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

[LadyRae]

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.

Yes, bodies are so different!!

 

[LadyRae]

Now another really interesting benefit of the chlorophyll is that it will completely eliminate any body odor. I don't get any BO unless I eat some sort of processed food, but my daughter says that she has not had to use deodorant for a couple weeks now , and she has been golfing outdoors every afternoon after school...

 

[BrianF]

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?

Probably read this before from me and apologies if it's not relevant but liver has been the single biggest positive impact on my skin. Even chicken liver but preferably lamb. I presume it's the vitamin a (accutane is just synthetic vitamin a) and the b vitamins.

Wish your kid luck, it's a demoralizing thing to deal with.

 

[LadyRae]

I agree with @BrianF . I eat liver a couple times a week (see my venison pate recipe on "latest profile posts" page) and my daughters take dehydrated liver that I grind and put into gelatin capsules.

 

[Peachy]

Probably read this before from me and apologies if it's not relevant but liver has been the single biggest positive impact on my skin. Even chicken liver but preferably lamb. I presume it's the vitamin a (accutane is just synthetic vitamin a) and the b vitamins.

Wish your kid luck, it's a demoralizing thing to deal with.

I did read that last night when I was going over this thread and it was encouraging. I’ve just upped his liver again. Wish I could get my hands on lamb but we do have beef from a good farm.

And yes, he’s becoming demoralized. It’s especially hard these days because teens simply don’t have acne. At least no one in his high school does. If you do, you just take accutane.

I agree with @BrianF . I eat liver a couple times a week (see my venison pate recipe on "latest profile posts" page) and my daughters take dehydrated liver that I grind and put into gelatin capsules.

Do you dehydrate the liver yourself or buy it that way? Is it like beef jerky? That’s a great idea!!

 

[Peachy]

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 ..

Thanks! I like Nature’s Sunshine ALJ for coughs. I’m a little concerned about the high copper in chlorophyll. Do you have any concerns about that? I guess you’d have poor results if your copper got too high.

 

[ursidae]

I think others may be able to clear it better, OR they store it in other parts of their bodies. Believe it or not, and speaking as a homeopath, people who clear toxins through their skin (or store them in fat) are actually often healthier than many who are thin and have flawless complexions. Not everyone who consumes fluoride, pufas, iron, gluten, etc. will develop the same conditions.

acne is associated with a higher risk of cancer

 

[Peachy]

@LadyRae, now he’s 2 days in on layering serums to copy your compounded cream. It’s making a HUGE difference!! Just picked him up to take him to the doc and I couldn’t believe it.

 

[shanny]

Just going to add my personal experience here. I am a female and had a similar experience to Korven. I agree that Lactorferrin, Zinc and Vitamin E are important to help clear up acne prone skin. What I concluded was that I had iron overload. Fructose enhances iron absorption significantly, so I'm not sure what your diet is like but I shifted away from red meat (and definitely did not consume liver, that would always make everything worse for me) and used raw goat's milk products and fish for protein. I never eat fruit with iron containing foods anymore, but it's fine with dairy and eggs (both dairy and eggs help reduce iron load, I believe Peat has talked about this).

Lactorferrin, zinc and chlorophyll are all iron chelators (zinc is needed to balance iron and copper, not necessarily a chelator) which is why I think they tend to work to help clear the skin. I think iron-overload is a bigger issue than is talked about. Unbound iron feeds pathogens, collects in the liver and tissues and is highly reactive. I have no idea if my theory is even correct, but this worked for me and has worked for others that I've helped with acne.

Also, I have donated blood a few times. I'm not recommending this per se, as I do think if you're not in a good state of health it can be depleting, but for me it was life changing. My sleep improved, the redness in my skin decreased and I just felt an overall sense of calmness I hadn't felt in a while.

 

[shanny]

layering serums to copy your compounded cream

Did I miss the formula for this? Interested on what's working. So glad he's better!!

 

[Peachy]

Did I miss the formula for this? Interested on what's working. So glad he's better!!

Thank you!

From what I remember, the cream was a combo of benzoyl peroxide, tretinoin, salicylic acid and niacinimide.

I’ve been getting serums/creams from someone starting up a clean skin care line and my son’s new protocol looks like this. I may suggest the company make an all-in-one compounded version one day.

First he uses a standard benzoyl peroxide face wash (I believe 5%)

Then he layers:
1) b3/glycine serum
2) retinol/black seed oil in squalane oil (or maybe it’s olive oil)
3) a cream that contains salicylic acid, pregnenolone and maybe other things

Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts on iron. Definitely going to keep that in mind! Makes sense and could be why we see benefit sometimes with liver and not other times.

 

[LadyRae]

@Peachy @shanny
My daughter's cream has clindamycin in it too, .25% tretinoin, niacinamide, and benzoyl peroxide.

I'm so happy to read this good news!

 

[LadyRae]

Thanks! I like Nature’s Sunshine ALJ for coughs. I’m a little concerned about the high copper in chlorophyll. Do you have any concerns about that? I guess you’d have poor results if your copper got too high.

Regarding copper: I'm not worried about it as I eat oysters EVERY morning first thing... and skin is only improving. It should be noted that I don't have any health concerns or issues that I'm treating, I'm not under stress, and I'm not overweight..... Of course there could be people that would react to the copper.....

 

[Peachy]

@Peachy @shanny
My daughter's cream has clindamycin in it too, .25% tretinoin, niacinamide, and benzoyl peroxide.

I'm so happy to read this good news!

Ah ok, so no salicylic acid, but clindamycin.

Thanks for the thoughts on copper too.

 

[curious_anthro]

Thank you!

From what I remember, the cream was a combo of benzoyl peroxide, tretinoin, salicylic acid and niacinimide.

I’ve been getting serums/creams from someone starting up a clean skin care line and my son’s new protocol looks like this. I may suggest the company make an all-in-one compounded version one day.

First he uses a standard benzoyl peroxide face wash (I believe 5%)

Then he layers:
1) b3/glycine serum
2) retinol/black seed oil in squalane oil (or maybe it’s olive oil)
3) a cream that contains salicylic acid, pregnenolone and maybe other things

Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts on iron. Definitely going to keep that in mind! Makes sense and could be why we see benefit sometimes with liver and not other times.

Where did you buy those creams from?

Honestly I am probably going to try the low dose Accutane at this point! I’ve exhausted every other option. My skin affects my day to day life so much and sucks all my energy from constantly thinking about it. I’m starting to think that some of the side effects of this medication might be an acceptable trade off to give me some quality of life back in other areas! I have a few friends that went on Accutane with no issues, which doesn’t mean it’s not detrimental, but about weighing the pros and cons.

Your son is young and will hopefully outgrow this as he gets older. But I can completely sympathize with how he feels. He is lucky to have an amazing mom in his corner who is looking in the right places. If I had the knowledge I have now when I was a teen, I think I can would have been able to “save” my skin.

 

[LadyRae]

Where did you buy those creams from?

Honestly I am probably going to try the low dose Accutane at this point! I’ve exhausted every other option. My skin affects my day to day life so much and sucks all my energy from constantly thinking about it. I’m starting to think that some of the side effects of this medication might be an acceptable trade off to give me some quality of life back in other areas! I have a few friends that went on Accutane with no issues, which doesn’t mean it’s not detrimental, but about weighing the pros and cons.

Your son is young and will hopefully outgrow this as he gets older. But I can completely sympathize with how he feels. He is lucky to have an amazing mom in his corner who is looking in the right places. If I had the knowledge I have now when I was a teen, I think I can would have been able to “save” my skin.

I totally sympathize with your situation and I agree that peace of mind is worth a lot! To be fair, I do use a 1% tretinoin cream every other night and I have been very happy with that.

The cream that I spoke of earlier in the thread, that my daughter gets from a dermatologist with the niacinamide, tretinoin, clindamycin, and benzoyl peroxide, is compounded in a little pharmacy right there in the dermatologist office. I wish it had some sort of commercial product name so that other people could have access to it

 

[Peachy]

Where did you buy those creams from?

Honestly I am probably going to try the low dose Accutane at this point! I’ve exhausted every other option. My skin affects my day to day life so much and sucks all my energy from constantly thinking about it. I’m starting to think that some of the side effects of this medication might be an acceptable trade off to give me some quality of life back in other areas! I have a few friends that went on Accutane with no issues, which doesn’t mean it’s not detrimental, but about weighing the pros and cons.

Your son is young and will hopefully outgrow this as he gets older. But I can completely sympathize with how he feels. He is lucky to have an amazing mom in his corner who is looking in the right places. If I had the knowledge I have now when I was a teen, I think I can would have been able to “save” my skin.

Thank you for your encouraging thoughts!

You have a good head on your shoulders. Sometimes these imperfect solutions are the best thing.

Maybe @LadyRae your dermatologist could call it into other compounding pharmacies?

My potions are from Skincare by Vincent. The site is under construction and currently in Dutch but he speaks fluent English so you can just email him and he’s very accommodating. The salicylic acid cream with pregnenolone isn’t up on the site yet.

The benzoyl peroxide wash is just something I found on Amazon with the fewest ingredients. I’ll link it below.

Also, have you tried the doxycycline route? I think we’re going to go ahead with it. I just want to do some final due diligence. The doc recommended S. Boulardii for candida along with the doxy, though there’s no real evidence that’s an issue for him. I will give him some sort of probiotic though, charcoal, and aspirin in conjunction.

I’ll post again on how it goes.

humane Regular-Strength Acne Wash - 5% Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Treatment for Face, Skin, Butt, Back and Body - 8 Fl Oz - Dermatologist-Tested Non-Foaming Cleanser - Vegan, Cruelty-Free https://a.co/d/aJoHcqe

 

[curious_anthro]

Thank you for your encouraging thoughts!

You have a good head on your shoulders. Sometimes these imperfect solutions are the best thing.

Maybe @LadyRae your dermatologist could call it into other compounding pharmacies?

My potions are from Skincare by Vincent. The site is under construction and currently in Dutch but he speaks fluent English so you can just email him and he’s very accommodating. The salicylic acid cream with pregnenolone isn’t up on the site yet.

The benzoyl peroxide wash is just something I found on Amazon with the fewest ingredients. I’ll link it below.

Also, have you tried the doxycycline route? I think we’re going to go ahead with it. I just want to do some final due diligence. The doc recommended S. Boulardii for candida along with the doxy, though there’s no real evidence that’s an issue for him. I will give him some sort of probiotic though, charcoal, and aspirin in conjunction.

I’ll post again on how it goes.

humane Regular-Strength Acne Wash - 5% Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Treatment for Face, Skin, Butt, Back and Body - 8 Fl Oz - Dermatologist-Tested Non-Foaming Cleanser - Vegan, Cruelty-Free https://a.co/d/aJoHcqe

Would you be able to share this Vincent person's email or website address? I am in the UK so sounds more accessible than trying to get something from the US. I have been wanting to try Noelle Kovary's pregnenolone face cream for a long time but she does not ship outside US & Canada.

LUSH – Forever Healthy llc

foreverhealthyhair.com

I tried doxycycline when I was a teenager and I cannot remember it working for me then. The only thing that ever sorted my skin in younger years was getting on birth control which is ironic because I put all my current health problems down the pill. That drug is pure evil...

Keep us updated on your son @Peachy , I am keeping all fingers crossed you find something that works for him that is not accutane!

 

[shanny]

Makes sense and could be why we see benefit sometimes with liver and not other times.

My understanding from the digging I've done is that depending on your source of liver, it can often be very deficient in copper and probably zinc, too. I was listening to a podcast a while ago, and even grass-fed cattle tested from the US had really low copper values in their liver. Depending on where the animals are grazing/roaming and what they are eating, much like us, their liver is going to represent their diet. I think it ends up being too much iron for me with the other minerals not in a balanced way, so I've never tolerated liver well.

I am not sure if you've spent any time on the Anti Vitamin A thread on this forum, but there are a lot of people over there that have worsening symptoms with adding liver to their diet, so I felt better realizing I was not alone. There are also a lot of people post-accutane that are a total mess, so I'd be really careful with that. (I'm not suggesting the anti-vitamin A thing, but just to get some info on the accutane)

Doxycycline is as much anti-inflammatory as it is antibiotic. I believe a 40 mg dose diminishes the GI effects a bit while still getting the skin improvement Anti-Inflammatory–Dose Doxycycline Is Equally Effective in Men and Women with Rosacea.

It's also been found to chelate or reduce unbound iron. I sometimes wonder if this is the more effective mechanism for reducing skin irritation?

Iron-Chelating Activity of Tetracyclines and Its Impact on the Susceptibility of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans to These Antibiotics​

"A strong iron-chelating activity for doxycycline and minocycline and a less pronounced one for tetracycline were detected using a siderophore colorimetric assay"

I don't think this would be a bad idea and is relatively innocuous compared to accutane!

 

[curious_anthro]

My understanding from the digging I've done is that depending on your source of liver, it can often be very deficient in copper and probably zinc, too. I was listening to a podcast a while ago, and even grass-fed cattle tested from the US had really low copper values in their liver. Depending on where the animals are grazing/roaming and what they are eating, much like us, their liver is going to represent their diet. I think it ends up being too much iron for me with the other minerals not in a balanced way, so I've never tolerated liver well.

I am not sure if you've spent any time on the Anti Vitamin A thread on this forum, but there are a lot of people over there that have worsening symptoms with adding liver to their diet, so I felt better realizing I was not alone. There are also a lot of people post-accutane that are a total mess, so I'd be really careful with that. (I'm not suggesting the anti-vitamin A thing, but just to get some info on the accutane)

Doxycycline is as much anti-inflammatory as it is antibiotic. I believe a 40 mg dose diminishes the GI effects a bit while still getting the skin improvement Anti-Inflammatory–Dose Doxycycline Is Equally Effective in Men and Women with Rosacea.

It's also been found to chelate or reduce unbound iron. I sometimes wonder if this is the more effective mechanism for reducing skin irritation?

Iron-Chelating Activity of Tetracyclines and Its Impact on the Susceptibility of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans to These Antibiotics​

"A strong iron-chelating activity for doxycycline and minocycline and a less pronounced one for tetracycline were detected using a siderophore colorimetric assay"

I don't think this would be a bad idea and is relatively innocuous compared to accutane!

Liver consistently breaks me out. I have tried calf liver, chicken liver, dessicated liver pills all with the same results. Also tried supplementing topical retinyl palmitate which did not cause breakouts but after reading the anti-vitamin A stuff I backed off. I did wonder if there was some connection with iron with the breakouts from liver consumption. Vitamin E also does this to me and I haven't been able to figure that one out either... I have seen other people report breakouts from liver and vitamin E so I know I am not alone there.

Do you know how long a 40mg dose of doxycycline is usually taken? I recently tried to ask my doctor for it but they would only write a script for minocycline and some people have said it messed them up on the forum so I never filled it.