alexisc

Can't quite say I agree with water fasting for so long myself - although I've never tried it.

 

But I can say I totally agree with what you said about positive affirmations! I read Eckhart Toille's books "A New Earth" and "the Power of Now" and I actually just finished "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise Hay. Have watched a few of the Abraham Hicks videos as well - really insightful. I have been focusing on positive affirmations too and trying to retrain my thoughts and it really does make a difference in your entire life! The law of attractions is completely true. 

 

Everything in our lives begins in the mind. 

 

"The thoughts we choose to think are the tools we use to paint the canvas of our lives." 

I've had great success with natural antibiotics and am currently using them to treat small intestinal bacterial overgrowth which is exasperating my acne.. Many of them are also anti fungal which clears yeast out of your system as well. They strengthen the immune system, help circulation, digestion etc. Some can be strong so they can make you feel worse at first when you start taking them and may make breakouts temporarily worsen. This is due to the body being overloaded with toxins which are being released due to bad bacteria and yeast dying. 

 

Natural antibiotics: coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, goldenseal, barberry, olive leaf, oregano oil, oregon grape root, clove oil, paul d'arco, peppermint oil, manuka honey internally, grapefruit seed extract.. there are many others as well. 

Don't listen to these people. They have "zero" credentials and do nothing but spread their misinformation about acne based upon what they read online.

 

Acne has nothing to do with diet, as every REAL doctor, dermatologist, endocrinologist will tell you. It is based entirely around genetics and doesn't come about because you drink a glass of "milk" or eat a "hamburger"; acne comes about because the person has defective pores and is overly sensitive to androgen hormones (through genetics) which overstimulates the sebaceous glands causing acne.

 

Your post is completely innacurate. Those people post here because they CARE about other people and want to help them in their journey to overcoming acne and regaining their health. If it weren't for them I would be on my 7th round of Accutane still wondering why my "genetics" were so messed up to make me have acne, even worse as an adult. For many people diet has EVERYTHING to do with why they have acne and I am one of those people. We are all INDIVIDUALS and what works for one may not work for another. 

 

By the way, just because someone has a degree does not mean they have all the answers. Open your eyes to how the medical industry is just another corporation trying to sell you pharmaceuticals. Not saying doctor's don't want to help people, but they definitely lack answers especially when it comes to acne. They will tell you diet has no affect on acne because that is what they are taught. But it simply isn't the truth unfortunately. 

 

No, changing your diet doesn't work for every single person with acne. But will it work for many? YES. That is the key thing to understand. 

 

What you eat directly affects almost everything about how you look and feel. 

I'm not taking all of those things right now, just listing them to know what I can take to help with this. Right now I'm taking peppermint oil once a day, caprylic acid once a day and sometimes a goldenseal tincture. I think most of them are okay together since they are all natural extracts though - I'm taking them as a herbal antibiotic so I can hopefully get rid of the bacteria in my small intestine where it doesn't belong. I've seen herbal cleanse formulas with all of them in one pill so I think it should be fine. But I also don't want to overwhelm my body with too many things so I'm just sticking to a few right now. 

 

I also tried some L-glutamine powder today and after an hour I looked in the mirror and my skin tone looked much better! It is supposed to re-build the intestinal lining from damage so I'll keep taking that and hopefully it will help. I've taken it in a fibre supplement before and it never gave me any problems. 

 

After voicing my frustrations about my skin with my boyfriend today he suggested I go into an all out elimination diet again since my stomach and food reactions have changed. I think he is right. My elimination diet in the past helped me discover that corn and wheat were my intolerances and if I avoided them my skin stayed clear. But now a year and half later after this food poisoning incident my body has changed and there is a lot more inflammation and bacterial issues going on. He is in the same boat since he also got the food poisoning but his body's way of showing the issues is breaking out in hives every two weeks. If he takes an antihistamine it stays away for two weeks but it always comes back. This started right after we were food poisoned too. The doctors have run tests and can't figure it out either. If he eats yogurt it stays away for longer (probiotics) but it is just masking the issue because as soon as he stops it comes back. (Same thing I noticed with my forehead but I stopped yogurt all together to get to the root of the problem.) 

 

Getting your body in balance is a tricky thing! But I think diet has the most impact on the actual changes. Instead of breaking out every day it is more like every three days now but I have to find the little things that are causing it. If I'm intolerant to something (like wheat and corn) I break out around my nose and sometimes on my forehead. If it is something to do with my new issue (which I believe to be SIBO) I break out on my forehead only. If my body isn't eliminating properly (mostly constipation) my chin breaks out. I can control my chin and nose easily but it's this forehead issue that I've never dealt with before. They are all small raised bumps, sometimes with a whitehead sometimes not. I tend to go crazy trying to reduce them and then then flatten and turn into big red marks. Not the best way to deal with them but at least I can cover them with makeup then. 

 

Anyways, picture tomorrow. Starting elimination diet tomorrow too. I'll stick to eggs, cheese, butter, veggies, herbs, rice and potatoes. I know these foods are safe. Maybe try a little bit of meat here and there but it's affect is unknown. 

I don't think you can exclude stress just because your skin didn't improve during a 6-week holiday. Often when I'm stressed, it takes months of trying to take things slower before I start to feel completely back to normal (i.e. feeling unstressed). And in a similar way, it takes months before my skin radically improves. Although I think I'm fairly sensitive to stress, more so than the average person. When I had a year off from school, I had amazing skin and naively assumed my skin issues to be history. After starting fairly intensive studies at university, I still had clear skin for about six months and then suddenly the stress started to take its toll and I got inflamed acne again. I'm still working on how to get rid of it - holidays have helped but they haven't been long enough to resolve my skin issues. So the changes due to stress can be surprisingly slow.

 

But anyway, I'm not saying dealing with stress would solve your problem, but considering something like daily meditation on top of other lifestyle factors may be a good idea. I'm trying to meditate 30 minutes a day, although more often than not I forget or am too impatient. I also try to get 9-10 hours of sleep a night, as poor sleep has a clear effect on my skin.

 

Regarding diet, I'd go with what alexisc and alternavista recommend and see if that has an effect after 1-3 months. Good luck!

 

 

Where is your acne primarily located on your face? 

Is it small papules, or red inflamed pustules? or cysts under the skin? Or do these vary by their location? 

I believe in chinese face mapping for acne.. it has really helped me understand why I'm getting it in certain spots and how to fix it. 

It's been true for me and friends as well. 

 

 

Do you have any good sources for more information? I'd be interested to know more about facial mapping and Traditional Chinese Medicine regarding acne.

 

I don't have any solid points of reference, just everything I've collected reading through websites and seeing how myself and friends reacted to different things. 

 

From my understanding the forehead corresponds with the digestive system and small intestine, the middle forehead between the eyes relates to the liver, the chin near the corner of the lips relates to the large intestine, the middle of the chin to gynelogical problems, etc. The ones that have been extremely true for me and friends are the forehead and sides of the chin. There is a lot of conflicting information on the internet but I try to find the most credible site or what most sites agree upon for the face mapping. A lot of people think it is not accurate but I really think it is personally! There is also information out there on the type of acne and how that can correspond to different problems too.

 

This is a great website with some information but take it all with a grain of salt: 

 

http://www.thelovevi...ats-causing-it/

I would also like to back up eliminating certain foods.. if I eliminate all sources of wheat and corn I do not have acne. Unfortunately corn is in everything so it has proven very difficult, but many people do have food intolerances and they most certainly lead to acne. Medical studies have shown that the less diverse your diet is the more diverse your gut flora will be, not the other way around. There is no harm in trying an elimination diet - dairy, nuts, citrus, eggs, corn and gluten are common allergens. Also - medical doctors are not the best place to go to test for food intolerance, these are delayed food reactions which most doctors will not test for. I was tested for gluten intolerance though my doctor and it came back negative, yet every time I eat wheat I get stomach problems, acne, huge dark circles under my eyes and migraines. Trust yourself - not doctors.

 

1) There is risk of harm trying an elimination diet - massive inconvenience, preoccupation and eating disorders

2) What do you mean by delayed reaction? What mechanism are you proposing by which gluten affects you? If your test from your doctor came back negative you don't have coeliac disease. I fear you are wasting your time.

3) It is irresponsible to tell people not to trust doctors. They have many years of training and there are important evidence based reasons why they say what they do.

 

To answer your questions

 

1. There is no risk like I said, sure it is an inconvenience but it is worth exploring. To say that one should not eliminate foods because it is too hard is ridiculous. You also do not have to develop an eating disorder - you start by eliminating all possible triggers and then start adding foods back into the diet to see if you react. If I hadn't done this myself I would be living with horrible acne, crushing fatigue, migraine associated vertigo etc. Please do not say something is dangerous just because it takes willpower to do. 

 

2. It is a delayed allergic response meaning it takes 24 hrs to 48hrs to occur. Doctors only test for immediate allergeic response. I could get into the specifics of IGA and IGE allergies or you can just google it. No I do not have celiac disease which is what the doctor tested for - I have a delayed allergic response or "intolerance" to wheat. Which again causes me acne, fatigue, vertigo, migraines etc. 

 

3. Doctors are trained by teachers who have been trained and bought by pharmaceutical companies. Sure they can fix many medical problems but generally acne is not one of them. Generally doctors will give you a prescription for something, more of a band aid solution instead of treating the body as a whole. Did you know that the third leading cause of death in the United States is from doctors? Read the article at the bottom and open your eyes. You are your own advocate for your health, no doctor is going to be able to put all the puzzle pieces together for you.

 

In conclusion: MANY (but not all) of us suffer food intolerances which either cause or exasperate our skin condition. It is worth it to everyone to explore an elimination diet and see if they are affected. It has been long documented that there is a gut-brain-skin axsis.

 

http://articles.merc...h-part-one.aspx

I would also like to back up eliminating certain foods.. if I eliminate all sources of wheat and corn I do not have acne. Unfortunately corn is in everything so it has proven very difficult, but many people do have food intolerances and they most certainly lead to acne. Medical studies have shown that the less diverse your diet is the more diverse your gut flora will be, not the other way around. There is no harm in trying an elimination diet - dairy, nuts, citrus, eggs, corn and gluten are common allergens. Also - medical doctors are not the best place to go to test for food intolerance, these are delayed food reactions which most doctors will not test for. I was tested for gluten intolerance though my doctor and it came back negative, yet every time I eat wheat I get stomach problems, acne, huge dark circles under my eyes and migraines. Trust yourself - not doctors.

generally I agree with this thread as well. I've improved my diet and lifestyle immensely and started taking zinc and fermented cod liver oil, and while all of that has helped a LOT, if I slip for a second all the pimples come back, which means they're barely being kept at bay. I suffer from depression and anxiety and am now focusing on those things. I constantly feel tension in my body and it's hard to reprogram myself to relax. I hope it helps. This is a really long and slow process though, it could take years and years before results are seen, but we have to start somewhere, and every step is a good thing whether it helps our skin or not.

I strongly recommend this excellent book to all of you: http://grossbart.com/SkinDeep.pdf.  It has really helped me understand psychodermatology and has useful exercises to help.  I need to actually start following them. If anyone tries them, let us know how it goes!

I plan on reading this book very soon as well! I'm actually currently reading the book suggested by the original creator of this thread: "A New Earth" by Eckhart Toile. Good read so far, it is helping me through many things in my life right now.

I also don't think it is fair to say that everyone here is buying into the latest holistic fad to cure themselves of acne. There is such a depth of information here that no doubt does help people conquer acne through diet and lifestyle. I knew nothing of nutrition until I started reading posts here and expanding my knowledge. I went from vegetarian to paleo - from living off grains to living off fat. This has helped my life, let alone my face, in so many ways and I know I'm not the only one!

You also don't have to be able to qualify why everything works through science. I never get sick because I take oil of oregano which strengthens my immune system - when I asked my doctor about this he told me oil of oregano is useless. That is bullshit. The fact is that doctors are schooled and trained by the pharmaceutical companies and this can't be ignored. Do they want to do harm? Of course not! But dying from a doctors hands is the third leading cause of death in the United States. I can find a source for that if you like. The point I guess I'm trying to make is take EVERYTHING with a grain of salt and always do your own research! Be an advocate of your own health. I don't think anyone should be called a quack for seeking answers to their problems through researching natural methods. That is just ignorant. Ask yourself this - did anyone ever get sick from a lack of drugs? The body naturally wants to heal itself we just have to give it the tools to do so. Maybe we also shouldn't ignore the weight our own thoughts have on our reality, stress level and ultimately our body.

That's my rant for the day.

Also, adrenal fatigue is real. Someone doesn't just go straight into having Addinsons disease, it takes time to wear the adrenals down. How do you help the adrenals? Eat tons of fat, cut grains and sugar and do not let any stress into your life. Hmm sounds like the solution to most problems of the body, no? Real food is medicine and healing holisitcaly focuses on healing the whole body, not just treating the symptoms with medications.

I could not agree with this post more. I really think we need to look at the emotional aspect of acne and what it is trying to teach us in life. Albeit a very hard lesson to learn, our skin does not hold us back from ANYTHING unless we let it control our emotions. The more we obsess with trying to control our skin the more it seems to break out giving us a sense of lack of control which creates other emotional issues too.

I have been dealing with acne since I was in my early teens and am now 24. I have been on accutane many times which always successfully gave me flawless skin... but the acne would always come back. The change in my attitude, behaviour, self esteem etc. when the acne came back is astounding and somewhat crazy if I do say so myself. When I finally said no more to accutane and decided to deal with my skin holistically I never imagined what emotional issues I would have to work though - there was a lot of deep pain that I never dealt with. Acne is a message to look inward for self esteem and happiness, to not let the judgement of others affect you and accept yourself for never being perfect. I think many of us develop BDD issues because of our acne as well, I became anorexic as a way to have control over my appearance and life after dealing with acne.  

The other thing I think deserves attention is how great an impact our thoughts have on our actual reality. Not just it's perception, but how we influence everything that happens to us by what we think. The more we fear something the more we attract it to us, the more we detest something the more likely it is to happen. If you let yourself be, stop blaming yourself for having acne and just accept it at the current moment things will definitely change. The less you think about it the more it dissapears. The more you love yourself the more it disappears. The more you face the world with a smile no matter what your circumstances, the more the world smiles back. Everything happens for a reason, acne is just another lesson to overcome and if you do the hard emotional work with courage, you will no doubt defeat it. That's what I believe anyway!

Hey Sasch83! I remember talking to you in the beginning of your hollistic journey. It is so hard when you are trying your best to make so many changes and it dosen't help your acne, very frustrating. Sorry to hear that you didn't have much luck with naturopaths or diet changes. What works for one person dosen't always work for another - it is so individual. One thing I have been looking into is adrenal function and hormone levels. I always denied stress was much of a factor with my skin but after being forced to quit my job recently and having financial troubles I have noticed a big difference! Have you ever tried spiroacalone? That might be something for you to consider. I honestly am not against Accutane. As much as I would like to see as many people as possible try to cure themselves hollisticaly first, if that dosen't work I don't see anything wrong with taking it. Sure there are side effects and horror stories but you can find those with any drug. After taking so much of it I don't think it has seriously affected my health and I am so thankful I did take it to get through those years. Fighting acne is tough emotionally! If you have tried everything for the moment and you are being watched by a doctor I would go for it. For most of us it is just a band aid but sometimes that is what you need to take your mind off acne and then come back to fighting it with a new perspective when it returns. Hope that made sense. :]

Two of the supplements you take caused me the worst breakouts of my life:
Omega 3 fish oil gave me cystic acne - this is one of the only times I developed cysts in my life.
Probiotics -  gave me millions of little papules all over my face and didn't stop until a week after I stopped taking them.

My advice is while these supplements are healthy in theory, myself and many other users of these boards have broken out from them. Try cutting them out and see if you notice a difference but give it at least another 2 weeks because the probiotic breakouts took a while to subside even after I stopped supplementing with them.

All I meant by that is the amount of people that will develop life altering side effects is often exaggerated, not the side effects themselves. From my research online and from talking to people many will take Accutane, suffer side effects while on it and then have them (for the most part) dissapear once they stop treatment. This isn't the case for everyone but we also have to consider that the people who did not suffer long term side effects would probably not be on message boards informing others to be cautious of the drug. This skews our perception of how many people are actually negatively affected.

I also think we have to take into consideration that if we are developing acne there might be something wrong with our digestive system/elimination system to begin with. It's debatable whether accutane causes these digestive issues or whether it is exasperating a dormant or predisposed condition. I've always wondered about that. That's just the problem with accutane though - there are so many unknown factors that no one yet understands.

To answer your question Thehoper - I have been taking oil of oregano drops in water, but I think capsules would probably be more effective because then they will get all the way to the bacteria/fungi in the intestines. Caprylic acid capsules are also supposed to be great, but I have just been eating spoonfuls of coconut oil.

Based on Chinese medicine and what I've read pimples on the jawline are either hormonal or related to improper elimination. You might want to try avoiding foods that make you constipated, drinking lot's of water and taking in more fiber. Dried apricots or prunes are also great. If they are related to hormones then a liver flush might help, but you might also want to visit your doctor and get your hormones tested to find out if there is an imbalance you could correct with herbs or drugs.

I have this as well and also wondered if it was scars. When I started taking probiotics all the bumps quickly receded, but unfortunately probiotics broke out the rest of my face really badly. My guess is that it is caused from yeast, both internally and externally. I notice when I eat sugary foods more bumps appear, and when I eat yeast fighting foods that the bumps go down in size. I have been using baking soda, epsom salt and sea salt on my face for the past few weeks and it has made the bumps go down in size considerably. For myself it is definitely a mild form of foliculitus caused by yeast. I'm going to try mandelic acid and see if that will get rid of them for good.