Hello, I haven't been around here for a while after being one of the original members and I'm now coming to you for advice about my girlfriend. She has constant acne on her cheeks and neck and chin. None on her forehead. She is 23 and has PCOS but can't take birth control (Side effects from several kinds).
Here is where we're at:
PCOs
Intolerant as shown by bloodwork and free of the following for a several years:
Gluten
Dairy
Eggs
Pineapple
Cranberries
Corn
Strawberries
Lemon
Some more I can't remember
Yet is persists and is relentless. She has been on retin-a and accutane while younger. She has had acne since she got her period at age 10.
We eat few grains other than rice, we eat a lot of good fats like avacados, organic duck fat, starting to try duck eggs, olive oil, virgin cocnut oil, organic meats, raw cheese very rarely, coconut milk, nuts up the wazoo (And tons of natural peanut butter) tons of veggies and some fruit she can have. She does eat a lot of rice pasta and gluten free grains. Some gluten free beer and wine but mostly gin and soda with lime.
She takes potent probiotics, zinc citrate, primrose oil, and daily trazadone for sleep aid. In the past she's tried many kinds of fish oil which made things worse. The probiotics help the most I think. She is very active and has a regular sleep cycle.
I was more into the science side of things that dealt with males so I'm at a loss for her after the above didn't work. Any advise would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Has she tried a methodical elimination diet? Did the tests look for other types of reactions besides the IgE antibody mediated immediate response? As that all that is usually tested for and is not implicated in acne formation. You need tests that look for delayed responses involving other inflammatory responses.
I think the neck acne is likely a food intolerance. But it might not be responsible for all her acne. Mine was a response to citrus, something I nearly always ate. It's common to be intolerant to peanuts which also a age the digestive tract.
Things to try that you didn't mention include vitamin d and mint tea.
I would remove peanut butter from diet see if that changes anything I know it did for me. Controlling insulin levels and stress. I have been drinking cactus with aloe gel for regulating the blood. Cinnamon, grounded chia, papaya, bluberries. These things have helped me reduce my severe acne. Cactus is underrated, I think that's the key thing that has helped me the most.
Has she tried a methodical elimination diet? Did the tests look for other types of reactions besides the IgE antibody mediated immediate response? As that all that is usually tested for and is not implicated in acne formation. You need tests that look for delayed responses involving other inflammatory responses.
I think the neck acne is likely a food intolerance. But it might not be responsible for all her acne. Mine was a response to citrus, something I nearly always ate. It's common to be intolerant to peanuts which also a age the digestive tract.
Things to try that you didn't mention include vitamin d and mint tea.
As far as I know, yes the tests were just immediate response. I'll ask my friend who is a doctor if she can get the other ones fairly soon. I take vitamin D but she doesn't. She does work outside all day but uses natural sunblock like crazy.
We have soothing tea with mint in it, but not mint tea. We like Chinese tea like tai guan yin or cliff tea.
I would remove peanut butter from diet see if that changes anything I know it did for me. Controlling insulin levels and stress. I have been drinking cactus with aloe gel for regulating the blood. Cinnamon, grounded chia, papaya, bluberries. These things have helped me reduce my severe acne. Cactus is underrated, I think that's the key thing that has helped me the most.
I'll try the peanut butter thing. She'll be hesitant as other butters are very expensive in Canada. May have to wait until out next trip to Whitefish. She eats viatamese cinnamon all the time and papaya. Where do you get cactus? Does it come in a juice?
I have PCOS, and what I learned is that not all PCOS sufferers have the same hormonal imbalance. So the first step would be to get some hormonal testing done (saliva preferably) - even if they are not 100% accurate, they will at least give you some hints about which hormones are out of whack. Then, I would recommend visiting a naturopath and getting an herbal blend custom-made for her and monitor her hormones every few months so that the formula can change accordingly. The blend might contain some vitex and maybe saw palmetto extract, depending on what hormonal imbalance she has. Evening primrose helped me a lot when I came off birth control, along with vitex/agnus castus, but this time around it caused digestive issues for me. Probiotics are a good idea, as long as there aren't any acne-triggering strands in the supplement. Acidophilus is usually the best, and she can benefit from just taking acidophilus for now.
In terms of diet, it seems that she is already avoiding her triggers, but I would avoid avocados and the trazadone (maybe replace that with melatonin if she needs help falling asleep) just to cover all your bases. Low carb, no dairy is the ideal diet for PCOS, along with regular exercise and low stress.