14 replies to this topic

[Johnny199r]

Hi there,

Im 26. Ive had acne since 18. Ive gone on/off the regimen since 21.

Ive been clear for 3 sustained periods in my life (post 18) ie 3-4 months. All 3 times were a combinations of being outside in the sun everyday of summer/fall (I turn from a white man to a black man, without exaggerating), and using the regimen together. As soon as I was back in the classroom, or into an office, instead of getting an hour plus of sun exposure a day my acne would flare back up instantly.

My question is this. Ive recently moved to Nothern Canada, from the east coast of Canada, and the temps here often dip to -50. So needless to say I dont see much sun outside of the summer. For the last 2 months, Ive tried Omega 3, Vitamin D, Iron, etc this has had no effect. I was hoping taking Vitamin D would have the same effect for my body as being in the sun, but it hasnt. Can anyone help with some suggestions perhaps for other vitamins/methods?

Ive researched and tried every bit of advice on diet, exercise, stress, medications,etc etc and none of this has any effect on me whatsoever. The only healer for me that has worked is sunlight+regiemn together and not seperately.

[Johnny199r]

I meant Zinc not Iron sorry...

[LoveFameDeath]

The sun gets rid of your acne because it dries out your skin and reduces your oil. It's not healthy, but maybe you should consider buying a sunlamp and spending a little time under it each day. Like I said, It's not at all healthy for your skin to do that, but I'm not aware of any other way to duplicate the effect the sun has on your acne.

[xboxfreak]

You might find more information about blue red lights/lamps here http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Blue-red-...aq-t118454.html I have never used one of these but they look interesting.

I hardly get any sun. I really need to try to get some this spring break and summer. Hopefully that will help my skin. Vitamin D and Omega 3's don't really help my skin (at least I can't tell) but they are still great for other things in my body and so I will continue to take them.

[jksl]

i'd go for a decent sun lamp over one of those blue/red LED lamps. A sun lamp is good for boosting mood and i just don't trust the blue LEDs (reds i'm perfectly fine with).

[alternativista]

How much D. It takes about 4,000 iu for most to have decent levels if you aren't getting sunlight.

[That's_Life]

Specific wavelengths of light (around 420nm) have been proven to kill p. acnes bacteria in a lab.

[databased]

You may not have ever taken enough Vitamin D3 in pill form for long enough time to replicate the amount of Vitamin D3 you got from extensive sun exposure; to boost serum levels from a low level to a high level can require multiple months of supplementation.

Sunlight also could have influenced the shape of your melatonin (another powerful sunlight-based hormone implicated in skin biochemistry) cycle and made it easier to have a normal nocturnal melatonin surge when you were getting significant outdoor daytime sunlight. Melatonin could affect acne in a variety of ways, including dampening the production of androgens directly in the skin and stimulating cells to produce zinc superoxide dismutase, which may help combat acne.

Of course, there could be innumerable environmental factors that were different when you were getting sun. Different things you ate, or even where you got your drinking water could represent large changes in the exact mix of chemicals you ingest and still be difficult to notice.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if you got your Vitamin D levels above 50ng/ml (which requires testing), worked on having a normal melatonin cycle (e.g. 9 hours sleep with light blocked from eyes), and took a zinc supplement. If you're getting lots of Vitamin A (retinol) in some form (e.g., cod liver oil), it's possible that may directly interfere with Vitamin D at the cellular level and defeat the purpose.

[Thuglife2k5]

same here dude....i get almost completely clear from Sun and tanning... i love the sun a lot for its comfort, relaxatoin, and clearing powers..... it also shrinks the hell outa my pores on my nose and t zone.

the only problem is i live in the midwest where theres little sun.....N wen u get really tan lets say...and then dont see sun for a long time..... u WILL break out if ur acne prone.

its like Withdrawal from a drug.

[SumnerMo]

I know exactly what you mean. I get 95% clear during the summer when I work (flipping houses so Im outside alot) and when i go back to school I start breaking out more.

[uncle buck]

Sunlight helps carb absorption, so it could just be masking your problem (while still helping). It's the reason fruits in their natural state only grow in tropical climates. You never see bananas growing in the snow, they are very high carb. Try cutting back on carbs when you don't have much sunlight and see what happens.

[ballsoftitanium]

i love the sun. first really nice day of spring i got a bit of a sun burn on my upper body and it basically burnt all my acne off in a day or 2 now i can hardly see any. i try to get sun whenever i can now that i see what it can do for my acne, i'd rather get cancer in 50 years than than have acne now when it actually matters

[hockyrocky28]

This sounds just like me. I live in the midwest so I don't get too much sun. I'm in highschool and the only times I have a clear face is after spring break, I usually get clear then break out a bit. Then during summer my acne clears right up. During soccer season I get alot of sun, then once that ends it becomes winter and in school all day my face breaks out something horrid. I can't stand it.

[CheyCheyenne]

I almost always clear up in the summer as long as I'm outside and running...which I haven't been doing this summer thus acne. I run cross when I go back to school and my skin gets gradually worse, even with cross. I think it has to do with the sun but I've been tanning before to clear up my acne in the winter. I'd like to think it was doing something but it wasn't really. I had really bad cystic acne then though and nothing was really helping.

[Prettywords]

databased, on 07 April 2009 - 07:09 PM, said:

You may not have ever taken enough Vitamin D3 in pill form for long enough time to replicate the amount of Vitamin D3 you got from extensive sun exposure; to boost serum levels from a low level to a high level can require multiple months of supplementation.

Sunlight also could have influenced the shape of your melatonin (another powerful sunlight-based hormone implicated in skin biochemistry) cycle and made it easier to have a normal nocturnal melatonin surge when you were getting significant outdoor daytime sunlight. Melatonin could affect acne in a variety of ways, including dampening the production of androgens directly in the skin and stimulating cells to produce zinc superoxide dismutase, which may help combat acne.

Of course, there could be innumerable environmental factors that were different when you were getting sun. Different things you ate, or even where you got your drinking water could represent large changes in the exact mix of chemicals you ingest and still be difficult to notice.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if you got your Vitamin D levels above 50ng/ml (which requires testing), worked on having a normal melatonin cycle (e.g. 9 hours sleep with light blocked from eyes), and took a zinc supplement. If you're getting lots of Vitamin A (retinol) in some form (e.g., cod liver oil), it's possible that may directly interfere with Vitamin D at the cellular level and defeat the purpose.

Melatonin actually increases androgens (testosterone). It's all over the body building forums for making higher levels of test and studies have shown it increases test in men and inhibits aromatase to estrogen.

I've read it can lower estrogen and progesterone in women which would likely be due to it raising androgens and reducing aromatase.

These could all lead to or exacerbate acne in either sex.

These were studies done on the supplement melatonin and not the sun's ability to make our bodies produce melatonin on its own.

Vitamin D supplements break me out and I bet this is why.

Edited by Prettywords, 06 December 2011 - 12:22 AM.