30 replies to this topic

[healedanonymous]

Hello all,

I am just like you in your struggles.

I went to a dermatologist after years of suffering physically and mentally.

The dermatologist put me on antibiotics.

The antibiotics worked... for a while.

After a few months, I started breaking out again, bad.

The dermatologist took me off those antibiotics and put me on a different one.

The same thing happened. They worked for a few months (a breath of relief!) but then I had a bad "reaction" to them and the breakouts started back up.

I felt bad about using antibiotics for a long period of time like that. I asked the doctor what affects it might have on my body being on antibiotics for an extended period of time. She shrugged it off, telling me that it was fine.

I couldn't afford any more of this $60 per visit to the dermatologist stuff, so I started to use my brain.

I thought, "Ok, what are the antibiotics doing that work, and what are they doing that stops working?"

The thing that antibiotics does is put a little bit of bacteria in your gut that makes your body naturally produce more good biotics (bacteria) to fight it.

Because you have an extra amount of good bacteria, you are able to internally fight off the infection of acne in your body.

After all, acne is an infection that your body just didn't kill by itself.

The antibiotics worked (for a little while at least) because your body was pumped up a little because it was doing extra fighting and so there was an extra amount of bacteria in your good army that was able to kill the acne infection.

So, I found out that you can get antibiotics from any farm type store. They sell antibiotics with no prescription to you to get rid of infections in your cows, horses, etc. They also sell capsules of immoxicillin to put in your fish tank to get rid of infection in your fish. They are called fish mox.

I started taking these and they seemed to work, but not as well as the antibiotics the dermatologist had given me. I was also taking a lower dosage than she had told me. All antibiotics are not equal, and some work better for some things. I took less on the dosage because I still felt bad about putting them in my body for a long amount of time.

I just kept thinking, "My body is going to get tired of constantly fighting these antibiotics and it's going to get weak again."

THAT is why the antibiotics stop working.

So I was having a conversation with a girl about this, and she just happened to work at a vitamin store. She asked me if I was taking probiotics. I told her I didn't know what that was.

She said that it was good bacteria that you could take in pill form and that you could get them with a MILLION count. Yes, you can get a pill with a million probiotics in it.

I immediately ran to Walgreens and bought a bottle of probiotics with a million count.

I started taking 1 probiotic pill per day with 1 antibiotic pill (fish mox) per day. And ya know, I'd wash my face. Morning and night and a lot of times at midday. But at this point I was realizing that this was much more an internal problem than external. My body's immune system was not absorbing the vitamins and minerals I needed to fight this stuff off. It's not that I wasn't being hygenic, because I was.

But I didn't want to put anything on the surface of my face that would clog pores either. I wanted to prevent oil from getting in the glands and causing the infection, then I wanted to kill any infection that happened by having a strong immune system that could beat it.

So I only bought makeup that was minerals and stuff.

The rule of thumb when buying makeup:

- Only buy it if it says hypoallergenic
- Dermatologist approved
- Won't clog pores
- "Acne clearing" or "skin clearing"
- Minerals
- Natural
- "You could sleep in it"
- Oil free
- And ALWAYS check the ingredients:
- NEVER buy anything with the ingredient "TALC" or "MINERAL OIL" - these clog pores.

Don't overwash. The point is, be natural and clean as possible. Do not cake on makeup.

Okay, so just by using clean, oil free, hypoallergenic, natural makeup, washing my face morning and night gently, and taking antibiotics and probiotics, MY SKIN GOT TOTALLY CLEAR.

I couldn't believe it. I had figured out what worked for me just by thinking.

Here's the kicker!

I ran out of antibiotics and my skin was clear, so I thought I'd just not take antibiotics anymore and keep taking probiotics.

MY SKIN STAYED CLEAR.

I can't believe it.

After all these years it's gone. I am healed.

All I do:

Take probiotics.
Use natural makeup.
Wash my face with natural, gentle soaps.
Sometimes exfoliate with a scrub.

As far as choosing a face wash, I like to use things with natural ingredients that I can understand. It makes more sense and you can figure out what works for you more easily.

The key though, is that I am fighting it internally by boosting my immune system with probiotics.

I am adding HELP to my immune system.

Antibiotics put an ENEMY in your body and make your body fight harder.

Why do that to yourself if you can just put something helpful in your body?

There are all kinds of probiotics. At your health food store you might find "Kombucha," a furmented drink with all kinds of amazingly helpful probiotics and good stuff. I don't know what all is in it, but I have heard of people using Kombucha in their cancer fights. It tastes pretty strong though.

Well, there you go. I am a skinny girl who never gained weight all growing up. This worked for me. I have also been gaining some weight. I don't eat food that is greasy. I try to pick healthy food just because I feel better when I eat it. I just feel like I am getting healthier simply because of using my brain, paying attention to how my body feels and reacts, and being open minded.

I think the key is not necessarily to use the exact same regimen as me or anyone else, because your body is different than mine. It might just so happen that probiotics and mineral makeup would work for you. It could be worth a shot. But also, that might not be the problem your body is having. The key is to listen to your body and think about it.

Try probiotics! Try a dermatologist! Be active and serious in your solutions and you will figure it out.

Best wishes!

[Thanatos•]

Interesting read, thanks for sharing

[misterhealthman]

You were taking Fish and horse antibiotics? Are you serious, that had to have messed up your body.

[BrenOne]

Alot of people take probiotics after courses in antibiotics to rebuild their immune systems. I've just begun taking a tab with 4 BILLION probiotics and prebiotics...

You were taking Fish and horse antibiotics? Are you serious, that had to have messed up your body.

For sure - they're designed totally differently. Doubt the FDA would approve them for human consumption.

[swordth]

"The thing that antibiotics does is put a little bit of bacteria in your gut that makes your body naturally produce more good biotics (bacteria) to fight it.

Because you have an extra amount of good bacteria, you are able to internally fight off the infection of acne in your body.

After all, acne is an infection that your body just didn't kill by itself.

The antibiotics worked (for a little while at least) because your body was pumped up a little because it was doing extra fighting and so there was an extra amount of bacteria in your good army that was able to kill the acne infection."

I've read these boards for quite a while now, and once I read this, I couldn't help but register for an account, and reply. Whoever told you that lied, or if you figured it out by yourself as the case may be, then your logic is incorrect.

Heres the deal. Antibiotics do NOT put bacteria into your body to make your body create bacteria to fight it. Theres two HUGE things wrong with that.

1. Your body does not make bacteria. It is incapable of doing so. To fight bacteria white blood cells engulf the bacteria through phagocytosis, and then through a process I wont waste time describing, they create antibodies to group together the bacteria and immobilize them, to allow the white blood cells to engulf and kill them. No bacteria is made.

2. An antibody is not a little bit of the bacteria your fighting being put into your body. It is a chemical which kills bacteria, by not allowing them to complete binary fission.

Further more...
"I just kept thinking, "My body is going to get tired of constantly fighting these antibiotics and it's going to get weak again."

THAT is why the antibiotics stop working. "

Antibiotics stop working because the bacteria in your body become resistant to the chemical. Its evolution . Just like rats slowly have become immune to rat poison over time, by having the none resistant ones die, and the resistant ones live and multiply. The bacteria are resistant, and then they multiply again (only the resistant ones). thats why antibiotics stop working, and your acne comes back.

I hate to say it, but this is far from "an education on why your body isnt fighting off this infection called acne". Your body IS fighting it off, and because its fighting it off, your getting acne. Simply put, bacteria get into your pores, your body reacts to it by sending white blood cells to the area to engulf and kill them, and then all of that gets pushed up to the surface out of the body, so the body doesnt become infected. voila, a pimple. plain and simple.

[Qazzi123]

So what's the difference between probiotics and antibiotics? From reading this it seems they do the same thing but acne does not devlop a "resistance" to it like it does eventually to antibiotics, but this sounds way too good to be true. Can anyone elaborate?

[swordth]

So what's the difference between probiotics and antibiotics? From reading this it seems they do the same thing but acne does not devlop a "resistance" to it like it does eventually to antibiotics, but this sounds way too good to be true. Can anyone elaborate?

Probiotics: A dietary substance containg bacteria. These bacterias live with you, but dont harm you, in fact, they somewhat help you in some respects depending on the bacterium.
Antibiotics: Kill Bacteria, including healthy bacteria in your body (bacteria cells in your body outnumber human body cells, not important, but an interesting fact).

To answer your other question, Probiotics have been known to help with some things like lactose intolerance, or lowering cholestrol. I havent heard of them helping acne until now.

[BrenOne]

The "white" in whiteheads are antibodies - body's immune response to infection. But i don't know if it's really an infection inside the body as much as it might be an imbalance between good and bad bacteria - or a lack of both after hitting them with heavy antibiotics -

[Qazzi123]

So what, probiotics = the cure for acne? Exageration, but for people who have taken them do they really help like antibiotics do? I've never wanted to try antibiotics because I know they will wear off in time and come back worse..but if probiotics have similar effects and yet don't wear off..

[BrenOne]

Probiotic supplements contain live bacteria that the body likes and stuff to encourage their growth in your gut - antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria when you have an infection but are possibly a bit indiscriminate and could kill the "friendly" bacteria at the same time.

I was actually wondering about prescribed antibiotics - how do they affect acne if they're only taken internally ?- i thought p.acnes was a surface issue?

[swordth]

So what, probiotics = the cure for acne? Exageration, but for people who have taken them do they really help like antibiotics do? I've never wanted to try antibiotics because I know they will wear off in time and come back worse..but if probiotics have similar effects and yet don't wear off..

Don't count on it. From what I can tell, there has been no official studies to actually prove that probiotics will help acne. On the other hand, theres nothing to show it wont help. I get the feeling this is kinda like that fad for drinking Apple cider vinegar to cure acne.

Probiotic supplements contain live bacteria that the body likes and stuff to encourage their growth in your gut - antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria when you have an infection but are possibly a bit indiscriminate and could kill the "friendly" bacteria at the same time.

I was actually wondering about prescribed antibiotics - how do they affect acne if they're only taken internally ?- i thought p.acnes was a surface issue?

Antibiotics can help decrease the amount of irritating chemicals created by phagocytes, and they reduce the concentration of fatty acids in the sebum (skin oil if you will). That'll reduce the inflammatory response. Thats as much as i can tell you about why they work. I figure if thats the extent of it, then it would describe why antibiotics are only useful on mild/moderate acne.

[BrenOne]

Don't know if it's a cure but it could help I think. My best guess is that it allows the friendly bacteria to dominate over "unfriendly" and second the bacteria in the probiotic supplements are the same as the ones that live naturally in your gut and their purpose is to help digest food - and the more there are, the better you digest food, less waste/toxins etc, therefore less coming out on your skin. But I'm sure it's only part of the story too.

[BrenOne]

So what, probiotics = the cure for acne? Exageration, but for people who have taken them do they really help like antibiotics do? I've never wanted to try antibiotics because I know they will wear off in time and come back worse..but if probiotics have similar effects and yet don't wear off..

Don't count on it. From what I can tell, there has been no official studies to actually prove that probiotics will help acne. On the other hand, theres nothing to show it wont help. I get the feeling this is kinda like that fad for drinking Apple cider vinegar to cure acne.

Probiotic supplements contain live bacteria that the body likes and stuff to encourage their growth in your gut - antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria when you have an infection but are possibly a bit indiscriminate and could kill the "friendly" bacteria at the same time.

I was actually wondering about prescribed antibiotics - how do they affect acne if they're only taken internally ?- i thought p.acnes was a surface issue?

Antibiotics can help decrease the amount of irritating chemicals created by phagocytes, and they reduce the concentration of fatty acids in the sebum (skin oil if you will). That'll reduce the inflammatory response. Thats as much as i can tell you about why they work. I figure if thats the extent of it, then it would describe why antibiotics are only useful on mild/moderate acne.

Thanks Swordth.

[timothy954]

i dont think its a smart idea to take horse and fish antibiotics, and really all antibiotics are bard for you in the long run

[xxy]

yeah that's common with antibiotics, you become immune. glad the probiotics worked for you. but it doesn't work for everyone, i had no success with it, but hopefully others can learn from your solution.

[Jess]

I agree with the probiotics...

The protocol derms have (it mystefies me ) is to prescribe round after round of powerful oral antibiotics for mild acne, most of which are ineffective on today's youth. Generations of over-prescribing create another challenging problem... the fact that p.acnes bacteria have become resistant to the majority of prescription meds for acne out there.

Maybe I don't have all the facts, but it seems irresponsible for derms to prescribe young people high doses of doxycycline, tetracycline, and the others. It's on their sheet as a mandate-for every new patient with acne, they give 6 months of doxy plus a drying antibiotic topical pad or lotion, and then when that doesn't work they move on to minocycline + erythromycin as a topical...and so on.

After killing all the good bacteria, without probiotics and a healthy diet, many people wind up in worse shape than before. Plus they still have the acne, as an insult to injury

[JR86]

So what, probiotics = the cure for acne? Exageration, but for people who have taken them do they really help like antibiotics do? I've never wanted to try antibiotics because I know they will wear off in time and come back worse..but if probiotics have similar effects and yet don't wear off..

i've used both. the probiotics did nothing for me, and only one of the antibiotics i used actually helped.

[healedanonymous]

Ok man, you're right about the technicalities, I'm no scientist.

BUT - I don't know how it works on a microscopic level, I just know that it worked for me. I just used the science classes from high school and college that were in my head and I put together this solution. And it worked incredibly. Isn't that what all these people here want?

I believe in only listening to the opinions of people that are getting the results that I want.

I essentially said "antibiotics stop working" and "here is something that did work," which is the same thing you said. Okay, so I know the body doesn't produce third party bacteria, I made a mistake. The antibiotics make your body start fighting hard, that's the point, and we agree on the point.

I believe that in the case of acne, to try to take a scientific approach is going to cause you to go to a dermatologist and have antibiotic after antibiotic OR take accutane, which is so strong that they make girls sign a contract promising that they wouldn't get pregnant because it would make their baby have horrible birth defects. Not to mention, you have serious liver damage and can get depressed and suicidal. My boyfriend took it and it had effects on him like he was on pcp, he was breaking glass windows with his bear hand. And he's not like that. He's a really gentle, happy, life of the party guy. (His acne is cured, but his family is now really sensitive to any anger he expresses because they remember those accutane outbursts. It's like that period of time added an invincibly angry side to his personality and those memories are permanant.)

When I think in the most logical way I can, I think, "My body has a skin problem on my face that it's not naturally fighting and preventing. How can I help it?"

My next thought is to go to modern science, which would mean "professional help" which is a dermatologist. Then they give me WHAT? Antibiotics over and over that put my immune system through the ringer? "That isn't nice to my body." And WHAT? "Accutane that would make a baby have horrible physical problems and make my live sustain serious damage?" That doesn't seem to be helping my body either. These so-called solutions are causing more problems for me to deal with.

Unfortunately a lot of people take these "solutions" because acne affects the self esteem and liver damage doesn't.

THIS is what our modern scientists are giving us? If science is even saying that it's not great to develop immunity to antibiotics over and over, then why do dermatologists keep doing it? Why do people go to our modern day healers (the doctors) and the doctors do THIS to our bodies and we end up coming back to the good ol' message board on the internet for ideas and answers?

It's not working to think like a technical scientist, so I'm going back to taking a deep breath and relying on my higher self to make things clear to me.

I wasn't going to include this but -

I had an extremely spiritual experience involving only natural substances, and during that experience, I had a totally wordless revelation and I just suddenly knew how to cure the acne.

I can't explain it! But I know it works! I knew it would work before it was even working and then it did work and I am healed!

The closest I can come to explaining it is, "DECIDE YOU ARE HEALED."

Because you believe you are on that road of thinking, you will arrive at something that works for you.


(I am not here to debate, in fact I think I'll delete this account right now, just do what you will with what I have said. Best wishes!)

[healedanonymous]

Hey man, I see that in your regimin you aren't on probiotics but fiber is working for you.

That makes total sense right, I mean, you're helping your body be strong and fight with the fiber. It works differently but it works! I think that's a great idea.

As far as the antibiotics I took, I wasn't taking "horse" medicine. My dad did a lot of research and found out that this one particular antibiotic for fish is the absolute exact same thing that they prescribe humans. So I only took that one. But I stopped needing them.

[healedanonymous]

So what, probiotics = the cure for acne? Exageration, but for people who have taken them do they really help like antibiotics do? I've never wanted to try antibiotics because I know they will wear off in time and come back worse..but if probiotics have similar effects and yet don't wear off..

No, in fact in my original post I didn't claim probiotics were the answer. They were my answer but they might not be yours. If anything, I am saying that listening to your higher self is the cure, because it will tell you what to do physically. That's all I did and I came to probiotics. Others come to fiber apparently, and it sounds about right flushing your system out. Others use antibiotics at first then continue with diet. I believe it is more about listening internally.