Hello, I'm a 28 yr old female, and I've had mild-moderate acne since my teens. My main concern is cystic acne and oily skin. The only thing that has worked for me was spironolactone. I took it for around 2-3 years and stopped a year ago because I did not enjoy having 2 periods in 1 month and I no longer have insurance.
My cystic acne is back and I've been trying to find something that works like spiro did. I tried Evening Primrose Oil but that didn't really do anything for my cystic acne, I took 2 1300mg capsules every day for about 3 months. (Nature's Way Non-GMO brand).
I then started to wonder if my acne is hormonal, which hormone is out of whack here?! I then tried to figure it out based on the fact that spiro worked for me. I've read that saw palmetto works in the same way, yet it does not affect estrogen (I read that sprio slightly effects estrogen too?). I believe I had high testosterone which caused my acne since spiro worked so well? When I first started spiro I took 50mg once a day, then 100mg once a day, then 100mg twice a day. 200mg a day is when I saw really good results. It really helped with oiliness (virtually no oil.) and my skin cleared up! No more cysts or even little ones. However taking 200mg a day caused double periods and a loss of body hair (pubic, armpit). I always found it strange so I went down to 100mg a day to ration out what I had left because I lost my insurance. My cystic acne was still at bay and I had mild oiliness that I didn't mind so much.
I went completely off of spiro last April and now my cystic acne is back (cheekbones, jaw line). I'm wondering if saw palmetto standardized extract would work as well as spiro did for me? I would like to get my hormone levels checked but sadly I cannot. I notice I break out very badly during luteal phase and sometimes during ovulation. I noticed RIGHT when I start my period my skin completely calms down, I am not oily, and I experience no new breakouts for about the first 2-3 days I'm on my period.
Sorry for the long post! I thought all this information might help! Please let me know if you think saw palmetto, or something else like DIM would be right for me! I think given my history, saw palmetto might be the right thing? If so, based on my spiro dosage, what dosage of saw palmetto would be right?
Thanks so much for your time!
I think you should try saw palmetto, not DIM, given your situation. However, I've never tried it myself, so I can't provide any anecdotes. Please keep us posted, I'm very interested if saw palmetto works as well as spiro.
Thank you for your response brenmc! I have been taking Nature's Bounty Saw Palmetto (Natural Whole Herb) 450mg twice a day for almost two weeks (once at lunch and once at dinner for a total of 900mg). I've noticed my skin is calming down and I've only had 1 small cystic breakout (today). I know the standardized form is best (I've seen GNC brand to be the most favored) so I might try that instead because I would like to just take 1 capsule a day at lunch vs 2 a day at lunch and dinner. I got this brand because my friend works at a pharmacy and it was 5 dollars for 100 capsules. My question is, does anyone know if the standardized capsules have a higher potentcy? Is that why the dosage is smaller?
I'm nearing the dreaded luteal phase and I'm ovulating atm (which is why I'm assuming I got the small breakout) so I'm excited to see if my skin stays calm during my most hectic breakout phase! I'll will keep updating! As far as side effects I haven't felt any different. Though it does alarm my friends that the bottle says FOR MEN ONLY!!!
Current Regimen:
Morning
Hibiclens (I started this about a month ago by a friends reccomendation. The Regimen was just not working during the 14+ weeks I tried it the BP was badly burning my face and my skin was very dry. Hibiclens cleared and calmed my skin!)
Dan's moisturizer
Makeup:
I enjoy various types of natural, organic mineral makeup (No talc, no mica, no bismuth oxychloride) which I will post about in deail in my next post I like to use ewg.org/skindeep database to look at ingredient information. Since my acne is hormonal I want to limit the amount of hormone disruptors if possible.
Night:
Hibiclens
Dan's AHA+
Spot treat BP (I use this sparingly around my temples, forehead, nose, and on cystic breakouts. I'm still trying to figure out the balance with BP and where my face can tolerate it. It seems I can't tolerate it in areas where hormonal acne is prevelant.)
Every 3 days:
Sugar scrub with 1 tbs sugar+Dan's Jojoba oil
I'd like to eliminate hibiclens from my routine and switch to Dan's clenser but I'd like to be 90% clear before I do that. If anyone has opinions on a better scrub or no scrub, I'd love to read them!
Thanks again for your responses!
Hi Yarka, Im writing this post because I think I can help you sharing with you my experience. I'm female, 44 years old, and suffering from cistic acne since I was 15. I have tried everything, including accutane but nothing worked for me. The only thing I don't know if it Works its spiro because I fainted the first week I was taking it, because I have low pressure.
I year ago, I discovered this forum, and I tried saw palmetto 320 mg per day, and my cistic acne is almost cured . 90% cured. It ,s the only thing that Works for me. I bought a bottle with 120 soft gels, Gnc Brand, it contains 15 mg zinc, saw palmetto 120 mg for each soft gel, and another african plant that I don,t know the name in english,
I had my hormone tested last month, but never reveals anything abnormal, I think in most cases of acne, blood tests are useless. I live in Spain, and here every test is free, you don,t need to have a private insurance, but the blood test never shows anything.
And I forgot to say that for me was very helpfull to review all the posts written by Greengables, She knows a lot about this stuff. Thank you again, Green Gable.
Hi Yarka, Im writing this post because I think I can help you sharing with you my experience. I'm female, 44 years old, and suffering from cistic acne since I was 15. I have tried everything, including accutane but nothing worked for me. The only thing I don't know if it Works its spiro because I fainted the first week I was taking it, because I have low pressure.
I year ago, I discovered this forum, and I tried saw palmetto 320 mg per day, and my cistic acne is almost cured . 90% cured. It ,s the only thing that Works for me. I bought a bottle with 120 soft gels, Gnc Brand, it contains 15 mg zinc, saw palmetto 120 mg for each soft gel, and another african plant that I don,t know the name in english,
I had my hormone tested last month, but never reveals anything abnormal, I think in most cases of acne, blood tests are useless. I live in Spain, and here every test is free, you don,t need to have a private insurance, but the blood test never shows anything.
And I forgot to say that for me was very helpfull to review all the posts written by Greengables, She knows a lot about this stuff. Thank you again, Green Gable.
Hi mikito! Thanks so much for posting your experience with Saw Palmetto! I recently went to GNC because they were having a sale, and I saw their 160mg saw palmetto was on sale for half off ($8.49 for a bottle of 60). I bought them all and I plan to start taking those once I finish the current brand I have. I've also lowered my dose to 1 capsule a day. As for the GNC brand you take, I think it's the same as the one I purchased:
Mens Ultra Saw Palmetto Formula (Standardized)
Ingredients:
Zinc 15mg
Copper 2mg
Saw Palmetto Berries Extract 160mg (85% fatty acids = 136mg, 5% sterols = 8mg)
Asian Ginseng Root Extract 3.3mg
Pygeum Bark Extract 30:1 1.7mg, min 2% sterols = 0.034mg (I think this is the plant you were speaking of because it says Pygeum Africanum)
Judging by the ingredients you listed it looks a lot similar. I was contemplating on returning it because of the extra stuff it has in it. I don't know what Asian ginseng root or pygeum bark does.
I will search posts by Greengables! Thank you for letting me know 🙂
Hey I have been using Saw Palmetto for probably about four to five months now. I also use the whole herb instead of standardized because they had a two pack of them at Walmart. I read the ingredients on the back of the whole herb bottle and they have included a few other herbs that are also supposed to be good for inhibiting excess testosterone. I can honestly say that it helps me! Sure I still break out around my period but I only get probably one deep pimple instead of three-four. I take two in the morning and two at night. I was given doxy by the derm but I have been weaning off of it. I take about one a week right now and I haven't noticed much of a difference since taking it regularly. I have a feeling the doxy isn't doing anything, SP never helped with my oily skin thought :/
Hey I have been using Saw Palmetto for probably about four to five months now. I also use the whole herb instead of standardized because they had a two pack of them at Walmart. I read the ingredients on the back of the whole herb bottle and they have included a few other herbs that are also supposed to be good for inhibiting excess testosterone. I can honestly say that it helps me! Sure I still break out around my period but I only get probably one deep pimple instead of three-four. I take two in the morning and two at night. I was given doxy by the derm but I have been weaning off of it. I take about one a week right now and I haven't noticed much of a difference since taking it regularly. I have a feeling the doxy isn't doing anything, SP never helped with my oily skin thought :/
You should get the standardized extract (at least 85-95%) for best results. If you take the whole berry you don't know how much of the active ingredient you're actually getting and it won't be as effective!
Hi! I just started saw palmetto too. I've been taking 320 mg for 2 days now. Obviously it's too soon to tell anything. I wonder if I should upgrade my dose..
Keep posting updates this is really interesting!
Do you use the standardized extract version as well? I am still taking Nature's Bounty Saw Palmetto 450mg (Natural Whole Herb) and I'm seeing great results 🙂 every day my skin is clearing up bit by bit and my hyperpigmentation scars are slowly fading. I used to take 1 pill twice a day but now I am only taking 1 pill a day at lunch. The only noticeable side effect is I must take it either right after I eat or at least 30 minutes after. If not I'll get nauseated! I think you should try 2 capsules a day if you are not reacting badly to the herb (my bottle says 3-5 times a day so I didn't feel scared about taking 2).
I read on the forum that the GNC brand is the best so I bought two of those since they were on sale but I have yet to try it out. I feel like since this one is working for me, why deviate ? The only reason I was thinking of changing is because the GNC brand is the standardized version and it looks like the dose is lower (160mg vs 430mg). However I'm not sure if I'll actually be taking more since it is the standardized version?!
Do you use the standardized extract version as well? I am still taking Nature's Bounty Saw Palmetto 450mg (Natural Whole Herb) and I'm seeing great results every day my skin is clearing up bit by bit and my hyperpigmentation scars are slowly fading. I used to take 1 pill twice a day but now I am only taking 1 pill a day at lunch. The only noticeable side effect is I must take it either right after I eat or at least 30 minutes after. If not I'll get nauseated! I think you should try 2 capsules a day if you are not reacting badly to the herb (my bottle says 3-5 times a day so I didn't feel scared about taking 2).
I read on the forum that the GNC brand is the best so I bought two of those since they were on sale but I have yet to try it out. I feel like since this one is working for me, why deviate ? The only reason I was thinking of changing is because the GNC brand is the standardized version and it looks like the dose is lower (160mg vs 430mg). However I'm not sure if I'll actually be taking more since it is the standardized version?!
Yes I take the standardized extract. I don't remember the name of the brand but I believe it's only available in here where I live (in scandinavia).
The bottle says only to take 1 and the standardized one is more intense but I've heard some girls take up to 1800mg.. I wouldn't go that high though.
I've only been taking it for a week and I wasn't expecting a miracle so I'll give it another week and if nothing happens I'll up my dose. I haven't had any side effects except that my boobs are a little sore and they feel a bit bigger which actually I don't mind haha
Whit the whole berry you don't know how much of it you get in your system and the dose can vary every day. The standardized one is the same every day. If the berry is working for you maybe you'll notice even better results with the other one? It's worth trying I think