I found that cutting down on coffee drastically limited the number of inflammed zits I got too. Quitting it never eliminated them completely for me though, so I let myself drink a cup in the morning. For me, I think it's because the caffeine seems to flood my body with stress hormones or something (also makes me go up and down all day the more I drink it).
Caffeine actually has health benefits in small doses. 
Hi Cates,
Just wondering how your progress is? I am also pregnant and have tried EVERYTHING imaginable to try to get a grip on my cystic acne. I have been drinking coffee for 15 years and come to think of it, that's possibly when my acne began? How long before you started noticing results?
Hey I'm glad you found your culprit. Whether it's coffee or caffeine, you are at least aware that it could be both.
I was pretty clear for about 3 months (odd zit here or there). Then my boyfriend from Switzerland came and brought me all this dark chocolate. I didn't inhale it right away, but within a week that I started eating it I kept getting more and more bumps and pimples. I was horrified.
when I visted Switzerland over Christmas, for two weeks I had chocolate and espresso everday. My skin erupted. But I haven't drank coffee since January I think. Drank chai tea up until a few months ago. Have a soda randomly here or there (maybe once a month). And I don't know if it's the sugar or what, but I pretty much know it's caffeine. I've almost always known it's caffeine.
I wish you luck and a healthy baby! Congrats!
Interesting post. I am wondering, though, if it's more the milk/cream instead of your coffee. Dairy produces more acne for me than anything. Other than spicy foods. You didn't say if you always use milk in your coffee, noticed you mentioned mocha. May have to try it myself. 
Caffeine DEFINITELY has an affect on me. I told my derm, he said that's pretty common among acne suffers.
Coffee, energy drinks, tea's all make me break out. Usually 1 cyst or if I'm lucky a couple small zits.
Interestingly enough, 5 hour energy shots don't make me break out. However I'm not 100% sure on this. For me it was my realization that my pre-workout supplement I took for the gym made me break out. I thought it was the gym machines, the towels, the sweat, well I was really careful at the gym but still broke out. Until one day I took a 5 hour energy instead of my normal supplement, so that's when I cut out my supplement.
However later on I realized it was anything with extreme caffeine in it, and I haven't really had 5 hour energy in a long time so not really sure if its ok or not.
Sorry it's been so long since I posted! But I have been thinking about checking back in so here's an update.
I have still been avoiding caffeine and coffee since having my baby, because of breast-feeding and all... and my face has been totally fine as far as not getting any new cysts. Last week though, I decided to have a tall soy chai tea latte from Starbucks, and guess what - my face was all tingly for a couple days and during that time I developed a nice new cyst near the corner of my mouth. woo hoo. :/ I also could tell that elsewhere on my chin other cysts were developing underneath the surface. Ugh.
So... 1 point for my culprit really being caffeine-related and not just coffee-related. In order to really test the theory that it's caffeine that is causing my cystic acne and not coffee, I decided to chance it and have a tall decaf iced caramel macchiato. I just drank that a few hours ago, so we'll see what happens. I'm really hoping it's not coffee because I don't want another giant painful cyst on my face, and I really don't want ANOTHER scar. I know there's still a small amount of caffeine in decaf coffee but I've been having a lot of chocolate over the holidays and I really don't think that amount of caffeine is enough to push me over the edge and have a breakout.
To everyone who mentioned that it could be the dairy:
Did you read my whole first post? I know it was super long, but it's really really really NOT the dairy. Dairy makes me congested, but that's about it. During my pregnancy I drank more milk and ate more ice cream than I ever have in my entire life, and that's when my acne was literally non-existent.
Anyway, I will come back and post to let you know if any new cysts developed or not in the next few days. Crossing my fingers... 
Sorry it's been so long since I posted! But I have been thinking about checking back in so here's an update.
I have still been avoiding caffeine and coffee since having my baby, because of breast-feeding and all... and my face has been totally fine as far as not getting any new cysts. Last week though, I decided to have a tall soy chai tea latte from Starbucks, and guess what - my face was all tingly for a couple days and during that time I developed a nice new cyst near the corner of my mouth. woo hoo. :/ I also could tell that elsewhere on my chin other cysts were developing underneath the surface. Ugh.
So... 1 point for my culprit really being caffeine-related and not just coffee-related. In order to really test the theory that it's caffeine that is causing my cystic acne and not coffee, I decided to chance it and have a tall decaf iced caramel macchiato. I just drank that a few hours ago, so we'll see what happens. I'm really hoping it's not coffee because I don't want another giant painful cyst on my face, and I really don't want ANOTHER scar. I know there's still a small amount of caffeine in decaf coffee but I've been having a lot of chocolate over the holidays and I really don't think that amount of caffeine is enough to push me over the edge and have a breakout.
To everyone who mentioned that it could be the dairy:
Did you read my whole first post? I know it was super long, but it's really really really NOT the dairy. Dairy makes me congested, but that's about it. During my pregnancy I drank more milk and ate more ice cream than I ever have in my entire life, and that's when my acne was literally non-existent.
Anyway, I will come back and post to let you know if any new cysts developed or not in the next few days. Crossing my fingers...
Is this you?
Ha! No, that's not me, but I'm not surprised someone else is having this issue!!
Just to add to my last post, I decided to have another decaf caramel macchiato a couple days ago and I haven't noticed any *new* cysts yet. I put that in asterisks because I am still dealing with two large zits that developed when I had that soy chai a couple weeks ago. At this point, I'm assuming that the decaf coffee hasn't affected my skin because those zits were already there when I had the decaf macchiato twice this past week.
Once these two zits/cysts are fully healed - if I'm still able to drink decaf without any new cysts, I'm going to have to conclude that the first guy who posted/commented on this topic was correct - that it was in fact the high levels of caffeine in the coffee that were (and still are) doing me wrong!
Ha! No, that's not me, but I'm not surprised someone else is having this issue!!
Just to add to my last post, I decided to have another decaf caramel macchiato a couple days ago and I haven't noticed any *new* cysts yet. I put that in asterisks because I am still dealing with two large zits that developed when I had that soy chai a couple weeks ago. At this point, I'm assuming that the decaf coffee hasn't affected my skin because those zits were already there when I had the decaf macchiato twice this past week.
Once these two zits/cysts are fully healed - if I'm still able to drink decaf without any new cysts, I'm going to have to conclude that the first guy who posted/commented on this topic was correct - that it was in fact the high levels of caffeine in the coffee that were (and still are) doing me wrong!
Here's another video you might find helpful...
I noticed she discovered other allegies after her 1st 1, I'm hoping that's not my case but I'm starting to suspect Legumes (not Acne causing though).
When I was young, about 11 or 12 years old I was tested for reactions to all different kinds of allergens (I was given a back prick test) and I wasn't allergic to anything. I am fortunate for that. Though I know dairy causes me some congestion and I'm pretty sure soy gives me crazy dreams, sometimes nightmares. 
is it coffee or just caffeine? can u drink non-caffeine coffee?
I'm pretty sure now that it's just caffeine! I have had quite a bit of decaf coffee the past week and I haven't gotten any new cysts. I have had one cyst though, underneath the surface of my skin (not really visible) for the past couple of weeks and I think even having decaf coffee isn't doing me any favors when it comes to my skin naturally healing and eliminating the cyst (since there's still some caffeine in decaf coffee, just not a lot).
SO! I think as long as I have decaf and I don't have it everyday, maybe just a few times per week at most, that I should be cyst-free from now on! Woo! Maybe I should rename my original post... I'm so happy though that I can still have decaf coffee!! SQUEEEEE!!! But not being able to have caffeine sure is a bummer when my 6 month old barely sleeps at night! ha.
OMG, that might be it!!! Im the same way. I've been on this message board for so long!! I tried EVERYTHING, and Im still breaking out...almost 6 years later after my first visit to this board. Im addicted to coffee,I look foward to my morning ONLY because of coffee. OUCH. Ill try to slowly stop drinking it. Just a week ago, taking ALL the hearbs, eating right..my face is just breakes out and breaks out in cystic acne..like it is some reaction, and coffee is the only thing I never stopped drinking. I dont use creamers...and I drink coffee for its taste, Once I tried to stop drinking coffee ,I had very bad withdrawal symptoms...nightmares, chills,heart problems.. Now Ill do it slowly. Ill start using 1 of regular coffee instead of my usual 4.Ill post update in 2 weeks.
I am just about 100% sure that the cause of my cystic acne (on my chin and around my mouth) is COFFEE.
I know this is really LONG. If you don't want to hear the back story, skip the next four paragraphs (to the bold text).
I have tried to figure out what could be causing it for years now. It has been so frustrating. Just a little info about me: First of all, I'm a female, I'm 25 years old, and I'm a healthy weight (on the low end of average for body fat percentage). I have dry skin (even water dries me out). I never had acne as a teen, maybe one small normal zit that went away in a few days once every few months. It seemed like the cystic acne very gradually came on after I got into college when I was 19. Since I turned 20 though, it's seemed like I've had at least one major/huge cyst on my chin at all times, sometimes five or more, all located around my mouth and chin, which take months and months to go away and leave dark scars when they're finally gone.
In the past few years I've come on this site, read the message boards, used the regimen that's recommended here, etc. I've tried to make a bunch of changes to my external environment (changing my pillow case every other day, using different laundry detergent/fabric softener, changing my shampoo/conditioner, washing my hands a lot more in case I touch my face on accident, using clean towels every time I dry my face, etc.). I've tried lots of different topical treatments like clindamycin, salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, and natural stuff like honey masks, turmeric, lemon, etc. Tried different cleansers/moisturizers from the typical brand names to more expensive ones that other prominent bloggers have said good things about. Didn't seem to make much of a difference. (The regimen on this site helped a little bit, but I didn't like the bleaching of my pillow cases and the fact that the cleanser was too harsh for my skin, the benzoyl peroxide really dried me out, and the moisturizer didn't moisturize enough... no matter how much I used my skin was still dry and tight.) Oh! I even went almost a full year without wearing makeup (which was horrible)! No change.
I've also tried to make significant changes to my diet. In 2009 I cut out dairy from my diet for over three months (probably 95%) because I used to have so much of it (sour cream, butter, yogurt, milk, cheese...) and for me that was difficult. I noticed a small, somewhat significant difference in my acne, but not enough to make me believe for sure it was THE cause, since I have had dairy all my life - I mean, why now? why would it start affecting me all of a sudden in my 20s? Anyway, I also tried to cut out table sugar and start using agave nectar for a while since it's supposed have a lower glycemic index (some websites mentioned that foods with a high GI could cause acne). I tried having less "inflammatory foods" and more foods that help with inflammation. I tried increasing my water intake, drinking lemon water every day... Didn't notice a difference with any of it. (I have always had a pretty healthy diet - lots of home-cooked meals, with meat and veggies. I rarely have fast food, and "dessert" was a small glass of orange juice most of the time.)
So I pretty much gave up the fight because I wasn't okay with going on Accutane - I did want kids eventually, and I don't trust something that screws with your system so badly that you have to go on birth control just to use it. It just wasn't worth it to me. So I was resigned to believe that my cystic acne was hormonal - that I just had some sort of hormone imbalance that I couldn't really do anything about.
Come October 2010, I become pregnant. Over the next four months I saw my acne slowly disappear, no new cysts. I automatically assumed it was because of all the hormonal changes my body was going through from being pregnant and didn't think twice about it.
At this time, I also cut out coffee, soda, and black/green tea from my diet, because well, you're supposed to when you're pregnant. (Previously I only drank coffee about once or twice a week, and usually it was some blended thing or a caramel macchiato. I had a soda maybe once every two weeks, and I had an arnold palmer (lemonade + black tea) about three times a week.) During the next four months I had NO coffee and NO black or green tea.) Also, I had severe aversions to anything sugary or sweet for almost three months, so I stopped drinking orange juice and had mostly bland or salty foods. Another things that changed was I started drinking a LOT more milk (2%), eating a lot more ice cream, and having a little milk and dark chocolate just about every day (so a little bit of caffeine).
*Side note: During this time I would wash my face only at night (but not every night), with Philosophy cleanser. About half the time I'd go to sleep with my makeup on (makeup: American Beauty liquid foundation and Bare Minerals powder). The times I would wash my face I'd use some basic Lubriderm lotion as moisturizer, the times I didn't, I didn't use any moisturizer or anything. (I would go some days without bothering to take the makeup off because I was at home all day with morning sickness.)
So, four months into my pregnancy I decide I really want some coffee ice cream, and I start having a few spoonfuls every other day for about a week. What happens? I get my first zit (actually two of them) since being pregnant - not major cysts, but fairly normal sized zits. Around this time I was also finally getting over my morning sickness, so I thought, this has got to be my hormones starting to go back to their normal selves. A few days later (still having the coffee ice cream) it dawns on me that it could be the coffee, so I stop having the ice cream and continue to cut out all coffee. NO new zits after that.
Two and a half months later, here I am, craving a blended mocha. So I get one to share with my husband and end up drinking half of it (this particular mocha tasted like it had some kind of concentrated coffee in it). THE NEXT DAY, I notice I've developed a MAJOR cyst underneath my skin on the corner of my chin, and the rest of the skin around my mouth and chin feels tingly like I'm about to get more. Ugh.
It being the coffee makes sense since I started gradually getting cystic acne in my 20s when I was in college and started drinking a lot more coffee at that time in order to handle the workload. I rarely had any coffee in high school, which was why I rarely had any issues with acne.
So this is why I believe it's the coffee - for me (and potentially for many other people). Somehow my system does not function properly when I have coffee and it expresses this by giving me horrible cystic acne. But there are like >250 different chemical compounds in coffee so it's not terribly surprising.
Ultimately I just wanted to share my experience because I know how horrible it is to have cystic acne and not know why! All I can say is that even though I LOVE coffee drinks, I am going to cut coffee out of my diet from now on. If you've had a similar experience to me (you're a girl, you're having cysts with dry skin, not being able to find any relief) at least just TRY cutting out coffee. I found one website during all my many hours researching possible causes in the past five years where a woman had mentioned she discovered her cystic acne on her chin was for sure because of coffee and I didn't want to try cutting it out because she provided no other details, it was just one testimony, and I enjoyed coffee too much. But I should have just tried it. I figured I didn't drink enough of it to make a difference. Also, when I cut out dairy for three months and noticed a slight difference in my acne, it was probably because I was also having less coffee (doesn't taste as good with soymilk to me).
I hope this helps someone else. If I find out for some odd reason that it's not the coffee and it's something else (what, I don't know. Maybe too much sugar, but I sincerely doubt it) I will come back and edit this post.
Good luck everyone. Cystic acne is a B.
edit: I have also tried taking large doses of essential fatty acids every day (Omega 3/6/9 - in the appropriate proportion), and I tried using Apple Cider Vinegar as a topical treatment for the cysts as well as putting it in water with honey and drinking it. (Neither worked.)
edit #2: Other things I've tried that didn't work: Coconut oil (in home made smoothies, in place of olive oil when cooking, and for "pulling" - swishing some in your mouth every morning for 30 seconds or so, which is supposed to draw out toxins). Jojoba oil on my face as a moisturizer and mixing with my cleanser to help my dry skin. Essential oils (eucalyptus, lavender, peppermint, tea tree...) directly on cysts. Baking soda as an exfoliator once in a while in my cleanser. I actually tried going without shampoo and conditioner for a while, using baking soda + water as shampoo and just honey water as conditioner... I could only handle that for so long. I've tried using only water to wash my face and no cleanser. Tried getting more zinc in my diet. Tried a Bare Minerals "acne fighting" powder that has sulfur in it.
If I can remember anything else I'll edit this again. Sorry, after 5+ years of trying to figure this out, I've tried more things than I can remember it seems.
***LAST EDIT (01-13-2012): I discovered that it is in fact, the CAFFEINE in the coffee that causes my cystic acne. Since coffee was the only real caffeinated beverage that I used to drink often and it has SO much caffeine in it, it appeared that it was just coffee. I ended up doing some more trial and error after posting this and found I could still have decaf coffee without having a cystic acne breakout. I am continuing to limit my intake though to a few times per week because of the small amount of caffeine that remains in even decaf.
I hope this helps someone else, who like me, has struggled for YEARS (almost 7 now?) trying to figure out what was causing these painful cysts on my face. I'm just happy that now all I have to deal with is all the scars, that will hopefully fade with time.
I don't drink coffee at all ( and I mean it). I've never smoked either. Guess what? My acne was horrendous untill I got Spironolactone. Acne causes are different. Some people get clear thru diets, others may outgrow their acne. And there's crap loads of pple who get clear with drugs. There's no ultimate cure for acne whatsoever. We all find our 'cure' thru trials and errors. I'm glad to know that u found your acne cause though.
i Cogito, am very interested to hear your progress.
Me, I accidentally got off coffee a month ago. I had a horrible flu an couldnt eat a thing for a few days, being sick didnt miss the caffiene nor anythinge dlse, notice my skin was looking clearer. Well this super bad germ took away any of my usual liking for food for a good week, still noticed skin was pretty nice despite feling so shite. I stopped coffee for about a month, which seemed to improve, but shortly after, I begun having break outs again, despite no coffee. Had several types of herbal tea, chai and other cutesy stuff, with no sugar. SO maybe it is something else. Nost sure, I don drink harldy any caffiene now at least I am not addicted to coffee lol.
Thanks for the post though it is very interesting.
I thought I'd let you know that I just rediscovered a great coffee alternative. We used to drink it as kids because my parents didn't want us to have real coffee. It's called "PERO Instant Natural Beverage" and I found it at my local health food store, but Amazon carries it as well. It only contains malted barley, barley, chicory and rye and it tastes very much like real coffee. I like to mix it with hot milk and it gives me the same satisfaction that a cup of real coffee would bring.
Just wanted to share!
Hi,
I'm just passing by (saw this thread on a google search) but I wanted to say that coffee gives me acne too. Black coffee, both regular and decaffeinated . It's not the caffeine - tea, energy drinks, red bull, etc, doesn't bother me.
However after several years of not drinking coffee I've found I can usually tolerate a cup a week or every other week.
Also there is one kind of coffee I found that doesn't give me acne, no idea why. It is marketed as 'instant espresso'. I've tried 3 different brands (one nescafe and two 'fancy' brands) and I can drink tons of it without it causing acne. (Real espresso, of course, brings on the acne) They must remove whatever causes the acne when they make it 'instant espresso').
Hope that you all find ways to cure your acne! I was told many years ago that adult acne is incurable but through trial and error (as said above), research, etc, I am gratefully almost entirely free of it now with only the occasional pimple when I do things I know I shouldn't, like drink a cup of coffee.
but I've been having a lot of chocolate over the holidays and I really don't think that amount of caffeine is enough to push me over the edge and have a breakout.
To everyone who mentioned that it could be the dairy:
Did you read my whole first post? I know it was super long, but it's really really really NOT the dairy. Dairy makes me congested, but that's about it. During my pregnancy I drank more milk and ate more ice cream than I ever have in my entire life, and that's when my acne was literally non-existent.
Anyway, I will come back and post to let you know if any new cysts developed or not in the next few days. Crossing my fingers...
Chocolate have antioxidant and is good for you even with a few caffeine. I saw some people have problems with caffeine, so they substitute cacao with carob. I might try that and see ' cause I still break out ;\
Well,abt 2 months ago I started gradually cutting coffee from my diet.At the same time,i started using witch hazel as a toner and started taking Black Seed oil.My face was clear with 0 breakouts. I got back to coffee after a month,and I was sure its the toner and black seed oil that cured me.A month later on coffee and my.regime,my face looks like crap again. Im coffee drinker...its my comfort drink,i drink strong coffee.I will start cutting out coffee again.How did your acne look?My breakouts are cystic and my pores get very very clogged,breakouts appear on forehead,cheeks and even a chin.
I'd like to report that I used to always think coffee caused my cystic acne as well; however, I haven't had coffee in over a month, and no caffeine besides occasional green tea, and I'm still breaking out in cysts on my chin. So yes, caffeine may aggravate acne for some, but if your hormones are screwed up anyway it's not going to change anything to stop drinking it.
I dont know why I even bother, blah!
Im pretty sure caffeine is the cause of my acne. I stopped drinking coffee and eating chocolate more than a year ago. I only drink 12 cups of iced tea a day and I was still breaking out but not as badly as when I was drinking coffee.
After I realized that caffeine allergy was a thing a couple of weeks ago,I cut out all caffeine and my acne has greatly improved. I still have some that Im assuming have to run its course but Im pretty sure caffeine triggers my acne.
Thanks for this post, Cates! All my IRL friends think Im crazy.