Adult Acne. What The Hell Is Wrong With People Like Me?

[bohogirl]

So of course I'm freaking out again. The spots I have aren't going away and I'm getting new ones.

I think I need to start eating the same exact thing every day. That is the only way I'm ever going to really know.

I'm taking zinc, no copper. First day I took 22mg and then bumped it up to 44 past two days. I dont know if that's what's causing new spots or not.

This is why acne absolutely sucks! You have to suffer miserably to find a cure.

Ok I think I just need to lay off all supplements and get from food. There I go again. Running in circles.

 

[RKIII]

You could try a shower filter. They sell one for around 30-45 bucks at home depot and i think the replacement filters are less than 10.

There is a lot of chlorine in tapwater. Chlorine can dry your skin out making it come back and try to 'balance things out' by producing more oil- which can cause breakout which makes you use caustic soaps to try to dry out your skin which just makes your body produce more oil to find a balance etc...

I found that when I added the water filter and used a gentler soap, my skin got better. My hair as well as I found I needed little to no conditioner. And eventually I needed very little shampoo as my hair was not as oily at the end of the day.

 

[InChristAlone]

I saw this today and thought of you. What kind of zinc are you taking?

 

[bohogirl]

I saw this today and thought of you. What kind of zinc are you taking?

It is zinc pico that I'm taking.

Interesting though. I don't know if I have a white line per se, but I do remember noticing that my lip line was sort of disappearing, and that it was white in some spots. I thought this was from maybe acne around my lip but hmm maybe not.

Wait so does everyone have the vermillion line? All I know is that I thought parts of my lip color on the sides we're white and not pink.


Got this pic from google, is this abnormal lip?

Hmm does zinc chloride exist as a supplement? Saying it's used for embalming?

 

[bohogirl]

Here is a pic of my "yellow" skin compared to healthy pink bright skin.

 

[beta pandemic]

what is your dose of doxy? daily protein?

Tip for everyone who has not delt with a disfuguring skin disease: stop going on about mindset/positivity etc. i dont know why but acne seems to not be taken seriously as a disease when in fact it is a legitimate disease not in someones head. boho girl i cant tell you how many times people told me to go see a psychologist for depression/not wanting to go out or try meditation/positive self talk etc i completely get it

 

[bohogirl]

what is your dose of doxy? daily protein?

Tip for everyone who has not delt with a disfuguring skin disease: stop going on about mindset/positivity etc. i dont know why but acne seems to not be taken seriously as a disease when in fact it is a legitimate disease not in someones head. boho girl i cant tell you how many times people told me to go see a psychologist for depression/not wanting to go out or try meditation/positive self talk etc i completely get it

200 mg. I'll let you know protein intake for today.

I saw a psychologist for other issues only to find out that my main issue is actually my acne and acne scars. Psychologist pretty much told me, "so what". I stopped going.

 

[bohogirl]

I had some liver yesterday. I wasn't disgusted by it and had 3.2 oz of it. I could have eaten more. I will eat some more today. Seems like it's helping a bit maybe reduce the acne or the acne is just running it's normal course. I stopped the zinc pills. I'm going to try to just get it from food as much as I can.

I had a white hard bump above my lip and now it's getting bigger. It seems my lip is swollen too, like half of it. Maybe my whole face is swollen too.

The thing about acne and scars is that it ruins your whole face. I used to have nice lips and I don't know what's happening to them. My smile too now. And I'm convinced mouth breathing has definitely changed my face.

Being a woman and dealing with acne, scars, facial hair is just too much.

I taped my mouth the last two nights but I have to use so much tape and now I'm worried if I keep doing that it's going to negatively affect my lips. I need to find an alternative but not sure what.

 

[bohogirl]

Okay so the liver is helping with texture and I think has a moisturizing effect but it's not helping the cysts. I have three huge cysts that are hard and sort of hurt. I'm trying to find a topical or something I can take to reduce them but not sure what. I put tea tree oil and nothing.

Cysts aren't what I normally get either.

Gonna have oysters today.

 

[Tenacity]

Have you experimented with anti-estrogenics yet?

 

[bohogirl]

Have you experimented with anti-estrogenics yet?

I have not. What kinds are you talking about?

 

[Tenacity]

I've not tried any pharmaceuticals but known nutrients and supplements that are anti-estrogenic are aspirin, caffeine, vitamin E, selenium and vitamin A. Taking other measures to inhibit aromatase or estrogen, such as keeping phosphorous intake low, also work. I've recently added mussels (for their selenium) and liver (for vitamin A) to my diet, and decreased my phosphorous intake, and my skin is noticeably better, in a direction of healing rather than forming spots and cysts. Maybe it could work for you.

 

[bohogirl]

I've not tried any pharmaceuticals but known nutrients and supplements that are anti-estrogenic are aspirin, caffeine, vitamin E, selenium and vitamin A. Taking other measures to inhibit aromatase or estrogen, such as keeping phosphorous intake low, also work. I've recently added mussels (for their selenium) and liver (for vitamin A) to my diet, and decreased my phosphorous intake, and my skin is noticeably better, in a direction of healing rather than forming spots and cysts. Maybe it could work for you.

Yes I tried aspirin. It seems to help with certain acne but then it stopped working. I will try to take some today as well, a bigger dose, 325 and hope it helps decrease the size of these.

 

[ilovethesea]

Just thought I'd mention that Ray recommends only taking vitamin A topically.

"In my own migraine experience, I found that a very small amount of either vitamin A or magnesium chloride could cause big headaches for two or three days. If I had put vitamin A anywhere on my face or arms, enough would touch my lips to cause the headache. It wasn't the vitamin A or magnesium itself that did it, but some very powerful allergen in the chemically manufactured products. " - RP

“When your intestine is extremely sensitive, the excipients and contaminants in a pregnenolone tablet could cause bad symptoms; the only supplements that are very safe to take orally are aspirin, cascara, some kinds of thyroid, small amounts of penicillin (30 mg), cyproheptadine (one-half to one milligram), and progesterone. Vitamin A and DHEA on the skin are safe, but you should put the vitamin A on your lower legs, and wash your hands so that none of it gets on your lips.” -RP

Yes, I know Ray has a lot of sensitivities so he does topical. But for the purpose of testing I think oral would be faster to know if it is working.

Personally I do not ever see results from topical supplements. For a while I tried Progest E all over my calves, like Ray recommends, wrapped in plastic wrap and left overnight. Zero results compared to oral, and wastes a lot of expensive product. Same thing with vitamin A for me.

 

[ilovethesea]

I just looked up cypro, so many side effects. Is it over he counter? Idk I feel like flax oil helped, but I don't know. I would take like three tablespoons usually either in a smoothie or in a salad. I don't remember if I had it regularly that summer I got clearer, but I was eating walnuts and pecans. I tried walnuts again and I don't know if I got acne from it or not. Maybe it was the IF. So many roads to take, and don't know which will help me.

Ray just mentions acne. But what kind? Mine aren't the tiny pimples. Mine are cysts. I tried vitamin a at one point, and felt maybe it was contributing. It's like how do I test things. And if your thyroid is low then you shouldn't take vitamin a right?

And I'm getting virtually zero vitamin d.

Which specific side effects you are worried about? I took it for over a year on a nightly basis. It does cause morning drowsiness if you take it too late in the day, so you just have to time your dosages properly. It can cause some weight gain but there are some threads discussing that if you search. For me the many benefits outweighed those issues.

Again, according to Ray's thinking, the flax oil would have helped because it suppressed thyroid and lowered your vit A requirements. Same thing with the intermittent fasting.

I've talked to Ray about cystic premenstrual acne a few years ago and he said it was an indication that my thyroid was low, at least at that time. So his advice to check for low thryoid and vit A deficiency would still be the same no matter what type of acne you have.

I don't think having low thyroid should prevent you from testing vitamin A. You can track your pulse and temps to make sure it's not suppressing them, and watch for orange palms which would be a sign that you're taking too much.

Edited to add - I don't know where you live, but in the US cyproheptadine is by prescription. You can order it from a Mexican or Canadian pharmacy.

 

[bohogirl]

Which specific side effects you are worried about? I took it for over a year on a nightly basis. It does cause morning drowsiness if you take it too late in the day, so you just have to time your dosages properly. It can cause some weight gain but there are some threads discussing that if you search. For me the many benefits outweighed those issues.

Again, according to Ray's thinking, the flax oil would have helped because it suppressed thyroid and lowered your vit A requirements. Same thing with the intermittent fasting.

I've talked to Ray about cystic premenstrual acne a few years ago and he said it was an indication that my thyroid was low, at least at that time. So his advice to check for low thryoid and vit A deficiency would still be the same no matter what type of acne you have.

I don't think having low thyroid should prevent you from testing vitamin A. You can track your pulse and temps to make sure it's not suppressing them, and watch for orange palms which would be a sign that you're taking too much.

My temps are so all over the place so I don't know what to think. Like today, I ate at 12:30pm and my temp dropped at 2:30. My feet and hands are cold most of the time. Right now it's 99.2. (5:09pm) I had oysters around 3pm. My feet are cold. So my stress hormones are just always activated?

I have already yellow/orange tint to my skin so it's hard to tell. I posted a pic of my feet above. When I eat more sweet potatoes I think it gets worse but I would say that I have the yellow tint regardless.

I would rather eat liver though. I have both retinal palmitate and nutrisorb a though. Over the past two days I believe I had 7 oz of liver. It seems like it's made my skin a bit nicer but it hasn't affected the big cysts.

I had 6 raw oysters today. (Nothing compared to the canned ones - canned are repulsive). I think zinc pills might have erupted some stuff and I probably should have continued but I'd still rather get it from food especially something like zinc. I do know that some people breakout from shellfish, so I guess I'm testing that too.

I was reading something about cystic acne and b6 and glutathione.

 

[ilovethesea]

I mean, I don't know if I have already told you, but try the Wai Diet. The co-creator of the diet says that always had terrible cystic acne and he only get rid of it by following his diet.
Or you can simple forget about how you look and give more importance how you function, because, after all, even if you are acne free and you're not functional, what does it matter?
Or you can simple start looking for someone that can give you a hand and help you more closely. And whenever you have doubt, you contact that person debate with her/him and you won't have 4901234235483 different views that confuses you even more.
Trying some supplements on and off won't make a change. But I think I am like you: I can't simple do it alone, because I am afraid. I see people here start supplementing themselves like they change their clothes. I can't simply do that. I can't ignore the fact that I don't really know what the hell am I doing, because I lack tons of knowledge.

The Wai diet encourages further restrictive behaviour, plus it's a lot of PUFAs and god knows what else from all the raw meat/fish.

I have to disagree about supplements. I think they're so important for acne people. Unless the person is very young, it can be difficult to fix a severe hypothyroid problem through diet alone. And unless you're eating liver, it's also hard to correct a vitamin A deficiency through food. If you look up the Peatarian quotes, Ray is very clear that those are the 2 most important things to look at first with an acne problem.

There is a lot of info in this thread that is not "Peat" which I think is confusing the OP.

 

[bohogirl]

Here are today's temperatures. I finished eating around 12:30 and then I believe I had the oysters at 3pm ish.

 

[ilovethesea]

My temps are so all over the place so I don't know what to think. Like today, I ate at 12:30pm and my temp dropped at 2:30. My feet and hands are cold most of the time. Right now it's 99.2. (5:09pm) I had oysters around 3pm. My feet are cold. So my stress hormones are just always activated?

I have already yellow/orange tint to my skin so it's hard to tell. I posted a pic of my feet above. When I eat more sweet potatoes I think it gets worse but I would say that I have the yellow tint regardless.

I would rather eat liver though. I have both retinal palmitate and nutrisorb a though. Over the past two days I believe I had 7 oz of liver. It seems like it's made my skin a bit nicer but it hasn't affected the big cysts.

I had 6 raw oysters today. (Nothing compared to the canned ones - canned are repulsive). I think zinc pills might have erupted some stuff and I probably should have continued but I'd still rather get it from food especially something like zinc. I do know that some people breakout from shellfish, so I guess I'm testing that too.

I was reading something about cystic acne and b6 and glutathione.

Well, from what you've shared in this thread it does sound like you have many symptoms of low thyroid, but only you can make that call. Hypothyroidism alone can be the underlying cause of your acne.

The yellow skin is also a hypo symptom, I used to get that. It's because you're not converting the carotenes to active vitamin A. Ray talks about that here http://www.functionalps.com/blog/2012/10/08/carotenemia-hypothyroidism/. So you probably want to avoid sweet potatoes. Ray does not recommend them, only white potatoes. Excess carotene suppresses thyroid so that could be making your skin worse as well.

Yes food sources of A are always safest, but I suggested the retinyl palmitate because it's very easy to adjust the dosage up or down to see whether it helps or not. Some people have extremely high vitamin A needs, especially those with light eyes. If you are one of those people, it might be hard to eat enough liver to do a proper test.

Personally, I would try B6 only after you've corrected thyroid and/or vitamin A deficiency. If low thyroid is indeed the underlying cause of your acne, then I wouldn't expect other stuff like B6, glycine, etc to really work until that is fixed, since it's such a major thing.

 

[bohogirl]

The Wai diet encourages further restrictive behaviour, plus it's a lot of PUFAs and god knows what else from all the raw meat/fish.

I have to disagree about supplements. I think they're so important for acne people. Unless the person is very young, it can be difficult to fix a severe hypothyroid problem through diet alone. And unless you're eating liver, it's also hard to correct a vitamin A deficiency through food. If you look up the Peatarian quotes, Ray is very clear that those are the 2 most important things to look at first with an acne problem.

There is a lot of info in this thread that is not "Peat" which I think is confusing the OP.

I'm not into doing the Wai diet. I think it's way way too much. I'm already so restrictive and I don't want to do that.

im open to things even if they aren't peat.

I still don't know how I feel about nuts. The summer I cleared up I was eating walnuts and pecans. This also helped increase calories. I know they're supposedly bad. If they didn't contribute to clearing my acne, I'm fine not eating them. If they helped me, I would consider them. I'm at a point right now where clear skin is better than worrying about consuming nuts.

I also was doing IF. And I just read the study about IF and androgen sensitivity. Now I did all these things at once so it's very hard to tell what exactly was helping. I didn't wash my face nor use any topicals during this period.

I still believe that your skin should provide its own moisturizer and it doesn't need to be washed. I don't get more acne if I don't wash it. I feel like when I put stuff on my skin, it doesn't know how to regulate itself and it's just better not to do anything. My skin isn't oily either. It's never been.

The other thing is water intake. They say to drink tons of water. I don't know. I've been drinking more water past couple of days, putting salt on my tongue beforehand.

I'm frustrated and want to do everything all at once just to get rid of them. I can feel them.