I've had acne for 4 years now (I'm 15), and I'm so, so sick of being the only kid in my group of friends with bad skin, being the kid that every family friend and relative tries to give suggestions and remedies to. I've tried so many over the counter products, natural "remedies", rituals, etc and nothing. is. working.
As of now, I have angry red marks everywhere and deep under-the-skin pimples (not sure if its cystic acne) along a lot of my jawline. And the acne along my jawline will ITCH like crazy sometimes. What's weird is that my forehead and temples are now completely clear... I just wish the rest of my face was like that too.
I have this really, really horrible problem of picking my skin... I'll pick dead, dry skin, whiteheads, scabs, anything, and I'll do it almost uncontrollably. I'm not trying to excuse my behavior, but sometimes I'll pick my face without even noticing... Oftentimes, I won't stop until I'm bleeding, and it's just horrible. It's probably why my acne looks like this right now, but I don't really know how to stop.
A few months back, I went to my doctor, and he prescribed me minocycline tablets twice a day and 0.1% differin gel each night. I've stook to this religiously for the past 3 months, and I haven't seen improvement. My skin is a lot worse now, and my parents aren't letting me go back for another checkup :/ I'm still taking the minocycline, but only one capsule a night and I'm planning to use my differin until I run out of it.
About three weeks ago I started on Whole 30, which is a dairy, gluten, added sugar, soy, legume free diet (and a bunch of other random prohibited stuff, like potatoes and corn). My skin hasn't really gotten better at all; I'm getting less new pimples but my face still looks like its ravaged, disgusting self.
So... yeah I'm just really discouraged right now. Do you guys have any tips? On how to stop picking, what I should try, what I'm doing wrong, etc.
Its great you got rid of gluten and dairy.
Does your diet include any seed oils(corn oil, sunflower oil, etc..)?
Doesn't look like Acne. Looks like excessive inflammation caused by the intake of seed oils with air pollution.
The point of the minocycline is to kill the overgrowth of bacteria on your face. You could always put your face under the sun if available and the UV rays will kill the bacteria.
Hey Tooxie!
I cannot stress how important it is not to pick your skin, its probably one of the major causes of your acne. When I reduced my skin picking my skin improved quickly. I know what its like to constantly pick and not notice, you should look into the skin picking forum of this site, in addition you should visit stoppickingonme.com which tells you in lots of detail the damage you're doing to your skin when you pick. But you will NEVER be clear if you don't break this habit trust me!
If you have under the skin pimples along your jawline, sounds like your acne is hormonal and I would suggest the pill, but make sure you look into the side effects. But prioritise the skin picking and i think you'll find the redness will really go down!
I also suggest don't expose your skin to UV as skin weaker to such radiation when on minocycline
Its great you got rid of gluten and dairy.
Does your diet include any seed oils(corn oil, sunflower oil, etc..)?
Doesn't look like Acne. Looks like excessive inflammation caused by the intake of seed oils with air pollution.
The point of the minocycline is to kill the overgrowth of bacteria on your face. You could always put your face under the sun if available and the UV rays will kill the bacteria.
What a load of absolute rubbish.
Changing your diet will not help your acne, as you've found out. I think you need to take a trip back to the doctors/dermatologist & get yourself on isotretinoin/accutane- it will help dramatically.
Its great you got rid of gluten and dairy.
Does your diet include any seed oils(corn oil, sunflower oil, etc..)?
Doesn't look like Acne. Looks like excessive inflammation caused by the intake of seed oils with air pollution.
The point of the minocycline is to kill the overgrowth of bacteria on your face. You could always put your face under the sun if available and the UV rays will kill the bacteria.
What a load of absolute rubbish.
Changing your diet will not help your acne, as you've found out. I think you need to take a trip back to the doctors/dermatologist & get yourself on isotretinoin/accutane- it will help dramatically.
As someone who (ingested no oils, did not smoke, did not drink alcohol, drank bragg's apple cider vinegar 3 times a day, only carbs I had were some broccoli and spinach, made my own flax (anti - candida) bread, drank water kefir, no meats, almost no carbs, and NO SUGAR) for 3 months, I just lost 15 pounds and my acne stayed cystic and I continued to get new ones. Though it got ONLY MARGINALLY PAPER THIN SLIGHTLY better, IT IS SO NOT WORTH IT. Why not eat what you please, within reason, and just suffer a few more cysts seriously
It has gotten worse, few more new pimples a day, because I went back to living my life like any other human being by eating what I want.
Diet does have an effect but it is so negligible it's not worth it...
try doxycycline antibiotics for a month and if that doesn't work start accutane,
I totally understand your situation. Im sixteen and I'm sure I have the worst skin after all my friends. It feels completely awful. :/
I don't have any magical remedy because my skin is still really bad and I have a horrible picking problem as well. I will get super close to the mirror just to find clogged pores and attack them. I know that if I didn't do it my skin wouldn't be as bad but there is always the "what if I don't" and break out. Its a super hard conflict.
I wish you the best of luck though and send my strongest sympathy!
It is soooooo hard to stop picking. But what I find that helps is just to stop looking at mirrors and touching my face. That way I don't feel/notice the bumps.
I have been doing dan's regimen with alternative products and so far so good! I have always had horrible cystic acne and now that I am a little over a month into Dan's regimen, my skin has been quite an improvement. I am still taking birth control pills, but this will be my last time on them. I hope my skin will stay clear off them.
Good luck 