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Sometimes There Really Is No Hope

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0
(@doktrin)

Posted : 03/16/2014 3:59 pm

I've had acne since I was 15. I am now 30. I have tried everything to get rid of it, including but not limited to :

* Accutane (3 courses)

* Retin-A

* Differin

* Topical antibiotics

* Proactiv

* Exposed

* acne.org regimen

* Systemic antibiotics

* Elimination diets

* supplementation regimens :

* zinc (100mg daily)

* b5 megadosing

* b5 with carnitine

* fish oil

* sleeping in total darkness

* green smoothies

... etc.

I've spent thousands of dollars, and am no closer to being anywhere close to being free of acne. If it exists - OTC or by prescription or pure hocus pocus - I've tried it.

There is no solution, and I'm coming to terms with the fact that my life will not be as fulfilling as that of others. This isn't to say that I can't have a meaningful life. My professional life is somewhat satisfying, I guess. However, I've given up thoughts of having real relationships as I can't bear the thought of anyone staring at my disfigured face for an extended period of time.

This is obviously ranty, and I'm not sure what I'll accomplish by posting this. I guess I just wanted to vent. There are relatively few places or people to whom I'd be comfortable sharing this. Acne isn't the end of the world, but it can and will limit what one experiences in it.

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(@thebob)

Posted : 03/16/2014 4:22 pm

I'm very sorry to hear that none of those worked for you but seriously don't let acne make you think like that. I'm only 17 but i've tried many of the things you've got up there (Apart from accutane) personally for me the only thing that's working for me is the regimen. The only thing i can suggest is try the regimen again using their products if you didn't before, eat healthy, be healthy and don't let it take over your life, good luck and keep us up to date if something works for you !

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(@doktrin)

Posted : 03/16/2014 4:40 pm

I appreciate the support, Thebob.

As far as the regimen goes, I've tried it several times over the years. I used the regimen both with and without acne.org products (when I first tried it, Dan hadn't started selling products yet).

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MemberMember
82
(@mrsrobinson)

Posted : 03/16/2014 7:56 pm

been there, and it is tough....accutane didn't work for me, made things worse, guess I'm the 1% oh joy!

scarring cystic acne, that only responded to steroid injections...for me, diet changes worked, I eat ZERO gluten and ZERO dairy...may not work for you, but it might!

I'm working on my scars, I've had many laser treatments which have smoothed out my skin, but I have many rolling scars, which I now derma stamp myself...things are slowly getting better.

I also have a fulfilling career, and I am married, I just kept going, tried to be confident, kept working on self improvement, education and career...it can be done, and no one looks at our face as deeply as we do.

So get that acne under control, keep a journal and do some diet eliminations, don't give up! Then start to work on the scarring...depending on the depth, either fraxels or a full laser resurfacing to smooth things out and you go from there.

Do not give up! Ping me privately if you have any questions, there are many here in the same boat....chin up!

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MemberMember
19
(@quietjamie14)

Posted : 03/17/2014 1:52 pm

Yep, I've pretty much arrived at the same place you have.

I'm now 28, have tried many things to help my skin, including going to doctors, including 'natural' products and diet, including waiting and hoping that I'll outgrow it.

My career and work life are also satisfying - but the hope or possibility of a relationship seems over. Besides my horrible skin, no woman is going to be interested in someone who, at my age, has so little relationship experience.

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MemberMember
4
(@bubbles55)

Posted : 03/18/2014 12:22 am

been there, and it is tough....accutane didn't work for me, made things worse, guess I'm the 1% oh joy!

scarring cystic acne, that only responded to steroid injections...for me, diet changes worked, I eat ZERO gluten and ZERO dairy...may not work for you, but it might!

I'm working on my scars, I've had many laser treatments which have smoothed out my skin, but I have many rolling scars, which I now derma stamp myself...things are slowly getting better.

I also have a fulfilling career, and I am married, I just kept going, tried to be confident, kept working on self improvement, education and career...it can be done, and no one looks at our face as deeply as we do.

So get that acne under control, keep a journal and do some diet eliminations, don't give up! Then start to work on the scarring...depending on the depth, either fraxels or a full laser resurfacing to smooth things out and you go from there.

Do not give up! Ping me privately if you have any questions, there are many here in the same boat....chin up!

Acne is not a dietary disease. I am really getting sick and tired of you people, I am sorry.

Cutting out a particular food is not going to eliminate acne as acne is in the genes. Dairy and gluten have never been found to cause nor worsen acne, what was observed was an "acneiform eruption" not true acne vulgaris.

i think you REALLY need to watch this video

 

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MemberMember
0
(@doktrin)

Posted : 03/18/2014 1:07 am

been there, and it is tough....accutane didn't work for me, made things worse, guess I'm the 1% oh joy!

scarring cystic acne, that only responded to steroid injections...for me, diet changes worked, I eat ZERO gluten and ZERO dairy...may not work for you, but it might!

I'm working on my scars, I've had many laser treatments which have smoothed out my skin, but I have many rolling scars, which I now derma stamp myself...things are slowly getting better.

I also have a fulfilling career, and I am married, I just kept going, tried to be confident, kept working on self improvement, education and career...it can be done, and no one looks at our face as deeply as we do.

So get that acne under control, keep a journal and do some diet eliminations, don't give up! Then start to work on the scarring...depending on the depth, either fraxels or a full laser resurfacing to smooth things out and you go from there.

Do not give up! Ping me privately if you have any questions, there are many here in the same boat....chin up!

Acne is not a dietary disease. I am really getting sick and tired of you people, I am sorry.

Cutting out a particular food is not going to eliminate acne as acne is in the genes. Dairy and gluten have never been found to cause nor worsen acne, what was observed was an "acneiform eruption" not true acne vulgaris.

i think you REALLY need to watch this video

I'm not the one you responded to, but I disagree. There are multiple studies linking dairy to acne :

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18194824

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17083856

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22386050

http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/15692464/reload=0;jsessionid=HkWie1uPfrzAn0Uggrdn.12

Also, among the many solutions I've attempted are "The Acne Practice", whose video you linked.

If I recall correctly, it was ridiculously expensive and didn't yield any particular results.

edit :

Now I remember. Swartz [Acne Practice] at one point had a marketing team spam this board with fake testimonials, and even started harassing the moderators.

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/303084-i-cant-believe-i-was-almost-too-stupid-to-try-this/page-4

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/282042-acne-bootcamp-by-dr-neal/page-13

I'm sure there are more threads. Notice how all those in support of his product are members with 1-2 posts.

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MemberMember
80
(@paigems)

Posted : 03/18/2014 1:15 am

I'm sorry you haven't yet found something that works to keep your acne under control.

Have you tried just washing with water? What about food allergy tests? I don't know a ton about those, but if I was in your situation I'd maybe look into them a little more.

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MemberMember
82
(@mrsrobinson)

Posted : 03/18/2014 8:23 am

Bubbles55- I had cystic acne, which accutane made worse.....gluten and dairy absolutely were my triggers, I never say this is the cure for everyone, I encourage people to learn about their bodies and reactions through journaling

but don't tell me that diet changes don't work...they do, and if you don't have 30 days to try something that might work, then you obviously aren't interested in finding your triggers

I'm almost clear today by eliminating gluten and dairy-- I just encourage people to find their triggers, it's hard and it takes work...I don't buy the poor me it's genetic nonsense....we can all fight back and we should!

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MemberMember
4
(@bubbles55)

Posted : 03/18/2014 10:19 am

Bubbles55- I had cystic acne, which accutane made worse.....gluten and dairy absolutely were my triggers, I never say this is the cure for everyone, I encourage people to learn about their bodies and reactions through journaling

but don't tell me that diet changes don't work...they do, and if you don't have 30 days to try something that might work, then you obviously aren't interested in finding your triggers

I'm almost clear today by eliminating gluten and dairy-- I just encourage people to find their triggers, it's hard and it takes work...I don't buy the poor me it's genetic nonsense....we can all fight back and we should!

You are cruel. I have had severe cystic acne since I was 11 and have done just about every diet under the sun for years (much longer than "30 days"!) but never improved. Genetics are everything!

Let's see what genetics have given me shall we?

- severe acne for 13 years

- multiple sclerosis

- acinic cell carcinoma of the parotid gland (cancer) at age 20

- Carcinoma in situ in my right breast

.. and I'm only 24! never smoked, never drank, ate healthy 100% of the time my entire life.

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MemberMember
82
(@mrsrobinson)

Posted : 03/18/2014 2:26 pm

Bubbles, I feel your pain, I suffered for years, then went through a miserable failed trial of the miracle drug accutane that works for EVERYONE on this board.

But I was reacting to your comment, and I quote "acne is not a dietary disease and I'm getting sick and tired of you people".....YOU are the cruel one. f

We need to be open and loving and supportive on this site, WHAT WORKS for one does not work for all, this is hard work to figure out. But to be sick and tired of me because I encourage people to try something that worked for me? to be sick and tired of me saying that?

Come on....that is what we are here for. I'm sorry nothing has worked for you yet. Trust me my genetic list isn't much better, breast cancer, uterine cancer, alzhimers, diabetics.....but I fight back every day.

AND PLEASE READ THIS STUDY, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3746129/ written by a real doctor recently and citing recent studies on diet and acne....and here is my favorite quote from the study..."Add into the equation the vast number of parents for whom dairy is beyond reproach as a perfect food. Top off the problem with a generation or two (or three) of physicians who believe the same, and one wonders if such a proposed study would ever pass through an institutional review board."

PLEASE take the time to read it (in between ranting about how horrible this site has become with the heretics such as myself claiming a good diet CAN HELP (I never said cure, I never said it would help all, but I said can help).....PLEASE READ IT Bubbles and educate yourself, take your frustration and turn it into an action plan, and don't give up.

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MemberMember
4
(@bubbles55)

Posted : 03/18/2014 5:20 pm

Bubbles, I feel your pain, I suffered for years, then went through a miserable failed trial of the miracle drug accutane that works for EVERYONE on this board.

But I was reacting to your comment, and I quote "acne is not a dietary disease and I'm getting sick and tired of you people".....YOU are the cruel one. f

We need to be open and loving and supportive on this site, WHAT WORKS for one does not work for all, this is hard work to figure out. But to be sick and tired of me because I encourage people to try something that worked for me? to be sick and tired of me saying that?

Come on....that is what we are here for. I'm sorry nothing has worked for you yet. Trust me my genetic list isn't much better, breast cancer, uterine cancer, alzhimers, diabetics.....but I fight back every day.

AND PLEASE READ THIS STUDY, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3746129/ written by a real doctor recently and citing recent studies on diet and acne....and here is my favorite quote from the study..."Add into the equation the vast number of parents for whom dairy is beyond reproach as a perfect food. Top off the problem with a generation or two (or three) of physicians who believe the same, and one wonders if such a proposed study would ever pass through an institutional review board."

PLEASE take the time to read it (in between ranting about how horrible this site has become with the heretics such as myself claiming a good diet CAN HELP (I never said cure, I never said it would help all, but I said can help).....PLEASE READ IT Bubbles and educate yourself, take your frustration and turn it into an action plan, and don't give up.

I have been on special diets my entire life since I was 11 years old. I even did voluntary acne studies. I am telling you wholeheartedly my acne was never worsened or made better by diet of any kind. Now that may be incredibly heard to believe but it's the simple truth. And my health continues to deteriorate, every year it's a new illness and none of those "magical chinese herbs" have done anything to protect me from the cruel hand of fate when it comes to disease.

I was not on these diets for a few weeks or months I was comitted to them steadfastly for years.

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MemberMember
17
(@k3tchup)

Posted : 03/23/2014 5:32 am

I've had acne since I was 15. I am now 30. I have tried everything to get rid of it, including but not limited to :

* Accutane (3 courses)

* Retin-A

* Differin

* Topical antibiotics

* Proactiv

* Exposed

* acne.org regimen

* Systemic antibiotics

* Elimination diets

* supplementation regimens :

* zinc (100mg daily)

* b5 megadosing

* b5 with carnitine

* fish oil

* sleeping in total darkness

* green smoothies

... etc.

I've spent thousands of dollars, and am no closer to being anywhere close to being free of acne. If it exists - OTC or by prescription or pure hocus pocus - I've tried it.

There is no solution, and I'm coming to terms with the fact that my life will not be as fulfilling as that of others. This isn't to say that I can't have a meaningful life. My professional life is somewhat satisfying, I guess. However, I've given up thoughts of having real relationships as I can't bear the thought of anyone staring at my disfigured face for an extended period of time.

This is obviously ranty, and I'm not sure what I'll accomplish by posting this. I guess I just wanted to vent. There are relatively few places or people to whom I'd be comfortable sharing this. Acne isn't the end of the world, but it can and will limit what one experiences in it.

Your motivation and ambition to have tried so many things is very noble. I am sorry they have not worked for you.

Have you looked into: spironolactone? birth control (oral, depo, patch, hormonal iud)?

Have you thought about seeing an endocrinologist. I say this because often when such issues arise and no real solution has been found an endocrine workup could be done. It is expensive, but you said you have spent thousands and sound like you maybe be able to.

Do you have problems with facial hair, body odor, and sweating? Swelling, wt gain, high bp, high blood sugar? How often do you have sex, whats your attitude towards sex in relation to desire, and satisfaction? These types of questions are something i'd ask hoping to identity an area for further investigation.

Just tryin to help.

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