18 replies to this topic

[yoon93]

I would like something that stops/reduces oil production without the horrible effects of Accutane (I am not willing to risk hair loss, my hair is already so thin).
Previously I took Differin in high school grades 9,10, 11 which got rid of most of my really nasty acne, but it came back slightly.
Then I took Retin-A 0.05% and Clyndamycin in grade 12 and my first year of college (now I'm home for the summer until September), which gave me really great skin on my cheeks and chin and has overall been really good for acne. I stopped getting an initial breakout/dryness and have it under control, so I plan to keep taking it for its anti aging effects.
But I still have skin issues :/
I have very huge pores on my cheeks, nose, sides of my nose, under my nose.
Much of these pores are blackheads too, and no matter how much I get rid of it, they always come back. It is the large size of the pores (even without blackheads) that bothers me.
And, my skin is so oily! That is what causes the large pores..
I don't go out in the sun much and I drink lots of water.

What kind of prescription solutions are there to decrease oil production?
And, is there any supplements that help with this (oil)?

I already take a multivitamin, biotin, vitamin E.
I have heard glutathione supplements might help, anybody has any experience with it?

[AuguriesofInnocence]

Vitamin B 5% supplements are supposed to reduce oil, but you are supposed to take large amounts. Products called Pantothen and Villantae are commercial ones, google them. Id not take a lot of vitamins without checking into the safety.
Also there is a med called Spironolactone for women which can reduce oil, acne and excess hairiness in women who have too many male hormones in their system. Id ask about it I have just begun taking it and it can take a few months to work but supposedly it works well.
Hope this helps.
ps I hate Florida weather! to me its what hell must be like lol.

Edited by AuguriesofInnocence, 01 June 2012 - 08:50 PM.

[tritonxiv]

B5 makes your hair fall out, so don't take it.

[AKL]

^ It does for some people, according to anecdotal evidence, especially when taken in large quantities. It's also an important vitamin to prevent hair loss

Using both Pantothenic acid (at a much lower dose) and Cysteine to boost synthesis of Coenzyme A: http://elqalatawy.hu...-Cure-Guarantee and http://elqalatawy.hu...ented-For-Years

More options to try and reduce sebum production are peppermint/spearmint (tea), Nizoral (shampoo).

Some studies on less known products:
Dietary effect of lactoferrin-enriched fermented milk on skin surface lipid and clinical improvement of acne vulgaris
The effect of 2% niacinamide on facial sebum production (look at the different results for Oriental and Caucasian subjects, goes to show it's not as simple as one would expect)
The effect of silicol gel compared with placebo on papulopustular acne and sebum production. A double-blind study

Also, there are some posts about 5 Alpha Avocuta in this topic: http://www.acne.org/...ve-had-success/, it looks promising (link to pdf: http://www.expanscie.../en/avocuta.pdf).

[CBRO]

I would like something that stops/reduces oil production without the horrible effects of Accutane (I am not willing to risk hair loss, my hair is already so thin).
Previously I took Differin in high school grades 9,10, 11 which got rid of most of my really nasty acne, but it came back slightly.
Then I took Retin-A 0.05% and Clyndamycin in grade 12 and my first year of college (now I'm home for the summer until September), which gave me really great skin on my cheeks and chin and has overall been really good for acne. I stopped getting an initial breakout/dryness and have it under control, so I plan to keep taking it for its anti aging effects....

Take a large dose of vitamin A for 5-6 months and it will cure your acne.

[fadedjay]

I would like something that stops/reduces oil production without the horrible effects of Accutane (I am not willing to risk hair loss, my hair is already so thin).
Previously I took Differin in high school grades 9,10, 11 which got rid of most of my really nasty acne, but it came back slightly.
Then I took Retin-A 0.05% and Clyndamycin in grade 12 and my first year of college (now I'm home for the summer until September), which gave me really great skin on my cheeks and chin and has overall been really good for acne. I stopped getting an initial breakout/dryness and have it under control, so I plan to keep taking it for its anti aging effects....

Take a large dose of vitamin A for 5-6 months and it will cure your acne.

This doesn't sound like a good idea. Large doses will have some effect on the body? Accutane is basically a large does of vit a but they monitor your blood work etc.

[CBRO]

I would like something that stops/reduces oil production without the horrible effects of Accutane (I am not willing to risk hair loss, my hair is already so thin).
Previously I took Differin in high school grades 9,10, 11 which got rid of most of my really nasty acne, but it came back slightly.
Then I took Retin-A 0.05% and Clyndamycin in grade 12 and my first year of college (now I'm home for the summer until September), which gave me really great skin on my cheeks and chin and has overall been really good for acne. I stopped getting an initial breakout/dryness and have it under control, so I plan to keep taking it for its anti aging effects....

Take a large dose of vitamin A for 5-6 months and it will cure your acne.

This doesn't sound like a good idea. Large doses will have some effect on the body? Accutane is basically a large does of vit a but they monitor your blood work etc.

If you run a 5 month course of minimum 100,000 IU's of Vitamin A you will clear all types of Moderate Acne. I have gotten ok's from Derms to take 50-250,000 IU's of Vitamin A as long as there was a rest period after 5 months. You need to ingest upwards of one million IU's to have any dramatic impact on your health. It's an easy fix that is cheap.

[AKL]

If you run a 5 month course of minimum 100,000 IU's of Vitamin A you will clear all types of Moderate Acne. I have gotten ok's from Derms to take 50-250,000 IU's of Vitamin A as long as there was a rest period after 5 months. You need to ingest upwards of one million IU's to have any dramatic impact on your health. It's an easy fix that is cheap.

This is essential: YOU have gotten an ok from YOUR derm(s). You can't tell other people, who (may) have a completely different background/physiology to do the same, without at least telling them to consult their doctor. Without a consult, overdosing on vitamin A is a very bad idea. You are risking your health by doing so.

[yoon93]

I'm going to try to use my Retin A everyday now (before I had only used it occasionally, probably a bad idea), so once the initial breakout of zits goes away, I'll see how it goes for the large pores and oiliness. It's been 4 days and I have been breaking out on my nose (purging/initial breakout) from the Retin A.
I think I'll have to continue using it some more before I see any results with pores.

I scheduled a derm appointment and I'm going to ask them about the large pores and oiliness thing.

I have heard baking soda helps?
Apart from Vitamin A and B5, are there other vitamins that impact oiliness and pore size at all?

[ginanutrition]

I took 100,00 of Vitamin A (retinyl palmitate, not beta carotene) for 3 months, then stopped for 6 weeks, then did it again for 3 months. I ONLY did this under direction of my naturopathic physician. It only worked a little bit...I still had cystic acne and oily skin. Vitamin A supplementation is not a cure. It might help for a bit, but it does not have the same effects as accutane. Now that I am on accutane, I have seen significant oil reduction and decrease in my acne, in only 3 weeks. It's a miracle cure for me. I have thick wavy hair and have not experienced any hair loss...then again, I'm only in my 3rd week and on 40 mg.

If you want to help regulate your oil production, you can focus on changing your fat intake to include more oily fish, or fish/flax oil, seeds, and avocado. These can help balance hormones and therefore oil production, but if you want to see true results...there is always spironolactone or isotretinoin. Spiro didn't work for me. In fact, I hated the side effects (dizziness, near-fainting, peeing all the time, fatigue). Accutane has had more manageable side effects compared to spiro, at least for me.

Good luck.

Edited by ginanutrition, 05 June 2012 - 04:08 PM.

[AuguriesofInnocence]

I took 100,00 of Vitamin A (retinyl palmitate, not beta carotene) for 3 months, then stopped for 6 weeks, then did it again for 3 months. I ONLY did this under direction of my naturopathic physician. It only worked a little bit...I still had cystic acne and oily skin. Vitamin A supplementation is not a cure. It might help for a bit, but it does not have the same effects as accutane. Now that I am on accutane, I have seen significant oil reduction and decrease in my acne, in only 3 weeks. It's a miracle cure for me. I have thick wavy hair and have not experienced any hair loss...then again, I'm only in my 3rd week and on 40 mg.

If you want to help regulate your oil production, you can focus on changing your fat intake to include more oily fish, or fish/flax oil, seeds, and avocado. These can help balance hormones and therefore oil production, but if you want to see true results...there is always spironolactone or isotretinoin. Spiro didn't work for me. In fact, I hated the side effects (dizziness, near-fainting, peeing all the time, fatigue). Accutane has had more manageable side effects compared to spiro, at least for me.

Good luck.

Gina Im so glad its going well for you so far! I hope it just continues to get better and is over before you know it :-D

[Avenger]

Anything taken in large quantities will have side effects.

You should look in to making your skincare routine as simple as possible using the right products.

Cleanse > Treatment (you said Differin worked well for you, so did Retin-A) > Moisturise.

Self medication is dangerous, silly and irresponsible of the individual.

Edited by Avenger, 06 June 2012 - 12:56 PM.

[xopinkparadiseox7]

I would highly recommend looking into Spironolactone. I had great results from it at 200 mg.

[arqa22]

any DHT blocker will do the job

oil is caused by DHT

[sfteen]

Im doing a b5 Log if you're interested

[Ghost08]

Since vitamin A is fat-soluble, disposing of any excesses taken in through diet takes much longer than with water-soluble B vitamins and vitamin C. This allows for toxic levels of vitamin A to accumulate.

[nfamousjade]

Try a more natural regime. All this chemicals are stripping your skins natural oils. Making your more oily. Cause more problems.

[Green Gables]

The one thing that really reduced my oil production was cutting out dairy. Whenever I eat a dairy product my face is an oil slick. I wish I was joking, but I'm not...the difference is very clear. My skin now is almost too dry!

I would also recommend 30 minutes of sun exposure daily, or 10,000 IU vitamin D-3 supplements a day. D-3 is a pre-hormone that greatly affects the condition of your skin.

[yoon93]

Typically, I do not eat much dairy products, usually just 1 non-fat Greek yogurt a day.
I eat a lot of things high in Vitamin A: sweet potato, carrots, kale, etc

update on me;
I've started applying Retin-A more regularly (there was a time where I stopped for a bit) and my pores and oiliness seem to be getting better.
I also tried Biore pore strips and some chocolate/mud masks lately..and have good results with it.
Mostly I think I need to focus on diet. I've been drinking lots of water.

What kind of foods CAUSE oiliness and large pores, apart from dairy?