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Backstory: So I primarily have clogged pore with the occasional hormonal inflamed zit on my chin (especially when I'm in contact with tons of xenoestrogens like unfermented soy or it's that lovely time of the month). About half a year ago, I started breaking out on ONLY my right cheek in these red pimples. And I kind of ignored it until I finally just, because of anxiety and my skin, gave up and revamped my diet. I went vegan and FINALLY started taking my vitamin d supplements (2000 iu a day) since I was diagnosed with a severe deficiency (my level was 9 lol) like two years ago. It's weird because I'd never felt any pathological effects (and I'm an intensive/competitive dancer) in my years of deficiency.
Anyways, in a week, the zits stopped happening, and if I ever missed a day or few, about a week after that, it would come back. I knew it was the d. I've tested this several times, and while it's no scientific method, I'm relatively sure my d deficiency was the reason I was breaking out as taking the supplements with a meal during the day would get rid of it within a week. I also went back on my normal, vegetarian diet after 5 weeks, and it had no impact.
Anyways, a few weeks ago (so, after about 5 months, I think?) it started coming back, so I amped up the d to about 4000-5000 iu a day, thinking maybe I got more sensitive to it. That didn't do much. Some days were better than others, though. I saw some reviews on vit d where people started breaking out again, and one of the suggestions was that you need to take vit a along with d. So I started that, but I started breaking out even more (not going to say it was the a, but I keep reading conflicting evidence about how a interacts with d so I'm not sure if it prevents absorption or aids in it....). So I stopped that after a week. Granted, a just might take more time to work than d, so perhaps I should continue? I started taking a bit of zinc every day, but I just wanted to know if people started breaking out again after a few months on d.
It's weird for me because it was connected with this very strange, very area-specific and type-specific kind of acne I had only recently started getting (I'm 19), and it certainly didn't do anything for my other kinds of acne that I've had since puberty (thanks genetics). And I'm most concerned with this chronic inflammatory acne, because it's definitely something internal if it was so strongly impacted by the d before. Anyone know why this might be happening? I read some places that magnesium is also important to restore when heavy dosing d, but once again, unclear as to why it's this d-specific region of my face that's been breaking out. I'm thinking of upping the dosage a little more, but I just wanted to know if anyone else experienced this, and if they figured out what's wrong.
TL;DR: Basically, a few months ago, I found out vit d helped with a certain kind of acne for me. I've been taking it religiously, but now it's stopped working. Even upping the dosage to 5000 iu isn't helping. Anyone else experience this, and if you did, figure a solution? (Like vit a, magnesium, vit k, etc?)
Any 2 cents is much appreciated!
Do you take it with fat (meals)? It's better absorbed that way. Did you switch brands?
Did you take vitamin D the same time everyday?
I'd be careful about the vitamin D dosage. I personally have taken vitamin D for about 6 months now, but it does nothing for my acne. I take it for other reasons now.
There could be a lot of variables, but I believe I found a thread on this site that had a member talk about all these vitamins, such as D, A, zinc, etc. and specific amount to take to balance them and cure acne. It was a thread about vitamin D, but I believe it had a lot of pages so you might have to dig.
Edit: Found it. It was here.
Do you take it with fat (meals)? It's better absorbed that way. Did you switch brands?
Did you take vitamin D the same time everyday?
I'd be careful about the vitamin D dosage. I personally have taken vitamin D for about 6 months now, but it does nothing for my acne. I take it for other reasons now.
There could be a lot of variables, but I believe I found a thread on this site that had a member talk about all these vitamins, such as D, A, zinc, etc. and specific amount to take to balance them and cure acne. It was a thread about vitamin D, but I believe it had a lot of pages so you might have to dig.
Edit: Found it. It was here.
I am also 19 years old! I take a multivitamin actually, that has extra Vit D, Zinc, Selenium, etc... Maybe take an multi instead of taking them separately, so you know everything is "balanced out".. (for example, high amounts of zinc must be taken with copper to prevent other problems) We are the same age and are both athletic, I posted something in the diet and holistic health forum about what I did. It should help you!
You absolutely need to be including Magnesium (either in a Glycinate, Citrate, or Sulfate form) with your vitamin D3 supplementation. They work in concert together. Magnesium helps convert Vitamin D into its active form so the body can use it--otherwise, the D3 alone won't be able to do its job of preventing calcium buildup in the arteries. You want your Calcium in your bones--not hanging around and building up in your blood. That leads to all kinds of not-very-pretty things.
Even if you weren't supplementing with the D3, there's a good chance you may have already been insufficient or deficient in Magnesium since roughly 80% of people are. It's a wildly important mineral in the body necessary for hundreds and hundreds of enzymatic processes. Magnesium is a natural anti-inflammatory and a natural anti-histamine. An unbalanced proportion of Calcium to Magnesium is going to act as a histamine in the body and you'll see all kinds of inflammation---acne being one of them.
I think a lot of people find their D3 supplementation isn't working like it did at first because their Magnesium levels become so depleted that their bodies are no longer absorbing the D3 and they can't manage to get their levels up no matter how much they up their dosage. Basically, if you don't have sufficient Magnesium to help the D3 do what it needs to do, your body can't use it.
Similarly, you need some K2 in there to help the D3 do its job. Same goes for a quality B Complex (with added C) along with it. If you are deficient in certain B vitamins, your Magnesium won't be able to do it's job to help the D3 do it's job. I know a lot of people here have a fear of B-Complex because they've had a bad reaction to Biotin or B-12 in the past. But B vitamins shouldn't be taken at all in isolation. They can only do good and right by you when they have the whole team along.