Acne.org Products
GLA is an omega 6 essential fatty acid that is found in borage and evening primrose oils, among others. freedom's theory is that Accutane somehow disturbs the omega 3 to 6 ratio in your body, which causes some people to scar when taking fish oil supplements or consuming a lot of vitamin A because doing so further screws up the ratio by adding more omega 3.
If you don't have enough GLA in your body, your skin becomes thin and dry and heals poorly, among other things. By correcting a GLA deficiency if you have one, your skin should "thicken up," the old scars should heal a bit and new ones should stop forming. This is all theoretical, of course, but it may help. Supplementing with 500mg+ of GLA in borage or primrose oil (500mg of the GLA, not the oil) can help with other skin conditions, including acne, and it may very well help this random scarring.
GLA is an omega 6 essential fatty acid that is found in borage and evening primrose oils, among others. freedom's theory is that Accutane somehow disturbs the omega 3 to 6 ratio in your body, which causes some people to scar when taking fish oil supplements or consuming a lot of vitamin A because doing so further screws up the ratio by adding more omega 3.
If you don't have enough GLA in your body, your skin becomes thin and dry and heals poorly, among other things. By correcting a GLA deficiency if you have one, your skin should "thicken up," the old scars should heal a bit and new ones should stop forming. This is all theoretical, of course, but it may help. Supplementing with 500mg+ of GLA in borage or primrose oil (500mg of the GLA, not the oil) can help with other skin conditions, including acne, and it may very well help this random scarring.
so in theory taking calcium and evening primrose tablets whilst avoiding fish oil and high levels of vitamin A after accutane will stop the possibility of spontaneous scarring. out of curosity you say you need upwards of 500mg of the GLA and this is not 500mg of the actual oil. What does this mean? I've just gone out and bought 1000mg evening primrose tablets. Is this adequate?
so in theory taking calcium and evening primrose tablets whilst avoiding fish oil and high levels of vitamin A after accutane will stop the possibility of spontaneous scarring. out of curosity you say you need upwards of 500mg of the GLA and this is not 500mg of the actual oil. What does this mean? I've just gone out and bought 1000mg evening primrose tablets. Is this adequate?
In theory, yes, but only one person has shared their success with testing this theory. I am not convinced that Calcium supplementation will have much effect on scarring, but I can see how GLA could help with its prevention and healing as it is anti-inflammatory.
Taking a GLA supplement while actually ON Accutane may do some interesting things as well, as some side effects of Accutane overlap with the symptoms of GLA deficiency; namely, dry skin, rashes and poor healing. I wonder if GLA somehow competes with fat-soluble vitamins such as Vitamin A for absorption in the body because it is a fatty acid; Accutane is basically a Vitamin A megadose, and it could deplete the body's GLA supply if this were the case. I really wish I studied science in college. 
If you have 1000mg primrose oil capsules, they probably have only about 90-100mg of GLA per capsule, as the GLA content of primrose tends to be around 10% of the total amount of oil. It should say the GLA content per serving on the bottle.
so in theory taking calcium and evening primrose tablets whilst avoiding fish oil and high levels of vitamin A after accutane will stop the possibility of spontaneous scarring. out of curosity you say you need upwards of 500mg of the GLA and this is not 500mg of the actual oil. What does this mean? I've just gone out and bought 1000mg evening primrose tablets. Is this adequate?In theory, yes, but only one person has shared their success with testing this theory. I am not convinced that Calcium supplementation will have much effect on scarring, but I can see how GLA could help with its prevention and healing as it is anti-inflammatory.
Taking a GLA supplement while actually ON Accutane may do some interesting things as well, as some side effects of Accutane overlap with the symptoms of GLA deficiency; namely, dry skin, rashes and poor healing. I wonder if GLA somehow competes with fat-soluble vitamins such as Vitamin A for absorption in the body because it is a fatty acid; Accutane is basically a Vitamin A megadose, and it could deplete the body's GLA supply if this were the case. I really wish I studied science in college.
If you have 1000mg primrose oil capsules, they probably have only about 90-100mg of GLA per capsule, as the GLA content of primrose tends to be around 10% of the total amount of oil. It should say the GLA content per serving on the bottle.
yeah i checked the bottle closely and out of the 1000mgs, its only 100mgs of the GLA. the other 700mgs is something known as linoleic acid. i have no clue if the second has any health benefits. also curious as to what the other 200mgs is exactly. its not listed. ive taken 10 tablets today and plan to keep doing so daily indefinitely if it works. so im taking a total of 1000mgs a day of the GLA and 7000 mgs of linoleic acid. its not expensive and if it helps reduce the possibility of scarring than its awesome. im curious as it also says it reduces inflammed acne. thats my biggest problem. i hope they go down. ill report back tomorrow.
ive bought the calcium too, but it contains a combination of a lot of things including zinc, magnesium, manganese, boron, zinc, vitamin k1, vitamin d3 and horsetail (its a herb). anything in here that may lead to scarring?
right now im on track to go on accutane next week. mainly due to the fact that my inflammed acne will not disappear and is scarring. im wondering if anyone here knows of any anti inflammatory things i could try. i use ice daily, blue/red light therapy, BP and nixoderm and the inflammation always remains.
yeah i checked the bottle closely and out of the 1000mgs, its only 100mgs of the GLA. the other 700mgs is something known as linoleic acid. i have no clue if the second has any health benefits. also curious as to what the other 200mgs is exactly. its not listed. ive taken 10 tablets today and plan to keep doing so daily indefinitely if it works. so im taking a total of 1000mgs a day of the GLA and 7000 mgs of linoleic acid. its not expensive and if it helps reduce the possibility of scarring than its awesome. im curious as it also says it reduces inflammed acne. thats my biggest problem. i hope they go down. ill report back tomorrow.
ive bought the calcium too, but it contains a combination of a lot of things including zinc, magnesium, manganese, boron, zinc, vitamin k1, vitamin d3 and horsetail (its a herb). anything in here that may lead to scarring?
right now im on track to go on accutane next week. mainly due to the fact that my inflammed acne will not disappear and is scarring. im wondering if anyone here knows of any anti inflammatory things i could try. i use ice daily, blue/red light therapy, BP and nixoderm and the inflammation always remains.
Linoleic acid is an omega 6 fatty acid that doesn't offer the same benefits as the anti-inflammatory omega 6 GLA. You should probably start at half of that dosage for a week and see how your body reacts before taking the full 10 tablets/day, as primrose oil affects hormone balance and your body needs to adjust. Also, don't expect it to work right away; supplements like that take time to work and you might not see any results for a few weeks, or you might break out more at first.
That calcium supp. sounds fine, but what form is the calcium in? Your body can absorb calcium CITRATE the best.
Good luck with the Accutane. Another anti-inflammatory is topical ibuprofen. I've also found Skin Biology's emu oil to be anti-inflammatory and a great moisturiser, but YMMV. 
here is some info on the role of calcium in the skin ( from Bion skincare web site).
I personally have found calcium to be sooo good for my skin. I presume I had a deficiency because the addition of a calcium supplement to my diet has made my skin more calm, clear, even toned, less flaky and stronger. I used to scar from even tiny blackheads without GLA and calcium. I can tell a difference when I dont take it. I will even venture to say it has played a role in the reversal of my scars.
Ever heard of micronized pearl cream for scars? Lots of women use pearl creams to even out their skin tone and scars.
"Calcium is a regulator of every organ in the body and the skin is no exception. The skin guards its calcium level very carefully and the calcium integrity of the upper epidermis regulates at least four major skin functions and possibly others that have yet to be determined.
Even though we are constantly shedding skin cells, the skin maintains a constant thickness of living layers. It therefore must have a means of determining its present thickness and a means of stimulating cellular division to replace these cells. At times cellular loss can be fast and at other times it may be slow. The skin must respond correctly. The calcium content of the upper epidermis is the measuring tool and the regulator of cell aoedifferentiation.a Differentiation is the point at which an immature cell in the basal epidermis becomes an aoeenda cell, or a aoeterminala cell and begins moving upward through the epidermis, toward eventual death and exfoliation. Until a basal cell differentiates, it is in a state of suspended animation
In the upper epidermis, when cells die and pass through the stratum granular layer they are stripped of their calcium content. If the skin experiences injury or excessive exfoliation, volumes of cells die and pass into the stratum corneum. They are stripped of their calcium and the calcium content of the upper epidermis becomes very high. Keratinocytes (skin cells) then absorb more calcium, which triggers the production of an enzyme named aoeprotein kinase Ca (PKC).
PKC travels out of the keratinocyte cells and goes from the upper epidermis down into the basal epidermis. It passes into immature (undifferentiated) keratinocyte cells and stimulates chromosomes 1 and 10 (chromosomes that regulate keratin production). The cells then aoedifferentiatea (begin producing keratin) and move upward to replace the lost cells and eventual exfoliation. These newly differentiated cells are replaced by new basal cell division.
In this manner, the skinas calcium content regulates cell differentiation (and cell division) and controls the thickness of the epidermis. High concentrations of upper epidermal calcium thereby cause rapid cell turnover and low concentrations of upper epidermal calcium cause slow cell turnover. Cell turnover can be up-regulated by increasing upper epidermal calcium and BiONas Bio-Essence Nighttime Calcium Complex produces this result. When calcium application is used in conjunction with peeling or microdermabrasion, resurfacing of the skin is faster and more profound. Conversely, resurfacing procedures on patients with low skin calcium content is slow and ineffectual.
As a second skin function, calcium regulates normal skin color by stimulating melanocytes (pigment producing cells) at the same time it causes differentiation of immature cells. Thirdly, calcium regulates lipid barrier processes. Peeling, microdermabrasion and cold winter weather strip the skinas moisture barrier. High calcium content in the upper epidermis helps maintain continual and efficient barrier functions. Patients with dry skin, or dry skin due to weather, respond well to topical calcium treatment. In the case of microdermabrasion, Bio-Essence Nighttime Calcium Complex can significantly reduce the dryness that is typical with this procedure and increase cell turnover simultaneously.
The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) has done exhaustive study of the functions of calcium within the skin. They observed that people with low skin calcium content experience greater premature aging of the skin and greater incidence of skin cancer. People with high skin calcium content experience less premature skin aging and less incidence of skin cancer. These observations were the reasons for their interest in calcium and their research produced much of the above information.
The fourth function of calcium within the skin is to stimulate the production of the skinas own age-protective and cancer-protective antioxidants. This proved to be the relationship between calcium and cancer that the NCRI was seeking. While science does not know the precise mechanism or process, calcium content has been directly linked with the production of catalase and indirectly linked to superoxide dismutase (two of the skinas most powerful antioxidants). Antioxidants prevent damage to the skin's components such as collagen. Antioxidants prevent DNA damage that lead to premature aging of the skin and skin cancer. Topical calcium products therefore provide anti-aging benefits and enhance skin cancer protection.
Calcium is an extremely powerful tool for skin rejuvenation and, in the not too distant future, it will receive media attention and marketing focus. .
yeah i checked the bottle closely and out of the 1000mgs, its only 100mgs of the GLA. the other 700mgs is something known as linoleic acid. i have no clue if the second has any health benefits. also curious as to what the other 200mgs is exactly. its not listed. ive taken 10 tablets today and plan to keep doing so daily indefinitely if it works. so im taking a total of 1000mgs a day of the GLA and 7000 mgs of linoleic acid. its not expensive and if it helps reduce the possibility of scarring than its awesome. im curious as it also says it reduces inflammed acne. thats my biggest problem. i hope they go down. ill report back tomorrow.
ive bought the calcium too, but it contains a combination of a lot of things including zinc, magnesium, manganese, boron, zinc, vitamin k1, vitamin d3 and horsetail (its a herb). anything in here that may lead to scarring?
right now im on track to go on accutane next week. mainly due to the fact that my inflammed acne will not disappear and is scarring. im wondering if anyone here knows of any anti inflammatory things i could try. i use ice daily, blue/red light therapy, BP and nixoderm and the inflammation always remains.
Linoleic acid is an omega 6 fatty acid that doesn't offer the same benefits as the anti-inflammatory omega 6 GLA. You should probably start at half of that dosage for a week and see how your body reacts before taking the full 10 tablets/day, as primrose oil affects hormone balance and your body needs to adjust. Also, don't expect it to work right away; supplements like that take time to work and you might not see any results for a few weeks, or you might break out more at first.
That calcium supp. sounds fine, but what form is the calcium in? Your body can absorb calcium CITRATE the best.
Good luck with the Accutane. Another anti-inflammatory is topical ibuprofen. I've also found Skin Biology's emu oil to be anti-inflammatory and a great moisturiser, but YMMV.
im liking the evening primrose at the moment. i havent noticed any effects on my red acne that keeps coming up at the moment nor if it will stop any scarring/time will tell. thats the main reason im taking it, plus to offset the accutane once i start. i feel relaxed today ad genuinely healthier than i usually do. my mind feels clearer and my skin feels less oily. might purely be my imagination though !
in terms of the calcium tablets, each one has 50mg of calcium citrate and 224mgs of calcium from hydroxyapatite. ive taken two today and will start doing that daily. oh will look into the iburpofen, i think we have that in a topical form in the cupboard. thanks 
Do any of you who are scarring feel completely "dried out"? My mouth, lips, eyes, and skin all have felt terribly dry for a few months now no matter how much water I drink, and I wonder if the dryness and the sudden proneness to scarring are related. I haven't ever taken Accutane, but I feel like I can empathize with those who have because the dryness is really annoying. 
Ok got another scar today..Fuck...Althou shallow as hell thou, going to buy the borage oil now! I have found this borage oil with 220mg of gla per capsule, but do I need more? If I eat two of these pills it also means that I will get
Simple fats
250mg
Multiplefats
635mg
Gammalinolensyra(GLA)
440mg
Isnt it dangerous to get that much multiple and simple fats?? or maybe it isnt that much?
Ok got another scar today..Fuck...Althou shallow as hell thou, going to buy the borage oil now! I have found this borage oil with 220mg of gla per capsule, but do I need more? If I eat two of these pills it also means that I will get
Simple fats
250mg
Multiplefats
635mg
Gammalinolensyra(GLA)
440mg
Isnt it dangerous to get that much multiple and simple fats?? or maybe it isnt that much?
I used primrose oil capsules Barleens brand 2-6 capsules per day. I would think that Borage would work as well. Do you think your scarring is being caused by 03/06 imbalance (too much 03?)? I would also take a calcium supplement. Calcium plays a role in fatty acid metabolism and I am sure that I scar when I am low in calcium-even when I am taking primrose. I take calcium citrate. HTH
Ok got another scar today..Fuck...Althou shallow as hell thou, going to buy the borage oil now! I have found this borage oil with 220mg of gla per capsule, but do I need more? If I eat two of these pills it also means that I will get
Simple fats
250mg
Multiplefats
635mg
Gammalinolensyra(GLA)
440mg
Isnt it dangerous to get that much multiple and simple fats?? or maybe it isnt that much?
All borage oil and primrose oil capsules have extra omega 6 fats in addition to the GLA. A few hundred milligrams of fat is nothing; I eat about 7 GRAMS of primrose and borage total each day and I'm fine. Most people eat far more fat than that in a day, and that's fine if your diet is reasonably healthy, I think.
freedom do you still have this or is it done with you?
When I was taking 03/fish oil I got a scar/hole from every blackhead or scratch. I did not get many cysts during that time. I stop scarring from every blackhead about three months after I started primrose oil and stopping all forms of 03. When I would eat fish or foods high in 03 (flax chia etc) I would scar, amazing how small amount would set me back. I am not as fragile now and scars are reversing but I have noticed that when I am low in Calcium I can scar but its not a sure thing. I think it takes a while to thicken and toughen back up the skin after low06/gla. I am most sure calcium and fats work together-my skin can not go without either for very long. HTH
Freedom, do you split up your GLA intake throughout the day or take all of the pills at once? Also, do you take them with a fatty beverage and meal?
I take two to three capsules with a fatty meal. If I need more (can tell by my skin oils, softness) then I take more with another meal. I took bile supps for a while noticed better absorption of fats with that. My fat digestion was off when I started primrose. I dont know if high 03 caused that or not..didnt have a problem digesting fats until I cut out 06.
New scar today!! Im going to get mirtizapine next week and begin with gla supplement(ordered already). Im must the most unlucky guy in the world.....
Edit: 3 scars today!!!! I believe the scars are connected to stress/cortisol levels somehow! Im pretty sure about this. The problem is that its hard to keep these levels down when you are experiencing something like this.
Ok i think i may have have gotten one of these scars last night. basically its a about 1 cm long but the area is red ... so i cant tell if its just the red colour that is makign it look like a depressed scar.
Freedom - were your spontaneous scars red first then became depressed afterwards ? Also do you think omega 3 from foods such as pumpkin seeds etc can make this condition worse or is it just omega 3 supps. how long did it take for your scars to stop appearing with EPO. Im trying to find the same brand that you use but i dont think they do it here in the UK.
Freedom, do you split up your GLA intake throughout the day or take all of the pills at once? Also, do you take them with a fatty beverage and meal?
I take two to three capsules with a fatty meal. If I need more (can tell by my skin oils, softness) then I take more with another meal. I took bile supps for a while noticed better absorption of fats with that. My fat digestion was off when I started primrose. I dont know if high 03 caused that or not..didnt have a problem digesting fats until I cut out 06.
You cut out Omega 6 aswell ? i thought EPO has alot of o6 aswell ?
Freedom, do you split up your GLA intake throughout the day or take all of the pills at once? Also, do you take them with a fatty beverage and meal?
I take two to three capsules with a fatty meal. If I need more (can tell by my skin oils, softness) then I take more with another meal. I took bile supps for a while noticed better absorption of fats with that. My fat digestion was off when I started primrose. I dont know if high 03 caused that or not..didnt have a problem digesting fats until I cut out 06.
You cut out Omega 6 aswell ? i thought EPO has alot of o6 aswell ?
hey all, i just went to see the dermatologist. turns out my acne has become cystic and the only way to get rid of it is to use the accutane. im now on one 20mg tablet, once a day. ive been taking the evening primrose and the calcium,as recommended in here to stop spontaneous scarring. do we stil stand by this?