Have cystic acne need some help.

[bigdawgtunit]

I am a 21 year old male with cystic acne. I have done 2 rounds of accutane and still have bad cystic acne. Have tried all the vitamin supplements like (d, b5, zinc, a) with no luck. I can provide pictures of my skin too. I mostly get them on my neck, in front of my ear, jawline, cheeks, couple cysts on chest, and recently have been getting forehead (eventhough I never use to). Other symptoms I have are dry lips(from the accutane I’m guessing), and have had some tendon pain in elbows, i don’t believe my digestion is great either rarely have solid stool.
As of late my diet has been grass fed beef, raw milk, some fruits some veggies, raw eggs, honey, butter, pecans, lemons, white rice cooked in bone broth(plan on cutting the rice out).

any advice is appreciated if there is anything I can do? Starting to give up hope of being clear might just have to accept it and get on with life.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

I feel for you bigdawg! My oldest son had it too and did accutane (before I knew better) and was really upset when it started coming back. Two things that helped tremendously was stopping all the washing of his skin with product, especially twice a day. Wash your skin once a day and leave it alone. I only wash my face at night and often skip a day and I haven't breakout in many years. Most importantly is do an icy cold rinse at the end of your shower to close your pores and stop the sweating the happens hours after and breed all kinds of bacteria. ICY COLD!! I have given this advice to several people who now have flawless skin. Use this cleanser it is gentle and will really get your skin healing!

 

[CytokineStormTr]

I am a 21 year old male with cystic acne. I have done 2 rounds of accutane and still have bad cystic acne. Have tried all the vitamin supplements like (d, b5, zinc, a) with no luck. I can provide pictures of my skin too. I mostly get them on my neck, in front of my ear, jawline, cheeks, couple cysts on chest, and recently have been getting forehead (eventhough I never use to). Other symptoms I have are dry lips(from the accutane I’m guessing), and have had some tendon pain in elbows, i don’t believe my digestion is great either rarely have solid stool.
As of late my diet has been grass fed beef, raw milk, some fruits some veggies, raw eggs, honey, butter, pecans, lemons, white rice cooked in bone broth(plan on cutting the rice out).

any advice is appreciated if there is anything I can do? Starting to give up hope of being clear might just have to accept it and get on with life.

I have the same problem it's not the rice eggs and dairy are like the number one aggravators for cysts I believe the pathogen bilophila wadsworthia has some role in this I also find unfortunately bone broth is a trigger but pure glycine is not, cut these out instead of the rice and I garentee you will see massive improvement also avoid pork and bacon and chicken fat beef fat is fine

 

[Juniper]

I feel for you bigdawg! My oldest son had it too and did accutane (before I knew better) and was really upset when it started coming back. Two things that helped tremendously was stopping all the washing of his skin with product, especially twice a day. Wash your skin once a day and leave it alone. I only wash my face at night and often skip a day and I haven't breakout in many years. Most importantly is do an icy cold rinse at the end of your shower to close your pores and stop the sweating the happens hours after and breed all kinds of bacteria. ICY COLD!! I have given this advice to several people who now have flawless skin. Use this cleanser it is gentle and will really get your skin healing!

I can vouch for this cleanser! It makes my skin feel wonderful and does seem to help somewhat. The cold water after is a good idea too. I think this cleanser and cold water would work perfectly for regular acne, however, I’m a female in my forties who has forever been dealing with cystic acne.

For me im pretty sure it’s hormonal so trying to balance hormones is important. Liver, kidney and gut health is important (sounds like you may be okay with gut), staying hydrated, and finding ways to reduce stress. Recent supplement things I’m trying are bromelain and cascara because I’m focusing on my gut health. My poo tends to be on the fluffy side (slight diarrhea) so only one drop at night of the cascara. I do think my estrogen is too high and I’ve tried progesterone which is hit or miss (maybe I need more than I’ve used). I’m also trying magnolia bark.

The one thing that I’ve really noticed helping me is vitamin E. Idea Labs 6 drops sublingually seems to really help. Also, occasionally vitamin A also sublingually. I remember once reading Ray Peat mention that some people may have issues with skin cells shedding appropriately and that vitamin a would help. I can’t find the quote, so maybe someone else might know (or correct me if I’m wrong!). The forum seems divided on whether vitamin A is helpful or toxic.

edit: zinc has also helped me, but you mentioned that you’ve tried that and it hasn’t helped. Also, balance vitamin E and A with D and K2

 

[Beastmode]

The inflammatory amino acids in meat can be a big culprit, so consider cutting out all meats for a while. Stick to the bone broth, if it's gelatinous, as you can still get the good protein without the inflammation.

If you're hypothyroid, you may not be doing well with the raw milk as I know of someone who had something similar with meat and milk. Once she cut them out her symptoms went away.

Tracking your body temp and pulse can be helpful to see if your system is on the right track.

 

[ScottyVP]

I had bad acne and did accutane and it helped reduce the spots but also caused the spots I did get to scar where I healed perfectly before, so I'd be cautious of it.

Milk was a big trigger when also eating grains/bread but as soon as I dropped, pretty much all, the starches my skin cleared up. Fasting on fruit cleared up my skin in a day or two. I think the grains caused so permeability to the gut that caused the systemic inflammation and acne. eating liver was also helpful.

 

[ursidae]

IMO acne is a combination of: allergy, slow gut motility, low stomach acid, malabsorption, oxidative stress, poor circulation, weak immune system, insulin resistance

 

[Juniper]

I found the Ray quote regarding vitamin A:

Blocking Tissue Destruction

Ray Peat

raypeat.com

vitamin A is necessary for the proper differentiation of cells in skin and other membranes. A deficiency tends to cause an increased rate of cell division, with the production of abnormal cells, and a substitution of keratinized cells for other types.

I don't understand the science thoroughly, but follicular keratinization is associated with acne and that's when it clicked for me (and why Accutane is a thing - although I'd be careful with that). Maybe I've got my A, D3, K2, and E better balanced now than in the past, but when I have a flare-up it's usually because I've slacked off on E or A. I don't take A too often because too much can be just as bad or worse than not enough. I knew someone a long time ago who took way too much vitamin A and it messed up his vision permanently, so I'm careful.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

The inflammatory amino acids in meat can be a big culprit, so consider cutting out all meats for a while. Stick to the bone broth, if it's gelatinous, as you can still get the good protein without the inflammation.

If you're hypothyroid, you may not be doing well with the raw milk as I know of someone who had something similar with meat and milk. Once she cut them out her symptoms went away.

Tracking your body temp and pulse can be helpful to see if your system is on the right track.

Oh gosh you are so right about the meats Beastmode. If it isn't grass fed or at least organic then you wont know what growth hormones or antibiotics the animals are injected with before we ingest it. I sure wish vegetarianism could be healthier cause it gets creepier by the year!

 

[souperhuman]

I am a 21 year old male with cystic acne. I have done 2 rounds of accutane and still have bad cystic acne. Have tried all the vitamin supplements like (d, b5, zinc, a) with no luck. I can provide pictures of my skin too. I mostly get them on my neck, in front of my ear, jawline, cheeks, couple cysts on chest, and recently have been getting forehead (eventhough I never use to). Other symptoms I have are dry lips(from the accutane I’m guessing), and have had some tendon pain in elbows, i don’t believe my digestion is great either rarely have solid stool.
As of late my diet has been grass fed beef, raw milk, some fruits some veggies, raw eggs, honey, butter, pecans, lemons, white rice cooked in bone broth(plan on cutting the rice out).

any advice is appreciated if there is anything I can do? Starting to give up hope of being clear might just have to accept it and get on with life.

I was in a similar situation. I had really bad acne through most of college and my digestion was also terrible, very rarely solid stools. At the time I thought I was constantly getting food poisoning from the college cafeterias and restaurants I used to eat out at. Now, I'm fairly sure I had giardia or something, for YEARS. The thing that really improved this was antibiotics and antiparasitics (Flagyl, Doxycycline) and cooking all my food myself. These, in combination with carrot salad and well cooked mushrooms completely cured my poor digestion, while also improving my skin. Now, unless I eat some really terrible takeout, I never get loose stools. I think that until you get your digestion under control, improving your skin will be very difficult.
In a pinch, I think chaga mushroom tea is excellent for digestion, and reduces intestinal inflammation if you cant get the antibiotics. Your case sounds like you need the antibiotics though. The key after taking the heavy duty antibiotics is to continue with the less powerful carrot salad and mushrooms in order to keep away endotoxin, but they might not enough initially.
I am curious, how much vitamin D were you taking? I find that I can only really control my acne with around 20-40k iu per day (I'm about 6'2, maybe I need more, also I don't get much sun right now). I also eat a bunch of steamed greens with butter and cheese every few days (kale, spinach, mustard) for vitamin K and mineral content. I make sure to cook them really well though. Once you digestion is better, maybe try experimenting with small quantities of liver, but only while getting adequate vitamin D. It is high in iron though, so maybe eat it with coffee or something.
Honestly I would lay off the oral supplements, especially if you have indigestion they are probably not helping very much. Also, they go bad and they have additives like silica that are not going to be helping your endotoxin problem. You could try some vitamin E taken dermally (orally would probably cause indigestion) on your stomach. You might have a super high vitamin A load from the accutane, which can be toxic without the vitamin E.

 

[Zigzag]

The only thing that helps me with my forehead acne (closed comedones) is NO STARCH, NO DAIRY. If I break out then daily salicylic acid+glycolic acid wash.

 

[Aad]

Cbd cream.

 

[Beastmode]

Oh gosh you are so right about the meats Beastmode. If it isn't grass fed or at least organic then you wont know what growth hormones or antibiotics the animals are injected with before we ingest it. I sure wish vegetarianism could be healthier cause it gets creepier by the year!

For some, even if it is 100% grassfed w/ no crap in it, some of the amino acids can still create issues for people.

Tryptophan and cystiene are the two I can think of, but there might be another.

Hence, why Peat suggests gelatinous broth as a safe protein source. They don't have either.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

For some, even if it is 100% grassfed w/ no crap in it, some of the amino acids can still create issues for people.

Tryptophan and cystiene are the two I can think of, but there might be another.

Hence, why Peat suggests gelatinous broth as a safe protein source. They don't have either.

Good point! I have been enjoying cold salted gelatinous beef bone broth and it feels so much better used than meat.

 

[Mitch97]

I'm 23 years old and suffered with cystic acne big time last year. It took a lot of time to work out what the big culprits and reasons were. For me it was the gut, big time. Even fermentable (soluble) fibres from fruits were giving me acne. Endotoxin and a damaged gut causes a cascade of inflammation which will result in some condition, depending on the person. Insoluble and/or low fibre should help.

Too many people here saying red muscle meat can be a culprit but when i was carnivore my skin was clear.

 

[ursidae]

For some, even if it is 100% grassfed w/ no crap in it, some of the amino acids can still create issues for people.

Tryptophan and cystiene are the two I can think of, but there might be another.

Hence, why Peat suggests gelatinous broth as a safe protein source. They don't have either.

Are you one of those “some”
If that woman you know cut off meat and milk simultaneously or she cut the milk after the meat she wouldn’t know if it was solely the milk causing it. This is a mistake people make when doing elimination diets
Dairy has more tryptophan than beef and cysteine difference is negligible. Acne sufferers need lots of zinc niacin B6 bone broth has none of that to offer so it’s not an adequate substitution. The main reason people would suffer acne from meat is low stomach acid and inability to handle a lot of iron due to being magnesium deficient. But even if you’re replete with magnesium I agree with peat it’s not a good idea to eat a ton of heme iron every day

The only truly safe animal protein in my highly prone to acne body is something like cod or sea bass

 

[ecstatichamster]

100000 units of retinyl palmitate clears it mostly for a family member.

 

[Ledo]

Its the MILK!

 

[Mitch97]

Its the MILK!

*It's the pasteurised milk. Raw dairy does not cause acne.

 

[ursidae]

*It's the pasteurised milk. Raw dairy does not cause acne.

It does in me