Hello everyone
I have had acne since I was 15 or 16 years old. I got (Ro)Accutane one time for 4-5 months once. I can't really remember when. Maybe at age 17. It cleared me completely for a couple of years. I'm 25 now and soon turning 26. I have been using Dans regimen and his products for some years now on/off. It helps a lot, but the last 7-8 months I haven't been able to keep clear skin. I am struggling to find out why i'm still fighting with acne. I know my mother had acne in her 20s as well, so I guess it's somewhat genetic.
I considered a few things:
- Me and my ex girlfriend of 3,5 years broke up and moved apart = a lort of stress
- I have been working out a lot compared to before (3-4 times a week lifting weights) = Hormones
- I took a lot of Whey supplements to help me gain muscle. 2-3 shakes a day.
I still work out a lot but have quit taking supplements to avoid dairy and milk.
I try to avoid dairy, refined sugar and unhealthy food and eat low-gi food. (been doing this diet for the last month)
I get acne on my chin and cheeks. I think my type of acne is papules and sometimes inflammed pastules. I guess my acne is mild to moderate.
Regimen:
Acne.org cleanser
Acne.org treatment BP 2,5 % (2 pumps)
Acne.org mouisturizer
Jojoba oil
Supplements:
Omega 3
Vitamin D3
Zinc (started one week ago)
I just ordered some AHA to try it and get rid of some red marks.
The attached photos is before my skin got worse. I think they are from february and march 2013. I was using the regimen at that time as well. Well my skin isn't horrible, but I hate I can't keep my skin clear anymore.
I started on a diet yesterday. I based on a diet from the book "The Dietary Cure of Acne" written by Loren Cordain. It's a paleo-diet where you have to avoid certain foods the first 30-days.
[Removed]
- Dairy Foods
- Cereal Grains
- Cereal Grain-Like Seeds
- Legumes
- Starchy Tubers
- Yeast Containing Foods
- Fatty, Processed & Canned Meats & Fish
- Alcoholic beverages
- Sweets
- Vegetable and Salad Oils, Margarines and Shortening
Do EAT
- Vegetables
- Lean meat
- Eggs
- Almonds
- Fresh fruit
- Fresh fish
- Some oils (olive oil)
I already eat pretty healthy, but I have never tried avoiding grains before. Maybe that's my culprit?
I feel like this could be it. The only downside right now is that i'm going to lose some weight, which I don't need. I'm already fit with visible abs. I'm very hard to get enough calories from vegetables and meat alone.
Otherwise I know I will be deviating a bit from the diet on saturday because i'm going to party with some friends from university. We'll be tasting some different beers and having a nice meal. Beers = grains and I can't expect them to make me a paleo-meal 😉
It's day 4 on my Paleo-like diet based on "The Dietary Cure for Acne" by Loren Cordain. Everything is going well so far. It's like the inflammation in my body has decreased during the last 4 days. My active zits seems less inflammed and red. Maybe it's placebo? Who knows. Time will tell.. I'm still using BP twice a day. I'm planning to taper off in a couple of weeks if things keep getting better! My only concern right now is the crazy amount of food I have to eat to get the right amount of calories to maintain my current weight! Tomorrow night i'm going to deviate a bit from the diet. I have to go to a gathering where we are going to taste some different beers.
I'll keep this thread updated.
Day 6 - Almost a week gone by!
Saturday I had a "cheat" night with beers, "normal food" and some chips. I felt guilty afterwards. Fortunately i'm back on track and things a going great. The only thing I miss is my oats in the morning and sometimes rice and pasta. I feel my skin is clearing up. I can't know for sure yet. I haven't got many zits since I started this diet. Could be a coincidence. I'm still using BP, but I hope this diet will make me able to wean off soon 
Day 8
Everything is going well on this regimen. It seems like the anti-inflammatory diet is working. My skin is slowly clearing. No breakouts recently. Still using BP though. My skin seems less drier than it used to before this diet.
Tonight i'm having a Paelo-style pizza with ham, pineapple, tomato-sauce, onions and peppers. the "bread" is made of seeds, nuts and eggs.
Day 9
Still going great. No new acne so far. The active acne is dying and drying out. Redness is going down (inflammation). I've lost about 2 lbs of body weight (that's not good). Another thing i've noticed is that my skin seems more hydrated now although i'm still using BP twice a day. Before I had to put on moisturizer 3-4 times day to keep my skin hydrated and avoid flakiness.
The weekend is going to be tough though. I miss a beer with the lads! 😉
Day 12
Still going great. Had some red wine with some friends yesterday. When I got home I had a zit on my nose. It's probably a zit from before my diet change, so I don't worry to much about that. It's only been 12 days and I have read that pimples takes as much as 4 weeks to develop.