I would say different people are affected by different food. But about the fat coworkers with perfect skin--I read an article sometime ago that people who get acne start to worry more about their appearance so they subconsciously get thinner to compensate. People who never had a pimple never had a cue to worry about their health until it's too late and they get fat.

Hi Dave

I'm so sorry you're getting these flare-ups. Sound like what I get...although mine eventually come to a head (and it's not pretty). The fact that your red bumps don't come to a head may be something to think about. The reason why is that adult "acne" that flares up for seemingly no reason with deep red bumps that don't come to a head is very much the symptoms for Rosacea. Actually rosacea is much more common in adults than acne. People can go from having acne in their youth to rosacea as adults. Sometimes it is a little of both. Google rosacea sites and see if this matches what you have. You don't have to have the flushing to have rosacea...you can just have the red bumps. With rosacea diet is very important because following a rosacea diet helps lessen the bumps and inflammation. I have both rosacea and acne so I am on a regime that targets both (see below).

If indeed you just have rosacea then it is important to see a derm because most acne meds just inflame rosacea (more bumps). There are special meds just for rosacea that are very mild and work pretty well. Diet is important so check out rosacea diets.

I follow a rosacea diet and an acne diet...actually they overlap a bit. Hope this helps.

Yes, it seems so unfair that some people eat and drink rubbish yet have perfect skin, while some others of us scrutinise everything we eat for signs of "bad" ingredients, and eating out is a minefield, since pretty well everything on a normal menu contains wheat, dairy, sugar or a mix of all 3.

Might be worth adapting your diet for a bit and see if it makes any difference long term, or getting allergy/intolerance testing. If it makes no difference you can always ditch it and go back to what you were doing before.

I'm also 38 and 7 and a half stone. I don't think that age and weight have affected my skin though.

Thanks all, just venting a little. I had never considered it might be rosacea, but I'm thinking about seeing my doctor anyway. I was in my late teens when I saw a dermatalogist, and he prescribed a bunch of things that didn't seem to do any better than what I could get over the counter, but back then it was usually lots of minor bumps that did form heads and go away quickly. Hopefully the doc will have some idea.

If it is diet related, what's the time frame between cause and effect? If I start writing down everything I eat, at what point is it safe to say "I ate that, but I hadn't had it in a while, and __ days/hours later I had a nasty bump form, so that might be it"?

Thanks all, just venting a little. I had never considered it might be rosacea, but I'm thinking about seeing my doctor anyway. I was in my late teens when I saw a dermatalogist, and he prescribed a bunch of things that didn't seem to do any better than what I could get over the counter, but back then it was usually lots of minor bumps that did form heads and go away quickly. Hopefully the doc will have some idea.

If it is diet related, what's the time frame between cause and effect? If I start writing down everything I eat, at what point is it safe to say "I ate that, but I hadn't had it in a while, and __ days/hours later I had a nasty bump form, so that might be it"?

 

I think you should try your best to be healthy, but personally I drove myself insane trying to pinpoint a certain food that was causing my breakouts. I was on strict Paleo for a number of years, which basically means you eat vegetables and organic grass-fed protein...and still broke out.

If you have rosacea then you will see a reaction within a day or two. Even quicker sometimes. The red bumps will come out and be inflamed. You may get a rash of them in one area and often they itch. They last for a long time. Check out the rosacea sites for foods to avoid. If this is indeed part of the problem then you'll be able to figure out what foods make you flare up. Usually it works out that you don't have to avoid all the foods...just the ones your system responds to. Also, you may want to get a professional allergy blood test done. I found out I am sensitive to certain foods that cause inflammation to my system when I eat them. Avoiding those foods has helped my whole body feel better in addition to my skin.

I hope this helps. It just sounds like this is what you may be dealing with.

I'm in the exact same boat so I know exactly how you feel, OP. It totally isn't fair. To add insult to injury, I have brothers and cousins who also have flawless skin and eat whatever they want whereas I have to suffer away, while adhering to a very restrictive diet and regimen with minimal results.

It's better to not compare yourselves to others. You're not like anyone else. You're you, and you have different intolerances, your body processes things differently, you have different heredity, and a lot of other factors play into what you and your skin will look like.

Just try to figure out when your skin looks the best and like CVD said it's always good to get a food allergy test done to make sure you're not eating something that is harmful to your body.

Don't be too harsh to your face and be good to your mind and body. Relax, try meditation, yoga, take a bath, read a book, or whatever helps you to remain calm and stress-free. It's good to set aside a bit of time for yourself. Stress can do major damage to your body. Which of course includes your biggest organ, your skin.

I find that stress is my biggest problem. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week my skin was almost perfect. And then Thursday rolled around and everything got so stressful at work, and then Friday was a complete nightmare with ridiculous deadlines. I wanted to go out this weekend but my skin was so bad it basically ruined everything for me.