History

• 19 year old male with mainly inflammatory acne on forehead and chin (none on cheeks) for over four years
• No dairy diet, low sugar but still not overly healthy diet by any means (regular chicken and takeaways)
• Moderate exercise
• Never tried any topical treatment
• Non-irritating shampoo / body wash

Current "regime"

First thing in the morning: 500mg Milk Thistle extract (standardised to 80% silymarin) & 460mg Burdock Root

With my first "big" / fatty meal: 10,000IU Vitamin D3 & 25,000IU Vitamin A (from fish liver oil)

3-4 times a day x 250mg Alpha Lipoic acid

Before bed: 50mg Zinc Picolinate & 1000ug Chromium Picolinate

Explanation

I've been taking the Vitamin D3 for as long as I can remember; I didn't notice much effect of it on my acne but I knew it was a good supplement to take for all round health and at least knew it wouldn't do my skin any harm.

The effects of Alpha Lipoic Acid were an incredible "glow" of my skin. Again, I don't think it really reduced my breakouts as such but made my complexion look considerably nicer. This wasn't the r-enantiomer of Alpha Lipoic Acid, just the cheaper, standard racemic mixture. Furthermore, Alpha Lipoic Acid is supposed to be great for insulin resistance and reducing the "acne promoting effects" of sugar, similar to chromium. This is the exact reason why I take chromium too.

Zinc was a similar situation to the Vitamin D3. I used to take around 30mg until I transferred to NOW Foods, 50mg. I've attempted 100mg but this is potentially harmful and I got some undesirable side effects. I think the step up from 30 to 50mg was helpful and again a good supplement for men to take. I'll continue to take it for this reason. Taken with chromium, ideally on an empty stomach before bed increases bioavailability. I know some may say 1000ug of chromium is a lot however I am monitoring for any potential side effects and will adjust accordingly if need be.

So at this point my skin was looking good, but I still had some random breakouts on my forehead, it was a bit oily and greasy looking. I did a bit of research and wondered whether it could be something to do with my liver. I initially got these Milk Thistle extract capsules (which I mention above) and took one every morning on a completely empty stomach. Coincidence or not, I completely cleared up my forehead in 4-5 days. A couple of weeks later, I started to get another couple of unexpected small breakouts. I tried doubling the Milk Thistle dose but this didn't make much difference. I got some Burdock Root capsules to take alongside the Milk Thistle. I'm going to continue taking the Milk Thistle regardless because of all the success stories for liver health; like I've said my diet isn't perfect and I know this isn't the best way to go about it but it makes me feel better!

At the same time I started Burdock Root I also continued to use NOW Foods Vitamin A (from fish liver oil) 25,000IU daily with the Vitamin D. I think the Vitamin A has done all the work, although can't guarantee it, but I won't be buying another bottle of Burdock Root and see how that goes.

I know what you're thinking, that Vitamin A dosage is too high! I do supplement with Vitamin D3 at the same time which lowers the risk of Vitamin A toxicity, and NOW Foods is a well trusted brand with the Vitamin A from natural sources. That said, as with all of the supplements, I will actively monitor for any potential side effects, then adjust accordingly. Vitamin A, over a period of about a month slowly "healed" my forehead and the small chin spots I had, reduced oil dramatically and for the first time since puberty I'm actually confident in the way I look. In a while I may start just taking the Vitamin A every other day and see how that goes.

I've been on this regime for a good six weeks now and it's looking amazing. I wanted to wait a while before reporting back to you, but I was just so excited to share my success story after years of searching on these forums for something that'd work for me. Topical treatments just treat the problem, not the cause, and I always looked for a way to treat it from within. I know there are quite a lot of supplements there, but I'm sure you appreciate that there aren't any "wonder drugs" out there and you sometimes have to tackle a range of issues.

Please, please, please just give this a go. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have or discuss it further with you. Also, sorry but I don't have any before / after photos. My acne was mild to begin with but now literally completely gone. This isn't to say it won't also work for someone with more severe problems.