88 replies to this topic

[LadyWillow]

Good news, birth control was only $23. hoorah to new health insurance.
Started taking 50 mg of zinc in the morning with my birth control. Considering niacin, I've read good results, but people are saying results are only temporary.
My skin seems to be steadily improving. I am hoping for the best and expecting the worst.

Got my school schedule today, aah the stress is beginning. I need to introduce stress relief into my life.

Well, I'll try to eat healthy... maybe bring my lunch to school..

[LadyWillow]

So I've been taking zinc and I see an improvement in my skin. I seem to have only a couple new pimples and they aren't bad.
My skin has been a little dry so I have been moisturizing with coconut oil. Pretty good results! I researched coconut oil a little and evidently it has really helped reduce people's acne. It supposedly kills bacteria because of the acids in it.. IDN, but I am going to give it a try.
I already have the extra virgin expeller pressed one from Whole Foods.
My cheeks are so soft.. love it!
School starts tomorrow.. ugh sucks!
I'm going to pack my lunch more often so that I don't eat too much junk.
My regimen is still the same but I just use coconut oil now.
I know i switch around a lot but I usually wait awhile to see if something is working and I can kind of tell now when something is doing well.

[LadyWillow]

my skins improving!
i got a kind of cyst inbetween my eyebrows but its going down. thats about it
I havent been wearing foundation to school and my skin is healing pretty quickly
coconut oil is awesome, i love it. i highly suggest it if anyone is reading this.
I think the zinc is also helping a bunch. I have to make sure I take it after breakfast or else I get super nautious.
my chest acne is still kind of bad, idn if i said it was earlier but its been bad since the end of july. I'm not sure why though. i bought some body wash with salicylic acid in it and it seems to be helping, idn. my bacne isn't super bad just like a couple of bumps.
I hate school, its so stressful, I have a ton of homework every night.

[LadyWillow]

Ok so my face is getting better
i think I have p. folliculitis on my chest and back.
i have all the symptoms so I am pretty sure I do.
But yeah I just thought I would make this short.

[LadyWillow]

I don't think anybody is reading this, but.. just to keep an update for myself.
my face is getting better, I dont get big breakouts any more. (maybe from taking Niacin and Zinc)
I can't eat dairy for another 3 weeks because my doctor wants to see what else is wrong with me besides lactose intolerance . I have an intestinal problem where I'm not absorbing enough nutrients and I might have candida.
My chest is absolutely horrible, it is the worst I have ever seen it. No exaggeration. I am currently treating it with a ZNP bar because I thought it was folliculitis but it isn't getting any better so I'm a little lost. My derm moved so I see the head of the office I go to, met him thursday, he seems nice. He prescribed me a sulfur mask to use on my face and chest to get rid of the red inflamed acne I have.
To describe my chest it is basically large red bumps that occasionally come to a whitehead and are itchy often. My back isn't as bad but the zits are larger , just more spread out.
It might have something to do with my stomach/intestine condition, but I really can't tell.
I've lost 6 pounds and I was already underweight to begin with =[. Plus it is making me very weak, dizzy, and fatigued.

[LadyWillow]

I forgot about this log. I know nobody was following it, but I think I need to keep track so I know for myself.
Last year after I posted my last post I actually developed pretty awful health problems. Chronic fatigue, A.D.D., 15 pound weight loss, depression, irritability, trouble with memory, weakness/muscle loss. I tried for 5 months to figure out what was wrong with me and I should have trusted my gut. I had candida. Treated it with anti-candida diet and got off birth control. My skin looked good from Jan 2010 to June 2010 then it went downhill. I stopped taking bc in April so its possible it took a while for the synthetic hormones to leave my body and that shift maybe caused something to go wrong with my skin. So as of today my skin is the worst its been in a year or so. I am going to see an Endocrinologist soon. I have to call and make an appointment but I really just want to have clear skin. It's been 5 years. Come on...
My bacne came back randomly like this school year but Head and Shoulders seems to help.
I've been learning to manage stress by exercising a lot and doing art. This has helped my breakouts but I still have awful skin. It doesn't help that my red marks don't fade.
Left cheek: 3 inflamed pimples, 6 healing, smaller ones chin: underground painful bumps on both corners of bottom of chin. Right cheek: pustules on jawline, one large zit near nose, a few smaller healing pimples on cheekbone. Forehead: small, flesh colored bumps - not too bad. Skin is dry on chin only because I've been washing with jojoba oil and moisturizing often. Also rotating treatment every other night.

[LadyWillow]

note to self: read directions and reviews for a) correct usage and b) positivity. Sometimes I feel really quite dumb. I am probably experiencing my initial breakout from Atralin - I forgot what that's like because I had previously been on Differin for a long time. Also I do too much spot treatment/ mask etc. I'll stick to egg white masks only. No more aspirin/ sulfur masks.

[LadyWillow]

So I either experienced a two month long initial breakout or Atralin just wasn't working. Well I switched back to Differin and just started Finacea.
My skin on my left cheek is a few lingering pimples in the center of cheek. Right cheek is a lot of little bumps and white heads. Forehead is looking better. Healing pimple inbetween eyebrows.
I started birth control about 3 weeks ago. Its Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo. I am going on the generic of OTC regular next month. I want to see if I can do birth control without bad side effects.
I've been trying really hard to eat gluten free, low sugar, and dairy free. It's seriously impossible and possibly harder with my birth control? I'm feeling more cravings lately. I'm just really ready to stop breaking out. I am also considering Accutane as my next option after a couple of months of birth control. I do not want to go to college with acne.
My mood shifts on a day to day basis depending on my skin. That isn't healthy. I've been managing my stress pretty well. I have a lot of positive things in my life to look forward to, but acne is just so frustrating.

[LadyWillow]

I seem to be getting less new pimples, there are some that go down and flare back up so I'm not sure what to do with those. I haven't been wearing makeup to school, not because my skin is better but just because I want to make sure the makeup isn't making my skin worse.
The Finacea was making my skin peel a lot so I found that the OCM and babybrush work well to get rid of the extra skin.
Also I am going back to a more strict diet. I am trying very hard to eat no gluten, no dairy, and only small amounts of natural fructose.
I still have hope in my light therapy device! I read a lot about how people experienced an initial breakout from it - even though I used to use it a lot I gave up on it. Now I am going to be on track.