349 replies to this topic

[EddieE]

You should exercise and consume more protein. You will have a nice body and it's good for skin.

Had a bunch of dark chocolate and green tea popsicles this weekend. Whoops! Also started eating oranges again.

Niacin is drying me out and I'm not sure that it's helping much, but I'll keep taking it for a bit because many people have had success with it. I stopped taking Vitamin E because it did nothing for my scarring and I am trying to cut back on my supplements as much as possible because they are expensive.

My monthly cycle is messed up, and might be another symptom of whatever's going on with my health right now. Going to the gyn when I get back from vacation, and hopefully will get the problem sorted out.

While riding the train today, I was approached by a severely mentally and physically disabled man who struggled to talk with me. He seemed desperate for some sort of human contact, and everyone else was deliberately avoiding him. I had a hard time understanding what he said, but managed to talk to him about cats for a bit. Talking with this man made me realise just how lucky I am and how much I take for granted. Sure I have acne and scars, but how serious of a problem are they really?

Buy a good moisturizer because if your skin gets dry it could be worse!

[Q_P]

I think you're right about the exercise, Eddie. Here's why.

I went on a hiking trip in Arizona for a week, and my skin hasn't looked this great in months.

Things I did differently from what I do at home:

1) exercised to the point of sweating profusely for a few hours almost every day
2) drank a lot more water than normal
3) went to bed at around 9 or 10 most nights
4) ate whatever I wanted, including a ton of super-sugary trail mix and greasy breakfasts at Denny's
5) ate no fish or coconut oil, staples of my diet at home
6) applied zinc oxide sunscreen to face every day

Things that are different about Arizona from home:

1) much hotter, but it's a dry heat as opposed to the crazy humidity here
2) water is cleaner?
3) air is cleaner?

I didn't change my topical or supplement routine at all during the trip. My health was still poor, but being distracted helped me to feel better most of the time. Gonna go to a different doctor asap to sort things out.

I need to figure out what cleared me up so much so I can repeat it here. For now, I'm going to try to go to bed at 12 and wake up at 8 each day, go for a bike ride until I break a sweat, and drink over a liter of water per day. I'm also switching my time-release vitamin C for a 2 a day C + quercetin supplement, and will switch my time-release B complex to a regular one as soon as possible.

[Q_P]

I've been back home for just two days, and already I'm seeing small breakouts of papules. What gives? My guess is the humidity has something to do with it, or the sudden decrease in the amount of sunlight and exercise I'm getting. Gonna go for a bike ride later today, and try to work with my laptop outside to get some fresh air.

On another note, I had a bout of severe abdominal pain and nausea last night, along with cold sweats and a bad headache. Scary stuff, but I'm feeling better now. I'm wondering if there's something wrong with my pancreas, or if I caught a bug during the flight home.

[Q_P]

Feeling much better today after getting a lot of sleep. Drank 1.5 liters of water yesterday, shooting for the same amount today. Still breaking out, possibly because I went driving today and that stressed me out considerably.

Got a new shower head and a shower filter today that's supposed to remove 100% of the chlorine along with reducing the dirt, sulphur and iron oxide. Cool! Also got some bamboo pillow cases because they are naturally anti-bacterial and might help, since I tend to sweat a lot at night.

[Q_P]

Mixed up a batch of moisturizer with aloe vera, coconut oil and the vitamin e oil I was using before. Hopefully this will do something.

Dropping the Alpha lipoic acid because I think it doesn't do anything and the pills get stuck in my throat sometimes and BURN when I swallow. Gonna take Vitamin E again because it may have helped and I'd like to finish the bottle off.

[Q_P]

Got a couple of hydras (big muthas with multiple heads) going on right now. Yuckers!

Inflammation seems to be down, probably due to the quercetin and the new concoction I made for a moisturizer. Good stuff.

Time for a bike ride!

[Q_P]

Stopping the Niacin to see if health improves; I think it might be what's messing with my digestion. I doubt it did any good, anyway.

Gotta find something to occupy myself so I can spend less time on the net, this site in particular. Gonna start my job hunt next week; that'll keep me pretty busy. Obsessing about my skin like this makes me anxious, which exacerbates the problem! I'm starting to think that I should just ride it out because my dad's acne eventually went away in his early twenties; at this point, I'm just trying to do some damage control.

[onceperfect]

Dude, crash dieting causes pimples as it fucks up your hormone levels, i've learnt this the hard way! it makes sense why you are having break outs if you aren't eating enough all of a sudden, never mind the junk.

As for the scarring, i agree its a totally different horrible beast but don't make the same mistake i did i trust your face to heal on its own. if you get anything big and cystic call a derm and make an appointment to have it injected with cortisone to bring down the swelling. Or wind up with a huge scar on the most visible part of your pretty lil face like i did

you have to be agressive. I'm clear now on clindatech and differin And oral doxy. well relatively clean, no big cysts. But I wonder oyu said "Differin and Duac (I think this is where things started taking a turn for the worse)" is that when you started scarring? cause I found that since the differin i have scarred more than i've ever scarred in my resiliant skins life

[Q_P]

Dude, crash dieting causes pimples as it fucks up your hormone levels, i've learnt this the hard way! it makes sense why you are having break outs if you aren't eating enough all of a sudden, never mind the junk.

As for the scarring, i agree its a totally different horrible beast but don't make the same mistake i did i trust your face to heal on its own. if you get anything big and cystic call a derm and make an appointment to have it injected with cortisone to bring down the swelling. Or wind up with a huge scar on the most visible part of your pretty lil face like i did

you have to be agressive. I'm clear now on clindatech and differin And oral doxy. well relatively clean, no big cysts. But I wonder oyu said "Differin and Duac (I think this is where things started taking a turn for the worse)" is that when you started scarring? cause I found that since the differin i have scarred more than i've ever scarred in my resiliant skins life

Even if the diet I started was a "crash diet," I didn't lose any weight, which I think is what makes the hormones go whacky. Did you get a hormonal problem from dieting?

Thanks for the tip about scarring. I'm lucky in that I don't really get cysts any more, just some nodules at the worst times. I'm sorry that you have to deal with a big ol' scar, that's no fun at all. I think scars do improve over time on their own, though, and scar treatments are getting more and more advanced. Which is why I'm not too concerned about mine.

After using so many different treatments, I have the opposite philosophy on treating my skin: be gentle, and only use things that aid in healing. I stopped using acne creams when I realized that no one has ever permanently cured their acne with them or even with antibiotic pills; the acne always comes back once you stop. I became concerned that I would never grow out of my acne naturally if I kept beating the crap out of my face with products to the point where it couldn't beat the acne itself when I stopped using them. Plus, I've never gotten clear from a topical.

Using Differin and Duac for several months burned my face to a crisp; a classmate even asked me if I'd gone on vacation at the beach, because my face had an unnatural reddish tan from the acne creams. And it just HURT, especially when I smiled. I can't remember getting any scars while using Differin, but I do believe that it made my skin fragile and sensitive.

[Q_P]

Feeling better lately. Digestion is still screwy, so I think I need to play with my diet some more; I have a feeling that my digestion really has an impact on my skin. Drinking lots of water helps everything, as does exercising.

What I'm eating now, pretty much daily:

Breakfast
1/4 cup of steel cut oatmeal with cinnamon and strawberries
eggie weggs fried in coconut oil

Lunch
chicken breast stir fried in coconut oil with frozen veggies and rice

Dinner
pork or salmon with broccoli and rice

I also snack on cacao nibs throughout the day, and love 'em.

Wish I could cut the rice to see if it would have any effect on my skin, but I feel so tired without carbs.

[Q_P]

Added one of the Quercetin + C capsules to my moisturizer. Expeeramintayshun tiem!

Looking closely at my diet, I've realized that I don't eat enough anti-inflammatory foods. Gonna eat more broccoli and peppers, try walnuts and almonds again because I think they were fine, and add in onion and garlic cloves, tomatoes, green beans, ginger and turmeric. Overall, less grains and more veggies is the goal here; that should be a good change for now.

[Q_P]

Ate and drank so much garbage this weekend it's not even funny, and messed up my sleep cycle again. Not gonna worry about the results.

[Q_P]

Got some turmeric, oranges, peppers, whole wheat bread with cranberries and pumpkin and flax seeds, chickpeas, and some ground bison and 90% lean beef to try to get more variety in my diet.

I really haven't been feeling well lately, despite eating and sleeping well and exercising in fresh air and sunshine. This has been going on for two months now and is only getting worse, but no one seems to believe me when I say I feel terribly sick. What's the deal, yo?

[Q_P]

Today I ate:

Breakfast: 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter and an orange

Lunch: Big ol' salad with romaine, baby spinach, green pepper, all-natural tuna and apple cider vinegar

Snack: Odwalla omega berry bar

Dinner: scrambled and cayenne pepper and turmeric-seasoned omega-3 eggs with pepper slices and quinoa

Skin is currently experiencing the effects of Monday's junk eating extravaganza.

I think my appetite is waning a bit because I feel so bloated all the time. What to do, what to do...

[Q_P]

Went to the ER today with what felt like heart palpitations, dizziness, nausea, and abdominal pain. More of the same thing that's been going on for months, only worse. Vitals, bloodwork and pelvic ultrasound were all fine; no diagnosis given. Next step: go back to regular doctor, get a heart monitor and hopefully a referral to a GI doctor and an allergist.

In the meantime, I am going to take a natural digestive enzyme mix I picked up with each meal, and am cutting gluten again. I've been eating a ton of wheat bread in the past few weeks, and also oatmeal, and those may be contributing to my issues somehow. My bloodwork tested negative for Celiac Disease, but I may still be sensitive to gluten. Gonna try it for a month and see what happens. Thank God rum is gluten-free.

Acne sucks, but my general health is way more important than my skin at this point.

[Q_P]

Woke up last night with more pain, kept me from sleeping for a few hours. I had salmon with turmeric, cumin and ginger and raw green pepper slices and baby carrots for dinner. Maybe the veggies were the cause?

Today:

Breakfast:
two eggs scrambled in coconut oil with powdered cayenne pepper
(Didn't cause much bloating or pain)

Lunch:
chicken stir-fried in coconut oil with veggie mix, ginger and turmeric
(Also kept my intestines pretty happy)

Dinner:
ground bison meat with onions and summer squash stir-fried in olive oil, and rice with turmeric
(Still waiting for any effects)

I've been taking the digestive enzyme blend with each meal and it's not helping my burping/bloating problem yet, but the indigestion in my stomach seems to have calmed down a bit.

[Q_P]

Fell off the healthy eating train again last night; thank you, Labor Day picnic with friends! I felt pretty good throughout the evening despite the diet slip. I've probably said this before, but I think that stressing out about the times I eat things I shouldn't is far worse than the effects of actually eating said things.

[Q_P]

Left my face wash at my boyfriend's place, whoops! Then I realized that hey, I've been using that wash for over a month now any my face is still a mess. Obviously, it's not working!

Right now what I'm trying is washing my face with water and jojoba oil in the morning, then washing with a tea tree oil soap at night and moisturizing with the aloe vera gelly with Vitamins C and E. I'm not sure how much my topical routine has to do with my skin, as I cleared so much in Arizona without changing the routine that did nothing at home, but it probably won't hurt to change things up a bit.

Also, I made an appointment with a holistic nutritionist who said she's helped people with both acne and digestive problems before; I'm hoping that she can give me some much-needed guidance on how to fix these issues.

[nessfk]

Peanut butter is actually an acne aggravate I've heard. You should look it up a bit more and try avoiding it for awhile.

[Q_P]

Peanut butter is actually an acne aggravate I've heard. You should look it up a bit more and try avoiding it for awhile.

Oh geez, I dunno if I can do that. Peanut butter is my kryptonite. But I'll try it for two weeks and see what happens.