Around 8 months ago at the age of 35 I started getting really bad acne including cysts around my jaw, chin and on my neck. I went to the doctor who put me on Oxytetracycline which made no difference.
I had started increasing my milk intake from around a spash in a cup of tea or coffee to drinking around 1-2 pints a day as my personal trainer said I needed to get more calcium in my diet. When the antibiotics failed to work I googled milk / Adult acne and found lots of forums about it causing acne in adults because of the high level of hormones in milk. The moment I stopped drinking it the cysts cleared up but I was still getting spots.
The doctor then changed me onto Lymecycline which also had no effect so at the moment I am on Dianette as he thinks it could be a hormone imbalance that is causing my bad acne.
For the first two weeks of taking it my skin started to clear up but now a few days after Christmas it is so bad I actually dread leaving the house and every morning I wake up to find more and more appearing. Around the same time as starting Dianette I started a new gluten free diet to try and see if that could help with my digestive problems and funny enough that is when my acne started to clear up. At Christmas that new diet when out the window and I gorged on everything filled with wheat ,gluten and sugar in site and now my skin has had the most terrible flare up yet.
Tomorrow I am going to the doctor to get a test for wheat intolerance and also to see if I am Coeliac which I honestly think now think is the root of my problematic acne. I also recently learnt that my cousin has the same problem and wheat causes him to get the most horrible spots in the same places so I am even more convinced.
So if anyone is strugging and given everything else a try I would recommend to stop drinking milk and cut out gluten from your diet to see the effect it has on your skin.
Has anyone else experienced this?
I will update with pictures over the next few weeks and also test results!
A few years ago it began to dawn on me that dairy products were influencing my acne. I noticed more acne as I was drinking milk every day. I stopped drinking milk and now use almond milk. After more "experiments" (whether accidentally or on purpose) I think I've pretty much figured out what dairy I can safely consume and what I can't. Certain cheeses, chips, and crackers are fine...everything else is off the list. I'm 34 and began to develop cystic acne at 27. I went through a traumatic life experience and contributed the development of cystic acne to that, but also wonder if my system began to change to where I couldn't consume a lot of dairy anymore. It amazes me the number of products that have some form of dairy in them that you'd have no clue about!!! I'd love to get off ALL forms of dairy, but again, some stuff has dairy you wouldn't think...like medications.
I've not noticed whether or not wheat influences my acne, but I do know if I drink more than 2 ginger ales a day I'll break out. It's got to be the sugar.
My doctor told me that milk is chock full of hormones to break you out. I dropped all dairy in favor of Almond milk, but I'm not sure if Almond milk is helping much because it's sweetened. I've tried the unsweetened version this week and still get minor flareups, so I imagine it's not the Almond milk doing it to me, just something else.
But yes, dairy, wheat, anything processed has the potential to break you out. Not everybody, but it seems like most people do. Myself included.
Hopefully you'll find the best diet solution for your acne though!
I'm in a similar boat. I always begin to think that I'm going to be able to handle dairy, and that it's all in my head. I can, in moderation. But my skin only ever shows signs of clearing up (without other treatments like BP or birth control) when I shun it completely. I'm starting to wonder if gluten is also a part of this.
I also have digestive issues. I think it's time to get tested for this.
Your acne looks shockingly like mine, by the way. Even the locations are similar.
I just want to note that even if one tests negative for Celiac Disease, that doesn't mean s/he isn't gluten-sensitive; I am one such person. (Gastroenterologists now know this to be the case for some people and suggest avoiding gluten, in spite of a negative test result.)
My acne isn't flared by gluten. (Being 38 and having had acne since about age 10, I've had a long enough time to make such a connection. Alas.) For me, dairy is the biggest culprit.
Over the last 5-6 years, I've become increasingly unable to stay awake during the day and have a perpetually bloated gut. Several months ago, I went gluten-free for 3 days and felt like a new person--i.e., I felt alert and didn't require a nap for two consecutive days; so I need to make the effort to go as gluten-free as possible--at least for 6-12 months, in order to give my body a rest from the constant irritation and fatigue that it causes. (I say "as gluten-free as possible" because gluten is in some medications, and if there's no gluten-free version and you need that particular med., you're kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place.)
Hi Mrs Diamond,
Firstly, I'd like to say that you don't have to be coeliac or lactose intolerant, for wheat or milk (respectively) to give you acne. Infact you don't even need to be allergic to them. People are not allergic or intolerant to KFC, yet it still worsens skin.
I very much doubt that you have coeliac based on the fact that you would have experienced severe pain from the autoimmune reaction that would take place in your small intestine, soon after eating any amount of gluten products.
My recommendation is to simply cut out wheat products and dairy and to monitor improvements for a week or so.
I would strongly advise against taking any more antibiotics.
May I ask: Was there anything that caused the initial appearance of your acne around 8 months ago? I see that you went from a splash of milk to 1-2 PINTS!! Which is definitely a big enough difference to be the culprit of all this.... But, let's consider some other triggers:
Had you taken any antibiotics?
Had you experienced any illness (particularly a gastrointestinal illness which may or may not have caused diarrhoea)?
Had you experienced any food or alcohol poisoning?
Very true to all of the above, and also, I know sometimes people are sensitive to other things that are found IN wheat products that isn't gluten. Whether it's soy (soy lecithin is in just about every commercial bread product) or another feature of wheat. Also, most bread you buy in stores is gluten-enriched, so it could just be sensitivity to the amount of gluten.
As far as dairy goes, I think I'm sensitive to casein - milk protein, not lactose. But I'll have to get tested.
I know sometimes people are sensitive to other things that are found IN wheat products that isn't gluten. Whether it's soy (soy lecithin is in just about every commercial bread product) or another feature of wheat. Also, most bread you buy in stores is gluten-enriched, so it could just be sensitivity to the amount of gluten.
I agree 100% with this.
If you check the packaging on sliced bread you'll see a laundry list of ingredients above and beyond the simple things that bread used to be made from. I believe any fermentable ingredients (i.e. ingredients that make it non-fully-digested to the large intestine) have the potential to cause you skin problems; by the way they affect the population of bacteria in your gut.
Same with milk.
Hey Everyone
So here is my update!
I went for the test and it came back negative for Ceoliac which is such good news but the doctor said that as some of you have mentioned that just because you get a negative test does not mean you are not intolerant. So I went completely gluten free as not drinking milk seemed to not be making any difference at this point and also stopped the antibiotics.
Week 1 “ Skin started to clear up no new spots appearing.
Week 2 “ Redness started to calm down and my skin was not oily anymore
Week 3 “ now which is about week 4 “ No breakouts and scars are fading!!!
It is honestly like a miracle and I am so happy to not be embarrassed anymore as it was really starting to affect me.
I have heard that something can just trigger off the Gluten reaction and for me I think it was about a month of serious depression at the start of the year because after that is when the Acne started.
I am still left with scars and coming to my time of the month I am getting my usual pre cystic acne tiny pimples but nothing I am concerned about and everyone at work is shocked as I now come into the office wearing no foundation whereas a month ago I had to cake it on to try and cover up my face.
Siribai it sounds like you should definitely give it a try for at least a few weeks as for me this was long enough to see a massive improvement.
For anyone wanting a really good scar treatment try Trilogy rosehip oil from my country New Zealand. My Mum sent it over for me and it is amazing stuff and is really working!!!
See my new no makeup at work updated pictures and you can see a massive difference even in the tone of my skin from only a month!
Hey Everyone
So here is my update!
I went for the test and it came back negative for Ceoliac which is such good news but the doctor said that as some of you have mentioned that just because you get a negative test does not mean you are not intolerant. So I went completely gluten free as not drinking milk seemed to not be making any difference at this point and also stopped the antibiotics.
Week 1 “ Skin started to clear up no new spots appearing.
Week 2 “ Redness started to calm down and my skin was not oily anymore
Week 3 “ now which is about week 4 “ No breakouts and scars are fading!!!
It is honestly like a miracle and I am so happy to not be embarrassed anymore as it was really starting to affect me.
I have heard that something can just trigger off the Gluten reaction and for me I think it was about a month of serious depression at the start of the year because after that is when the Acne started.
I am still left with scars and coming to my time of the month I am getting my usual pre cystic acne tiny pimples but nothing I am concerned about and everyone at work is shocked as I now come into the office wearing no foundation whereas a month ago I had to cake it on to try and cover up my face. It is still not perfect as the scars are still fading but I'm just so happy!
Siribai it sounds like you should definitely give it a try for at least a few weeks as for me this was long enough to see a massive improvement.
For anyone wanting a really good scar treatment try Trilogy rosehip oil from my country New Zealand. My Mum sent it over for me and it is amazing stuff and is really working!!!
See my new no makeup at work updated pictures and you can see a massive difference even in the tone of my skin from only a month!
I would get your sister to go and see the doctor as it maybe caused due to a number of different reasons and she may get referred to a dermatologist if needed.
My sister also suffering with acne problem.. She feels very isolated due to this problem. Don't go for outing with friends... Kindly tell me any solution how she rid from this problem...