unbelievable - acne 85% gone

I can not believe I am typing this post. After almost two decade of acne and one decade of Roaccutane my acne is finally almost gone.


The culprit was milk. Yes, I know, can hardly believe it? I am not sure if it is milk, the hormones in milk or the chemicals in their diet.


I have been off milk for nearly 6 weeks now + 4 weeks off all meds. I have zero body acne and my face is 85% clear.


This is bitter and sweet victory. I have been through everything and it was the simplest thing that was destroying my happiness and health.


I will admit I have always been a huge milk drinker; 2 litres of full cream milk every week... I also eat cheese and yogurt. I have also cut cheese out of my diet but sticking with the yogurt for the moment. I wonder if the yogurt accounts for the remaining 15% of my acne.


All I can say is if you are planning on going on serious meds, please try the 'no dairy' diet for 4 weeks. It might save you a lot of grief.

Zinc Oxide in Sunscreen reducing acne

I have been noticing this for a while, but now that I am off the meds it has become very aparent to me that when I have a breakout wearing sunscreen for 24 hours straight seems to reduce the inflamation and subside the acne. I am not the type who pays too much attention to things like this but this didn't escape me.


Personally I can't think of any other reasons for this other than the hight concentration of Zinc Oxide in my sunscreens.


I am very tempted to try this by staying off meds and wearing sunscreen at all times. I was thinking of my synthetic one during the day and an organic one at night and see how things go. Both product having high % of Zinc Oxide.


Has anyone observed anything similar to this??

Dermodex Mite & Zinc Oxide

To be honest to day was the first time I have heard of Demodex Mite.

I am not sure to what extent the cures etc are true, however, every time my skin gets really bad I wear sunscreen and not take it off for a few days. That is still one of my quick acne fixes. Coincidentally my sunscreens contain high levels of Zinc Oxide, so I am wondering if this means that my acne may have been caused by this particular mite.


If Zinc Oxide is the main treatment then I should be able to test this at home. I have an organic sunscreen (UV Natural) that contains 25% Zinc Oxide.


Does anyone have any thoughts??
Has any of you ever tried these Sulfur/Zinc masks?

Long-term of Low Dose Roaccutane

For those who have read my previous posts this is kind of an update.

After few heavy courses in 2000-2002, I decided to go on low dose Roaccutane. Over years I dropped my dose and found that 10 mg every 5 DAYS gives me the best results, i.e. no side-effects yet perfect skin. For those who like a comparison, I take in one month LESS than the amount one would take in one day on a full course.

Last year I went off the meds for 6 months as to give my body a break. In my last post I outlined the changes I noticed.
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Roaccutan...31#entry2422131
I would like to add to that significant improvement eye sight (my prescription went down), particularly night vision. My liver function went to normal after a few months. My bone density results were the same as 3 years ago. I do have very low bone density but that has been linked to my childhood (when most bone density is achieved). Having said that I am sure Roaccutane is not helping the situation. I report no change in moods or hormones. I am generally cranky off meds but that is due to the acne!

I returned to meds starting on 10 mg daily for one month, after which my skin was perfect again. All the heavy scars (face and body) that I had accumulated over the 6 months while off meds just vanished. In the second months, I went back to my low dose which is what I take now. Outside acne, I have had no other health issues.

For those who wonder, yes I do worry about unknown long-term effects of this drug. I would be crazy not to. I have spoken to two of the top dermatologists from two different countries and neither seem to have any concerns about me having been on this drug for this long. I also periodically do research on Roaccutane to see what is new and I recently discovered that they now use Roaccutane for cancer treatment. I found that interesting.

Let me know if you have any comments or questions.

Oil Cleansing Method (OCM)

After a week of research I started using this method a day ago and I would be very interested to know if anyone else has tried this with success.

My questions are:

1. did you experience initial purging after starting?
2. how long did that go for?
3. would you say the method is effective?

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For those who are not familiar with this method, here is a summary:

• Mix 25% Castor oil (cleansing properties) + 75% Extra Virgin Olive Oil (anti-oxidant)
• Rub gently all over your dry face
• Steam face for 5-10 minutes
• Wipe the oil with a steamed hot cloth
• Moisturise (optional)

More info:
http://www.smartskincare.com/tips/skincare...n_20060416.html
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