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Ok, this is my first post.
I'm 30 years old.
I developed Cystic Acne in my preteens. It got so bad and painful that I could not sit or lay down. It started on my face, neck and shoulders. I thought it was bad then...no. It got only worse. I had just entered middle school in a new town that was unkind to minorities especially new comers (drastically different from my old town) but in the beginning I stood up to it, but when the acne came, naturally I gradually became more recluse with my "oddity". I didn't want anyone to find out. I was ashamed and embarrassed. I couldn't stand the thought of going to Highschool like this so I convinced my parents to skip it (Yes I did it). I also convinced my parents to take me to the doctor (my family literally stood by and watched it and said it was normal).
Anyways, I went on ALL TYPES of medicine. Medicine that made me sleepy (I didnt realize at the time that it was the meds) and medicine that bleached my skin. It would briefly work then I would break out again after 1 month or so while still on it. So the docs would switch me to a new antibiotic. I listen to my body now as an adult and when I went on Minocyline Antibiotics as an adult I discovered it made me severly tired and dizzy...so looking back I remember how I used to feel and my parents would call me lazy which made me feel guilty but it was the meds!
The main thing that pisses me off now that I know what I know is how the doctors responded to the first thing my father asked them "Could it be something he is eating?"
The doctors "Educated" us; that it is a big misconception that food gives you acne. They treated my father and I like we were idiots and didn't know anything (in otherwords, they me expensive meds and told us to scram and not come back for 30 days and stop asking so many questions).
Fast forward some 15 years later.... I still have it. In fact it is worse but this time I have BAD scarring all over my chest, neck, all down my back and it has started to invade my thighs (inner and outer). VERY EMBARRASSING.
I finally had enough, and Well GUESS what I discovered?
ACNE IS DUE TO FOOD SENSITIVIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now I'm finding out I'm not the only one that knows this, which gives me more confidence that I'm on the right path.
I've been on food elimination diet twice. The first time it was on accident and it cleared me up 100%. Then it came back to my bewilderment after the diet ended. I realized it was diet that did it. So for the past 3 years I tried to find what part of the diet cleared me up. Turns out it was a bunch of things. Last week, I found success and became acne free again! No chemicals, no scrubbing/cleaning my skin for 1 hour like I used to. Not only that, I dropped a bunch of weight in the process effortlessly.
Then the end of last week I was tempted to eat the poisonous foods again (parents the friends pressured), and now 3 days later I'm breaking out. The funny thing is I was clear for 1 week! And when you are clear people tell you that you don't know what you are talking about, that they don't see anything on your skin and you look fine! I'm in PAIN right now. 2 on my back, 3 on my neck and one on my leg. HUGE painful cysts and I know what is next (the bursting, the blood, the stains, the purple scars and finally the permanent scars). Now those people are like "Eww".
The list of foods i have found to cause me acne (through both Immune testing and through my own trial and error) are as follows:
1. Dairy (Milk, butter, cheese, Pastries etc)
2. Yeast (+3 sensitivity)
3. Wheat/Gluten (especially bread!)
4. Pork (+2 sensitivity)
5. Strawberry
6. Soy
7. Almonds (+3)
8. I'm suspecting now food preservatives, but dont know how to test it
Theres more I'm sure as I go through life I'm sure the list will grow (sadly).
It is very difficult to change your eating habits, and it sucks when you can't share the same food with a friend or family because they think it is boring. Last week, I ate lots of bread, butter, and YEAST. Today I went out for lunch with a coworker too and ate oily dairy based food.
When you go out to eat, you better believe they use Butter and LOTS OF SOY product in their processed foods. I remember I told a friend once what I was avoiding and he looked at what HE was eating and said none of that was in his dish, but I looked and could see melted butter, fried food (soybean oil), and ranch all over his food not to mention cheese. So it is really difficult to train how to spot it in your normal diet and then not to eat all that. And when you finally can see it and cut it out, your food becomes BORING!
Anyways, sorry for the novel. I want to share some pictures here. Today I'm in pain 
( I don't look forward to the next few days.
I feel like writting a book on the subject. Dermatologists are CROOKS.
Yes they are, Crooks. I asked my Derm if mine could be dairy related and she just kind of shrugged her shoulders. Well, after joining this site, I decided to cut dairy and WOW the results. You should check out the Nutrition/Holistic Forum, they have awesome threads about diet, recipes, eating out with friends, ect. I have been doing alot of research on foods and its just amazing at what Im learning. I was always under the assumption that I ate healthy and diet wasnt causing it! Hey, whats funny though is I went to elementary with an Andre(Im 30 also), he also moved when we all went to middle school, and he was as you say a minority. Im sure its unlikely your the same Andre, but either way kind of funny.
Too funny! LOL!
But Andre is my middle name. No one knew me by that name way back in the old days.
Yea man, start with eliminating Dairy. Dairy throws your hormones off balance. I think it is a catalyst in making other food sensitivities worse.
My understanding is if you are mildly allergic (+1 or more) then your body reacts to it like its a poison. So literally, it causes you to become toxic. The body then creates byproducts, especially hormone related. For us Cystic Nodular acne types, it goes to the skin. Pay attention that Cystic acne forms on skin areas that are subjected to pressure, like creases in the skin, and where you lay or sit on. If you lay on your stomach when you sleep, you will probably see it on your chest, if you sleep on your face you will get it there.
I noticed it starts as Keratin Cysts.
Those cysts get infected and thats when it turns into Nodular Acne.
Dermatologists deny this. They say Acne is caused by bacteria, like its the only step in the process.
NO. Normal healthy skin doesnt do that. The Acne bacteria doesnt just randomly infect someone.
Dermatologists DONT want to talk to you about the root cause, they want to treat symptom not the cause because that is what makes them money.
Its like throwing water at flames instead of the burning log. We are only cash cows to them, it's completely unethical!
If they addressed the cause, the first thing to be addressed would be the Keratin cysts. Why are they there?
The answer is your body is trying to expel all that toxic crap you ate, and your hormones are unbalanced from things like Dairy and Soy which is known to cause your cells to go in overdrive. (Watch "Fork over Knives" documentary on this...they show Milk is the link to cancer cells).
Sorry I'm rambling
What I would recommend to anyone with cystic Acne is to take an allergy blood test. I have only done subdermal test. Thats how I found out about Pork, Strawberry and Almonds, (I forgot about Flaxseed too), and Yeast. Funny because I crave those things. I used to eat Flaxseed like popcorn! Out of all the things I could have been eating...Flaxseed was so random and it turns out I'm sensitive to it.
Pork too, I love pork chops, and pork tacos. When I cut that out, I realized it was the main cause of my tiredness after lunch (around 2pm). I would get SOOO tired, and I would not be able to think straight or clearly, and my speech would really go down I think I would literally drop several IQ points.
Man...I can't stop telling you guys EVERYTHING! Sorry! lol 
This is worth another bump. I find when I cut out certain foods that I do not have any acne at all. Seems like the foods vary from person to person. MIne are:
caramel color
chocolate
strawberries
ice cream
yogurt
sesame
coconut (oil or actual coconut)
nuts of any kind
honey
chick peas
I started noticing in my 20s that when I ate certain foods my skin would go crazy so I started really paying attention. I'm essentially acne free now, unless I eat something accidentally that I'm not supposed to have.
After years of resisting and seeking out only information that says there's no link to acne and diet, so I wouldn't have to change my nutrient-poor, starchy, meaty, oily restaurant eating diet, and treating symptoms, I caved. Non-inflammatory/macro for a week, and good god, what a difference in my skin, mood, energy level, everything!
And it's really true- you are what you eat. Clean food that your cells don't have to convert to a little nutrient and a lot of waste are your skin's best friend. A lot of nutrition and little waste makes for healthy organ and blood cells, healthy skin cells, and clean waste products coming out of your pores.