Hello,
This is my first post on this forum. I also don't have English as my native language, so it might be a bit tricky for me to explain myself, so please bare on...
A little bit of background: I started getting acne around the age of 16, so it's been going on for 15 years now, more or less. During this time I've tried pretty much every possible product there is, but not accutane. My acne has never really been that severe (though in hindsight it might have been a good idea to take try accutane as well). I've also tried not washing my face at all (which is great at first but always backfires for me), and washing my face only once a day (which seems to have been beneficial to some extent).
As a teenager I did have large cysts, but for the past maybe 8 years my skin has just been red, itchy and irritated, always in the same spots on my chin, around my mouth and under my nose. And very often those same spots develop whiteheads, which then irritate the skin even more, and I end up with very obvious red patches for a week or so. Very rarely do I get anything anywhere else on my face. The skin on my back is also basically filled with red spots, but there are rarely any whiteheads there. I also get these red, rash-like blisters on my chest and arms sometimes.
Lately I've started to wonder if the root cause of my problems might be an allergy after all. It does manifest itself as acne, but could that be because the skin is just irritated from something else, allowing acne to develop? That's my vague theory about it...
The reason I've began to suspect something else might be the cause is that I have a tendency to allergies. I know I'm allergic to pollen, and I'm also 99% certain I'm allergic to peanuts and apples, because my lips and skin around my mouth start to itch whenever I eat something with those things in them. Other strange symptoms I've noticed over the years are that my skin starts to itch whenever I use a vacuum cleaner, or if I'm in a place with lots of dust in it. The same often happens if I go shopping for clothes (I get these red marks, quite obviously not acne on my neck or chest). Or if I wear a scratchy sweater, even though it doesn't come in contact with my face, my face and back still start to itch! My eye symptoms also seem to go hand in hand with the skin irritation. Often time when my face itches and whiteheads develop, I also get puss from my eyes at the same time. My eyes are also very sensitive. They get red and watery very easily. In addition, I suspect I could have more food allergies that I currently know of. Sometimes the itch and skin irritation does get worse a few hours after eating, and last summer during a vacation one of these situations led into a huge breakout the next day.
Overall, it feels like my skin and eyes are reacting to something. I don't have any other allergic symptoms, no blocked nose or stomach problems. I might also add that the whiteheads I get often break on their own (I try not to pick), and the stuff that comes out is very runny, not sticky at all. Very much like the puss that comes out of my eyes...
I'd be interested to hear if anybody else has experience of allergies causing acne, and whether that is possible in the first place? I am planning to get tested for food and dust allergies, and will let you know when I get the results.
Yes --- this sounds like allergies. Although you may also have mild acne that gets further irritated by the allergies because they are causing a systemic inflammation response that aggravates the acne. I have dealt with much the same thing and got formal allergy testing. I now avoid all dairy, nuts, and high fructose foods, in addition to sugary foods and alcohol. I have found that eating added fats also causes itching and more irritation. The only fat I eat is a bit of extra virgin olive oil to cook with.
I thought Id dwell a little further into this. Actually, this might belong in the food category, but since I already started this thread I might as well continue...
I've been reading about something called histamine intolerance, and many of those symptoms seem to fit me very well. I've been having headaches, eye irritation that resembles allergy, and also an occasionally upset stomach. This might be a bit too much information, but if I eat fish, it takes me about an hour, max, before I literally have to run to the bathroom.
Now, when it comes to my skin problems, I've noticed that certain foods mentioned with histamine intolerance really irritate my skin. For example, my brother is really into chili, he grows his own stuff and so on. Whenever he makes me taste one (and they are really hot), my chin starts to itch, and I later develop a zit in that place. Also, if I eat citrus fruits, pineapple, certain berries, cheese, tomatoes, ketchup, just to mention out of the top of my head, my skin starts to itch after a while. Alcohol doesn't really seem to suit me at all, because I don't really get drunk (in the way others seem to), but rather I just get tired, puffy, and just generally feel very bad. The feeling often lingers for days, even if I don't drink much at all. Red wine is the worst, I'm 100% sure it makes me break out.
I've read that there is a delay before the symptoms of histamine intolerance show up, because enough histamine needs to be accumulated into the body. This would very much explain why my acne is mostly cyclical. It always reappears, no matter what I do, even if I change nothing in my diet or life overall. It always starts with my skin getting reddish and itchy, and after a few days or so, whiteheads appear. Like I said in my previous post, they're really not even whiteheads, but rather my skin secretes this very running, white liquid through my pores in the areas that are red. Obviously I also have a tendency to acne, but I'm almost 100% certain there is something else involved here.
I'm adding a couple of links about HIT here:
http://www.histamineintolerance.org.uk/about/the-food-diary/the-food-list
http://foodallergies.about.com/od/commonfoodallergies/p/histamineintol.htm
You could also be dealing with rosacea which can manifest in swelling, itching, redness and zits that manifest after eating many of the foods you mention. What I've learned is that it takes keeping a food journal to figure out what causes flare-ups for you...regardless of what the diagnosis is (acne, rosacea, or allergies, etc.). Many skin inflammations are calmed down by following a calming diet --- low glycemic and avoiding dairy, hot foods, alcohol, sugars, yeasts, citrus fruits, etc.
Your issue may be histamine intolerance or fructose intolerance (the foods you mention have high amounts of fructans) or a response to rosacea triggers or a yeast issue or ???
I know for myself that it is most likely a combination of these issues. I have been diagnosed as having rosacea and acne and fructose intolerant and I also have some food allergies. I think I also must have some sensitivity to yeasts because yeast breads always cause flare-ups...or maybe it is just that bread is a high glycemic food. I probably will never know for sure because it would take way too much expensive testing to figure it all out!!
Yes, your theory is on the right track. It's not the cause for everyone's acne, but it can be for some people. If you are noticing other signs of an allergic reaction, such as runny nose or dry eyes, then you are on the right track. There isn't a lot of scientific evidence to validate the relationship between high histamines and acne, but I found that when I follow a low histamine diet, I don't get new acne and my skin feels calmer. I got my IgG and IgE levels tested and a large number of antibodies and high histamines were found in my blood. I did a skin test and a blood test for allergies, but nothing conclusive was found so the allergist recommended a low histamine lifestyle. I realized I wasn't allergic to specific foods or other products/ environmental factors, but my body was reacting to certain things by producing a larger amount of histamines than the average person. So for me, and I suspect for some others struggling with allergic reactions, it's a matter of quantity more than the types of foods I eat or the products I use. If you say red wine makes you feel bad, that's a strong indication of a histamine reaction because wine is on top of the list of things to avoid when dealing with histamine reactions.
Digestive enzymes have been very helpful, and also trying to balance my hormones to make sure my body is less reactive to foods and external factors. Limiting stress is possibly the strongest factor if you suspect your issue is histamine-related rather than a full-blown (IgE) allergy.