I've been on the regimen for 14 days now and all of my acne except the cysts have disappeared. What else can I do to make them go away?

Consider food allergies. My cystic acne turned out to be a reaction to citrus. But the most common are wheat/gluten, dairy, peanuts, nuts, soy, eggs...

I've been eating a diet of mostly salads with raw veggies such as bell peppers, onion, squash, carrots, brocolli, and tomatos; and cheese, walnuts, chicken, turkey and egg. All organic. I drink water and green tea. And I have been taking herbs such as burdock, red clover blended, bee pollen, genseng, yellow dock, and some others my naturopath has perscribed me. I also take a whole foods multi-vitamin, cod liver oil, probiotic, vitamin c, and beta carotene supplements. And still the cysts are there.

First, congratulations on seeing such a marked improvement after being on the regimen for only 14 days. Cystic acne is very stubborn and the cysts don't go away over night. First, you might want to read the sticky...now for other options: antibiotics, and injections of anti-inflammatories. Frankly, I'd wait just a bit longer and see if the cysts don't clear up. They take a very long time to heal.

There are others who will share their experiences and come to the conclusion that there is only one cause for cystic acne and will push and promulgate a particular view. Since we really don't know the root cause of this disease, or conversely there might be several root causes for cystic acne or in other words, the symptoms themselves might be the result of several different causes, it is difficult to assess what works for one and not another. It sounds like you are eating pretty healthy, maybe you want to eliminate dairy entirely...but that is merely speculation.

Frankly, if it were me, I'd continue for another several weeks and if the cysts don't start shrinking, see what modern medicine can do to help you.

All the best,

Joe Zit

Good. But you could be allergic to one or more of those. The cheese, tomatoes, peppers and other nightshades, walnuts and eggs are among the most common causes of allergic reactions or other form of food intolerance. Try avoiding them systematically to see if it makes a difference.

What about your lifestyle habits such as sleep patterns, exercise and stress?

Have you considered taking oral antibiotics? Or if you're a girl, Yaz birth control?
I know a lot of people frown on prescriptions, but they have helped me a lot.

I've tried anti-biotics and birth control in the past and they never made much of a difference. Besides I'm convinced that chemically made drugs do more harm to ones body than good. I go for the herbal route. They already helped me turn around my auto-immune thyroid disease.

I know I have bad sleep patterns, I just can't seem to make myself go to bed before 11pm-12am.
I exercise regularly (3-5x a week). And yes, my young, very active, and typically disobedient boys stress me out. But, I do my best to cope.