I know that feeling all too well! Maybe my story will help.

I did a course of accutane about 3 years back for around 8 months. Started off on 20mg a day and finished doing around 60mg a day. Although my skin was never heinous to begin with (all very superficial pimples), the elation of having 100% skin was amazing. After 6 months small pimples began to return on my chest and on my neck around my chin and I could see that they were getting worse.

It definitely wasn't as bad as my mind made it out to be, but parting with the elation of great skin was not something I was ready to do. I timed a visit to my Derm just before winter (being on accutane in an Australian summer is the worst!) armed with the experience and knowledge of a course I'd already done. He told me the chances of a second course not working were very low, so I gave it another shot.

The second time around is manageable; you have all the knowledge of what to do when your lips go dry and all the necessary supplies you need to not look like a complete flakey-skinned mutant when you go out in public. In that sense, the second course was fine. I got it out of the way quickly and had great results. Again though, after 6 months the same shit happened again.

I thought it may have been a dosage thing - was taking 60mg/day ineffective, and I considered a third course until I came back to acne.org. Some user (I forget who) told me that it might be worthwhile changing up my diet. My Derm had always told me diet had NOTHING to do with it but I was at my wits end, so I gave the recommendation a shot. The person suggested cutting out gluten, dairy and sugar, which I thought would be impossible, so I just cut out sugar.

His/her logic was what convinced me; they said that to say diet was unrelated to skin issues didn't make sense because medicines such as accutane are made up of compounds/ingredients/whatever that are found in nature and food. As processed as pharmaceutical products may be, they're not 100% synthetic. That's what resonated with me and convinced me to give a new diet a try.

At first I cut out just sugar. I tried that for about 3 weeks and saw no real improvement, so my girlfriend urged me to try the gluten-free, dairy-free diet as well. She's a vegan so she taught me a buttload of healthy recipes using wholefoods and fresh produce and I stopped eating crappy bread and cheese products, replacing them with gluten-free bread and soy cheese, using nut butter or rice milk if I wanted a pseudo-dairy hit.

After a month my skin was perfect! It took a 4 week commitment to stop eating crap to fix a problem that had plagued me for 10 years! Since then I've reintroduced gluten and dairy to a lesser extent, but every time I do it for more than a week at a time, my skin gets noticeably worse. Sugar is evil and I will never eat it ever again irrespective of whether it has any impact on my skin. To be honest, the best part about it all is the fact that I get to eat awesome, tastey and healthy meals 100% of the time! I never feel guilty about what I eat and if I'm in control of my skin and not reliant on unhealthy meds.

You probably don't hear good stories like this often in this message board, because the majority of the people here are seeking help themselves. But when I just looked in the mirror then at my awesome skin and remembered how lucky I was to read that advice on the message board, I thought I'd return some of the love.

Before you give accutane another shot, try giving a new diet a shot. To begin with it might be hard, but you really need to give it a 4-12 week shot to know if it actually works. Don't give up after a week because you're not seeing results, because you never know how well it may work after a bit of time. Hell, it might not work at all, but at least you know.

I'll leave you with a photo of the dinner I ate last night just to entice you into this option. It looks a hell of a lot more appetising than an 8-month course of accutane. Feel free to hit me up with any questions.

I know that feeling all too well! Maybe my story will help.

I did a course of accutane about 3 years back for around 8 months. Started off on 20mg a day and finished doing around 60mg a day. Although my skin was never heinous to begin with (all very superficial pimples), the elation of having 100% skin was amazing. After 6 months small pimples began to return on my chest and on my neck around my chin and I could see that they were getting worse.

It definitely wasn't as bad as my mind made it out to be, but parting with the elation of great skin was not something I was ready to do. I timed a visit to my Derm just before winter (being on accutane in an Australian summer is the worst!) armed with the experience and knowledge of a course I'd already done. He told me the chances of a second course not working were very low, so I gave it another shot.

The second time around is manageable; you have all the knowledge of what to do when your lips go dry and all the necessary supplies you need to not look like a complete flakey-skinned mutant when you go out in public. In that sense, the second course was fine. I got it out of the way quickly and had great results. Again though, after 6 months the same shit happened again.

I thought it may have been a dosage thing - was taking 60mg/day ineffective, and I considered a third course until I came back to acne.org. Some user (I forget who) told me that it might be worthwhile changing up my diet. My Derm had always told me diet had NOTHING to do with it but I was at my wits end, so I gave the recommendation a shot. The person suggested cutting out gluten, dairy and sugar, which I thought would be impossible, so I just cut out sugar.

His/her logic was what convinced me; they said that to say diet was unrelated to skin issues didn't make sense because medicines such as accutane are made up of compounds/ingredients/whatever that are found in nature and food. As processed as pharmaceutical products may be, they're not 100% synthetic. That's what resonated with me and convinced me to give a new diet a try.

At first I cut out just sugar. I tried that for about 3 weeks and saw no real improvement, so my girlfriend urged me to try the gluten-free, dairy-free diet as well. She's a vegan so she taught me a buttload of healthy recipes using wholefoods and fresh produce and I stopped eating crappy bread and cheese products, replacing them with gluten-free bread and soy cheese, using nut butter or rice milk if I wanted a pseudo-dairy hit.

After a month my skin was perfect! It took a 4 week commitment to stop eating crap to fix a problem that had plagued me for 10 years! Since then I've reintroduced gluten and dairy to a lesser extent, but every time I do it for more than a week at a time, my skin gets noticeably worse. Sugar is evil and I will never eat it ever again irrespective of whether it has any impact on my skin. To be honest, the best part about it all is the fact that I get to eat awesome, tastey and healthy meals 100% of the time! I never feel guilty about what I eat and if I'm in control of my skin and not reliant on unhealthy meds.

You probably don't hear good stories like this often in this message board, because the majority of the people here are seeking help themselves. But when I just looked in the mirror then at my awesome skin and remembered how lucky I was to read that advice on the message board, I thought I'd return some of the love.

Before you give accutane another shot, try giving a new diet a shot. To begin with it might be hard, but you really need to give it a 4-12 week shot to know if it actually works. Don't give up after a week because you're not seeing results, because you never know how well it may work after a bit of time. Hell, it might not work at all, but at least you know.

I'll leave you with a photo of the dinner I ate last night just to entice you into this option. It looks a hell of a lot more appetising than an 8-month course of accutane. Feel free to hit me up with any questions.

 

That's great. Well done on finding a diet that works for you and sticking to it, I know it can be hard.

Can I ask you a question or two though? How oily is your skin now and how oily was it before you did the diet? And did you suffer from blackheads? And are they gone now?

Thank you.

I know that feeling all too well! Maybe my story will help.

I did a course of accutane about 3 years back for around 8 months. Started off on 20mg a day and finished doing around 60mg a day. Although my skin was never heinous to begin with (all very superficial pimples), the elation of having 100% skin was amazing. After 6 months small pimples began to return on my chest and on my neck around my chin and I could see that they were getting worse.

It definitely wasn't as bad as my mind made it out to be, but parting with the elation of great skin was not something I was ready to do. I timed a visit to my Derm just before winter (being on accutane in an Australian summer is the worst!) armed with the experience and knowledge of a course I'd already done. He told me the chances of a second course not working were very low, so I gave it another shot.

The second time around is manageable; you have all the knowledge of what to do when your lips go dry and all the necessary supplies you need to not look like a complete flakey-skinned mutant when you go out in public. In that sense, the second course was fine. I got it out of the way quickly and had great results. Again though, after 6 months the same shit happened again.

I thought it may have been a dosage thing - was taking 60mg/day ineffective, and I considered a third course until I came back to acne.org. Some user (I forget who) told me that it might be worthwhile changing up my diet. My Derm had always told me diet had NOTHING to do with it but I was at my wits end, so I gave the recommendation a shot. The person suggested cutting out gluten, dairy and sugar, which I thought would be impossible, so I just cut out sugar.

His/her logic was what convinced me; they said that to say diet was unrelated to skin issues didn't make sense because medicines such as accutane are made up of compounds/ingredients/whatever that are found in nature and food. As processed as pharmaceutical products may be, they're not 100% synthetic. That's what resonated with me and convinced me to give a new diet a try.

At first I cut out just sugar. I tried that for about 3 weeks and saw no real improvement, so my girlfriend urged me to try the gluten-free, dairy-free diet as well. She's a vegan so she taught me a buttload of healthy recipes using wholefoods and fresh produce and I stopped eating crappy bread and cheese products, replacing them with gluten-free bread and soy cheese, using nut butter or rice milk if I wanted a pseudo-dairy hit.

After a month my skin was perfect! It took a 4 week commitment to stop eating crap to fix a problem that had plagued me for 10 years! Since then I've reintroduced gluten and dairy to a lesser extent, but every time I do it for more than a week at a time, my skin gets noticeably worse. Sugar is evil and I will never eat it ever again irrespective of whether it has any impact on my skin. To be honest, the best part about it all is the fact that I get to eat awesome, tastey and healthy meals 100% of the time! I never feel guilty about what I eat and if I'm in control of my skin and not reliant on unhealthy meds.

You probably don't hear good stories like this often in this message board, because the majority of the people here are seeking help themselves. But when I just looked in the mirror then at my awesome skin and remembered how lucky I was to read that advice on the message board, I thought I'd return some of the love.

Before you give accutane another shot, try giving a new diet a shot. To begin with it might be hard, but you really need to give it a 4-12 week shot to know if it actually works. Don't give up after a week because you're not seeing results, because you never know how well it may work after a bit of time. Hell, it might not work at all, but at least you know.

I'll leave you with a photo of the dinner I ate last night just to entice you into this option. It looks a hell of a lot more appetising than an 8-month course of accutane. Feel free to hit me up with any questions.

 

That's great. Well done on finding a diet that works for you and sticking to it, I know it can be hard.

Can I ask you a question or two though? How oily is your skin now and how oily was it before you did the diet? And did you suffer from blackheads? And are they gone now?

Thank you.

 

Sure, ask whatever you want. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

In terms of oily skin, I definitely noticed an improvement. I wouldn't say I was a greaseball to begin with, but my skin never felt as clean as it does now (could be psychological, I don't know). I did suffer from a lot of blackheads particularly around my nose, forehead and chest, but those all disappeared with the change of diet as well. I've always found that where I have blackheads I will eventually have pimples too. They signal the beginning of a problem, but I haven't had one for ages.

Thank you for replying!

I'd like to hear what you think about my plan. So, first of all, my problems are that I have extremely oily skin and a nose full of blackheads. These blackheads do not budge, they've been there forever, but I don't seem to be getting new ones either. My plan is to go on a low dose of accutane to get rid of the oiliness and blackheads. However, I know the oil will come back after accutane. So my plan is to change my diet completely while on accutane and try everything possible to naturally lower my oil production so when I come off the accutane and my oil comes back, it doesn't come back as badly as before and I can prevent blackheads from forming. Do you think this is possible? Or am I doomed to have blackheads and oily skin straight after accutane?

Thank you.

I know that feeling all too well! Maybe my story will help.

I did a course of accutane about 3 years back for around 8 months. Started off on 20mg a day and finished doing around 60mg a day. Although my skin was never heinous to begin with (all very superficial pimples), the elation of having 100% skin was amazing. After 6 months small pimples began to return on my chest and on my neck around my chin and I could see that they were getting worse.

It definitely wasn't as bad as my mind made it out to be, but parting with the elation of great skin was not something I was ready to do. I timed a visit to my Derm just before winter (being on accutane in an Australian summer is the worst!) armed with the experience and knowledge of a course I'd already done. He told me the chances of a second course not working were very low, so I gave it another shot.

The second time around is manageable; you have all the knowledge of what to do when your lips go dry and all the necessary supplies you need to not look like a complete flakey-skinned mutant when you go out in public. In that sense, the second course was fine. I got it out of the way quickly and had great results. Again though, after 6 months the same shit happened again.

I thought it may have been a dosage thing - was taking 60mg/day ineffective, and I considered a third course until I came back to acne.org. Some user (I forget who) told me that it might be worthwhile changing up my diet. My Derm had always told me diet had NOTHING to do with it but I was at my wits end, so I gave the recommendation a shot. The person suggested cutting out gluten, dairy and sugar, which I thought would be impossible, so I just cut out sugar.

His/her logic was what convinced me; they said that to say diet was unrelated to skin issues didn't make sense because medicines such as accutane are made up of compounds/ingredients/whatever that are found in nature and food. As processed as pharmaceutical products may be, they're not 100% synthetic. That's what resonated with me and convinced me to give a new diet a try.

At first I cut out just sugar. I tried that for about 3 weeks and saw no real improvement, so my girlfriend urged me to try the gluten-free, dairy-free diet as well. She's a vegan so she taught me a buttload of healthy recipes using wholefoods and fresh produce and I stopped eating crappy bread and cheese products, replacing them with gluten-free bread and soy cheese, using nut butter or rice milk if I wanted a pseudo-dairy hit.

After a month my skin was perfect! It took a 4 week commitment to stop eating crap to fix a problem that had plagued me for 10 years! Since then I've reintroduced gluten and dairy to a lesser extent, but every time I do it for more than a week at a time, my skin gets noticeably worse. Sugar is evil and I will never eat it ever again irrespective of whether it has any impact on my skin. To be honest, the best part about it all is the fact that I get to eat awesome, tastey and healthy meals 100% of the time! I never feel guilty about what I eat and if I'm in control of my skin and not reliant on unhealthy meds.

You probably don't hear good stories like this often in this message board, because the majority of the people here are seeking help themselves. But when I just looked in the mirror then at my awesome skin and remembered how lucky I was to read that advice on the message board, I thought I'd return some of the love.

Before you give accutane another shot, try giving a new diet a shot. To begin with it might be hard, but you really need to give it a 4-12 week shot to know if it actually works. Don't give up after a week because you're not seeing results, because you never know how well it may work after a bit of time. Hell, it might not work at all, but at least you know.

I'll leave you with a photo of the dinner I ate last night just to entice you into this option. It looks a hell of a lot more appetising than an 8-month course of accutane. Feel free to hit me up with any questions.

 

I have already cut out about 90% of the dairy from my diet and I'm considering cutting out gluten as well. How long did it take you to see results on a gluten-free diet and do you ever cheat or are you pretty strict with it? Let me know! Thanks.

Thank you for replying!

I'd like to hear what you think about my plan. So, first of all, my problems are that I have extremely oily skin and a nose full of blackheads. These blackheads do not budge, they've been there forever, but I don't seem to be getting new ones either. My plan is to go on a low dose of accutane to get rid of the oiliness and blackheads. However, I know the oil will come back after accutane. So my plan is to change my diet completely while on accutane and try everything possible to naturally lower my oil production so when I come off the accutane and my oil comes back, it doesn't come back as badly as before and I can prevent blackheads from forming. Do you think this is possible? Or am I doomed to have blackheads and oily skin straight after accutane?

Thank you.

 

Hmmm, that's a tough one. If it was me, the accutane would make me a bit complacent I think. Changing diet is a massive commitment, especially when you have bad dietary habits, but I think it's character building to throw yourself in the deep end with a big challenge and come out on top.

The main issue with your proposed plan though is the amount of variables. Adding medicine into the equation may fix the problem temporarily, but if your bad skin persists, it will be a complex task trying to put your finger on the cause. Changing just diet is great because you can get exact timings and control everything.

That's my two cents anyway.

I have already cut out about 90% of the dairy from my diet and I'm considering cutting out gluten as well. How long did it take you to see results on a gluten-free diet and do you ever cheat or are you pretty strict with it? Let me know! Thanks.

 

Hey, for me it took about 2.5 weeks to notice a difference and about 4 weeks to be comfortably clear. I think the most important thing is being vigilant, especially in those initial weeks.

Cutting out 90% of your dairy intake is an awesome effort (congrats; dairy is seriously bad for you anyway) but if your skin issues persist, you'll forever be questioning whether or not it was that 10% giving you problems. What dairy are you still consuming btw?

For about 2.5 months I was consistently avoiding anything that had added sugar (stuff can have sugar, just no ADDED sugar... Let me know if this needs explaining), gluten and dairy. No cheating, just none of it, and that includes no alcohol.

For me it was all about peace of mind, and the sacrifice was worth it because it helped me pinpoint the cause of my bad skin. Now I can have 20 beers when I go out (and I do) or eat a sandwich with normal bread, but if my skin flares up, I know why and I only have myself to blame. It's oddly comforting.

I shouldn't promise you guys results because its different for everyone, but I'm sure getting a non-pharmaceutical point of view can't hurt if you've tried everything else.

I have already cut out about 90% of the dairy from my diet and I'm considering cutting out gluten as well. How long did it take you to see results on a gluten-free diet and do you ever cheat or are you pretty strict with it? Let me know! Thanks.

 

Hey, for me it took about 2.5 weeks to notice a difference and about 4 weeks to be comfortably clear. I think the most important thing is being vigilant, especially in those initial weeks.

Cutting out 90% of your dairy intake is an awesome effort (congrats; dairy is seriously bad for you anyway) but if your skin issues persist, you'll forever be questioning whether or not it was that 10% giving you problems. What dairy are you still consuming btw?

For about 2.5 months I was consistently avoiding anything that had added sugar (stuff can have sugar, just no ADDED sugar... Let me know if this needs explaining), gluten and dairy. No cheating, just none of it, and that includes no alcohol.

For me it was all about peace of mind, and the sacrifice was worth it because it helped me pinpoint the cause of my bad skin. Now I can have 20 beers when I go out (and I do) or eat a sandwich with normal bread, but if my skin flares up, I know why and I only have myself to blame. It's oddly comforting.

I shouldn't promise you guys results because its different for everyone, but I'm sure getting a non-pharmaceutical point of view can't hurt if you've tried everything else.

 

Thank you so much for your feedback. I have stopped drinking milk and eating cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. Anything and everything I buy from the grocery store and cook in my own kitchen is completely dairy-free. However, maybe once or twice a week I eat out at a restaurant and have something that was made with butter or a dessert that most likely has milk or butter in it. I honestly don't think it will be that difficult for me to cut out that last 10% of dairy from my diet and hopefully it's worth it! Unfortunately, I know that going gluten-free is an ever bigger commitment. Just to clarify, are you still completely dairy and gluten-free? Do you ever eat foods with added sugar?

Thank you so much for your feedback. I have stopped drinking milk and eating cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. Anything and everything I buy from the grocery store and cook in my own kitchen is completely dairy-free. However, maybe once or twice a week I eat out at a restaurant and have something that was made with butter or a dessert that most likely has milk or butter in it. I honestly don't think it will be that difficult for me to cut out that last 10% of dairy from my diet and hopefully it's worth it! Unfortunately, I know that going gluten-free is an ever bigger commitment. Just to clarify, are you still completely dairy and gluten-free? Do you ever eat foods with added sugar?

 

Yeah, gluten-free can be difficult, especially if there aren't products available to you in your area. It does force you to find a lot of fresh wholefoods though.

To answer your question, I NEVER eat dairy. If I find out something I've purchased from a restaurant has cheese or something in it, I just don't eat it. My two main dairy vices were cheese and low fat milk. I've replaced the cheese with soy cheese (Minicol is delicious) and I've replaced milk with rice milk, which is absolutely delicious!

I never eat foods with added sugar consciously, but I am aware that occasionally there may be some refined sugar in sauces I eat at restaurants and cafes. If I'm cooking though, refined sugar doesn't happen. I haven't eaten sweets all year and never have to feel guilty any more. You can also get dairy free, sugar free chocolates, which taste better than any other chocolates I've ever eaten.

Yeah, gluten-free can be difficult, especially if there aren't products available to you in your area. It does force you to find a lot of fresh wholefoods though.

To answer your question, I NEVER eat dairy. If I find out something I've purchased from a restaurant has cheese or something in it, I just don't eat it. My two main dairy vices were cheese and low fat milk. I've replaced the cheese with soy cheese (Minicol is delicious) and I've replaced milk with rice milk, which is absolutely delicious!

I never eat foods with added sugar consciously, but I am aware that occasionally there may be some refined sugar in sauces I eat at restaurants and cafes. If I'm cooking though, refined sugar doesn't happen. I haven't eaten sweets all year and never have to feel guilty any more. You can also get dairy free, sugar free chocolates, which taste better than any other chocolates I've ever eaten.

 

That's amazing! I am confident that I can cut out dairy and gluten for good, especially if it means having my clear skin back... but sugar would be a tough thing for me to give up completely. I guess I could rely on fruit for the first four weeks of my new diet and then try to add back in some sugar depending on how things are going. Thanks again for all of your help and wish me luck!