cvd

I'd been dairy free for a year now and rarely if ever broke out. I also followed the treatment regimen below. This Thanksgiving I ate cheese several times and now have two bright red papules - one on my cheek and one on my chin. I follow a strict doctor prescribed allergy diet (gluten-free, sugar free, etc.) but dairy was supposedly okay to eat. I chose to avoid dairy because of the acne connection.

Eating cheese is the only thing I changed in the past month and whammo...2 big red zits!!! Can't get a better experiment than that to show how dairy can cause flare-ups.

I've been so lucky that the regime I've been following (below) has kept me basically clear for 9 months now.  I've had a wonderful summer and I'm finally able to look forward to life without fear of a major outbreak.  My problem is that the copay on one of my meds, Oracea, has skyrocketed from $10 to almost $90 a month and I simply can't afford it anymore.  So I'm stopping it.  I'm so scared and anxious about this.  My hope is that everything else I'm doing will keep my skin clear.

The other thought I'm clinging to is that when I took Oracea in the past, it never really seemed to help much.  My derm added Oracea to my current regime last Feb along with everything else so there's no way to determine what's actually been keeping my skin clear.  I guess stopping Oracea will be part of figuring this out.  Although I hate the thought of returning to awful skin...

I need help to stay positive.  I've struggled with acne for soooooo long that there is some bad emotional scarring and fears!

Thanks...

I've been searching forever for a sunscreen that doesn't cause acne and doesn't look oily.  And I think I've finally found it...De Vita Solar Protective Moisturizer SPF 30+

I waited a month to post this to make sure my skin didn't react.  With other sunscreens I knew almost right away...they were too oily or my skin was bumpy within a week.

So I'm really happy to share this and hope it helps others.  I can buy this at my local health food store but it is also sold online.  It was developed by a woman who suffered with cystic acne and developed a cosmetic line specifically for adult acne sufferers.  I now also use her cleanser and will be buying her Aloe Vera facial scrub.  Her products are a godsend for those of us with sensitive skin.

Just thought I'd pass this on

Here is possibly confirmation that indeed an overgrowth of bad bacteria in the gut could negatively affect skin.  This may be of interest to others with resistant inflammatory acne so I am posting my experience.

I had a stool test done and got the results today.  My regular doc says I have an overgrowth of bad bacteria, an undergrowth of good bacteria and a fungal infection. This is despite taking probiotics, etc.  He is putting me on an antibiotic called Bactrim and Nystatin.  And he never prescribes antibiotics unless absolutely necessary so I am taking this seriously.

Bactrim is the very same antibiotic that my old derm prescribed and that I took for years --- it's the only antibiotic that calms down my type of acne which is wierd.  My skin can be clear and then whammo...it will swell up in 1-2 huge lumps that are infected, red, and very painful.  These things quickly come to a head and erupt with lots of pus and blood (sorry) and usually a hard plug.  Then my skin returns to looking clear within a day or two with some discoloration.  Then it happens again in a week or two.  

I used to take a short course of Bactrim when this happened and then would not get another one for months.  Maybe I was just keeping the bad bacteria at bay all these years when I took Bactrim for flare-ups.  My old derm stopped letting me use Bactrim last summer and I have been suffering with more and more frequent outbreaks in recent months...to the point I get one every other week or so.  Very depressing since they are so inflammed...I mean really inflammed.  I have to stay home they are so infected.

My regular doc firmly believes my problem is with my gut and not my skin...although my facial skin is where I happen to suffer from the inflammation. He thinks that if we can get the gut healed the skin will follow. He may be right.  Next time I get an inflammed swollen infected thing he wants to swab it to determine exactly what kind of bacteria is causing these outbreaks.  No doctor or derm has every taken my condition this seriously.  I have read in research papers about taking a sample of pus to determine what exactly is causing the bacterial outbreak but not one of my derms has ever done that.  Although my current derm seems to be taking this more seriously than most and is working with my doc to figure this out since my ongoing resistant condition (40+ years) just doesn't go away despite the usual treatments.  And he wants to know why.

Although I have to say that I am also taking this very seriously as I became fed up several years ago and demanded a more scientific approach.  When I did this the doc and derm responded with appropriate hormone tests, allergy tests, etc.  Plus it helps that my regular doc believes in what is called Functional Medicine --- treating the whole body and working with the body to effect healing...rather than just treating symptoms.

Just thought I would share this.  The results and how inflammation works in the body ties in with my food allergies and possible histamine sensitivity.  As I understand it, once the body becomes chronically inflammed then everything goes whacky.  Very hard to treat it naturally when it gets this bad.  Although it can be done.  We are moving in that direction but have to nudge things along with some modern meds!

I would love some input on an idea I have. I'm wondering if what some of us are dealing with is actually "histamine intolerance". I've added articles below. The foods to avoid are very similar to anti-acne diets and also have components of candida diets that people have had success with. In addition it solves a mystery of how people can eat something and not have a reaction but if they eat more of it they get a delayed reaction...or eat a combination of foods or in certain quantity and get a reaction. Also each person's tolerance level before reacting is different. It explains how you can take a food allergy test but still have reactions to foods not listed as allergens (see articles below).

A little about me...I've been following a doctor prescribed strict allergy diet + suppliments (see below)since Oct 2011. Back then my skin was doing pretty well...maybe a breakout once every couple of months. Around this same time my old derm took me off Spiro (to see how I'd do without it) and early last year she took me off all antibiotics (when I had bad flareups I used to take antibiotics to calm things down). In Jan 2012 I started getting weekly breakouts. I only get 1-2 blemishes at a time, usually on my chin, but they are very big, red, swollen, painful, and often infected. Plus they itch and my skin gets itchy before I get them. I hate them! So embarrasing at my age (you don't want to know...). The flareups were getting worse. The allergy diet + suppliments were supposed to help with this! I thought maybe it was because the Spiro had been stopped and I was no longer using antibiotics. In desperation I went back to the derm and saw a new one instead. He put me back on Spiro and added Oracea (anti-inflammatory...not antibiotic, low dose time release doxy) in Jan. However the breakouts continued weekly. Very frustrating!

This past week I had an epiphany. I looked on the Oracea website at "Triggers" and was dumbfounded to see that avocado and spinach were main triggers for rosacea (I may have an acne form of rosacea on my chin). I had been eating avocado and spinach daily since starting the allergy diet in Oct. I had also added flax seed and green tea. I started eating lots of nuts (almonds and walnuts). I thought all of these foods would be good and satisfying additions to my diet as I had to avoid wheat and dairy. However I noticed my t-zone getting more oily and the breakouts getting more swollen, painful and red.

I first stopped eating flax seed (made my throat itch), and then nuts (seemed hard to digest), and yesterday stopped eating avocado and spinach. I discovered that most if not all of the foods I added into my diet are either high histamine or histamine liberating foods. Who would have guessed? I'm not sure this is my problem but it seems very interesting that many of the foods listed as high histamine are also foods I must avoid due to food allergies (peas, tomatoes, yeast, etc.).

Here are a couple of articles:

http://www.imupro.co...ine-intolerance
A histamine intolerance occurs when the enzyme Diamine Oxidase (DAO) is inhibited or deficient, and has trouble breaking down the histamine in foods. The DAO enzyme is responsible for the break down of histamine in the body, ensuring excess histamine is flushed – without it your body builds up an unhealthy amount of histamine, which can cause a range of unpleasant symptoms after consuming foods that are high in histamine. These foods can include:
Some fish such as: Tuna, Sardines, Mackerel and Herring
· Some cheeses such as: Emmental cheese, Parmesan, Gouda and Gorgonzola
· Some vegetables such as: Spinach, Eggplant and Avocados
· Processed meats such as: Salami, Ham, Sausages and cold cuts
· Wine (in particular red wine), Sparkling wine, Champagne, Dessert wines
· Beer (in particular wheat beer)
· Balsamic vinegar
There are also several foodstuffs that release histamine into the body. These include: alcohol, bananas, nuts, chocolate and cocoa, wheat germ, black and green tea, eggs, strawberries, pineapples, kiwifruit, papaya, raspberries, pears, tomatoes, citrus fruits, pulses.
If one or more of these foodstuffs tend to trigger typical symptoms, you may have a histamine intolerance.

http://www.imupro.co...mineintolerance
Many people suffer from gastro-intestinal disorders, migraine, headache, skin problems, cardiovascular complaints and asthma that are due to histamine intolerance.
Diamine oxidase, in short DAO, is the enzyme responsible for the degradation of histamine. An activity deficit of the enzyme results in an accumulation of histamine with corresponding, partially severe symptoms. It is often difficult to distinguish between an immediate allergy (type 1), type-III allergy or histamine intolerance since the symptoms often are identical.
If no improvement occurs despite a change in diet according to IgE and / or IgG measurements, a test for histamine intolerance is strongly recommended.
There may be several causes of histamine intolerance. They include, among other causes, vitamin B6 or copper deficiency and a possibly associated limited production of diamine oxidase (DAO). When foodstuffs rich in histamine are consumed, the symptoms described above occur. Intestinal complaints, like e.g. inflammatory intestinal disease or excessive histamine production by putrefactive intestinal bacteria may cause the problems as well. Not only the insufficient production of the enzyme diamine oxidase or increased histamine concentration, but also the inhibition of the enzyme causes histamine intolerance. Possible potent inhibitors of DAO are in particular alcohol, but also some common drugs, including especially antirheumatic agents, that is anti-inflammatory and pain relieving drugs.
It is often difficult to distinguish between an immediate IgE allergy (type 1), an IgG food allergy (type 3) or a histamine intolerance since the symptoms often are identical.


Foods that have higher levels of histamine:
· Alcohol, especially beer and wine
· Pickled or canned foods
· Cheese: especially mature cheese – the more mature the more histamine it contains
· Smoked meats, smoked ham and Salami
· Most fish products (all shellfish), especially canned fish
· Beans and pulses (especially chickpeas, soy beans, also peanuts)
· Soy products (soy milk, soy cream, tofu, soy sauces, ...)
· Sauerkraut or other pickled foods
· Some fruits (aubergines, bananas, kiwi, oranges, pears, strawberries)
· Nuts, walnuts, cashew nuts
· Chocolate, cocoa, salty snacks, sweets with preservatives and artificial colourings
· Products made from wheat
· Vinegar
· Yeast
· Ready meals
· Black tea
Foods that release histamine (histamine releasers):
· Citrus fruits
· Cocoa and chocolate
· Kiwi
· Lemon
· Lime
· Nuts
· Papaya
· Pineapple
· Plums
· Pulses
· Raspberries
· Strawberries
· Tomatoes
· Wheat germ
· Additives: Benzoate, Food dyes, Glutamate, Nitrites, Sulphites,
Foods that block the diamine oxidase (DAO) enzyme:
· Alcohol
· Black tea
· Cocoa
· Energy drinks (component theobromine blocks the DAO)
· Green tea
· Mate tea