Hey,

New to the site. Well, sort of: I've been reading posts here for a while but I didn't actually get an account until recently.

I've found a lot of stories on here similar to mine: people with sensitive skin struggling to gain control of acne problems. Lots of trial and error. Basically, I'm almost 22, and I've had acne problems pretty much since I hit puberty in 4th grade. I actually got some relief from it for a couple years when I hit 17, but the pimples resurfaced when i turned 21. I think this is due to a change in diet. For a while there I was on a special low sugar/carb, low fat diet called the Candida diet. Maybe you've heard of it or are even on it: probably not. The diet really helped with the acne, but in the end I was having problems maintaining my weight and after dropping down to 105 lb I decided it WAS NOT WORTH IT anymore. I was losing energy and my toothpick-like figure was making me veeeery depressed. Within weeks of leaving the diet, I was feeling more energetic, and within months I was back to 116 lb, about four pounds below my normal body weight but close to normal. Unfortunately, while the rest of me had begun to look more healthy, my face was going crazy. I had no idea how to regain control of my complexion, and in desperation I tried a few things I probably shouldn't have, including a BP lotion which burned my sensitive skin and left sores and dark spots behind. I'm still not really sure how to get rid of the dark spots. I've heard a lot of stories about regimens, and I've learned that the best face cleanser for me is the gentlest one, free of peroxides, acids, and other damaging chemicals. I use Purpose, and it does not overdry my skin or aggrivate it. However, the facial cleanser itself did not get rid of the acne. Without maintaining the diet or somehow managing oil production or limiting bacterial growth, the breakouts continued, no matter how strict of a regimen I kept. I researched online and learned about B5 (pantothenic acid), Acetyl-CoA and pantothen. After reading numerous success stories I decided to try B5 supplements. I've been on them for about a month now and my face is more clear (yaye!) but it took forever to clear up the acne on my chin. The B5 is suppposed to limit oil production, but since I have a natural inclination toward supreme oiliness, it hasn't been all that great about staving off breakouts. Like I said, progress is sloooow. I still am having break out problems on my chin and lip. About two days ago, I found some garlic supplements in my medicine cabinet that I remembered taking around the time when I really began to develop a clear complexion. I had some breakouts that had erupted on my upper lip and chin at the time (mostly due to a lip wax, which is a whole other tale of sensitive skin woe). After a couple minutes of contemplation, I decided to look online again and see if there were any stories on garlic oil and acne. While there weren't very many, there was evidence that garlic fought off parasites, yeast, and bacteria. I decided to go ahead and try it...

The effect was actually kind of dramatic. After the first day, two large pimples had been obliterated and one was still waving goodbye. Today that pimple bit the dust, too. I'm kind of amazed.

I'm going to continue the garlic and see where it leaves me in a month. Hopefully, it will do as good of a job as I expect, because it would mean way less supplementation. B5 requires 2-10 grams of supplementation a day to see results, which can mean as many as 20 pills a day, while so far I've only had to take about 2 tiny garlic soft gels a day. This has to be kinder to my digestive tract.

Just judging from past experience, I have noticed that it is very hard to change the amount of oil your body produces, and it usually requires megadosing on vitamins, which may or may not be good for the rest of your body. I really don't want to develop ulcers or liver problems.

If the garlic oil works, my guess would be that it's because it fights the bacterial infection and prevents it from forming instead of merely trying to limit oil production. I don't think garlic limits oil production, so my face will still be oily, but it will be free of bacteria and breakouts... I'm hoping.

So that's my story in a nutshell. Hope it helps someone