Another acne thread...are there any true success stories?

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hormone related after stopping the pill? maybe try inositol, women with PCOS (they get acne) take it and helps to lower blood glucose and lower testosterone which as I said earlier turns into DHT and causes acne, weight gain, hair in the wrong places, hair loss where you don't want to lose it. I don't know if that is your problem but inositol is good for ovarian function which means better hormone function. I have been trying this myself along with spearmint tea and my face has gotten a lot better (wasn't too bad lately but looks amazing now)
 

tenkaypm

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could it be allergy to some milk/dairy or not enough protein (this may make the liver not detox estrogen properly)?
 

LizLemon

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Thanks for chiming in! That sounds quite a bit like my experience except I never really had that bad of acne before the pill… I only realized that after I got off the pill because my skin is the worst it has ever been- I didn’t even know how bad it could get!! I look back at my younger years and realize my skin was pretty good although I didn’t think so at the time. Hind sight and all…

I want to try thyroid at some point but from everything I’ve read if you have poor adrenal health (which I do) it can make things worse. What thyroid supp do you use (i.e., cynoplus)? How did you dose?
At first I tried Tyromax. It worked for my acne but made me feel weird & dosing was guesswork at best.

Now I’m on Levotiral (this is a 100/20 T4/T3 ratio). I take one-half of a pill (50/10 T4/T3) once a day after dinner. I plan on switching to the equivalent dose in Cynoplus once I run out of this. I only started with this one because Cynoplus was unavailable.

FWIW—I was also afraid I would have a strange reaction with this & it’s been fine. My acne is gone and I sleep great but other than those things no huge noticeable changes
 
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curious_anthro
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@LizLemon great info. So did you get a prescription for the Levotiral or where do you get it? Did you have any hypothyroid symptoms?

@ThazMYchocolate I used to take my-inositol but that was back when I was on the pill so wouldn’t hurt adding it in again. I do take a liquid b complex that has inositol but probably not enough. I need to start drinking more herbal teas apparently so I’ll add spearmint to the list- thanks for that 😊
 

AliceMurph

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Great info and success story! So, you feel the dessicated thyroid is effective for you? For acne and in other ways?
Yes! I was pretty hypothyroid before so it's helped tremendously in terms of energy. I also struggle with circulation issues and and think it helps with that as well. The acne improved I think because of both thyroid and progesterone dealing with estrogen dominance ( I was very high in estrogen)
 

Peachy

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Yes! I was pretty hypothyroid before so it's helped tremendously in terms of energy. I also struggle with circulation issues and and think it helps with that as well. The acne improved I think because of both thyroid and progesterone dealing with estrogen dominance ( I was very high in estrogen)
That’s great! It’s been on my list to experiment with. I’ve always liked the idea of desiccated.
 

AliceMurph

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Your words are so kind 😭 thank you! Your triggers sound exactly like mine although progesterone for some reason does not help my acne much.

Also had a weird experience with vitamin D. Oral dose made me feel horrific (nausea, headache) and topical also gave me super weird symptoms (smelling smoke when it wasn’t there, fatigue, dizzy). But the sun definitely helps in the summer.

I have been pondering trying both pregnenolone and thyroid so I would love to hear more about your experience with that. How much do you take of both and how often?
I used to have issues with vitamin d supplements as well ( weird dizziness and nausea) and thought I couldn't take it. I think it was whatever the additives were that gave me that reaction, Peat often talks about this. I've been using vitamin d oil in mct oil without issues, maybe worth looking into? There is also lots of discussion on the forum about what kinds of vitamin d are preferable so maybe research a bit since you had issues with it.

Right now I'm taking 30mg of thyroid daily half in the morning half at dinner (though still playing with dosage), and I take 50mg pregnenolone in afternoon (though I was taking it 2x daily until recently) , and 3 drops progest-e 2x daily from ovulation-menses ( day 17 of cycle till period starts)

I think for women it's super crucial to get our stress hormones under control since estrogen causes all sorts of issues and progesterone levels drop lower naturally in our luteal phase. Because of this many women in their 20's and 30's are hypothyroid and have adrenal issues from being in a loop reel of stress.
Taking thyroid with progesterone has made a HUGE difference in quality of life for me. Besides acne I used to have severe PMS symptoms and horrible irregular periods. I had two weeks of crazy mood swings and anxiety every month and would always get horrible break outs on my face and chest (not to mention cramps!). Since being consistent with progesterone I have regular periods and none of those symptoms. Thyroid encourages progesterone production in the body and both counterbalance the harmful effects of estrogen. I recommend starting with a low dose and working up.
 
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curious_anthro
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@AliceMurph interesting re. vitamin D! I tried vitamin D in extra virgin olive oil both orally and topically, as well whatever is in Estroban, and I think it gave me hypercalcemia symptoms - maybe because I am also vitamin A deficient as cod liver oil did not have that affect on me, but I haven't taken cod liver oil since finding Ray Peat's work. I got well and truly lost trying to follow the vitamin D debate but if I can muster up the mental fortitude to revisit it again I will :tearsofjoy:

I think for women it's super crucial to get our stress hormones under control since estrogen causes all sorts of issues and progesterone levels drop lower naturally in our luteal phase. Because of this many women in their 20's and 30's are hypothyroid and have adrenal issues from being in a loop reel of stress.
This is so true! I only started connecting these things recently. I am still rather confused though on how to tackle adrenal and thyroid issues as they are so interconnected. From what I have read, if you take thyroid and have adrenal issues, it can backfire by lowering the stress hormones you were running on and leaving you with no energy. I already have chronic fatigue and yet, my lack of energy is in part due to low thyroid, not breaking down food well, etc.. I have tried supporting my adrenals via adrenal cocktails, eating more cals, no intense exercise, sleeping more etc but it never seems enough to get me out of the cycle! I already use progesterone so I will continue to think and pray on adding in thyroid.
 

Candeias

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I had an ozone IV autohemotherapy session for the first time yesterday and had an acne episode today like I haven't had in a long time. I think it also has to do with the oxidation of the PUFAs and the increase in estrogen..
 
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Roacutan. Everything else is bandaid.
 

LadyRae

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Roacutan. Everything else is bandaid.
Yeah, I use tretinoin 1% cream on my face every night and I love that stuff.

How has accutane worked for you? Do you have any weird side effects? Do you happen to know it's mode of action in the body? How does it alleviate acne?
 
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Yeah, I use tretinoin 1% cream on my face every night and I love that stuff.

How has accutane worked for you? Do you have any weird side effects? Do you happen to know it's mode of action in the body? How does it alleviate acne?
I tried everything under the sun. Dried, cracked lips side effect is solved completely by coconut oil 30-50 grams per day or/and butyrate in form of resistant starch. Another side effect is significantly lowered metabolic rate, it really does mess with thyroid function. Made me wake up 5 am shivering. After reducing dosage frequency from 20mg ED to 20mg E3D it's gone. Wonder drug.
 

LadyRae

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I tried everything under the sun. Dried, cracked lips side effect is solved completely by coconut oil 30-50 grams per day or/and butyrate in form of resistant starch. Another side effect is significantly lowered metabolic rate, it really does mess with thyroid function. Made me wake up 5 am shivering. After reducing dosage frequency from 20mg ED to 20mg E3D it's gone. Wonder drug.
That's great! I never had the cystic bad acne that I can only imagine is horrifically debilitating. But I think that if I did, I would do anything to get rid of it. Including accutane.
 

Mathgirl

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We only drink bottled water and use fluoride free toothpaste. Also we take lots of iodine, but not sure if that helps decrease the fluoride burden.

We unfortunately have fluoridated tap water, so we shower in it.

I also tried to get her to stop drinking soda / tea, but she still partakes. It seems impossible to avoid it.
I'm pretty sure that iodine detoxes bromine and that causes acne. Might be worth more investigation. Taurine will detox flouride.
 

Peachy

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I have a (not great) update on my 16-yr old son’s skin and was wondering if anyone had any ideas. Also, @curious_anthro, any updates from you?

I posted on this thread on 2/18. At that point, we’d been consistently working on his skin for 6 weeks. Nutritious diet, oysters, dandelion tea for liver support, topical retinol & niacinamide were the main points of the approach.

His skin improved so much, so quickly. From severe acne covering his cheeks entirely, to the point that he essentially had no new breakouts. At one point he raced upstairs from his man cave and told me to look at how good his skin looked. He happened to have a date that night. It was a happy moment.

I was shifting research to reduce lingering redness/superficial scarring.

Then at the start of March, after 8 weeks if consistent improvement, things took a turn fast. By last week, things were almost as severe as before. His skin is very inflamed, breakout upon breakout. Not much changed, except we’d gotten a little slack with his diet. I think it could’ve been related to the season change because spring is sort of a “purge” time of year.

He’s increasingly asking for accutane but I keep telling him, let’s try this or that first.

Tomorrow we’re going to a functional md. I don’t like her overall approach but she has some good ideas. Plus, I used to work with her and she’ll let me steer the ship.

In addition to recommitting to diet, I’ve started giving him Aspirin. I’m also going to ask her to prescribe doxycycline.

Any other ideas while I have a doc ready to write prescriptions? Or non-medical ideas I may have overlooked? I do have the low dose accutane in the back pocket (thanks @Frostee for that article) but want to exhaust other options first.

@LadyRae I was inspired by the topical your dermatologist mixed up for you. I got all the active ingredients from a super-clean skincare line I like in the form of serums, etc. Last night he used them all together and it helped. There was improvement today. But I don’t know how to balance this with sun exposure. I think he’s low in vitamin d so trying to push sunlight and even the tanning bed on occasion. Your teen girls probably use makeup with spf?
 

LadyRae

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I have a (not great) update on my 16-yr old son’s skin and was wondering if anyone had any ideas. Also, @curious_anthro, any updates from you?

I posted on this thread on 2/18. At that point, we’d been consistently working on his skin for 6 weeks. Nutritious diet, oysters, dandelion tea for liver support, topical retinol & niacinamide were the main points of the approach.

His skin improved so much, so quickly. From severe acne covering his cheeks entirely, to the point that he essentially had no new breakouts. At one point he raced upstairs from his man cave and told me to look at how good his skin looked. He happened to have a date that night. It was a happy moment.

I was shifting research to reduce lingering redness/superficial scarring.

Then at the start of March, after 8 weeks if consistent improvement, things took a turn fast. By last week, things were almost as severe as before. His skin is very inflamed, breakout upon breakout. Not much changed, except we’d gotten a little slack with his diet. I think it could’ve been related to the season change because spring is sort of a “purge” time of year.

He’s increasingly asking for accutane but I keep telling him, let’s try this or that first.

Tomorrow we’re going to a functional md. I don’t like her overall approach but she has some good ideas. Plus, I used to work with her and she’ll let me steer the ship.

In addition to recommitting to diet, I’ve started giving him Aspirin. I’m also going to ask her to prescribe doxycycline.

Any other ideas while I have a doc ready to write prescriptions? Or non-medical ideas I may have overlooked? I do have the low dose accutane in the back pocket (thanks @Frostee for that article) but want to exhaust other options first.

@LadyRae I was inspired by the topical your dermatologist mixed up for you. I got all the active ingredients from a super-clean skincare line I like in the form of serums, etc. Last night he used them all together and it helped. There was improvement today. But I don’t know how to balance this with sun exposure. I think he’s low in vitamin d so trying to push sunlight and even the tanning bed on occasion. Your teen girls probably use makeup with spf?
My 14 year old has perfect skin, wears makeup with SPF, eats everything in sight ( including pufas, I mean anything in sight). My 17 year old uses that combo cream every other night now, but no makeup. Sometimes uses an SPF 15 when golfing (her after school sport).

Lately she and I have been drinking 1 or 2 Tbsps of liquid mint chlorophyll and have noticed a dramatic effect on our skin. Rosy glow, diminished pores, dewyness, zero pimples.... amazing stuff. I'd look into that for him next .

Tanning beds are great til you have warm sunny weather when he could sit in the yard/on the deck with his shirt off. Torso exposure produces the most Vit D. Just 20-30 minutes shouldn't burn him. Keep eating some carrots EVERY day.

Maybe consider doxycycline before accutane...
 

Peachy

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My 14 year old has perfect skin, wears makeup with SPF, eats everything in sight ( including pufas, I mean anything in sight). My 17 year old uses that combo cream every other night now, but no makeup. Sometimes uses an SPF 15 when golfing (her after school sport).

Lately she and I have been drinking 1 or 2 Tbsps of liquid mint chlorophyll and have noticed a dramatic effect on our skin. Rosy glow, diminished pores, dewyness, zero pimples.... amazing stuff. I'd look into that for him next .

Tanning beds are great til you have warm sunny weather when he could sit in the yard/on the deck with his shirt off. Torso exposure produces the most Vit D. Just 20-30 minutes shouldn't burn him. Keep eating some carrots EVERY day.

Maybe consider doxycycline before accutane...
Chlorophyll - may give that a try! Do you have a brand you like?

Thanks for the other tips as well.
 

Peachy

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My 14 year old has perfect skin, wears makeup with SPF, eats everything in sight ( including pufas, I mean anything in sight).
His 12-yr old sis has the kind of perfect skin that couldn’t create a pimple if you tried. It’ll change, but I can already tell it’s so different.
 

LadyRae

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Chlorophyll - may give that a try! Do you have a brand you like?

Thanks for the other tips as well.
We just finished Nature's Sunshine Extra Strength (don't get "original, it has 2 kinds of parabens 🙄??). But due to Long delivery times I then got a different brand that we haven't opened yet... Horbaach peppermint. Always get one with the added peppermint, it is so yummy in a tall glass of ice water! Make sure there isn't any polysorbate...some have it ..
 

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