Hi,

To make this extremely short:

-Had acne for almost 5 years now. My face was always red literally and I'd have pimples any given day. Mostly white heads. I don't remember ever being clear for more than a couple of days (and these days were pretty rare).

Tried almost everything. Over-the-counter creams and drugs dried up my face, made it more sensitive and their effect was temporary. Since I saw they made no difference I stopped putting anything on my face except for some lotion as my face was always extremely dry. Even with using lotion/ EVOO/ coconut oil. Nothing helped really, was always dry and flaky.

I was convinced it was diet related, but was overwhelmed with the all the restrictions and how to approach it.

Almost a year and a half ago I was diagnosed with Hashimotos and one of the things that caught my interest reading about it was that patients were advise to try a gluten-free diet as it may be the trigger for the antibodies attacking the thyroid. I was also suffering from bloating and other digestion problems that for the past 2 years, so I tried to give it a go but couldnt really stick to it.

Anyways, 5 months ago I became gluten-free and It completely cured me of all the digestion problems I was experiencing. The change was amazing to say the least. I really hoped it would clear my acne as well, but it didnt.

About a month and a half ago, still convinced it must be something in the diet, I tried cutting of all grains and dairy. I almost completely avoided processed food. I read about how insulin resistance may also have a connection. I already quit white and brown sugar a year ago, but this time I tried to follow a low glycemic diet and incorporate food protein and fat whenever I ate something with a high GI. It was almost a paleo diet but I still ate potatoes, you could say it was about 90% paleo. I also exercised daily. I dont know if I have given it enough time yet, but I could see that there wasnt any significant difference. Id breakout almost every other day and It was frustrating. I was willing to avoid whatever was necessary, but I just needed to see some results.

Currently I am preparing for RAI after having my thyroid taken out. I started a low-iodine diet about two weeks ago and something interestingly weird happened this week:

My face is no longer red (this rarely happens), its less dry (although Im extremely hypothyroid right now as I had to stop taking the hormone pills for the RAI), and I have almost a 90% reduction in breakouts. Its been a really long, long time since Ive seen my face looking like this. Im not getting my hopes high (might be something hormonal, or due to more sleep, or other factors) but I think it may have something to do with this new diet.

As a part of this diet, Ive had to eliminate iodized-salt so I just cut out salt altogether. Sea-food and eggs which I was pretty dependent on following a paleoish diet. Dairy, but I was already avoiding it prior to this diet. Anything bottled or in a can. Dried fruits, Cabbage, Broccoli, Spinach, Salad rocket and a couple of other things you can find if you look up the low-iodine diet. However, I started having some white rice which Im supposed to be avoiding since going grain-free, but I was losing weight and I dont think it really makes a difference for me.

Im having my RAI treatment in two days, and Id be able to eat whatever I want then.

Can anyone help me figure out what can be the cause of the great improvement Im seeing? do you think it could be the lower iodine intake per day? eliminating the seafood? or the eggs?

I am currently reading about the acne-iodine connection, but I still didnt come up with a firm conclusion. And I dont think Im allergic to sea food or eggs, but could it be due to their iodine content?

I really want to maintain this progress, but Im not sure how to continue after Im allowed to be off the diet.

Any insight would be much appreciated.

Thanks.