I won't detail my full acne history here and save that for another thread.

I started using myo-Inositol from a health food store, and my skin cleared quickly and dramatically. It cleared on my back, my face, and my chest, even most of my blackheads were gone. At the time I was using many other supplements, I was exercising and adhering to my personal acne diet (no soy, low sugar, emphasize vegetables, etc) so I was unsure of how much Inositol really contributed to the improvement. One by one, I stopped taking supplements, and then slowly I stopped exercising and returned to a junk food diet with lots of Burger King and Ice Cream. I may have had a few small pimples but It still remained clearer than ever. now hold your horses on buying it just yet. At first Inositol improved my mood and energy but then after a week it deteriorated. My side effects included:

-brain fog and short-term memory problems

-anxiety

-shaky hands

-adhd type behavior

-difficulty reading, drawing, writing

These were so bad that I could not function as a normal person at work, at school, or in my personal life. I don't think I could live with being that shaky weird guy with beautiful skin.

myo-Inositol is complex in that it is converted to Inositol Triphosphate which is a signaling molecule involved in many reactions in the body, and it is also a brain osmolyte which can affect cell pressure in your BRAIN! It is also closely involved with insulin which I suspect is it's mechansism of action in clearing my acne. If someone asks I can post quite a few studies to back up these statements, or you can search inositol+insulin on google scholar or jstor.org

Many people use Inositol at super high doses over 10 grams a day to successfully treat conditions like depression and OCD. The women over at soulcysters.net, myfitnesspal.com, and other forums use myo-Inositol & D-Chiro-Inositol to treat PCOS side effects like acne, excess hair growth, abnormal cycles, etc. Also for some it successfully resensitizes their serotonin receptors. However some of us have reactions like mine. My dosage was only around 2-3 grams a day which I brought down to 500mg with no change in side effects.

My experience won't necessarilly mirror yours and could be the exception. However please do your research before supplementing!

I'm one of those on inositol for PCOS, and have been taking it for a year now. I have a few possible explanations for why you got the side effects:

1. In terms of acne, studies only used women as test subjects....it's not known how inositol affects (presumably) healthy males ..are you male??

2. You started with too much...2-3 grams may seem like a low dose, but that's only compared to OCD and ADHD doses...I take less than a gram

3. If you take MORE inositol than your body needs, it can actually make insulin resistance worse! If you have been eating junk food along with inositol, you may have worsened your insulin resistance. It's similar to the warnings to women who take metformin (for insulin resistance) not to eat too much sugar with it. I think this is the main reason it caused side effects. However, the fact that it cleared your skin shows that it was working. If you are male, though, it could be risky taking it as it can lower testosterone.