Hello,

out of frustration for the utter failure of an attempt to solve my abnormal seborrhoea with VitB5, L-Cysteine, L-Carnitine and Nicotinamide, I wanted to share with you some thoughts which according to me catch much about the reasons why for many of us is so hard to find salvation from of our bitchy skin.

A small premise:

Many of us are acquainted with the direction currently taken by acne research which seems to converge on the role of nuclear deficiency of FOXO1 transcription factor as the key aspect in development of acne.

Don't manage to copy and paste so I cannot add links in this post.

The point of the theory is that certain receptors (IGF1R, FGFR2, CRHR,ILalfaR and so on) once activated by their ligands or agonists cause translocation of FOXO1 from cell nucleus to cytoplasm and when this occurs activity of a second rank of receptors involved in acne pathogenesis (Androgen receptors, PPARs, LXR, Srebps,....) is upregulated. This on its turn causes comedogenesis, lipogenesis and hence excess sebum, and favours inflammation.

Even though it is something out of the mainstream science many of us know about the theory of Vitamin B5, and acne as result of AcetylCoA Deficiency, with its variants which involve the usage of boosters like l-carnitine (to help burning fats) and l-Cysteine (also required to make AcetylCoA and to prevent that in presence of excess VitB5 te body mit steal Cysteine from hair production).

The road to salvation seems easy to find in theory, isn't it ?

YES, why not ?

One needs to find over the counter products or integrators which inhibit evil receptors and possibly work as anti-inflammatory and/or antioxidants and/or might help burning fats or improving insulin sensitivity.

Since nothing can adress all of the above, one can try to mix.

That's what I did.

I started taking Vitamin B5 at the end of June: 6 g per day to start, with the aim of increasing up to 10-12 g after some time.

Since I noticed that hair shedding was occurring by the end of june I tuned the regimen reducing Vit B5 to 3g per day. According to the theory that 2:1 is the proper ratio I added 1,5 g l-cysteine as a booster and hair protector (there is a link to a site that claims that effects of Vit B5 meadosing can be obtained with 1 g Vit B5 and 500 m l-cysteine per day).

With the purpose of boosting on fat burning I also added 1000 mg l-carnitine (currently I divided the dosage: 500 mg at lunch and 500 mg at dinner).

To reduce inflammation I added Nicotinamide (2x500 mg per day).

And to help to reduce effects of androgens I started putting on my skin twice per day 1%v/v water solution of peppermint essential oil.

Well more than 8 weeks are one and nothing happens.

My cholesterol is very high and my skin very very greasy without any visible improvement.

It strikes me that this regimen very much resembles, and with larger doses, that of people wo claimed to have solved all their problems with it.

By the way I am starting to get somewhat suspicious about people who suddenly appear in this communitiy and immediately write long emails explaining all details about the biology of their allegedly succesful therapy.

I wonder how many of these people have something to sell.

Due to evident failure I tried to analyse critically the regimen that I was (and still am actually) following.

I found out that:

-Vit B5 (and L-Cysteine) is not used specifically for AcetylCoA but for CoA...This means that it can be used for example for producing MalonylCoA as well, which inhibits fat oxidation and carnitin transportation of fats across cell membranes to get oxidized, and favours production of cholesterol and fatty acids.

More over VitB5 increases androgen production by adrenal glands !!!

-L-cysteine improves insulin resistance and reduces oxidative stress but

l-carnitine increases oxidative stress (so does also benzoyl peroxide...)!!!

-Nicotimanide reduces inflammation and reduces androgen receptor activation but worsens insulin resistance.

I realized now that we face a real piece of mischief, a sort of trap that could have been hardly better conceived to drive one crazy.

Maybe excluding Isotretinoin, each possible tool to attack our problem by addressing one of the causes triggers at least one among the other potential causes/contributors to it.

I inquired tis further because having to face the hard truth of the failure I was already lookin for some possible alternatives like:

-green tea

-cinammon

-turmeric

OOOOh they do so many good things, like improve insulin resistance, improve lipid profile, lower cholesterol...

Pity that all of them activate PPAR gamma...which increases a lot sebum production.

Not only.

I found out that green tea prevents nuclear localization of FOXO1.

And it is exactly lack of nuclear presence of FOXO1 that seems the key to acne patoenesis according to the current understanding by scientists...

In relevance of the above I can imagine that positive effects on acne seen by some using these products might be temporary at the best, since it is obvious that soon or late the benefit that one gets from the improvement in one of the causes is going be probably counterbalanced by the worseining of others.

In any case, to avoid disappointment,before starting anything I invite you to see how each substance you are about to take can affect all receptors involved in foxo1 translocation and acne development.

Check then for possible interactions among the substances if you are considering mixtures/synergies.

I didn't find anything really succesful until now.

I have been reading stuff for 20 years by now.

I am starting to believe that freedom from my skin will only occur through the chimney.