Hello everybody. I doubt this thread will get much attention here. Seeing how most of you are suffering from normal acne, this thread will not be much use to you. However for those out there suffering with the fungal infection know as Pityrosporum Folliculitis, this message if for you... I want to help as many people as possible because its a very frustrating condition that needs to be delt with in a certain way. So whether you're reading this the day I wrote it, or years down the line via a google search, please know there is a way to rid yourself of this.

First let me tell you how I got the fungal infection. I have suffered from acne all of my life. Recently, my derm put me on solodyn for nearly a year. It got good results at first, but eventually became useless... So he put me on Accutane. I was on 'tane for close to 9 months. During that course, I got a staph infection in my back hairline (my derm blamed in on my barber). So I was prescribed Keflex for a month. It wasn't healed as much as I had hoped, so I asked for more.. and he kept giving more. When it was all said and done, I was on Keflex for nearly 5 months. Now during these 2 years of Accutane and antibiotics (solodyn is a antibiotic), my diet was AWFUL. Fast food, ice cream, pop, cookies, cake, candy, fried food, pizza, you name it.. everyday I ate what I wanted, as much as I wanted. Now antibiotics kill bad bacteria, but they also kill good bacteria... this allows the candida yeast in you (we all have it) to overpower your intestines and give people what is known as Candida Albicans. I had this condition for several months but never knew it until the folliculitis started showing up. I can't say for sure if Accutane aided the yeast or not. Some people on the net say Accutane can cause yeast infections, and some say it cannot. Regardless, my face is crystal clear, but I have zits all over my body, with hair follicles in them. This can be cause by bacteria or yeast. I had 2 cultures done at 2 different doctors. Both came back as sterile.. meaning no bacteria. I guess yeast/fungal is hard to pick on on those. So that ruled out bacterial infection, yet 1 derm wanted to put me on antibiotics. DO NOT TAKE ANTIBIOTICS IF YOU HAVE YEAST INFECTIONS. IT WILL ONLY MAKE IT WORSE. So I dumped that derm and stuck with the one who actually agreed with me that it was fungal. We did a biopsy next, and it came back as fungal. I also had my yeast antibodies checked, which are iga, igg and ige. These came back elevated, indicating that I had candida overgrowth in my stomach, which was going into my blood, and creating the follicullis on my body.

So the treatment I suggest is convincing your derm to prescribe you either ketoconazole or itraconazole (diflucan is useless against this). Ask for 200mg 2xday for at least a month. Buy probiotics (they restore good bacteria to fight the yeast), buy antifungal supplements (grapefruit seed extract, oregano oil extract, turmeric, etc), go on the candida diet (no sugar, no yeast, no gluten, no dairy, no wheat). This diet is absolute torture in the beginning.. but if it cures you, there should be no argument. Drink detox teas. Don't cheat or you'll just delay your improvement. This diet will starve out the yeast in you, and the medication, antifungals and probiotics will aid in the fight. The diet is the real key though. Pills won't cure this alone. A candida cleanse from a health store couldn't hurt either. I would suggest doing this regiment for at least 3 months to insure you killed the yeast and are ready to start introducing other foods back into your diet.

So if you have pityrosporum folliculis, please know there is hope. This was one of the worst times in my life dealing with this stuff, and I still have it, but I know this regiment is helping. Do research on candida overgrowth and be careful of antibiotics in the future. I will be avoiding them at all costs for the rest of my life. I hope this post helps people in the future.