Ichance23

yes. diet causes acne for 95% of people. acne is caused by an overproduction of insulin for males. eating refined foods, sugars, and dairy causes free androgens to raise out of control and other problems like acne. acne is really a symtom of problems inside of the body. its bad to ignore it. the best solution is to follow a paleo diet. cut out dairy. cut out grains. cut out refined foods and foods with sugar other than lowglycemic fruit. it is an extremely difficult and nonpleasurable diet that takes a long time to work. i have been on it for 2 months and a half an i am only 95% clear. my skin does not get oily anymore. insulin resistance is developed during teenage years/insulin which explains why acne used to be considered a teenage problem. however, acne is not normal. you do not have to have it. if you change your diet to paleo in about 5 months your acne will clear up and you will probably stop being depressed. acne is internal not external. i am not a physician, just a citizen who has done over 6 months of research to come to this conclusion and then treat myself with success. i have tried so many things but paleo diet is the only thing that has really given me new acne free skin

i have been on a low glycemic diet for 2 and half months. 3 weeks ago i cut out sugar. 1 week ago i cut out all grains making my diet a true paleo diet. after the first 2 months i had great improvement. about 55%. after cutting out the sugar i had 75% improvement. After cutting out the grains i am now 95% clear. the only mistake i made was adding some flax seeds to my oatmeal. Everytime i add omega 3's to my diet i break out in cysts that i never get otherwise. they last about 2 weeks. this happened with fish oil and now with flax seed. anyway, after going full paleo and cutting out the pop corn i was using as a snack, my back acne continues to be 100% clear. other than the cysts which are shrinking which were caused by flax seed, i have 2 pimples on my upper right forehead. it is very strange because i have gotten them there for about 2 weeks and 1 on my right forehead. and no where else. both cheeks are clear except for the cysts!!! w000t!  i can finally shave. none of that chin acne! it feels awesome! i am just waiting for these last few pimples on the forehead to clear up. and i have a new one but its from the flax seed. so i recomend it to everyone but u must be strict. i had lunch today with some students who offered me pizza and was about to cheat but realized it is not worth it! while this diet will not make you feel great, not having the acne is really nice!

 

 

oh and i have a question. can i eat oatmeal?? it is not instant. if i am having problems when i eat whole grain bread is it ok for me to eat oatmeal? because the oatmeal i eat could definately have been eaten by a caveman. 

 

 

sorry but that is a very silly question. everyone is different. some girls do. some girls don't. just like how some guys make fun of fat girls and others don't. ask yourself this. do you care about how fat a girl is? or do you see her for who she truly is. is the first thing you look at a girls figure or do you try to get to know her first? most men are guilty of the first. find a girl who doesn't care about acne. that means she will love you forever. most the girls i know don't care about acne. but its a two way street. if you expect people to not care about your acne then the world needs to be less mean to fat people, ugly people, and so forth. unfortunately it is not. if you pass judgement to others based on how they look, sound, or appear then you are ignorant. almost everyone in their entire life has done those things. this means that some girls will care about your acne and a few good ones won't. You need to find the good ones.

but at the end of the day you can not really hold people acountable for the ignorance. i was an extremely ignorant person for a very long time. i don't think i was born ignorant. i see the same ignorance in my 79 year old father and he passed it down to me. some people like him are ignorant their entire lives. they never wake up and see the world for what it really is. i think this is what seperates the good from the bad. people who can wake up and see out the ignorance are the small light at the end of the tunnel for our society. ignorance is passed down generation after generation. until someone breaks the cycle. its like and eye for an eye. someone has to forgive to stop this viscious circle! an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. at the end of the day though, i feel all the blame rests on the shoulders of "god". If he created mankind then he gave them their will to be bad and be ignorant. essentially he started all the ignorance and the cycle. he is the alpha. now this makes him a terrible being. it is the only way to look at it. why else is life unfair. is religion more than a tool to control society. i think not. at the end of the night, how can my sins and ignorance be my burden to carry. for if i was created by the lord he had it preprogrammed that i would have these qualities. this makes god a very terrible person. fortunately there is an answer to all these problems that i just thought of. what if this life is nothing more than a landscape and a game. the things that happen don't truly matter. god creates us and makes us bad on purpose. he wants to see if we have the courage to perservere and be "good". of course without good their is not evil. this is a serious paradox. then agian so is the idea of god creating humanity. if god created us then how can we truly make any decision or have free will? its impossible because god had to know all the paths. he gives us the right to pick a path? how? if he gave us the original impulse then that would pick the path for us. basically we have no control over anything at all. maybe not even suicide is a choice. we have no understanding of the afterlife or proof that it exists. at the end of the night their is no proof of anything. i can't prove you exist and quite frankly this post has been rambling on and on and on. the answer is maybe. maybe girls care about you acne. if they do then they are not good for you anyway.

Im back to the old soap and water technique which leaves my face feelin good everyday. I feel so good about my skin right now  because girls are looking at me from the inside. It feels so good to know that there are people that don't care about appearnece as much. I have hormonal acne and it should go away in 2 years or so. Until then ill not worry about my face and hopefully progress my social life. My dad had the same problem as me, the red spots and all, but they went away when he was 17 and he doesn't even have scars. I can't wait for my hormones to get back to normal!

it beens 10 years since this boy (now a man) posted. if only he had known that desitin comes off if you use an oil to get it off. his posts and the posts of others show just how effective zinc oxide is. i hope his acne cleared up in "two years" like he said it did.

Yep. The o.p. took it for many years (so it is understandable why it messed him up so bad). Me? 4 months is all it took for doxycycline to cause me a whole mess of issues.

Ever since taking doxy, my body acne has quadrupled. I have seborrheic dermatitis ALL over my face and back and body and shoulders and arms...

I get anxiety really fast

My life is basically destroyed

me too. when first went off of the the minocycline i had fungus on my arm and neck. its crazy! i had to use selsun blue to kill it and it would spread down my entire arm. it was called tinea versicolor. the reason for this is i beleive that by killing the bacteria in our intestines, antibiotics destroy about half our immune system when i took it for so long like 2 years. if i would have been taking probiotics the whole time i don't think it would have happened. . I have recently read an ncbi page that is called the gut skin brain axis or something like that. Turns out that scientists had a hunch a long time ago that what goes on in our gut affects our skin and our brain. This makes sense to me. depression is improved by taking probiotics. If you do not beleive me look up the study on ncbi. The intestine is much more important than i ever could have fathomed. So now i am tackling my acne by repairing my gut. I beleive it is overrun by bad bacteria. One of the reasons i think this is because of my acne. Also, my breath is extremely bad. However i have started taking these things:
-20 billion probiotic from good belly
-peppermint oil
-apple cider vinegar
-4 billion probiotic reuteri

i have noticed my bad breath going away, signigifant improvement in my mood, and acne is decreasing but i am doing many things for that.

in the end i realize we symbiotically depend on these bacteria. Antibiotics are NOT THE ANSWER because they kill all the bacteria. That is like destroying an entire country instead of helping the smaller states to grow in population and make the country a better place. antibiotics are shock and all. when you really get down to it, I start to wonder what on earth are these doctors thinking???? It seems like they have their heads up their butts to be honest. It scares me.

Try to get in 30-1 hour a day, nothing crazy. Sometimes just jump on the xbox kinect, it's fun & exercise all in one . Do weights once a week & play football once a week.

It is crazy at 23 still need to stick to my regime.This Christmas had bit of a breakout and of course been eating plenty dairy, sweets etc, which I normally wouldn't.

No topical treatment, not worth the risk in my opinion, it just masks the problem and can aggravate acne. The important thing is getting to the root of the problem by balancing your hormones. No need for a topical treatment.

I keep my skin care regime really simple, which has helped a lot. Also really important to use a non-comedogenic moisturiser (will not clog your pores)

Use this cleanser: http://www.purelynat.../acne-cleanser/
and this moisturiser: http://www.boots.com...t-40ml_1110293/
2 x a day

i agree about topicals masking the symtoms. so i should mainly focus on my diet to clear my acne? do you have a link to some thread you have made about how you treated your acne? i agree with a lot of the stuff you say and have been looking at a lot of the things you have mentioned so that would be really helpful.

i don't like that probiotic. you should not order probiotics online because they are supposed to be refrigerated or the bacteria dies. i recomend buying it at your local whole foods. as for the zinc oxide it is working very well and has worked for many people. i beleive desitin is 6 dollars at walmart and it has 40% zinc oxide.

i found an excellent site with info all about how zinc oxide works! i have to say it is working extremely well for me!
heres the link: http://www.wisegeek....de-for-acne.htm

and heres the info: "Topical creams and oral supplements are two ways of using zinc oxide for acne treatments. The mineral can fight the bacteria present in acne lesions, suppress the production of overactive oil glands, and help regulate hormones. Moderate to severe acne may be treated with both topical and oral zinc oxide. Some individuals also use zinc oxide products to enhance the benefits of more traditional acne medications, such as benzyl peroxide.
One of the uses of topical zinc oxide for acne is the reduction of surface skin oil. Zinc oxide ointments and lotions are effective in drying up excess oil, which is thought to be one of the main causes of acne. Regular applications of zinc products on the skin can also help infections heal faster. Topical zinc oxide dries up oil and has been shown to be as effective as antibiotics at reducing acne-causing bacteria.
Oral supplements are taken by individuals who wish to use a natural alternative to oral antibiotics and prescription strength retinoids. Using zinc oxide for acne in this manner can be beneficial for patients who have an excess amount of androgen and testosterone. Mild to moderate acne has shown the most promise in using oral zinc supplements in place of traditional antibiotic treatments, such as tetracycline and doxycycline. A somewhat higher than normal daily intake can help balance hormones in the bloodstream and regulate the skin's oil gland activity.
Another possible use of zinc oxide for acne includes the idea of combination therapy. Some acne patients use both natural and prescription medications when attempting to treat the disorder. For instance, a patient may alternate between applying benzyl peroxide and a zinc oxide ointment to his skin. Other people take oral supplements while using topical antibiotics or retinoid creams.
Patients with severe blemishes may be able to use zinc oxide for acne as part of a maintenance program. While acne that is persistently severe and inflammatory usually requires prescription strength medication, zinc supplements can help patients control acne once the medication is discontinued. Since long-term oral antibiotic use can be harmful, zinc can keep bacteria in balance once prescriptions reduce it to normal levels. Topical zinc ointments might be able to reduce the severity of acne lesions and prevent them from becoming more inflamed.
A side benefit of topical zinc oxide lotions is that they tend to prevent scarring and hyper-pigmentation with moderate acne. Some potential scarring from severe acne might also be avoided with regular use. By reducing inflammation and encouraging proper collagen growth, the skin is able to repair itself with less damage"
wow i wish i had found zinc oxide years ago!!!

Antibiotics are absolutely not the answer to acne, and should never be used for that purpose.  They are only effective at treating a symptom (acne) of a much deeper problem, and are only going to accomplish this while you are on them.  Once taken off, which you will inevitably be, you will have successfully destroyed your beneficial bacteria in your gut, and will be in an even more vulnerable state than you were before you went on them.  

Charles, what have you done to address your acne?  Diet? Topicals?

Oh Jesus, that's just great. I've been on Solodyn for 9 months and yeah when I tried to stop for 2 weeks things flared up again. Can Cycline-class drugs really mess with the good bacteria in your gut? Is there a way to reverse it if so? Also, if Solodyn and similar meds are so bad, what other options do we really have for persistent internal cystic acne? It's not like Accutane is the safest of options either.

yes they ruined my gut! i was one minocycline for 2 years and was so clear during that time! when i went off my bacteria was way out of wack. the best way to stop help your gut is to repopulate it  with probiotics. probiotics are good bacteria. and a word of advice! DO NOT go off that antibiotic until you have found an alternative for it that you know will work!!! one of the side effects of these antibiotics is that when you do get acne the red marks will last like 4 times as long as normal acne. i have no idea why but it happened to me. i went off the antiobiotic and broke out in about 2 weeks. i have horrible red marks 6 months later from pimples i had about 4 months ago!!!

Antibiotics are absolutely not the answer to acne, and should never be used for that purpose.  They are only effective at treating a symptom (acne) of a much deeper problem, and are only going to accomplish this while you are on them.  Once taken off, which you will inevitably be, you will have successfully destroyed your beneficial bacteria in your gut, and will be in an even more vulnerable state than you were before you went on them.  

Charles, what have you done to address your acne?  Diet? Topicals?

Oh Jesus, that's just great. I've been on Solodyn for 9 months and yeah when I tried to stop for 2 weeks things flared up again. Can Cycline-class drugs really mess with the good bacteria in your gut? Is there a way to reverse it if so? Also, if Solodyn and similar meds are so bad, what other options do we really have for persistent internal cystic acne? It's not like Accutane is the safest of options either.

Good quality probiotics.  Eat really healthy, as in nutrient dense, whole, organic foods.  And pick up a good quality probiotic blend from a whole foods type store.  Nothing like what you can get a wal mart, i don't really trust those, and there aren't enough strains.  Not to mention the quality of the strain.  

Organic yoghurt and kefir are also great sources of probiotics.  If you are shying away from dairy, you can ferment vegetables right from home, and there is loads of info on how to do this online.  But for sure, load up on the probiotics, as many kill off the bad bacteria by themselves.  Once your ratio has shifted from majority bad bacteria, to majority good, you should start to notice a change.  This will be even more noticeable the healthier you eat.  As in extremely limited refined sugar intake, junk food, crappy vegetable oils like corn, canola, vegetable, and numerous others.  There are quality oils, and these are usually cold pressed/expeller pressed and organic.  Also refined white flour should go, as in no bread, at least not the way it's made commercially.   And no refined white flour pasta.  There's a whole thread on eating paleo in the nutrition section.  I can link you to it if you'd like

http://www.acne.org/...g-the-gut-diet/

And here's a great one in regards to addressing acne from all angles

http://www.acne.org/...t-lead-to-acne/

do you think that drinking apple cider vinegar will help my gut?? i have started drinking it 4 times a day because i think it could help kill the bad bacteria and help me digest bad food that i eat by helping stomach acid to break it down.

this is a rare case. i dont really see a case for diet in the prevention of acne. personally i get acne regardless of what i eat. I can even fast and get acne.

everyone says that until it happens to them. this is what i said.

Good for you.

Acne is simple but infomation etc out there has made it complicated. It occurs due to messed up hormones. And the only way to stop acne completely for the long term is to get to the root of the problem and get those hormones balanced.

For some people this means diet changes, reducing stress, exercising etc. For females a pill like this can be really helpful. Some people have even found stopping masturbation really helps (which is feasible but I am clear and still enjoy a good old wank).

Yes there are some products out there that may help but they will often not provide a long term cure and it is always a big risk as they can cause some people really bad breakouts.

Don't get drawn in by a lot of things out there that play on your emotions. As of course your desperate to get clear and some companies take advantage of this by saying they have some wonder cure. Keep your skin care regime really simple. A gently cleanser & non-comedogenic moisturiser twice  day.

Key= balance those hormones and don't aggravate your skin (keep your regime simple). You will get clear skin eventually.

Eating low gi foods only, no dairy, exercising and a gentle skin care regime has kept me clear

how much exercise do you do a day? do you do cardio? all i do is weights...
and do you use any topical acne medication to keep you clear?

well today i actually broke out a little but it could be because i ate some evening primrose oil yesterday!!! i think it is. someone on this forum told me once the primrose oil can be inflammatory because it has too much of one of the omega's. I'm not sure but i did get 3 little white heads today. i kind of made them worse when i was trying to get off the zinc oxide by brushing them vigorously and then putting hot water on them which is always bad for acne as far as i have experienced.

anyway and then i took 6 lactobacillus pills. i usually only take 1 a day. each one has 8 billion in it so today i had around 50 billion. i am also going to buy some goodbelly probiotic drinks tomorow because they have a lot of probiotic in them and then i'm going to get some peppermint oil capsules because they kill bad bacteria in the gut. i am now pretty much convinced that my acne comes from my gut. i read this article on it: http://gutflora.com/?p=344#treatment

i think this makes sense because it explains why a western diet triggers acne as well as why vitamin d helps acne and why antiobiotic like tetracycline work so well for me. That is why i took some garlic pills and drank some lemon juice today. The lemon juice will strenghen my stomach acid to help digestion so that i get less bad bacteria. The garlic is antibacterial so it should kill some bacteria in my gut to help the probiotic repopulate my gut.

Oh and zinc is also linked into the gut so that makes sense why zinc is helpful for so many peoples acne. it said that zinc helps keep the bad bacteria at bay somehow or until our own immune system kills them

The more and more I read the more and more I think that acne is just the sign of something that is wrong inside of our body. i am buying more and more into the idea that it is expelling toxins from our body

I also read a funny post on people who use snail gel to help their acne! haha. I grew up around snails and i really hate them and can't imagine putting their slime on my face. apparently a lot of celebrities are using it. And hippocrates who said that all diseases originated in the gut used to crush up snails and mix them with milk as something to get rid of skin redness and irritation. Anyway so all in all i think that acne is probably the symtoms of a disease and not a disease in itself. I also think that when we put topical things on these only mask the symtoms and don't get rid of the problem inside of us. I think acne therefore is a product of the way we live today. I don't think it should be considered normal for us to get acne. I think it shows a problem in our society and humans can not deal with and is creating infections and toxins in their bodies. i don't think god created us so he could give us acne scars and even disfigure them with it. Humans have probably caused this problem with all the proccessed foods and toxins we are exposed to in this day and age.

Allright, I'll bite.
I just put on 40% Zinc oxide and my daily vitamin has 400mg of Zinc. I don't want to sleep with the zinc on because I use Differin at night, so I'll be wearing it during the day. Also, I picked up a new moisturizer: Say yes to Carrots, that has 5% zinc oxide, and chammomile. Will keep everyone posted on whether this works or not.

First impressions: VERY thick (duh it's diaper cream), and doesn't rub in. Thank goodness I work from home because I look like Morticia Addams. Otherwise, slight tingle when I put it on. Absorbed pretty well, only the slightest greasy feeling. Here goes nothing...

i doubt it is 400 mg of zinc. that would be extremely dangerous and most likely life threatening. i don't think any multivitamin would sell that.

zinc oxide is really good for acne. you can buy it in sudocrem and its in diaper rash cream. its basically like a secret acne remedy. it was shown to be as effective as bp over a two month period but didn't cause the redness and dryness. also the american dermatology association said that it decreases the production of sebum and speeds up the healing process by decreasing inflammation. it truly is a cure if there is one. you can find it all over google if you just google zinc oxide acne. there are countless forums or people talking about how great it works and even how you see results in one night. i personally started using it 3 nights ago and i have to say i am very impressed. all my spots dried out, the redness is down 90% and i actually am happy with my face for the first time in about half a year. this feels great and i wanted to share it with you all. best part about it is that its dirt cheap.   i'm so happy i found this and i look forward to using it!!!

Ichance23, you should make a kind of regimen like post, and type down all the things you do (that you know for sure worked for you) in the day and when etc, so others can follow your regimen and see if it works for them? It would defiantly help me if I tried it .

okay this is what i do everyday for my regimen:
drink apple cider vinegar 4 times a day
take 8,000 iu vitamin D3.
take a probiotic pill called reuteri
take 30mg zinc chelated
apply zinc oxide 12.5% diaper rash cream at night

i put evening primrose oil topically and it didn't really help my acne after 1 month but i know there are studies showing it to help such as the following one: http://www.ncbi.nlm..../pubmed/9692305


"A major pathogenic factor of acne is the disturbed keratinization of the follicular infundibulum. It has been hypothesized that a relative decrease in linoleic acid in the sebum could be responsible, in part, for this. The aim of the present study was objectively to evaluate the effects of topically applied linoleic acid on the size of microcomedones in patients with mild acne. The design was a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized cross-over study. Evaluations were performed by digital image analysis of cyanoacrylate follicular biopsies. There was a significant effect of topically applied linoleic acid on the size of follicular casts and microcomedones, an almost 25% reduction in their overall size being achieved over a 1-month treatment period. In contrast, no change was found at placebo-treated sites. It is concluded that topical linoleic acid might play a role as a comedolytic agent in acne-prone patients."
i would love to use linoleic acid in the future but evening primrose is so oily.

i have been taking vitamin d for 2 months and in the study were it cured acne for 50% of people and significantly helped it for 76% it took 3 months. I am unhappy to report that the only thing that seems to be working for me is drinking acv and applying zinc oxide topically but I for sure be applying some vitamin d to my skin in the future. heres my theory why people get acne in the winter. we are out in the sun during the summer and the vitamin d is directly manufactured on our skin! hence on our skin on our face!

i think that that taking it in pill form takes so long to work because it never is made in the skin!!! it takes month to make it to the skin layer! by getting that vitamin d directly on the face I beleive it will directly available to my skin cells and will simulate the idea of putting my face in the sun during the summer!.
now all that is left is for me to get some vitamin d and put it on topically i will do that right now.

btw i have noticed everyone at school who never has acne in the summer is getting some during the winter!! there has to... there has to be a connection!

wow! after reading that study you posted about the zuelo whatever it is called i looked at the wiki page for it! turns out it inhibits something that GLA inhibits as well! i will continue drinking the evening primrose oil! thanks!

Are you complementing this with Zinc pills also? Regardless I'm going to run out tonight and grab some diaper cream. So I'm hoping for the best.

i'm taking 30 mg of zinc chelated from the whole foods brand. I have been taking that for four months though and while it has helped tremendously i still had about 50% of the acne i had before. Since i started the zinc oxide diaper rash cream i have been completely clear for the past 6 days.

Which is better cream or ointment?

i was using sudocrem for 2 days and i had an initial break out from it. i switched to a different cream called susan browns diaper rash cream and that has kept me clear. they both will work because they have zinc oxide.

I know this kid that has the worst acne/scars that I've ever seen, he loves life, pretends he has nothing, is always cheerful, and everyone loves him. It all has to do with personality, maybe acne was a way for us to see that. I'd much rather know someone who is sweet and kind and has acne, than someone who has perfect skin but is a rude and immature person. Trust me when I say that everyone thinks this way. At least the people who matter.

I love to think of this verse when I'm down: 1 Samuel 16:7

"But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.'"

It's from this forum that I learned how rude people are. No one in my school has ever straight out made fun of someone or even looked remotely strange at someone with acne, even if it is severe. I've seen stories on here that are ridiculous.

------
Anyway,

Have any of you tried this?

http://www.amazon.co...eywords=sulphur

It's really been helping, along with:

http://www.amazon.co...eywords=panoxyl

wow that quote is so true and great that i have to steal it for my signature! thats why the way i try to strive to see people everyday