Acne.org Products
<p>Though the Regimen has been working amazingly well for me, I'm a little bummed over a temporary setback. I work overnight shifts. However, my social life on my days off throws things off big time because everyone else is the complete opposite schedule of me. It throws off my Regimen schedule so badly. I'm going to have to give up socializing temporarily because I don't like these breakouts that occur because of the weekends throwing my Regimen schedule off.</p>
Don't sacrifice your social life for acne - it's not worth it - trust me!
Feeling like i did in summer 2011 and summer 2012 - helpless and hopeless. Acne is at a low point right now and I don't feel like doing anything or seeing anyone but i will just because i don't want to fall back into severe depression. My appetite is low right now and I have no motivation. Still maintaining a healthy lifestyle so + 1 for me. My birthday is coming up soon so hoping to be out of this funk by then.
After reading through many articles here, I think I've had an "AHA!" moment of what's been making things worse the past decade. My acne only started freshman year in college (2003)...What changed? By trying to become healthier, I became nutrient deficient. Back then I switched to a vegan/mostly vegan diet and slathered on tons of super SPF sunscreen the few times I was outdoors. The result? Low Zinc (from avoiding meat) and low Vitamin D levels (Sun). Plus with all the copper in faucet water & the plant based diet, I was getting too much copper (which further decreases zinc). Ahhhhh things are better after making a few dietary changes, taking zinc/D3 supplements, and getting more sun (but not too much). I'm so happy right now ...because between this discovery and finding the Regimen recently, things can only get better from this point forward. This site has finally made me find my personal root cause and I'm extatic!
I'm feeling good, next month I can get a peeling and get my last impurities removed, so the end is in sight. I've got a date next week with an amazing, sweet, smart, cute girl. I feel active and filled with energy. I just came back from and amazing day with my friends, we went to the city and ended up singing in the rain like 6 year old ( and yes, people were looking at us in a very strange way). It's been a long time since I felt this much like myself again. Even with my skin, I'm getting to the point where I can see myself as a person again with hundreds of characteristics, my skin is just one of them, bad skin doesn't have to mean that I can't make the other characteristics count.
Im so happy i found this site! Well i was very depressed about my acne but it started to clear up so every day when i dont feel very happy i say to myself make the best of it in the end it will be over and u will regret the things u didnt do because of the acne. We are not alone guys
(in a good way) !
<p>It was going well until I started having some stress over major changes coming up...New job and out of state move. My otherwise cleared up face has one GIANT mountain zit on my cheek. Or maybe it's due to PMS. It's the biggest zit I've ever had. As soon as it goes away at least I can cover my scars with makeup. Sigh. At least it's better than the 30+ zits I used to have at any given moment.</p>
Still feeling great. Feeling that great that I even decided to make a selfie because i felt like I looked good, which I hadn't felt like in years.
The light and distance was forgiving of course, but still, I don't expect people to inspect my face from 5 cm distance in bright sunlight.
I've beaten active acne, I've dealt with the red marks and now all that's left are some closed comedones/clogged pores, I have like 10 on each cheek and 5 bigger ones + 10 tiny ones on my forehead, but because they are really deep in my skin and because I'm really pale they aren't really visible. I'm getting my peeling for those next month anyways . I don't expect people to see them, and even if they do, it's no big deal: the people who matter won't care and the people who care won't matter. I'm really pleased with the progress I made, I just compared a picture I took May 22nd (3 weeks after finishing accutane) to the selfie today, and it's just great to see some actual progress. I can't wait till next month to complete the final step
edit: removed pictures for privacy
A mix of feelings today. Grateful that things are clearing up on my skin! My back is amazingly clear! My face has no pustules right now, just scars and very minor blackheads/whiteheads. Why this dramatic improvement?
Dan's BP and AHA are definitely helping my face. But I have not done anything for my back topically. That change has come about directly because of going back on birth control pills two months ago.
So, I'm grateful the BCPs are balancing out my hormones and taking care of those pesky androgens (I'm on the generic for Yaz which is anti-androgenic). It also means I don't have cysts in my scalp! (Those are so gross and painful.)
I'm grateful and happy. I'm also concerned and frustrated that Yaz is the only way I've found to successfully manage my hormonal acne. From January-May I tried taking supplements and changing my diet to foster hormone balance. It did not work. I tried vitex (chaste tree berry) extract and it made me very agitated and almost manic (because it is dopaminergic- http://www.mediherb.com.au/articles/6016.pdf ) because I am apparently very sensitive to such compounds (I've reacted similarly to another dopaminergic drug used for nausea called Reglan).
So, I went back to the bandaid fix of birth control. I suppose if I ever want to try to fix the root of my hormonal issues again, I need to do so intelligently under the guidance of a real naturopathic gynecologist instead of based off anecdotes online. But right now I just don't even want to try because taking Yaz is just easier (and cheaper).
Ah well.
<p>Ahhhh so frustrated. Are PMS pimples unavoidable? No matter what I get them (even back when I was on the Pill). Even though the Regimen keeps me clear pretty much 100%.....during that time of month I still get a few zits. I am diligent with the Regimen, diet, AHA, and supplements. I wish I were a guy so I wouldn't have to deal with this bullshit. Not only the zits...but the emotional mood swings, bloating, cramps, and inconvenience that comes along with it. If I could afford a hysterectomy, I would do it. That's how much I hate this. I swear most of these scars are from the monster size PMS zits, not the small regular ones. I hate PMS!!!!! </p>
Feeling annoyed!!!!!!!!! But my day must go on. Speaking life into a negative set of circumstances.
Stay positive! Your positivity is motivating to others including myself.
Thanks hun! Looking back at photos before my last accutane course (2012), I notice that I have identical mouth/chin acne that I had then. Pretty depressing thought.
I just saw myself in the most unflattering lighting ever. It was a punch in the face. I asked my mother if my closed comedones stood out more in the sun, she said 'not really', but what cheered my up again was my brother saying that they aren't very noticeable (basically it's very uncommon for my brother and me to tell something positive about each other, so I know that it was true this time). Later today I went running and after a shower I inspected my face in the mirror and everything looked nice again and clogged pores seemed a lot better. Strange how much lighting can do right?
Not so great
Yesterday I caught a glance of myself in a mirror before lunch with coworkers. Really brought me down.
Started the day talking to a coworker about being on Accutane - she was so kind, but it still left me feeling raw.
That afternoon I was introduced to people, then yelled at. Both seemed so much worse because of my skin.
I feel like my acne has gotten so bad. It's nothing I can hide with makeup anymore. It's obvious, and distracting. I'm only just now facing it, really facing it. In the past few months my skin has really gone downhill, and it's been hard adjusting my self-image accordingly. I just want to hide!
Feeling good. Partied with friends, at one point my friend showed interest in the girl dancing next to us. He didn't really have the confidence to talk to her, so i helped a bit by talking to her first. Eventually she gave her number to my friend but then she also gave it to me and ended up talking to me for a while. The flashing lights were terrible, even some flaws showed up on my perfect-skinned friends, so i couldn't even imagine my own face.However i was happy the entire night and acted confident and it must've shown. Just the fact that some pretty girl took some spontaneous interest in my life made me feel a lot better. Pathetic? Yes. But still a huge win for me in my mental struggle with skin issues.