14 replies to this topic

[OPeggyGordon]

hello loves, Jeesh its been a while Ive been on these boards, been busy avoiding me skin issues. lol
Ive found me a derm, and she prescribed all sorts of antibiotics and creams which require prescriptions and to stay out of the sunlight...I did try a few of the pills for maybe 3 weeks but they made me feel nauseous and I didnt see any immediate improvement. I just hate the unnatural aspect of it, an nobody knows my skin better than me right?!
Mind you, the acne isnt what Id call terrible, just enough to sap me confidence.
I keep comin back to this site. I guess Im going to give it a try, it cant hurt so long as I dont make a right bags of it by overdosing with the bp and use enough mosituriser.
I hope to see some improvement looks like lots of yous on here have had some degree of success, why not me :-D

[PaulH85]

Long time no see! Hope you're doing well.

Pity the antibiotics weren't really suitable for you. I always find that I have to take them with food and plenty of fluids to avoid feeling nauseous, although done pretty well on that score with the antibiotics I'm taking at the moment. Started reducing the dosage, tapering off as they finish in about four weeks time. Then, all being well, I'll be done with that stuff for good.

You never know, perhaps wanting to avoid antibiotics and so on will lead you down another path which is more suitable for you and works better. A consistent regimen is always a good place to start, time and patience is the key there. Another area to work on could be diet, if there might be anything which causes you to break out. That's what worked the most for me, acne free since I figured out what foods my body couldn't process properly. Quite a journey and one I wouldn't have made without this place.

Like you say, no reason why you can't figure out what works for you, too.

[OPeggyGordon]

PaulH85, on 14 January 2012 - 09:30 PM, said:

Long time no see! Hope you're doing well.

Pity the antibiotics weren't really suitable for you. I always find that I have to take them with food and plenty of fluids to avoid feeling nauseous, although done pretty well on that score with the antibiotics I'm taking at the moment. Started reducing the dosage, tapering off as they finish in about four weeks time. Then, all being well, I'll be done with that stuff for good.

You never know, perhaps wanting to avoid antibiotics and so on will lead you down another path which is more suitable for you and works better. A consistent regimen is always a good place to start, time and patience is the key there. Another area to work on could be diet, if there might be anything which causes you to break out. That's what worked the most for me, acne free since I figured out what foods my body couldn't process properly. Quite a journey and one I wouldn't have made without this place.

Like you say, no reason why you can't figure out what works for you, too.

Thanks Paul, once and again words of encouragement...I missed you the most

[PaulH85]

Aww, that's nice. Well, that's what it's all about, helping each other out with some friendly support, makes that whole trial and error thing a lot easier I reckon.

[OPeggyGordon]

well its been a bit over a week in doing Dans recommendations and I have to say, I think its clearing up the spots, no new ones coming, yet I feel its making the skin blush/flush more than normal. I have very pale skin an its creamy coloured, but of late I feel like a lil tomato. At least its in the winter an theres no chance of sunburn....oh boyz Im worried about my trip to Spain in the summer.
I am using cetaphil wash an moisturiser an 2.5% bp twice a day, Not as much as Dan recommends but, working up to it.
Im also trying to cut the junk outta me diet, but jaysus its hard, I love sweets diary and caffiene. WHY cant I be like everybody else who can get away wit it. lol I do not drink junky stuff like sports drinks or enegry drinks no 'soda" but mostly water, but I had some cake at me cousins birthday, come on how could I refuse? but I think thats how I got this feckin spot on the cheek. I also got chilblains but thats no relation to acne...

Im feeling up, have only one small spot in the right cheek an one larger one on the left, easy to cover with make up but I hate not knowin, when it will strike. makes me worry over meeting people an going out wit the fellas.
anybody have anything to suggest? I would appreciate any sympathy/advice as its lonely being the only girl in the family who is going to have to refuse to eat sweets an cake (

Edited by OPeggyGordon, 29 January 2012 - 09:21 PM.

[OPeggyGordon]

ps...forgot to metion Im off the antibiotics the doc gave me and glad. I didnt feel well at all and it gave me candida infection, what fun that was. Im still trying to make sure I avoid 'yeast producing" food, bluurgh.
Never again...OK back to the basics lol.

[PaulH85]

You shouldn't worry about meeting new people and putting yourself out there at all because, from what I've seen, you're pretty just as you are. I get the whole confidence thing though, it's not always easy to be outgoing as we might like if our skin doesn't like quite as we want it to. Strangely, I've found that to be more of an issue as my skin's cleared up because the odd spot somehow seems to stand out more and appear worse than it might have done when I had several others at the same time.

I agree about the diet thing, it does kind of suck having to pay attention to foods and stuff. It's a win-win situation though because it's good for your body and it improves your complexion. The annoying bit is that the foods and the things that seem most likely to trigger acne are everywhere. I never realised how likely I was to eat dairy without even considering it, until I had to pay attention to it and its many forms so that I could reduce my intake. Seeing results though so it's got to be worth the hassle.

Good to hear that things are going well with the regimen. Go steady with the BP and your skin shouldn't react to it too much. Seems like it's usually the case that the skin gets a little sore and flush but it shouldn't go beyond that with small amounts of BP. Plenty of time until the summer too and your skin will be more used to the BP by them so things will have adjusted, I wouldn't worry about that at all.

[OPeggyGordon]

hey thanks Paul...I find, I am able to cut out diary better now that I 'know" it is a trigger. Are you also dairy 'sensitive"?
At this time, I am trying to use the bp only once a day or I look red as a monkey's arse.using a better quality moiisturiser, Clinique dramatically different. Still one or two breakouts per week, nothing horrible but it saps all the confidence I had.

Am still going to give it time. hate to take antibiotics ( Oh, also am trying to stay outta the sun, NOT that there is much of that round here.

[PaulH85]

I took an intolerance test last November and that helped me figure a lot of stuff out. Well, I ended up doing two because I was waiting on an NHS test but got impatient so paid for one online, then the NHS appointment came through so I took that as well. Worked out for the best I suppose because the tests were near identical, save for the extra jargon on the NHS one, so it assured me that the online one wasn't bogus which was good to know otherwise I'd have been wasting my money.

The big things for me seem to be boiled milk and cooked/melted cheese. I used to have boiled milk in hot chocolate daily so when they came back on the results I cut it out straight away. The cheese is an awkward one because it includes processed and frozen foods, and sauces and things like that. My diet was never amazing, but I didn't realise how much cheese in various forms was in my diet until I had to cut it out. That particular one borders on being an allergy and in fact just a couple of slices of pizza is enough for my eczema to flare up.

There was a bunch of other stuff on the results but mainly the dairy, processed foods, and anything overly spicy is best avoided if I want to keep my skin clear. I miss pizza but I'd rather get my skin exactly where I want it to be and then see if I might be able to reintroduce one or two things at a later date. It's been ten weeks since I started seeing the results and getting clear, only had a couple of minor breakouts since then which comprised of just the odd pimple. Really happy with the improvement. Can't help but feel annoyed that I was putting my body through all that because of what I was eating, feel kind of guilty and also a bit daft for not catching on. Better late than never I suppose.

I can't really say that much else has changed in terms of confidence and so on, and getting clear has actually made no difference at all in terms of how I see myself and how I dislike what I see, but perhaps I'll get to grips with that in time. Thirteen years of disliking myself on a physical level, in terms of acne and other things, is a long time so I guess those habits and thought processes become pretty engrained. Maybe it'll just take a while for me to relax about that stuff and to learn to like myself more.

I'm coming to the end of a course of Doxycycline so I'll soon get to see just how much difference the diet changes and my supplement intake are making. I'm tapering off the antibiotics gradually in the hope that my body doesn't freak out once they're out of my system. Last time I finished a course and just stopped dead at the end, the breakout which followed was horrendous and it lasted three weeks straight. I hid away through most of that and it was painful too. Don't want to go back there. Kind of scared that those changes alone won't be enough without the Doxy and that my acne will come back, but I guess I'll just have to cross that bridge if and when I come to it.

[OPeggyGordon]

Thats nice to hear youre making progress, I am trying to keep eatin healthy but, you know it doesnt always go as planned. I can do without cheese but its the wheat/bread/glunen/beer that kills me. And the sugar cravings, aaargh.

Wait till St paddys, Im sure my diet will be totally wrecked! lolz

[OPeggyGordon]

hi, no new news, am still trudging along...have mostly Ok skin on face but a few spots on shoulders and back, which I hate in the spring! luckily able to cover with make up. Still NOT wanting to take oral meds.Ive cutw ay down on sugar an milk an alcohol which does help a lot.
Am considering new topicals which I made a post about in the proper section.
ps I find that staying off caffiene was helpful for a while but after a few weeks didnt seem to make a difference. If that makes sense?

[OPeggyGordon]

Hey, just wanted to update that instead of doing the regimen twice a day, I found that it works better if I just wash my face and put nothing on in the am, an use the mosituriser an bp at night. Otherwise, it gets too dry. Seems to be getting better results already in only 3 days.
Am wearing little makeup just cover up for the spots an lef over red marks. Which are getting lighter I am happy to say )

[OPeggyGordon]

hey all...am back, nothing much new to report. Ive cut down on thebp dosage for now as it was making me too flakey and red.
Nothing great, but not much worse either. At the moment one small spot on my jawline and one or two small ones on my upper back. meh.
Ive been tryin to tweak the diet more, less an less junk everyday which makes me feel good about meself in other ways but not sure how much its helping the acne.AT least I have lost some weight but dont want to lose much as I dont really need to.
I dont have many spots really...but I wish I had none !
haha

[OPeggyGordon]

Bad week for my skin, was doin so well and now poof breakout. Been eating more healthy an all but doesnt seem to matter at the momen . Am bummed but itll pass. Maybe Im just gettin used to it? How long before I grow outta this .
Anyhow less general irritation in my skin but some new spots as usual jawline an near ears. Yurgh. Time for some shopping to cheer me up .

[nycqueen]

Hey there... I noticed you said you break out around your jawline and ears, are you using any products that have oil or other comedogenic chemicals? How often do you wash your hair? I use to have the same issue because I didn't wash my hair frequently enough and I used a shampoo and conditioner that contained oil in it... Perhaps that is the reason why you are still breaking out?? List your products, perhaps we can get to the root of the problem... We're here as a team... Let's be positive and try to figure this out... Chin up soldier, things will get better...