411 replies to this topic

[MrBodyacne]

Same for me! Drinking 8-10 glasses of water per day and cleaning my diet cleared my acne 10-25% so far!

[wingedserpent]

This is good info! I totally hear ya about dermatologists being clueless. And I also found that carnitine cured my acne. However I would like to add that I found a different form worked even better. Acetyl-L-carnitine (acetylcarnitine/acylcarnitine/ALCAR) is a more bioavailable form of carnitine. It's more than 10-20x as effective for me as (unacetylated) carnitine. So I only take 5-25 mg instead of 250-500 mg of L-car. (Side note about acetylation: acetyl groups are the difference between heroin and morphine that makes heroin [diacetylmorphine] so much more potent and faster acting!)

ALCAR lets me eat whatever I want without getting cystic acne all over my whole body that plagued me for a decade before I found it. Nothing else has ever worked anywhere near so well for me. I've tried antibiotics, many topical treatments, and a lot of other supplements. ALCAR is a miracle cure! Though it can take up to a week or two for my acne to clear if its already well established, but in that time ALCAR prevents any new pimples from forming, and eventually clear skin prevails.

Acetyl-/Carnitine makes the body metabolize fat much, much more quickly and efficiently. That must be how it works to stop acne. I don't know for sure why it works. I would absolutely love if there were any medical research into this! But I have yet to have seen any. (Probably because it's not patentable.)

The only (minor) bad thing about ALCAR is that taking it for a long time (months) seems to make me magnesium deficient. (B and D vitamins do the same thing to me, I've found.) Mg deficiency makes me twitchy, anxious and depressed. So I started taking magnesium malate to overcome that, and now I absolutely love Mg. It's so relaxing and mood elevating! I think everyone is probably at least somewhat magnesium deficient. Mg makes me so much more patient. (Do note: most other forms of Mg are osmotic laxatives because they are so poorly absorbed. Malate is one of the best forms.)

I agree. L-carnitine (in whichever form) is extremely beneficial to the skin and is a very important part of my regime. Make sure you incorporate it!

[TexMurphy01]

I've read some things, oh winged one. You recommend B5 in addition to the L-carnitine, right?

[CoolGuy68]

I've read some negative reviews on L-Carnitine pertaining to massive breakouts, that's enough for me to steer clear of this stuff! If it's working for you, then stick with it, man!

[wingedserpent]

You recommend B5 in addition to the L-carnitine, right?

Yes. In the past I tried just L-Carnitine (and it helped) but combining with B5 gave excellent results. From what I understand there is a synergistic effect of combining both. But you must take them togther and with/after food -on an empty stomach is useless!

If you further combine them with juice you can potentially heal the skin completely.

Edited by wingedserpent, 03 May 2011 - 02:51 PM.

[wingedserpent]

By the way, if anyone out there is trying my regime (I mean following it all, not just part of it) please do post your experiences and results. It would be great to learn if it's working for others.

[TexMurphy01]

Alright WingedSerpent, my propionyl-l-carnitine arrived today (powder). I took about 500mg in water on an empty stomach, but it's water soluble so...

But I'm going to take the benefit of your experience. My Vit B5 powder arrives tomorrow, so here's the question. You say 'both together'. Should I put the powders into the same water and drink them both together that way? And should I just take one dose per day of each and together?

Aside that I have a veg/fruit smoothie each day, try to drink plenty and eat no sweets, cakes, dairy etc. So I guess you could say this is your regimen pretty much to the letter once I get the supplments sorted out.

[wingedserpent]

Alright WingedSerpent, my propionyl-l-carnitine arrived today (powder). I took about 500mg in water on an empty stomach, but it's water soluble so...

But I'm going to take the benefit of your experience. My Vit B5 powder arrives tomorrow, so here's the question. You say 'both together'. Should I put the powders into the same water and drink them both together that way? And should I just take one dose per day of each and together?

Aside that I have a veg/fruit smoothie each day, try to drink plenty and eat no sweets, cakes, dairy etc. So I guess you could say this is your regimen pretty much to the letter once I get the supplments sorted out.

Great!

But I notice you're taking propionyl-l-carnitine. This is another form of L-Carnitine. Since it is not the form I take I can't comment on the dosage. I would advise doing some research as to whether 500mg is applicable to the propionyl form also.

I take the supplements in pill form. I just take both of them right after each other, after a meal. It makes sense to take both of them together since one aids the efficacy of the other. You could split the dose and take it twice a day -I haven't done this, since once a day has worked fine. But then I'm using time-release B5 whereas you are using powder.

All I would add is

1. Be patient -keep at it and assess the situation after 3 months.
2. Don't start taking bigger supplement doses than I recommend. It's very easy to do if you are using powder. This progamme is not about megadosing! It's not necessary and in my opinion does more harm than good.

Good luck, and let us know any progress!

[TexMurphy01]

Yo! Well, to be clear on my dosages, another thread here recommended 500mg - 2000mg daily. The packaging itself does have a recommendation - 1000 - 1500mg twice daily.

At the moment I'm trying two separate servings of 1000mg, which I'm estimating. They say a tea spoon is about 4000mg, but I'm not sure how high they heap it so... I'm just trying to take my measurements as one quarter of one tea spoon per service (twice a day) (edit: 'they' refers to the packaging of the product).

I'll probably just try to have one lot of 500mg B5 when I get it, although if this measure is right, that will be one eighth of one tea spoon. I guess that's about right.

So yes, I have concerns about keeping a strictly controlled daily dosage, but I'll try to keep it the same as far as possible.

Two doses of this propionyl-l-carnitine taken so far. Fingers crossed.

Oh, I have a nutritional / holistic log over that way called 'the diet of freedom'. If I don't tell you directly, I'll be updating there most days (I try for every day, but it doesn't always work).

Cheers for all the advice so far.

Edited by TexMurphy01, 04 May 2011 - 11:42 AM.

[wingedserpent]

You could always buy one of those cook's measuring spoon sets. You can pick them up in those £1 shops. It ensures you always get the right dose. Or alternatively, a set of digital scales that drug dealers use!

[TexMurphy01]

Hey Winged... tell me this. Is/was your acne type the oily skin type or the dry skin type? I figure it was the former because after just one single dose of B5 (500mg), my skin's drying out too much and I'm getting new spots. I have the dry skin type so... I dunno, maybe B5 not for me?

[wingedserpent]

Hey Winged... tell me this. Is/was your acne type the oily skin type or the dry skin type? I figure it was the former because after just one single dose of B5 (500mg), my skin's drying out too much and I'm getting new spots. I have the dry skin type so... I dunno, maybe B5 not for me?

Hi Tex.

Yes, I had oily skin.

However, I very much doubt that just a single low dose of 500mg is going to have any effect on the body yet, let alone cause an effect that you could actually see, such as new spots or extra-dry skin. The mistake most people make is that they get focussed on the micro ups and downs in their skin quality (which everyone has, not just acne sufferers) before waiting to establish the macro picture over several weeks. That is the only meaningful test of any regime: is my skin generally better or worse over the longer term?

As I recall when I first started my regime, I was still getting cysts two to three weeks in. This was a legacy of my previous lifestyle, but I could have easily thought "oh, it's not working" or "it's causing more zits, not fewer!" and quit.

To take another example: when I was into body building, I used to take creatine, which is a known acne-aggravator (I didn't know this at the time). For a few weeks, there was no effect on my skin, and then it went haywire, absolutely ballistic. So, even a known acne aggravator takes a while to kick in.

The thing about B5 is there is evidence to support its effectiveness. The same cannot be said about all the other remedies touted on these boards, from evening primrose oil to lemon juice to royal jelly to turmeric powder to apple cider vinegar, etc, etc. I prefer to take something that has some basis in clinical research. That's why I think it's important to give B5 a decent trial period to see if it can help.

Having said all that, different types of L-Carnitine are more potent that others and magnify the effects of B5 with different doses. I haven't taken the form you are taking, so I can't really offer any support on that. What you could try is dropping the B5 level by half and monitor the situation. At the end of the day, the ideal position to be in is to take the minimum level of supplements necessary to do the job.

[TexMurphy01]

Don't get me wrong, unless it gets really bad, I'll be keeping with it at least for a few weeks. But at the moment it kind of feels like I've washed the area around my nose with one of those over the counter topicals that dries your face up (also feels like BP).

Sure, it may not be the B5 or it may be. I guess we'll see. For now, though, 500mg a day.

And thanks for a swift reply, it's easy to start to crack when things start to look worse.

[B-Side]

wingedserpent - thanks for posting your regimen and sticking around to answer questions. I'm male and in my late 20's with oily skin. I've been on a low sugar, dairy free diet for the last few years. For the past two weeks, I've incorporated the other elements (b5 & l-carnitine & juice) of your regimen + the fiber & probiotic mentioned in Bigphil205's thread.

I'm slowly weaning myself off of BP at the same time, so it's a bit difficult to judge how well it's all working. I was applying BP everyday in the mornings, but I'm currently applying BP every other day. What I can say, is my skin appears to be healthier and the acne I do get heals faster and appears to be smaller. I'll continue to report on progress in the weeks ahead.

One question I did have - when you travel (i.e. away from your juicer), what do you use for a juice substitute?

Edited by B-Side, 08 May 2011 - 09:55 PM.

[TexMurphy01]

B-Side, I'm interested in your story. How far did the diet alone get you? Do you have a log on this site anywhere?

[RobotRage]

I'll be giving this a try if I get no success with Bigphil's fiber and probiotic regimen.

To the OP - what was your acne like in terms of severity?

[organicwins]

yep makes sense. natural , and easy..

even my physician says dermatologist is a waste of money.. few honest doctors around ya know!

its all about profit for these industry. actually all industry wants your money .scam products.

listen to this person follow his post.

its all about internal care, what you eat is what you look like..
you eat pizza you have pizza face
you eat mcdonalds you become retarded lol.. joke.

yes fruits and veggies is the cure. and with few natural/organic skin applications will heal you in no time
dont forget clean water!!!!!

i am an acne sufferer , and came across all new information researching online.
im slowly healing since becoming a vegetarian-water- sun gazing-natural skin products like acv-coconut oil-honey-teatree.

good luck all! you can do it!!!!!!!

[MagnoliaMountain]

Wingedserpent, I'm seriously contemplating trying this regimen. I don't eat many sugars or carbs anyway (I'm prone to candida overgrowth), and ProActiv is just not cutting it for me.

Would you mind telling me a little bit about how you discovered this method? Do you know what types of acne it helps--and what root causes it fixes?

I'd appreciate any info!

[wingedserpent]

Wingedserpent, I'm seriously contemplating trying this regimen. I don't eat many sugars or carbs anyway (I'm prone to candida overgrowth), and ProActiv is just not cutting it for me.

Would you mind telling me a little bit about how you discovered this method? Do you know what types of acne it helps--and what root causes it fixes?

I'd appreciate any info!

Hi Magnolia,

I'm a great believer in looking at evidence and statistics. There were a lot of people saying that 'no-sugar' helped. There was a lot of evidence about B5. There was evidence about L-Carnitine, particularly combined with B5. There was evidence about vegetable juice helping the skin (not just acne). I figured that if I combined all these into one programme then I must have the best possible chance of clear skin.

I also realised that topical treatments weren't the key. If they were, none of us would reading these boards! It's as simple as that. So I stopped BP and used just a basic cleanser.

I'm not a medical man, so I can't really tell you how it works, nor what 'type' of acne it helps. All I know is that it healed me, and if it healed disaster-zone skin like mine, after 26 years, it can probably help most people.

[wingedserpent]

wingedserpent - thanks for posting your regimen and sticking around to answer questions. I'm male and in my late 20's with oily skin. I've been on a low sugar, dairy free diet for the last few years. For the past two weeks, I've incorporated the other elements (b5 & l-carnitine & juice) of your regimen + the fiber & probiotic mentioned in Bigphil205's thread.

I'm slowly weaning myself off of BP at the same time, so it's a bit difficult to judge how well it's all working. I was applying BP everyday in the mornings, but I'm currently applying BP every other day. What I can say, is my skin appears to be healthier and the acne I do get heals faster and appears to be smaller. I'll continue to report on progress in the weeks ahead.

One question I did have - when you travel (i.e. away from your juicer), what do you use for a juice substitute?

I'm so glad you're trying my regime. Coming off BP is a very good move, but takes some courage. But if my regime works for you, you won't need it.

To answer your question about travelling, I must be only person on the planet who takes his juicer with him on holiday! Seriously. It's not that heavy and it's fairly compact. But you could probably miss the juice for a week and eat whole vegetables as long as you kept up the rest of the regime.

On the odd occasion when I've been separated from the juicer, I try to seek out a juice bar and get them to make up my recipe.

I'd just like to reiterate to people: GIVE THE REGIME THREE MONTHS. Don't quit after two weeks because zits are still popping up. They will.

Don't forget: you are applying a treatment program that combines the three elements supported by the best clinical and anecdotal evidence out there. It's worth perservering because it has the potential to transform your life.