Hey guys,
I've had acne for 9 years. I started breaking out on my forehead when I was 10 years old, and I was always picked on, and even bullied, because of my skin. In middle school, my acne spread to my cheeks, chin, and temples. In high school, it became severe and inflammatory (I was 14-15 at that time) and it covered 80% of my face except the jawline. When I was 17-18, the acne transformed itself into tiny little bumps that covered every inch of my face. I took Accutane for 3 months (daily dosage of 10mg for 2 months, then 10mg every two days for the 3rd month), and it cleared me up after the initial breakout (around the 2nd week) but weirdly, I developed jawline acne (that was particularly severe on the left side of my face). I stopped Accutane about a month ago, after I turned 19, and the acne (tiny little bumps all over face) came back, slowly but surely. The jawline acne stopped (I'm thinking it was due to Accutane). My skin is extremely oily AND hypersensitive, which makes it hard for me to use any topicals, creams, or soaps. My self-confidence decreased because of all the bullying in high school (I can't really forget about the past since I have suffered for 9 years). No one in my family has had or has acne (my mom has dry skin and my dad normal skin). I've checked my hormones three times last year, and they were normal (maybe my testosterone level was a teenie bit higher than the average female, but it was within the normal range for females my age. So I guess my acne is neither hormonal nor genetic. I'm 19 now, and I'm scared that my teenage acne has transitioned itself into becoming adult acne. A week ago, I started taking Vitamin D3 supplements (daily dosage of 2000 IU after dinner) because I've seen positive reviews on the Internet (people saying how it cleared them up after a week or two). I don't know if I should discontinue the use of it because I've noticed new breakouts around my mouth and chin (areas where I don't break out often) and they're tiny little red bumps forming a chain (like they're all stuck together). Would that be an initial breakout?
Essentially, my question is: Does vitamin D3 (2000 IU daily) cause an initial breakout ? If it does, how long does the breakout last? And a second question... is there any chance that I would outgrow acne one day (maybe after age 25)? I try to be optimistic, but I'm losing hope... thank you for your time and help, guys, I really appreciate
Its not so much the vitamin D its self, but the source from which it is coming from. Vitamin D for me would make things worse if it came from cod. Therefore i was taking the dry form. But ended up just getting sunlight exposure to taking pills because its the most natural and its free.
You will not simply "grow out" of acne at a certain age. It can last a life time. I knew someone in their 80's with acne.
My face becomes red and irritated when I expose it to the sun. That's why I tried and am still trying vitamin D3, but it's been a week and I only see negative effects. I'm gonna stop using it after the second week if there's no improvement. And no one in my family has had or has acne, that's why I'm still hoping I would outgrow it. It's not genetic nor is it hormonal. Anyways thanks for your reply
I was breaking out with Now D3 also..It is mostly the oil in D3 supplements you are reacting to is what I think. I switched to Swanson dry and did not break out. But had to take multiple capsules as it is 1000IUS at the max. Now I take Thorne's dry D3 5000IU and do not have issues with breakouts for over 6 months.
I started D3 recently too. I'm taking the Sam's Club softgel brand "Simply Right" at 5,000 IU/pill. Been on it for three days so far. Wanted to shock my system into getting used to it so I've been taking a pill once in the morning and once at night immediately following a meal. I've been doing that along with one 8,000 IU Vitamin A softgel, 500mg of Fish Oil, and upping my calcium intake, all things I read were good to do so the D3 adsorbs better. I'll wean myself to one D3 pill once a day next week. I just assume I'm deficient because I don't get any sun really and living in New England, it's almost impossible to do so in the winter...
But I've been wondering about initial breakouts. I've been getting acne still while taking D3, but it's not huge pimples and they seem to go away pretty quickly (in a matter of a day or two). I wake up with my skin pretty dry and throughout the day I really don't have much oil on my face anymore. I just hope in another week I'll see the acne reducing in numbers and hope for cleaner seen *crossing fingers*!!
I know that some people do end up outgrowing acne. But I don't know what they do to get to that point. Obviously I'm not there "yet" (if I ever get there). I used to be on Minocycline and Retin-A for a while and it didn't do a great job. Now I just wash once at night with the gentlest cleanser I can get my hands on and I use pure 100% Argan Oil as a moisturizer once a day, but I'm changing back to my CeraVe PM moisturizer and a CeraVe Foaming Cleanser too. Supposed to be the gentlest thing on your skin I've heard.
Anyhow, I think there's an array of things that can cause acne and breakouts. I think lack of sunlight is a portion of the problem, for some people the entire thing. I'm three days into it so I'm not one to give you an answer on my experiences yet. But I'll give it two weeks and see if there's any improvement.
Best of luck to you though!