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Hi everyone. Been loking at this site for a long time and really is a wonderfful thing. In a world where you open a magazine or watch tv and all you see is perfect people it i so good to talk to people like me.
I fully understand that I am lucky that it is not worse but it is just so hard. The only person i know that had severe acne/cysts committed suicide and i found out later one of the reasons was due to similar issues to me, before that I didn't even know they had cyst's.
I have been getting large cysts for years. I have found a regimen that works for my acne but I still get cysts, giant cysts. The lowest point came when we had our second child and as my wife was giving birth I had a legion on my thigh about 3 inches long that had been weeping and required constant dressing changes, it lasted around 6 months. I also had one developing on my face which ended up being just as bad but lasted for around 2 months. Embarrasing and painful. I work in place with all men. First day back with cyst on cheek "look at that giant Zit ha ha". - Nightmare.
Anyway here is what has worked for my acne-
Supplements :Powdered vit c, multi Vit, vit a, zink, austragalus, vit d and probiotic (for antibiotics gut health etc). I also take tsp tumeric powder and baking soda 2 times a day.
Diet :I have cut out all sugar including most fruits, all dairy and have had success. I found sugar would lower my immune system so bad. I have a few berries first thing like strawberry's. I have lemon juice first thing and drink green tea during the day.
Washing etc :I wash my face before bed and put Epiduo on my whole face including behind my ears. At first my face was red but Epiduo really works for my acne as long as i eat alright. Any cysts/pimples i now try and put Hydrogen peroxide on them but i won't use HP for maintenance as it dries my skin too much.
After looking for hours and hours on this site i came up with some great things. This time I have iced my current cyst and it has failed to really take off again. I have been taking ibuprofen or viclofen anti imflammatory's for around 1 1/2 weeks and taking Cephlexin antibiotic but my stomach is starting to play up. I have had a cyst behind my ear for years but it almost goes and then comes back. I had one in exactly the same spot a bit over a month ago and I put a warm compress on it and took antibiotics and went to the doctor and to my surprise the doctor lanced it. But it never really went and surprise surprise it has come back but i have been trying the icing etc.
This latest cyst has been going for 2 weeks now. I have had broken sleep for 2 weeks. For the month before i had broken sleep. It hurts to move my head. If I don't ice it it blows up. I so bad want to drive a pin in it. I have a very oily face and rosacea on my nose. i have just started taking Saw Palmetto and evening primrose oil to try and balance out my hormones as these cysts seem to come from way under the skin and too much sebum etc seems to be some of my issues.
My diet is fantastic. I have tried gluten free and it didn't make a difference. I mainly eat broccoli, leafy greens, rice, bread, tuna, chicken, almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, rice raps,eggs. potatoes and a little red meat etc. I try to eat raw as possible and don't eat any junk food or packaged food.
The photo's don't do it justice, a month ago the cyst was protuding past my ear lobe. I am hoping the changes i have made to my hormones may help but I still need to overcome this current cyst. I know it will go but i am starting to think it would be better to just warm press it and pop it otherwise it will go on and on.
Thankyou for anyone who replies. I am thankful, life could be worse. It is behind my ear so not very noticeable. But I am so over it. I am sitting here icing it just hoping that it may start get better soon. Like most people on here i can't stand my appearance and wonder how anyone could be attracted to me. The scarring fades but takes years, my nose is red and until epiduo i had face acne bad. Now all i get is a giant cyst for people to make fun of me about. They could happen anytime, anyplace on my face, back, chest, thighs etc. Anyway rant over.
Why is life so unkind.
You say you tried gluten free and it didn't make a difference.
For your sake please try again; most people even those without acne are intolorant to it and don't even know. Brain fog, snoring, low energy, sluggish digestion, depression, weight gain, these are symtons of eating gluten. Not just acne. Besides unless you did a complete elimination diet it's unlikely that you could have determined that gluten wasn't an issue. It's in sauces, packaged foods, spices, drinks, tons of stuff you wouldn't believe.
Please read the info on this site:
bulletproofexec.com and on this one: www.wheatbellybook.com.
I used to do the same thing; taking out bread for a month or so and then think "naw, that can't be it."
You need to completely eradicate it from you diet and that includes anything in a box or a can.
Just eat whole natural foods and you'll be fine.
Eat, fish, meat, eggs, veggies, olive oil, coconut oil, avacado, salads with oil and vinegar for dressing, low sugar fruits and plenty of healthy fats.
Try spinach and brocolli with grass fed butter and lemon; it's delicious!
Gluten is HIGHLY inflammatory and this is probably your issue.
Also, the perfect diet doesn't matter if you colon isn't clean.
Do a colon cleanse with bentonite and psylluim husks.
Read about those here:
http://curezone.com/...m.asp?i=120380.
I'm currently back on here because I'm dealing with a horrible cyst because I didn't stick to my diet (also I've been super stressed which doens't help).
Being stressed elevates your cortisol levels which is bad for you and your skin. I know this is hard to control but with time you learn to do it.
You don't HAVE to feel self pity. And every time you tempted to remember; every time I waste my life being upset of this and stressing it I might be creating more inflammation; ie more cysts. Don't feel guilty about it; just take control of your thought life; it helps; I promise!
Also, seriously, do a colon cleanse and get rid of all processed food.
Take your supplements and do it for a couple months; be patient and be happy!
Think about all the things you do have; you have a wife; someone who loves you; a lot of people just want someone to come home to; there's always something to be grateful for if you're looking for it.
Sorry for the rambling; I just feel your pain and hate to see people suffer when they don't need to!
You can beat it.
Picotrane, do you really find that your diet makes a difference? I used to have pretty bad cystic acne, and I thought so too, but looking back I can see that it didn't actually make that much difference for me. You should get an allergy/intolerance test if you think you might have any. I think homeopathic healers are big on food intolerance tests, so you could always go to one of them. I mean, wouldn't it be better to know for sure if diet is the cause of these cysts? They look really painful, but I found constantly going through the "elimination" phase of a diet was torture too. Plus, you'd be surprised how basically every kind of food--even raw vegetables like broccoli and spinach--can be bad for you. Like if you have a thyroid imbalance or are prone to kidney stones? Eating raw spinach and broccoli can actually harm you. I dont even know how the fuck one is supposed to know when they're developing--or prone to developing a thyroid imbalance, but apparently, unless we are psychic we are all at risk. And shit, I have read some scary articles that quote doctors as saying that eating raw spinach all the time will inevitably lead to kidney stones either way, so I guess we are all screwed in that respect as well.
Anyways, I didn't see you mention it anywhere but you know another way to help with inflamation, cysts, AND folliculitis is Accutane. If you're getting these painful cysts all the time, that alone makes it worth looking into. You might even be able to get away with a low dose (you never know). I think my biggest fear about accutane was that it would fuel some horrible imbalance (like candidia or whatever) and cause even more acne but no such thing happened. All that happened was I got some minor headaches and no more horrible acne (just minor acne now).
Picotrane, do you really find that your diet makes a difference? I used to have pretty bad cystic acne, and I thought so too, but looking back I can see that it didn't actually make that much difference for me. You should get an allergy/intolerance test if you think you might have any. I think homeopathic healers are big on food intolerance tests, so you could always go to one of them. I mean, wouldn't it be better to know for sure if diet is the cause of these cysts? They look really painful, but I found constantly going through the "elimination" phase of a diet was torture too. Plus, you'd be surprised how basically every kind of food--even raw vegetables like broccoli and spinach--can be bad for you. Like if you have a thyroid imbalance or are prone to kidney stones? Eating raw spinach and broccoli can actually harm you. I dont even know how the fuck one is supposed to know when they're developing--or prone to developing a thyroid imbalance, but apparently, unless we are psychic we are all at risk. And shit, I have read some scary articles that quote doctors as saying that eating raw spinach all the time will inevitably lead to kidney stones either way, so I guess we are all screwed in that respect as well.
Anyways, I didn't see you mention it anywhere but you know another way to help with inflamation, cysts, AND folliculitis is Accutane. If you're getting these painful cysts all the time, that alone makes it worth looking into. You might even be able to get away with a low dose (you never know). I think my biggest fear about accutane was that it would fuel some horrible imbalance (like candidia or whatever) and cause even more acne but no such thing happened. All that happened was I got some minor headaches and no more horrible acne (just minor acne now).
Hi xMachina. Thankyou for your reply. I hear you, I have sat in my "Natural Doctors" surgery discussing this mentioning "what is the point of dieting if I still get them". The thing is I seem to get them less regulary and he says that it would be worse due to my lower immune system when I eat sugar etc. At least they seem to heal faster when I eat well as well. I asked my "Normal doctor" about Accutane but they said it wouldn't help for this type of infection. I agree totally, there is a certain amount of hoplessness. I am keen to persevere with my Fish Oil, Milk Thistle and Saw Palmetto to see if I can naturally restore some hormone balance issues. Certainly some of the issues on some of these forums relate to me totally so I am hoping a few tweeks may help. But I agree, could be as simple as the broccoli i eat. You think your doing the right thing by eating almonds instead of chips or something and it turns out that almond's are one of the most inflammatory foods out there. I am also looking into the colon clean etc due to antibiotics.
Thanks again for your advice, I will definately have to try accutane at some stage to try and rectify my issue's but the western medicine is so good at prescribing drugs, i guess just trial and error. At least my acne is better from years of experimenting, just the cyst's.
Yeah, you know what's weird? I found out I had a low immune system (or low wbc count) when I took the first couple blood tests before accutane and the next month it got considerably better after I started taking vitamin c. I definitely think it helped my acne (even independently of the accutane) because before that it was like every clogged pore I got turned into a giant infected cyst. But I stress the work "helps" because it never actually cured it or anything (even after that i still got cysts, they just didn't get re-infected all the time).
The reason I can't take the whole diet cleansing idea seriously is that if processed foods and crap like that were the cause of acne, then acne wouldnt date back to the Egyptions, but it does. The truth is, people have been suffering from acne since forever. I think it must have more to do with genetics and malnutrition---like maybe it is coded in our dna due to some distant relative who starved or became vitamin deficient or developed some sort of intolerance to something. Or maybe its just that we were deficient in something in the womb or as a child or at some key stage of development; who knows. I think a big part of my acne was bacteria--like it's embarrassing, but I eventually realized that depsite the fact that I was an obsessive hand washer, I was still applying my makeup and facial products in a filthy area covered with invisible bacteria...and it took me FOREVER to realize it so either way, I only ever found that antibiotics, spironolactane, or accutane made it go away.
I don't know why your doctors would tell you that accutane wouldn't help with your "infection"! Accutane usually helps with every kind of acne--even the hormonal kind. Either way, good luck! I hope the colon cleanse makes a difference, but be careful! I would just go with a probiotic for that.