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My original first post is below. If you'd rather not read my life story and experiments with different remedies, then just read the concise version
Daily supplements:
1. With dinner: Spring Valley Flush Free Niacin, Inositol Hexanicontinate, 500 mg ; One-A-Day Women's multivitamin, andSpring Valley Super B-Complex.
Wash once or twice a day with Likas Papaya Soap.
10% BP, Clearasil Ultra, for spot treatment ONLY. I do not use this at all anymore, but I have it on hand just in case.
That's all it is. No tricks, no fancy, expensive products. The B-Complex and Niacin are like, $5 a bottle at wal-mart. The Likas soap is $3 on amazon.com, about $1.50 in oriental grocery stores. The Clearasil is the most expensive product I use, and it's only about $8. I use it rarely, so it lasts quite a long time.
I don't even really worry about diet anymore. I still follow my diet and exercise plan, but it's more for other health reasons than acne. I went on vacation, didn't follow any diet, reduced my exercise to walking in the mornings, and still didn't break out. It is seriously awesome to be able to go out in the sun without worrying about BP sensitivity or taking any nasty antibiotics or hormones. I can even eat junk food now without breaking out (this is probably a bad thing
)!First, I guess I should just say that I wanted to start this log because I started having success with tweaking my diet about 6 months ago, and I just started on Niacin and have had amazing results so far, so I'd like to keep somewhat of a record for myself as well as for anyone else who might be benefited by a regimen like mine.
Also, I've been stalking this board for quite some time, and everyone's advice and experiences through trial and error have helped so much! I am especially thankful for the guy who posted that Niacin cured his acne, and various others. I found AcneJean's log to be particularly helpful as well, because it introduced me to the Likas Papaya Soap and lots of good healthy skin eating advice.
A little about me -- I'm a 25 year old woman who's had cystic acne on and off since the age of 17. I went to a dermatologist right away back then and tried various antibiotics as well as Differin, Retin-A, Benzaclin, Bactrim (to which I had an allergic reaction) and a bunch of other over the counter treatments. None of these worked very well, so I was eventually prescribed BC pills, which helped a lot, but were by no means a miracle cure. I got sick of relying on the BC when I was 22, so I went off of them. My skin was not that bad for awhile and while I usually had some breakouts, they weren't bad or painful or hard to deal with. I thought I had grown out of it.
I was wrong. I started law school shortly thereafter and within a year I was breaking out again. It continued to get worse, and I had the most horrible breakout of my life occur about 6 months ago. I am studying for the bar exam (I take it in a week!), so the stress of thinking about graduating law school must have taken its toll, along with my bad habits that I picked up within those three years. I was sick of using topicals and spending a small fortune on OTC and prescription drugs that seemed to just manage my acne rather than go to the root of the problem. I haven't been able to go out in public without makeup in almost 8 years! I think that's ridiculous, and I sign that something needs to be done.
I completely gave up alcohol, smoking, coffee, dairy, all-night studying, all-night partying, and peanuts for 6 months. Yeah, it sucked, haha! I cut way back on other junk food like chips, candy, fried food, red meat, vegetable oils, processed foods, etc. I started exercising hard for an hour 6 days a week. I replaced coffee with green tea, and began taking a B-complex supplement and using honey instead of BP spot treatments. All of this cleared my forehead and chin very well, but I was still breaking out in horrible, painful acne all over my cheeks and the sides of my face. At least it wasn't my WHOLE face anymore, but I was still frustrated that I had acne after all that hard work. If nothing else, I lost a lot of weight and felt 100% better, so I guess my acne had somewhat of a positive effect on my overall health through trying to get clear.
I tried all the low GI, lower-carb, gluten free, insulin regulating diets, and they did NOTHING but seem to make my acne WORSE. Actually, when I think back, every time I have tried to cut back on carbs my acne seemed to flare up. I believe this has something to do with the way my body processes Niacin, because grains are a popular source of that particular vitamin. I seem to do remarkably better on a low fat vegetable and grain based diet. If I keep my diet down to just fish, fruit, whole grains, and vegetables my skin really seems to benefit, although it didn't clear my cheek acne.
I continued to do what I was doing until last week, when I discovered the Niacin post and started using the Likas Papaya soap at about the same time.
Now, my skin has been clearing more and more every day.
Here's what is working for me:
1. Washing with Likas Papaya soap, once a day if not wearing makeup, twice if I need to take my makeup off.
2. Supplementing with a B-complex and 500 mg no-flush Niacin daily
3. BP spot treatment, in case I get a few pimples here and there. I like 10% BP Clearasil Ultra. I haven't been using this, though, and my acne is healing quite fast.
4. Still abstaining from dairy and peanuts, but I've added a few cups of coffee in there, and I also have been able to add a little bit of butter. I'm try to eat a healthy, nutrient dense diet in general, so I try to keep junk food to a minimum.
5. Still working out 6 days a week for an hour.
P.S you are extremely pretty acne or not.
