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Hey everyone, I'm pretty much at my wits end here so I figured I'd ask for some general advice. Just a little history, I'm 26 years old and have struggled with moderate acne since high school. I've been through two rounds of accutane, the second of which cleared me up quite well. The next few years after the second round I was pretty clear. The past few years I have had mild and now moderate acne. Throughout my struggle I've taken almost all of the antibiotic options and been prescribed most of the topicals. The antibiotics seemed to work temporarily but eventually stopped being effective.
Last christmas I decided to quit taking antibiotics because I suspected they were at the root of my digestive issues (I was right). The next two months were probably the worst my face has been since I was 16. I finally started to see some clearing around March and April was a great month skin-wise. This past month has been worse, however. My face is pretty oily (it's shiny about 3 hours after washing) but my breakouts are pretty much isolated to my lower mouth/chin area. I'll outline my regimen and supplements below.
Mornings
- Cleanse with Trader Joe's Antioxidant cleanser
- Apply Paula's choice BP cream to lower mouth/chin
- Wait 30 mintues
- Apply Madre Labs Camellia Care cream to entire face
- Wait 5 minutes
- Apply Neutrogena Oil Free moisturizer to entire face
Evenings
- Cleanse with Trader Joe's Antioxidant cleanser
- Apply Paula's choice BHA Skin Perfecting Liquid
- Wait a few minutes
- Apply pea-sized amount of 0.01% tretonoin gel to "T-zone"
- Wait 10 minutes
- Apply Madre Labs Camellia Care cream to entire face
- Wait 5 minutes
- Apply Neutrogena Oil Free moisturizer to entire face
Supplements & Diet
- Dairy-free, try to limit carb intake to 100-150g per day (although I do drink a couple beers fairly regularly)
- Opti L-zinc 30mg 1/day
- Jarrow Formulas Antioxidant Optimizer 1/day
- Generic B-complex 1/day
- NAC 600mg 1/day
I just made an appointment with a derm for monday and I'm thinking about asking to up the concentration of the tretinoin gel (probably ask for 0.05%). Does anyone else have any suggestions? I appreciate the help.
In my opinion you are putting way too many products on your skin, and you are not giving your skin a chance to breathe. Sometimes too much is not enough. Stick with something simple: cleanser and moisturizer, and perhaps a topical medicated cream that I would use either morning or night.
Its just a suggestion, but thats what I would do. Good luck!
What about your lifestyle? Do you sleep well and exercise? Apparently exercising helps to balance out hormone levels or something. Also, maybe you are putting a lot of products on your skin. Did you change any of your habits in the month of april? That might give you clues on what works for you or what causes your acne.
Thanks for the replies. I do excercise a decent amount (3 times a week) and get at least 7 hrs of sleep per night. But I might consider reducing the amount of stuff I'm putting on my face, any suggestions on what to take out?
As far as stuff I did in the month of April, as it turns out, I went to the Dominican Republic the last weekend of March and had LOTS of sun exposure. Maybe my Vitamin D levels are low? This could of course be coincidental. I bought some Vitamin D supplements yesterday, we'll see if they have any effect.
Hey Inthenoise - Dont forget that your pillowcase / pillow could be the cause of your acne. Remember to wash your pillowcase every 2-3 days and drink lots of water ! Hope that helps. Im a really firm believer that the night time regime and bedding can make or break the following day. Hope that helps !
Update: Since I started taking Vitamin D3 (2500 IU/day) my face has DRAMATICALLY improved. I'm pretty sure I was deficient and this was playing a huge role. Will update if my problems reappear but it's been a solid month and a half of some of the clearest skin I've experienced in the past 10 years.
