I feel like I have just broken out of prison to find the sky blue and the birds singing. My face is finally clear, six months before I turn 40. I have had acne since 1982, and it just got worse as I got older. In the last two years, it had really become horrible. I had cystic acne on my cheeks and nose, with some of the individual blemishes lasting for six months each. I also had hair follicles below the surface of my skin that would become encased with cysts, particularly when I ate fast food. I am very sympathetic to all the posts of people who understand how depressing it is go have to go to work, let alone any social event, with a bad complexion. I have felt that way for decades.

I have learned through experience that doctors have no idea what they are talking about, so I never bothered with a dermatologist. What I have tried includes the following: a low vegetable oil diet, antibiotics, AcnEase, Acnezine, Vitamin B5, Vitamin E, barley grass, the 3-day apple diet, an infra-red laser, lots of other pills and of course all the soaps and creams you can think of. I also got my own prescription online for Differin gel, and have been using that every night for the past 6 months. To be fair, the AcnEase, Acnezine, and Differin were somewhat effective at reducing my acne, and the other stuff helped too, but up until last week I could never make it go away 100%.

8 days ago, in my usual desperate attempt to search the internet for a solution to my acne, I read that NIACIN "may be helpful at reducing acne." Continuing on my desperate and endless quest to find a natural solution, I strolled down to the store and bought a bottle of niacin. I took the first dose at 3 pm that day. In the middle of that same night I woke up and I could tell that my skin felt different, like it was somehow much less sensitive than usual. It felt like normal skin. I have been taking niacin all week, and you are simply not going to believe the results. I am telling you the 'acne' was gone in less than 24 hours, and the following 7 days was just a matter of the existing blemishes I had healing faster than I have ever seen before. To make sure it wasn't a fluke, I have been eating fast food most of the week with no outbreaks. Now I love going to work and even have enough ambition to go to the gym. It has been a miracle! And it was all in a niacin bottle that you can get at Wal-Mart on the vitamin isle for $5. Tell that to your dermatologist! (but it will cost you $300 for the visit; he has to make his Mercedes payment after all) How much? Get the largest amount available and take the dosage recommended on the bottle. I did it with 400mg/day.

I really do not care if anyone believes me. This is my one and only post to this site. Maybe niacin only works for some kinds of acne. I don't know. I am still taking all the ingredients of Acnezine just in case. I nearly start to cry when I see others with a bad complexion because I know how awful they feel. Sometimes I just wanted my life to be over. That is what has driven me to post this, so that someone else might stumble upon it and finally get the results that I did after trying for so many years. Take Care.

**UPDATE JULY**

It has been just over a month since I made this discovery. I have stopped taking all other medication and only take a daily dose of 500mg no-flush niacin that I bought at the grocery store. I have realized that the multivitamin that I have been taking for the last 10 years has 50mg of niacin, so that was obviously never enough. My face now continues to heal wonderfully, including what I thought was permanent scarring. I have been eating lots of pizza and french fries lately. I guess I am making up for all the years when I could not touch that stuff without dire consequences. I even have a lovely girlfriend now who is considerably younger than I am. Two months ago I would not have had the confidence or the inclination to even talk to girls because I felt like a monster. I am glad to see that a few people have also had positive results from taking niacin.

It was great of you to come on and share this man, thanks.

Thanks for sharing. I completely agree with everything you have written about how bad it feels to still have acne at age 40.

Interesting, my skin is ok, but still not 100%. I think Ill try this. Have you had any issues with flushing? Do you take it at night?

Thanks for sharing.

I am also curious about this too. My mom used to take this a long time ago and she always took it at nite because of the flushing. Don't really know why she took it and can't ask her about it as she is no longer alive. Just wondering if you get an IB with this or any other side affect. What is the dosage? Thanks, Elf

This is why there are acne medications containing niacinimide called Nicomide. It comes as a topical or a pill. Also contains zinc.

Which is why many people get results from Zinc and a b-complex. I did. And why people get results from nutrition, which cleared me.

And you want Niacin in the form of Niacinimide to avoid the flushing.

Im gonna go pick this up tomorrow, Niacin is what people use to pass drug tests, its supposed to detoxify your body. I think you have to drink a lot of water with it too to get the full effect.

Can anyone help with the suggested dosage of Niacin? Not mentioned here, and other places I've researched give conflicting answers. What has worked for people here? Thanks so much!

Let's see some pics

I read that you should start out with a small dosage and slowly work you way up to bigger dosages. I started taking niacin yesterday and I started with the 100mg dosage which is 500% of the daily value. Ill probably do 100mg for a couple days before I go to 200mg.

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I found this googling. Apparently this person takes niacin with MSM, kind of interesting.

http://yarchive.net/med/niacin.html

Ask your derm.

im thinking of trying this but i'm already on 100mg of zinc so i dont want to piss off my liver. does anyone have any experience with niacin and taking other vitamins/minerals?

edit-

ok i gave in since i had a recent breakout and i really wanted to do something about it. i reduced my zinc dosage to 50mg a day and now im taking niacin. i bought 500mg tablets, but at the moment im splitting them into thirds so im taking somewhere around 150-175mg right now. ill be posting my results here.

one thing that i can say about niacin so far... it makes you itch

I am 41 and just want to advise to be very careful with niacin it will enduce flushing and can lead to rosacea issuess. I avoid niacin at all costs as it makes me flush something awful.

sorry for asking, but what is flushing?

Flushing is when you get a rush of blood to the head, like when you blush or get really out of breath - your face gets red and hot while it's happening.

Note it is also possible to get no-flush niacin ^^

Which is why you want niacinimide, not niacin.

Hey guys

I went to walgreens to look for a bottle of Niacin and they have a 500mg bottle that is flush-free (wont make you turn red) for $13. I will post my results later in the week.

Thats awesome, if this works for u im defineately going to pick up a bottle and see if it helps my Seb dermatitis.