I'm new! Yay! But not really. I've been suffering with bad skin for 5 years this Fall.

I'm going to be 26, but I look like I should have looked at 16.

I have the worlds smallest pores, you almost have to look under a magnifying glass just to find them. My skin had always been great. Never oily and never dry. I'm from a northern climate originally but moved to Canada's west coast when I was 10. Despite living here for over a decade, my skin still prefers a cold dry climate.

I recently discovered I'm suffering from a hormonal imbalance, and probably have been since before I hit puberty. My periods have always lasted me 2-3 days, while all the women in my family are a typical 5-7 days on a perfect 28-30 day cycle. Also, I developed breasts at the age of 10, which grew almost overnight to a B cup two years before I actually got a period.

That seems like a great thing, right? Well it's not. It's a sign that I'm so imbalanced, I'm not even ovulating! The only upside is I've never needed to take birth control. I tried once, for acne, and it messed me up SOOO much more.

Another sign of estrogen dominance is the presence of masculine qualities (low levels of progesterone allow for higher levels of androgens). I never developed feminine hips or a voluptuous curvy bottom like the rest of the women in my family. Plus excess hair in...ahem...odd places, a deep voice, and acne that forms like a beard, among others. Other signs of estrogen dominance is the odd placement of fat. I'm thin, but I always thought I was fat. From my ribs up I'm a bone wrack. My shoulders are sharp and you could almost play my ribs like a xylophone. However, I have fat around my abdomen and lower back (over kidneys), a small boney butt, and fat on my legs, especially my calves and ankles. My calves measure the same diameter as my mid thighs!

My body seems to be in DESPERATE need for some hormone balancing.

So anyways, after 5 years of suffering bad skin, I decided it was time to cave and go on Accutane. I'm just about to start my second month and my acne is WORSE THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN IN MY LIFE. It's always been cystic, and moderately severe (mainly on my jawline and sometimes chin) but now it's just like a full on war on my poor, precious face. My entire face except for my nose and upper lip are just covered in white bumps and bright red cysts and pustules with heads so small they feel like sharp mountain peaks just waiting to cause a painful volcanic eruption.

Obviously it's hormones. I've always been unbalanced.

SO. I went out and bought a tincture of Vitex to promote the production of progesterone, and a supplement called "Her Energy" which has several herbs and naturally occurring chemicals to help detox the liver of excess bad estrogens, and balance estrogen levels.

Ingredients are:

-Quercetin

-I-3-C (converts to DIM in digestive tract)

-Broccoli (contains DIM)

-Citrus Bioflavonoids

-Turmeric

-d-Glucarate

-Holy Basil Extract

-BioPerine Black Pepper Extract

-Milk Thistle Extract

My question is, does anyone else have experience combining accutane with vitex and an estrogen balancing supplement with DIM and liver detoxing herbs (milk thistle)? If so, how soon did you see results in achieving clear skin? Will adding the hormone support with accutane produce results faster?

Is it okay to take milk thistle while I'm on accutane, or will it flush it out rendering it useless?