271 replies to this topic

[tim12]

Sudden slight breakout, could be from not sticking to my diet for the past 3 days or so. Going grocery shopping to correct that problem, and I still have more than a week for most of this to clear up so I'm not too worried. Again, the few new actives are already deflating the second day, and most of them came to a head that I speared and spot treated. They look a little bit redder from the 1 day of BP spot treatment, but that'll subside in a week I'm sure.

[tim12]

So I've decided to try out AcneScript because their trial was so cheap. I'm currently taking 2 acnescript regular formulas in the morning and night, 2 guggul supplements day and night, and 2 curcumin supplements day a night ( one of jarrow's formula and one of theirs ), along with my other stuff I mentioned above. This is only a temporary thing while my skin clears up, and I didn't find any terrible side effects other than an upset stomach for most of the supplements. Right now I have 2 cysts and 2 papules, and scarring everywhere that is fading. Going out to dinner tonight with friends, so I'm hoping to have some fun, and also exercise afterwards and drink tons of water

[tim12]

Acnescript has been working out great for me, It'll definitely be sticking around a lot longer than a lot of these supplements. I've been having an awesome time going through my college's database looking at research on Omega 3's, gluten, food in general, herbal supplements, and the like. I've decided to completely cut gluten out, the past 3 or 4 days I've been having PB & J sandwiches and I've been breaking out on my cheeks, I honestly didn't think I had sensitivity to it, but I've been breaking out with about 1 or 2 pimples the past 3 days, but they heal up pretty quick too thanks to a pretty healthy diet and supplements. I'm also going to work very hard on the emotional/psychological aspects of health as well.

Here's to working towards optimal health, and consequentially ridding myself of acne!

[tim12]

Changed the first post so that it's accurate to the regimen I'm currently following. Combined my 1st and second post if you wanted to read more of my background, blah blah yada yada. Cheers

Edit: Gawd, reading my old posts makes me realize how much time I spend on acne. It's not really on my mind all the time though, but I sure do put a lot of time into it! I'll probably be on here less because of school, which may be a good thing. But I'll still be posting daily of course. I do think however that I spend too much time around electronics, so I'm going to start reinforcing my policy again of not using electronics 1-2 hours before bed, and devote that time to writing and the such.

Edited by tim12, 18 January 2011 - 12:47 AM.

[Thehoper]

Wow Tim it's really great to have ya! What a kick ass new member.

Your plan sounds great, your a fast learner, catching on great. Your smart to take advice from everyone and not think you know everything, that's how the wisest get wiser.

I just have a couple suggestions, NOT saying you have to abide by them lol, just suggestions.

GF Bread- Watch out. I'm Gluten Free and will never buy the GF bread. I don't buy a lot of gluten free things. Usually they are filled with SUGAR and CORN. Both things that I react to poorly, so you could try it, just throwing out a beware sign!

Tea- Caffeine is a big no no for acne, so just watch how your skin reacts to the tea with caffeine.

And I'd say try having two green smoothies a day. They are pretty cheap besides the protein I use. I buy the huge bags of spinach and broccoli, so they last a long time. For me 3/4 of my smoothie are spinach, broccoli, kale and romaine, which are all cheap. Then I throw in my Hemp protein, flaxseed, flaxseed meal, hemp/chia milk, etc, but the smoothies gotta be like 50 cents each, so try having a couple a day, they are so good for you.

Other then that great job!

[pokemonster]

nice log bro! u sound so very healthy in everything u do, i didnt saw about vitamin d tho, ppl talk alot about it, so i wonder is it already in that multivitamin ur taking maybe? its pretty important i guess, but its also in sunshine so if u get that alot maybe u dont need supps on that 1 tho, but idk

also yo diet sounds alot like mine cept meat since im vegetarian but otherwise yea so many things in common, only that i dont have no supps now bcz have no cash, but i plan to get some tho, however idea about so many pills is pretty baah tbh, anywayz do u have tamanu oil? did it rly helped with red marks and scars for u?

also how about jojoba oil? ever used it? imo pretty good as moisturizer and redness reliever, so i might suggest that otherwise seems u pretty much have everything in check already, well yea just that gotta work on that gluten eliminating ofc (im working on that too right now, as well as sugar eliminating completely, supppah haaard for me -___-) oh and dont forget to soak overnight nuts, seeds, legumes n such before eating aand well idk what else so all i can say is..

gambattee!!!

[tim12]

fugleee_dumbBUNNY,

Haha thanks! I'm unsure about the vitamin D, but I do take a calcium chewable that has 800 mg of vitamin D, but I know that's not really much. I do make sure to go outside and soak up the sun, do my cardio etc, but it couldn't hurt to add vitamin D, but I'd prefer to reduce the amount of pills to the most minimal amount xD This is really just a temporary cleansing kind of thing, I'm hoping that it has long term effects once since I'll still be staying on a healthy diet. If I had to pick the things that I feel that were most effective in treating active acne, it'd be guggul, tumeric, and fish oil with high dha and epa, and a good balanced multivitamin is great too.
The Tamanu cream I use is from carley's and it's the first or second listed ingrdedient, but I saw that 1 fluid ounce was around 11 bucks on vitacost, and I'm sure you could just add it into your moisturizer to help carry it into your skin. I think it's helped a lot, I honestly think my skin will be clear in a month or so. I notice that certain areas of my face heal a lot faster, like my forehead, nose, and chin, but my cheeks and temples heal a lot slower.
I thought I tried jojoba oil before, but it could have been extra virgin olive oil that I'm thinking of. The moisturizer I use has it in it, but I'd like to use the pure oil to add into masks or something. I'll look into that once I have money The only nuts I've been eating is almonds pretty much! I appreciate the advice!

Thehoper,

Wow thanks for the compliments dude I appreciate it! You're awesome yourself! I'll be sure to look out for the gluten free bread, I might not even get it. I just miss sandwiches, really, really badly! I'll be sure to start only drinking non caffeinated teas, and I know there's green tea supplements out there that have little traces of caffeine in them, at least that's how they're marketed. I'll start having at least 2 green smoothies a day, breakfast and dinner, and hopefully at lunch if I can (this is kinda hard at school unfortunately.) Your green smoothies sound super healthy, I need to work up to adding so much greens in them! It kinda made me gag a bit at first, but that subsided. I used to fear all vegetables lol, so I'm sure I can conquer this, especially since the benefits are so tremendous. Do you find that they help you feel full?

So it's been day 3 or so without my pb and j sandwhiches, and I'm constantly hungry -_- Today I'm going to research recipis that are gluten/soy/dairy free. I'll be sure to look at Tangerine's website, I recommended you guys do too! I had my first day of classes yesterday, and I had lot's of fun, but was super tired at the end of the day. I didn't get any new pimples like I usually did last semester, so that was awesome! No new breakouts this morning either, aweomse! So currently I have NO active pimples, just scars. Some are worse than others, mainly the ones from cysts that I picked at. Definitely a happy camper right now!

Also, I saw someone with real severe cystic acne yesterday. My heart felt like it sunk for some reason, I felt strongly empathetic towards her, it brought back all the negative emotions I felt when I had my acne at it's worst, and it didn't even seem to phase her. She was still confident and funny. It makes me realize how fortunate I am and that I even though I'm not really harsh or critical of my own skin, I'm fortunate and thankful for what I have.

Edited by tim12, 19 January 2011 - 04:23 PM.

[pokemonster]

hey heres few food option suggestionz fo u

if u get bored of almonds, try seeds! i know that pumpkin seeds are very healthy, and sunflower seeds (lots of vit e etc) aand personally me i like sesame seeds, they r yummy n supposedly rich with calcium as well. & those last two arent too expensive too.
aand ukno brazilian nuts have selenium (good vit for skin n acne if i remember right) but they r veery fatty tho, so moderation or else might break u out, so u might buy just little of them.
oh and 1 thing i find out here on forums from alternativista, u can still eat buckwheat (grains but without gluten!), just soak overnight with drinking water n eat next day raw, they should be healthy n regulate hormones for not getting acne or somthing like that n stuff.

[tim12]

hey heres few food option suggestionz fo u

if u get bored of almonds, try seeds! i know that pumpkin seeds are very healthy, and sunflower seeds (lots of vit e etc) aand personally me i like sesame seeds, they r yummy n supposedly rich with calcium as well. & those last two arent too expensive too.
aand ukno brazilian nuts have selenium (good vit for skin n acne if i remember right) but they r veery fatty tho, so moderation or else might break u out, so u might buy just little of them.
oh and 1 thing i find out here on forums from alternativista, u can still eat buckwheat (grains but without gluten!), just soak overnight with drinking water n eat next day raw, they should be healthy n regulate hormones for not getting acne or somthing like that n stuff.

I do enjoy seeds a lot! I'll have to look them up definitely. I think I may have found a gluten free bread on vitacost, but I'm so scared of adding new food since I haven't had new breakouts the past 4 or 5 days I've been having a slice of chicken breast a day as well and that's helped a lot with the hunger, I need to start finding more high calorie healthy foods!

Thanks for the advice dude! I'll finally be able to watch those animes now that my school week is over.

[Thehoper]

I feel that same way when I see someone with bad acne. I always feel the urge to tell them my story and see if I can help, but a lot of people will get mad at you for bringing it up..

Remember, having an extreme craving to something is a HUGE sign of intolerance/allergy. You craving wheat that much like I did seems like a gluten intolerance. Look that up. It's been a while, but it's something like the body has been used to the intolerance for so long, that once it is out it actually wants that inflammation and battle to fight, so it makes you crave it. When I cut out my heart love Peanut Butter, I felt the same towards PB as well, and now it has been over a month, and I have no craving for PB now either.

^^His suggestion on seeds is awesome. I cut out almonds too, I decided to cut out all nuts and go all seeds. I eat sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, squash seeds, flax seed, and sesame. Every seed except pumpkin is SUPER CHEAP. You can get sunflower seeds a dollar a pound. Order online. I also soak my seeds and all flaxseed I always grind up in smoothies. I put sunflower, sesame, pumpkin, and squash seeds in my soups, and salads.

[tim12]

Haha thanks Ashley! Our approach is similar in the way that we both use Glee to boost our happiness. lolol

But yes, I agree that it'd be bad to start all these things at once. Some people can just do green smoothies and they're fine, some people get clear just off zinc, or fish oil, or tumeric, or other supplement. I started about 7 or 8 months ago with fruit smoothies, basic supplements, and cutting out bad junk food. My acne was at it's worst and I was constantly getting new acne, then I cut out Murad and that helped a lot. I then read a lot about acne fighting supplements, and then added that. It helped, but I was still getting some acne, and the occasional cyst. I figured why not, and cut out gluten, and it did seem to help out my acne. I didn't want to believe it, so I tried having sandwiches and the such and I began to break out again, much to my disbelief and dismay. I was fine though having one burger taken with digestive enzymes and fiber, so that was nice. It's definitely been a long journey :3 But I'm glad and rooting for your routine too! Everyone's acne is different, so I think it makes sense to find the best treatment for your skin.

Thehoper, I'll definitely have to look into that! I'm going to get a food allergy test done through Kaiser if it isn't too expensive. I thought almonds were good for acne? But that's awesome how cheap seeds are, I'll have to look that up! Walnuts also helped me to feel full as well. Let me know how the GF bread works out for you! I've promised myself to not buy anything more than vitacost for a while unless I need it since I have all this stuff to go through lol -__-

[tim12]

Haha well right now I'm using my geeky Battlestar Galactica show perk me up! When does Glee start back up again? Next week?

I hope yours works as well. I wouldn't be able to do all those supps though, I always forget to take them haha. I stopped eating gluten, but my acne stayed hte same. But my tummy was way happier

It's either feb 1st or feb 8th :[ I also watch BBT, which helps a lot and appeals to the nerd in me. Seems like I'll be quite busy this semester with school though once things pick up :[

I just got really desperate once my skin went nuts on me, and my skin never really reacted well to topical treatments for acne, so I was afraid to go to the derm. She also wanted to give me an antibiotic, and even though My fruit smoothies didn't do much for my acne, I've never been seriously ill since I started them, and I used to be the kid in high school who got sick and was absent a lot. I caught everything first, and I wasn't about to give up my super duper immune system, so I figured why not with the supplements!

Yeah, I still miss my bread and spaghetti. I MAY just break my vitacost fast and buy gluten free bread and spaghetti. I need my sammich. Cutting out dairy may or may have not helped me since I cut that out with a lot of other stuff, but a little too much milk always gave me a bit of a tummy ache, and too much milk outright did not so fun things to my stummy. They were mostly for my oreos though :3

talking about all these things isn't helping me not wanting them But I'll endure!

[tim12]

What's BBT?

Ugh, I hate school. I am such a lazy person at heart. I should be studying right now.. but MEH.

Gluten-free bread is soooo gross. I've tried a few brands, and no one in my family likes it. I don't really miss sandwiches anymore, just their convenience haha. I don't eat cold cuts though anymore, so maybe that's another reason I don't miss it. But gluten-free pasta is yummy. You can make a sandwich by using lettuce as the bread! LOL. seriously. I've done it, it's fine.

I didn't eat dairy for a while, but it didn't help. So now I pig out on cheese. yummm.

The Big Bang Theory It's a comedy about science, friendships, and sex, "nerdy/gamer/comic" trends, so it's not unlike glee.

I do miss cheese, especially pizza. I wonder if they make gluten free pizza and non dairy cheese. I can dream, can't I?

I might slowly introduce old things to test them out once I'm completely clear, but for now it's gluten/dairy/soy free. Junk food like Mcdonald's is gone forever though

[tim12]

Lol OH. I'll watch that on occasion, but only if nothing is on. Which is what I do for most comedies actually...

They do make gluten-free pizza mixes, so you could do a cheeseless pizza? Or... I think there are vegan cheeses you could try. Boston pizza makes gluten-free pizza, so you could ask for a cheeseless one lol.

Wow, completely clear? Awesome! I wish I was

:[ There's no hug emoticon on here! My skin is very unstable imo, so I've been very strict lately and I've been getting consistent results. I'd take this strict regimen over the acne any day though, and I'm still young so it may subside when I'm older. Right now I'm in anti acne mode, and if it subsides, I'll still live healthy. I meant I'll try the foods when I'm completely clear lol :3 right now I have one persistent whitehead that keeps refilling, gross I know, but I nuked it with some bp followed by neosporin. I still have scarring, but no where near as bad as it was before.

And I'm pretty lazy with school too lol, but I'm good at gaging when I can successfully complete an assignment in the most crammed amount of time to get an A. Not really great for stress though, so I'm going to try and not do that this semester.

Veggy cheese, gluten free pizzas, here I come! Where can I purchase this "bosten pizza" you speak of?

[Thehoper]

Yeah they make gluten free everything. But like I said, not everything gluten free is good for you.

Ashley, you say cutting those foods out didn't help you, but you do realize how long it takes right? In my fullest belief of everything I have learned over the years of nutrition and acne is that everyone who has acne should try a gluten/wheat/soy/dairy/corn/sugar/Low GI/Low Lectin diet for AT LEAST SIX MONTHS TO A YEAR, before making any conclusions. When I see people say "Yeah I tried it, did nothing, now I still eat pizza every day it doesn't matter."..lmao, it matters a hell of a lot. And those people 9/10 times will have acne until they change their diets, or simply grow out of acne.

Tim, your still going through the craving stages. It's going to be hard, and your going to stumble, possibly fall, but after a while your most likely going to hop over those speed bumps, and not have cravings, and you will be smatter then those temptations. A strong mind is all it takes. Remember, cravings are just tastes. Tastes lasts for seconds, it's never worth it.

After thinking about it I decided not to get the GF bread. I checked it out at my local grocery store, and don't feel like putting any of those things into my body. I haven't had anything processed in months, so I asked myself why start. I'm perfectly fine eating whole real foods. I just need to keep buying those. It's better to make everything too. I can make my own GF bread, it's not hard. Coconut Flour, Tapioca Flour, and Sorghum Flour. Add in baking powder, baking soda, whatever kind of milk, I use hemp/chia/or coconut milk, coconut oil, and I add pure pumpkin. I can make an entire loaf that is actually very good for my health, tastes AMAZING, and cheaper then what you can buy.

[tim12]

I never thought about making my own GF bread actually... I've always wanted to make banana bread

And yeah, I'm definitely craving those foods but I just had some chicken and a green smoothie so I'll be fine for today,I think my biggest issue is that my diet has been boring, but I've been adding recipes to my list that I'm going to try. There's this paleo coconut milk seafood soup I made a month ago that was FANTASTIC and reminded me of Thai food, it was amazing, and healthy! I just also have to set the time aside to cook and plan these things.

Everyone's acne is quite different imo, I think it has multiple contributing factors that some people may be more sensitive to than others. Some people don't make an effort to exfoliate, and their skin looks more glow-y than mine, and I exfoliate regularly. Some people genuinely do breakout from certain foods, others can eat however they want and not show any effects. As long as the diet is healthy and benefits you beyond acne, I say it's worth a shot. But the good thing is acne.org caters to all kinds of methods, be it the regimen, TCM, ayuvedic, natural, prescription, caveman, paleo, etc!

Edited by tim12, 21 January 2011 - 06:26 PM.

[Thehoper]

Ashley those are just two of the things I listed to cut out. And when your acne was at its clearest and you were eating bad I'm guessing you were on an anti-biotic and topical correct? I too went through a couple years of complete clear skin eating whatever I wanted when on those meds, but those meds where off, and your body gets used to them. Everyone can do whatever they want obviously, but today it seems obvious that all acne cases are due to internal problems. Through the right holistic approaches everyone can clear their acne.

[Thehoper]

And the holistic approach isn't just what you eat. Sleep cycle is SO important, exercise is SO important, stress is SO important, mind set is SO important, you get the picture.

But from your avatar it looks like you don't even have acne. Just the random red spots I see a bunch of girls getting thinking they have acne. My acne was at the point where my entire face was covered. lol. Forehead to neck, covered. So if your skin is not bad, obvious your not going to go all out because you care, but at the same time you don't care. My skin was RUINING my life. I didn't have a life. I couldn't get a job, couldn't do so much I wanted to because of my skin. So it was at a point that I said "I'm ending this forever. On my own."

So what I suggest to people IS strict. It IS harsh, but it is boot camp. It's for people who will do anything to have clear skin.

[tim12]

My thread has been hijacked :3

But in all honestly, I think it's important to respect everyone's opinion and methodology. It's true, I'm sure there's some members that would think I'm crazy for taking so many supplements, that the diet changes are unnecessary, that I should just go to the derm, etc. I totally respect that, it's their opinion, and ultimately it doesn't effect my regimen. The only things that I try to encourage is having an open mind, trying different things out, being investigative, that sort of thing. The one aspect of my regimen that I'll confidently share is the emotional aspect, because everyone deserves to feel good about themselves. Especially among acne sufferers, I like to be as unbiased as possible. I always say if it works for you, and you understand what you're doing, go for it!

In fact, I don't actually think my regimen is fool proof. Everything has some kind of side effect, and if anything the supplements I'm taking are very powerful, maybe not accutane powerful, but still they come with an element of risk. Some people here have had great results from taking lots of fish oil, but this can lower the amount of blood platelets I've read, and cause other problems long term. Guggul may affect good and bad cholesterol according to some studies. I also question acnescript sometimes, and the possible long term effects of the high amounts of B5 and B6, etc. etc. There's side effects to everything, imo. Just so you know, I do plan to lower the dosage of all the supplements and eventually cut the majority of them out, but I do plan to keep a healthy diet.

[tim12]

It's no problem! And I'm not completely against a little treat here and there, it's just not for me right now while I'm purging. I'm not going to go binge eat on cake once I'm clear, but I do plan to have a scoop of ice cream when I eat out with friends once I'm clear, and see how my skin fairs once it's is clear and my body is in optimal health condition. Right now, I don't think it'd do me any good though, but I've started to transition fairly well. It also helps that I actually am somewhat intolerant of dairy for a fact, so I've generally been good at keeping tabs on the things I eat.