5 replies to this topic

[marsaday]

Hello

 

I am posting about some topics which may or may not be relevant to adult acne, but i want to see if other people have any similar symptoms or thoughts.

 

The topics covered are: acne, thyroid and adrenal hormone issues, over active immune system and poor fertility.

 

My wife is 34 and has only had acne since her 20's when work started.  This is obviously a stress connected issue and we have also found out she has a slight under active thyroid issue as well.

 

To boost her adrenal performance (these make cortisol and DHEA and the DHEA hormone is the one which causes acne if in excess), she takes a little T3 (thyroid hormone) in the early hours of the morning.  This has had a very good effect in reducing her acne levels and improve her overall health.  So is anyone aware of how the adrenals and specifically DHEA affects acne production?

 

She has recently been messing about with the timing of the T3 dose in the morning and if she moves it closer to wake up her acne gets loads worse.  We make our cortisol and DHEA in a 4h window before wake up generally.  I think if you have acne you are having a problem with the adrenal system and so not making enough cortisol, but too much DHEA - hence the acne.  So by taking a small amount of T3 you can influence how much cortisol you make and rebalance this hormone imbalance.  Thyroid hormone is the master hormone and tells the body how much cortisol and DHEA to make for the day.  So by altering this hormone you can influence the adrenal profilefor the day.

 

Now we also have a problem whereby my wife has an over active immune system and this means she cannot get pregnant.  I wondered if anyone had heard about this and if acne was related.  We still do not know why she has this over active system.  We can do a specific treatment for this and it involves using a fatty lipid infusion to bring down the immune system and then we do IVF as normal.  We will be doing this shortly.

 

I don't know if the acne, adrenal issues and fertility are related, but i thought i would post and see if anyone has any ideas or links to other info which may be relevant.  Thanks

[melmel87]

Many foods and vitamins conflict with thyroid hormone medicines.

 

Hello

 

I am posting about some topics which may or may not be relevant to adult acne, but i want to see if other people have any similar symptoms or thoughts.

 

The topics covered are: acne, thyroid and adrenal hormone issues, over active immune system and poor fertility.

 

My wife is 34 and has only had acne since her 20's when work started.  This is obviously a stress connected issue and we have also found out she has a slight under active thyroid issue as well.

 

To boost her adrenal performance (these make cortisol and DHEA and the DHEA hormone is the one which causes acne if in excess), she takes a little T3 (thyroid hormone) in the early hours of the morning.  This has had a very good effect in reducing her acne levels and improve her overall health.  So is anyone aware of how the adrenals and specifically DHEA affects acne production?

 

She has recently been messing about with the timing of the T3 dose in the morning and if she moves it closer to wake up her acne gets loads worse.  We make our cortisol and DHEA in a 4h window before wake up generally.  I think if you have acne you are having a problem with the adrenal system and so not making enough cortisol, but too much DHEA - hence the acne.  So by taking a small amount of T3 you can influence how much cortisol you make and rebalance this hormone imbalance.  Thyroid hormone is the master hormone and tells the body how much cortisol and DHEA to make for the day.  So by altering this hormone you can influence the adrenal profilefor the day.

 

Now we also have a problem whereby my wife has an over active immune system and this means she cannot get pregnant.  I wondered if anyone had heard about this and if acne was related.  We still do not know why she has this over active system.  We can do a specific treatment for this and it involves using a fatty lipid infusion to bring down the immune system and then we do IVF as normal.  We will be doing this shortly.

 

I don't know if the acne, adrenal issues and fertility are related, but i thought i would post and see if anyone has any ideas or links to other info which may be relevant.  Thanks

 

Many foods and vitamins conflict with thyroid medication, which could be why her acne get's worse when she takes it closer to when she wakes up, because whatever she is eating in the morning or vitamins she takes could be cancelling it out. The thyroid medication probably works to stabalize her body and hormones, which is why it helps her acne. Over-active immune system? So she has an autoimmune disease? Have to identify what exactly her own cells are attacking in her body.  Lots of autoimmune diseases affect the skin, stomach, nervous system.  Any sort of stress on the body can affect acne. Also please keep in mind that some people are just genetically predisposed to having acne and there's not too much you can do about that. My mom has an autoimmune disease (type 1 diabetes) and has to take thyroid medication for an underactive thyroid as well. She does not get acne though.

Edited by melmel87, 10 February 2013 - 09:32 AM.

[marsaday]

She doesn't have any auto immune disease.  She has an over active immune system which kills off any fertilized egg in her womb.  They suppress this action using a lipid infusion.

 

I just wanted to see if this was related to the acne problem.  She is not taking any vits really, but is going to start vit D3.

 

I was wondering if she may be low in progesterone and this is what affects the acne.  Been reading lots today and it is hard to work it all out.

[cvd]

It's very hard to figure this all out because acne is an inflammatory skin disease much like other inflammatory skin diseases and just about anything can inflame it, including hormonal imbalances --- and everyone gets those due to biology, stress, etc.

I went to an endocronologist to test and help me understand it all. Personally, I have a few things affecting my acne (high-normal IGF-1, sensitivity to androgens, etc.)but the endocronologist said that unless it is extreme not much can be done for these kinds of things because the treatment side effects outweigh the advantages. That said, my derm has me on Spironolactone for the androgen sensitivity.

Both told me the key to controlling acne is changing how the pores function. Then it doesn't matter what is happening with the hormones, etc. To do this often requires a multi-prong approach, especially with adult acne. I now have almost 100% clear skin due to the regime below. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is no way to control everything the hormones do. Some tweaking can be done for specific ailments like your wife has but even then it is virtually impossible to understand how everything is affecting everything else.

I am a researcher and, like you, spent much time trying to figure it all out...changing this and tweaking that, getting lots of testing. But after a certain point realized I couldn't control all the variables.

I hope this helps. Feel free to message me if you want to talk more in depth about this. Personally, I think there is a middle ground to the task of trying to find causative agents for acne. It helps to a point and then there is the realization that for many of us there is no magic bullet cure as it were...just the boring task of keeping on doing a regime that keeps the pores functioning better. I am older (62) and have been dealing with this since age 15 so I know what it is like to keep on trying to find something that explains the ongoing problem!

It's great you've taken on the task and are helping your wife try to figure this out. My husband is also very supportive and stood by me as I tried and tried to control the problem. He was a lifesaver and I couldn't have made it without his support. I'm sure your wife is very appreciative!

[marsaday]

Hello thanks for the reply.

 

We have found out the possibly cause of her spots in recent times - SALT, or lack of it.

 

My wife has been using a daily salt solution to help with her adrenal performance to help her thyroid.  She has been taking one teaspoon of salt solution with juice for a yr or so.  It really helped her spots, but she stopped about 2 mths ago using the salt and hey presto her spots came back, but she didn't realise it was down to stopping the salt - hence me trawling the net for some help.

 

She has started again and it really has helped damp down the spots.

 

So does anyone understand the role of salt in this situation?  I understand it can help reduce anti-inflamitary responses so this may be a reason.  Has anyone else heard that salt can help with spots.  Her skin also becomes much browner in appearance, as she has been very pale recently.

[cvd]

Wow --- interesting! Perhaps it is the adrenal issue. Adrenal function or malfunction can affect acne so it makes sense that if your wife is now back on a regimen that improves adrenal function then her acne improves as well. Glad to hear things are improving!