Acne Success Stories

[BRMarshall]

What cured it for me was an over the counter, homeopathic combination. I had never taken homeopathic before, a bottle had been left by my sister's boy friend and I tried it and almost immediately I felt a shift, and basically I never had an outbreak ever again, except an occasional pimple.

I think the brand might have been Nat Bio, but I am not sure...

 

[FitnessMike]

i heard that black cumin seed oil internally doing the work

 

[ursidae]

What cured it for me was an over the counter, homeopathic combination. I had never taken homeopathic before, a bottle had been left by my sister's boy friend and I tried it and almost immediately I felt a shift, and basically I never had an outbreak ever again, except an occasional pimple.

I think the brand might have been Nat Bio, but I am not sure...

Not even finding a brand that’s called Nat Bio…
Perhaps it was one of the tissue salts that includes sodium (Nat)?

 

[ursidae]

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

 

[OccamzRazer]

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

Hang in there!

Haven't read the whole thing. Have you tried topical MCT oil, lanolin, niacinamide, vit. C, and/or raw honey?

If all else fails, surely there are worse things than taking accutane. If using it leads to peace of mind it might be worth it !

 

[MrGilbert]

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

Have you tried tretinoin?

 

[ursidae]

Hang in there!

Haven't read the whole thing. Have you tried topical MCT oil, lanolin, niacinamide, vit. C, and/or raw honey?

If all else fails, surely there are worse things than taking accutane. If using it leads to peace of mind it might be worth it !

I’ve tried all except mct and lanolin because they’re comedogenic
I’d say taking accutane is a question of picking quality over quantity. Would rather have a 20 years shorter lifespan, but not feel or look horrible during prime years. the psychological burden of having to control every aspect of my life to manage this is proving to be too great. The endless dietary and lifestyle restrictions, producing subpar results and leading to side effects, the poor aesthetics and impaired social and sexual life, too much of a mental strain and not worth it.

 

[ursidae]

Have you tried tretinoin?

I’ve had it in skincare I used, yeah

 

[cout12]

I’ve tried all except mct and lanolin because they’re comedogenic
I’d say taking accutane is a question of picking quality over quantity. Would rather have a 20 years shorter lifespan, but not feel or look horrible during prime years. the psychological burden of having to control every aspect of my life to manage this is proving to be too great. The endless dietary and lifestyle restrictions, producing subpar results and leading to side effects, the poor aesthetics and impaired social and sexual life, too much of a mental strain and not worth it.

what's the benefit of accutane vs just high dosing vitamin a? the only active ingredient of accutane seems to be vitamin a.

half my friends in high school took accutane and it did help all of us and none of us had side effects. the doctor never even mentioned the possibility of a side effect. I have a feeling we would've all got the same result from just high dosing vit A but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[GorillaHead]

what's the benefit of accutane vs just high dosing vitamin a? the only active ingredient of accutane seems to be vitamin a.

half my friends in high school took accutane and it did help all of us and none of us had side effects. the doctor never even mentioned the possibility of a side effect. I have a feeling we would've all got the same result from just high dosing vit A but maybe I'm wrong.

Accutane is an analog of vitamin A that ur body produces little amounts of. Aka tretinoin.
There is retinol. Retinly and other analogs and they have different levels of affects. So i wouldnt say the are synonymous at all

 

[Birdie]

What cures mine is getting enough vitamin A. I think Ray said that when you increase metabolism, your needs for vitamin A increases.

Whenever I lower my vitamin A, within a few weeks, I get breakouts. This has just happened once again. I lowered my vitamin A to 50,000IU per week. I use 28,000IU of vitamin D. I had been taking 125,000 of vitamin A per week and decided it was too much.

If the Ray ratio is 5:1 ... A, then my vitamin A is too low by that measure... It's close to 2:1 right now.

 

[ursidae]

What cures mine is getting enough vitamin A. I think Ray said that when you increase metabolism, your needs for vitamin A increases.

Whenever I lower my vitamin A, within a few weeks, I get breakouts. This has just happened once again. I lowered my vitamin A to 50,000IU per week. I use 28,000IU of vitamin D. I had been taking 125,000 of vitamin A per week and decided it was too much.

If the Ray ratio is 5:1 ... A, then my vitamin A is too low by that measure... It's close to 2:1 right now.

Are you taking thyroid?

 

[Androsclerosis]

The best thing that worked for me was to eat a low fat diet, no dairy, plenty of fruits and beef. The big problem is that it´s not sustainable, you get easily hungry and you don´t always feel the urge to eat fruits, so I gave up and my acne is not that bad.
I will experiment with 2-3 liters of milk per day to see if my skin is improving.
My grandmother used to drink lots of integral full fat milk organic and she is now 65 with a strong hair and glow skin.

 

[ursidae]

If I eat just watermelon, melons, cucumbers, cocoa butter, avocado and white fish I clear up quite a bit, however
- teeth get really sensitive
-hair starts falling out
-I have little energy or drive to do anything
-rapid weight loss
-nails are breaking
-diarrhoea
-insomnia

if I eat beef, dairy, eggs, fruit and potatoes
-feel strong and optimistic, bursts of energy, however there are mood swings and emotional extremes
-have better drive and self discipline
-solid sleep, go to bed feeling content and wake up happy and rested
-mind is working well, become more sociable and confident
-normal bowel movements but bad smell when dairy is added
-hair gets dense and nails are strong and shiny
-body composition improves, I gain much needed fat and become less malnourished

-body odour getting worse
-hirsutism slowly getting worse
-acne becoming increasingly severe with every passing day

 

[PeskyPeater]

Ketotifen has been used together with accutane succesfully to treat such kind of conditions. ketotifen is a mastcell inhibitor. Maybe you could try a cream with ketotifen..

Abstract​

A 20-year-old man suffering from acne vulgaris since the age of 12 developed a solid persistent inflammatory edema of the face through the last 2 years. The edema was resistant to conventional treatment of acne including various systemic and topical antibiotics, isotretinoin and interferon-gamma. Histopathologic examination revealed an extensive fibrosis of the middle and deeper corium with a dense lymphohistiocytic perivascular infiltrate, notably with many mast cells. The therapeutic combination of oral isotretinoin (0.5 mg/kg body weight daily) and ketotifen (2 mg daily) led to complete resolution of all facial lesions. The pathogenesis of persistent edema remains mysterious but may be related to chronic inflammation resulting in obstruction of lymph vessels or fibrosis induced by mast cells.

-study

 

[PeskyPeater]

There is a good chance that the tannins in fruit you eat are irritating you and releasing stressors that activate prostaglandins that stimulate the mast cells. You could try drinking goat milk with fruit juice like eg. grapejuice to bind the tannins and reduce their absorption. Also Aspirin will reduce the prostaglandins.

 

[PeskyPeater]

Are you using Dr Peat's progesterone?

Next to prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) Calcium is a prime messenger in mast cell activation signaling (Izquierdo et al., 2014).

Reference from Dr Peats article Calcium:
"
17 beta-estradiol increases Ca(2+) influx and down regulates interleukin-2 receptor in mouse thymocytes. Azenabor AA, Hoffman-Goetz L.

Nutr Rev 2002 Oct;60(10 Pt 1):337-41. Elderly women need dietary protein to maintain bone mass. Bell J, Whiting SJ. Researchers who conducted a recent prospective study of older adults reported that animal protein had a protective role for bone, especially in elderly women, whereas plant protein was negatively associated with bone mineral density. Other studies confirm the beneficial effect of increasing dietary protein intake in older women to reduce bone mineral density loss and risk of fracture, suggesting that emphasis should be placed on promoting adequate protein intake in elderly women.

Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 2001 Dec;281(6):F1058-66. Metabolic, but not respiratory, acidosis increases bone PGE(2) levels and calcium release. Bushinsky DA, Parker WR, Alexander KM, Krieger NS. A decrease in blood pH may be due to either a reduction in bicarbonate concentration ([HCO(3)(-)]; metabolic acidosis) or to an increase in PCO(2) (respiratory acidosis). In mammals, metabolic, but not respiratory, acidosis increases urine calcium excretion without altering intestinal calcium absorption, indicating that the additional urinary calcium is derived from bone. In cultured bone, chronic metabolic, but not respiratory, acidosis increases net calcium efflux (J(Ca)), decreases osteoblastic collagen synthesis, and increases osteoclastic bone resorption. Metabolic acidosis increases bone PGE(2) production, which is correlated with J(Ca), and inhibition of PGE(2) production inhibits this acid-induced J(Ca). Thus metabolic, but not respiratory, acidosis induces the release of bone PGE(2), which mediates J(Ca) from bone."
-source

 

[ursidae]

There is a good chance that the tannins in fruit you eat are irritating you and releasing stressors that activate prostaglandins that stimulate the mast cells. You could try drinking goat milk with fruit juice like eg. grapejuice to bind the tannins and reduce their absorption. Also Aspirin will reduce the prostaglandins.

It’s the dairy that breaks me out

 

[PeskyPeater]

It’s the dairy that breaks me out

Ah yes, the milk proteins can increase growth hormone IGF-1 with increased androgens those can stimulate sebum production. Have you tried predigested milk products like greek yogurt ?

 

[PeskyPeater]

IGF-1 is an indicator for eleveted growth hormones. And elevated androgens is an indicator for stress hormones having taken over thyroid funtion in regulating hormones and the androgens are protective. So then it could be an idea to try thyroid and progesterone.. Any experience with them?

edit:

Sebum production is a major factor in the pathogenesis of acne. Growth hormone and IGF-1 may play roles in sebaceous gland physiology as evidenced by the expression of receptors for growth hormone and IGF-1 on human sebaceous glands and in sebocytes.13,14 Studies of the expression of growth hormone and IGF-1 receptors in human sebaceous glands and analysis in rat preputial glands suggest that these factors stimulate sebocyte differentiation and proliferation.13,15 Clinically, in teenaged to middle-aged patients with acromegaly, sebum excretion rate correlates positively with the output of growth hormone by the pituitary.16,17 Aizawa and Niimura3 reported that IGF-1 levels were significantly higher in 20- to 25-year-old women with acne than in controls: 6 women with acne had IGF-1 levels higher than the normal range. Since growth hormone stimulates IGF-1 production, it was hypothesized that these findings reflected an increased growth hormone secretion in women with acne.

-source