem at the root with nutrition and sun exposure (hence the tanning salon, best solution if full body sun exposure is not available)
 

LadyRae

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Mar 20, 2021
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I’m honestly on the verge of giving up and trying accutane. My cousin had very severe acne and after several trials he’s now decently clear despite eating junk food and hair/skin/body composition are great, he’s drinking almost 2 litres of milk a day and reaping the benefits. It’s been 2 years since I started breaking out and I haven’t even more than a week without breaking out. I’m pretty much wasting my youth trying out unsustainable diets that don’t work well enough (they manage it somewhat but they don’t cure it) and feeling miserable/hair falling out/nails breaking/losing a ton of weight/having social limitations. Just can’t do this anymore
Hey girl?! How's your skin journey coming along? Any updates?
Hugs!
🌺
 

Peachy

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Apr 21, 2021
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I went through a similar ordeal at his age. He probably needs a lot of extra nutrition which you've been doing, but I would up the liver specifically. He likely needs a lot of it, so maybe make him a big plate of fried liver and onions (along with homemade fries maybe) at least once weekly, that extra vitamin A and nutrients will help. People underestimate the amount of nutritious food a teenage boy needs to truly grow into a man, what you do now will affect his development and wellbeing for the rest of his life.

I would simplify the approach with him though. Liver 1,2x a week (cooked is more palatable and can be delicious with butter and onions), seafood (oysters, mussels, shrimps, all shellfish is wonderful and highly nutritious. It has a lot of micronutrients like zinc, selenium, copper which are essential especially for sexual development.

Aspirin (dissolved in a bit of hot water and baking soda) can be added to juice or coke and is very useful to counter the inflammatory influences in our environment.

So for your son, I would specifically say, up the liver consumption, along with general nutrition, and maybe send him to the tanning salon 2-3x a week. That will help his skin and increase his vitamin D much more effectively than supplements. 10k UI is weekly is totally insufficient for him. Aspirin is just generally helpful and will make him feel better.

Topical creams, and other specific detox approaches are marginal at best and unecessary for someone so young. Even exogenous progesterone is not much help for someone like him. Fix the problem at the root with nutrition and sun exposure (hence the tanning salon, best solution if full body sun exposure is not available)
This is just the direction I needed. He really does need a ton of quality nutrition and it’s overwhelming at times. Thankfully, he loves seafood! I gave him some mussels just now after school. Will try upping the liver and generally recommit to his nutrition. He plays a lot of tennis so I think he’ll get the vitamin D he needs now that it’s warming up.

I think of the dandelion cleanse as a bile booster (bitter, a cooling food in Chinese medicine). It causes breakouts for a week, then clearer skin. Taurine also causes breakouts for some and I’ve wondered if it’s for similar reasons. But I hear you, the idea is getting to the root and food is king.

Do you think throwing in a little desiccated thyroid would be good? Or wait on that?

And you like to dissolve the aspirin with baking soda to protect the gut lining right?
 

mrchibbs

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This is just the direction I needed. He really does need a ton of quality nutrition and it’s overwhelming at times. Thankfully, he loves seafood! I gave him some mussels just now after school. Will try upping the liver and generally recommit to his nutrition. He plays a lot of tennis so I think he’ll get the vitamin D he needs now that it’s warming up.

I think of the dandelion cleanse as a bile booster (bitter, a cooling food in Chinese medicine). It causes breakouts for a week, then clearer skin. Taurine also causes breakouts for some and I’ve wondered if it’s for similar reasons. But I hear you, the idea is getting to the root and food is king.

Do you think throwing in a little desiccated thyroid would be good? Or wait on that?

And you like to dissolve the aspirin with baking soda to protect the gut lining right?

Yeah I think aspirin dissolved with hot water and baking soda is much gentler (and actually protective) for the GI tract, and helps just about everything and will greatly reduce the inflammatory processes which are exacerbated in teenage boys because of high endocrine activity (lots of hormones amplifying every effect good and bad).

I would still reiterate tanning salon at least until it's truly summer, the type of vitamin D he needs is only achieved by spending many hours shirtless in the sun or in the pool. If he does that fine, but if it's not going to happen for a while, I reiterate that I can't think of anything else that would be more therapeutic for him. Not consuming vegetable and seed oils greatly lowers the risk of sunburn, in fact he'll tan more easily.

There are many things which help obviously but ultimately it's about sunshine and highly nutritious foods. Sticking with what he enjoys eating is the best bet. Calamari, mussels, oysters, scallops all have profound effects and will help him tremendously, along with eggs and weekly liver meal, and milkshakes/icecreams, potatoes anything that can help meet his nutrient requirements effectively.

With high-quality nutrition, physical activity and lots of sunshine exposure it shouldn't take long to resolve these issues. One other factor to keep in mind is making sure there aren't any digestive issues at play but usually with the steps above it's taken care of.

Regarding NDT, it couldn't hurt, but it might be useful to check his oral temperature before. If it's close to 98F upon waking up he doesn't need any thyroid, but in all likelihood he won't be that high. Ray used to say quite rightly that thyroid gland used to be a part of traditional diets so adding a little in his diet can only be helpful.
 

BeanSprouts

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I still have a lot of bacne, and I've always had it all the way back to when I first started puberty (I'm now 27). My shoulders were also bad and were getting worse recently until I started moisturizing them and then sealing them with a thin layer of vaseline as an occlusive. The areas I regularly moisturize all have significantly less acne.

Diet has never done anything for it, and I know that dermatologists throw out diet theories because the quality of those studies is so bad, they can't even count as evidence. There are links between leucine and acne, so you can't win.
 

Peachy

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Yeah I think aspirin dissolved with hot water and baking soda is much gentler (and actually protective) for the GI tract, and helps just about everything and will greatly reduce the inflammatory processes which are exacerbated in teenage boys because of high endocrine activity (lots of hormones amplifying every effect good and bad).

I would still reiterate tanning salon at least until it's truly summer, the type of vitamin D he needs is only achieved by spending many hours shirtless in the sun or in the pool. If he does that fine, but if it's not going to happen for a while, I reiterate that I can't think of anything else that would be more therapeutic for him. Not consuming vegetable and seed oils greatly lowers the risk of sunburn, in fact he'll tan more easily.

There are many things which help obviously but ultimately it's about sunshine and highly nutritious foods. Sticking with what he enjoys eating is the best bet. Calamari, mussels, oysters, scallops all have profound effects and will help him tremendously, along with eggs and weekly liver meal, and milkshakes/icecreams, potatoes anything that can help meet his nutrient requirements effectively.

With high-quality nutrition, physical activity and lots of sunshine exposure it shouldn't take long to resolve these issues. One other factor to keep in mind is making sure there aren't any digestive issues at play but usually with the steps above it's taken care of.

Regarding NDT, it couldn't hurt, but it might be useful to check his oral temperature before. If it's close to 98F upon waking up he doesn't need any thyroid, but in all likelihood he won't be that high. Ray used to say quite rightly that thyroid gland used to be a part of traditional diets so adding a little in his diet can only be helpful.
Ok, we’re giving all this a go. I so appreciate your time and thought.

One more question - how much aspirin would you have taken as a teenager? I’m debating 325mg or half that.
 

mrchibbs

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Ok, we’re giving all this a go. I so appreciate your time and thought.

One more question - how much aspirin would you have taken as a teenager? I’m debating 325mg or half that.

It's not really worrisome, but yeah 1/2 an aspirin is already quite helpful.
 

Peachy

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I developed fairly bad bacne over the last year and it’s completely gone after I stopped eating chicken eggs.
Do you have any idea of what in the chicken egg was causing breakouts? The protein? Vitamin a?
 

aniciete

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Do you have any idea of what in the chicken egg was causing breakouts? The protein? Vitamin a?
Not too sure honestly. I figured it could be hormone related yet I don’t seem to have any issues with duck eggs. Maybe an allergy caused by vaccine cultures.
 

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