Howdy!
So I've been off accutane for a month now and my face is starting to get really oily again. Will oil comes some acne once again, and I want to do everything I can to prevent this. I'm going to college in a month, so my mom won't let me go on accutane again. In other words, I have decided to research countless hours and have decided a regimen that I thought would be good for me. I have been taking zinc and vitamin e the past month, but from what I could tell nothing major has happened. I only got two pimples since my lifestyle changed being off accutane (literally the next day) and those two are currently on my face. Here is what I've been doing non-supplement wise:
-3-5 16 ounce glasses of water a day (roughly 6-10 cups)
-Change pillowcase/put a fresh towel over my pillow EVERY night
-No dairy (I kind of cheated and had shredded cheese though)
-No chocolate/foods heavy in sugar such as candy
-Sunscreen of course since I work in the sun all day
-Just a normal Cetaphil wash and CeraVe moisturizer
-No touching my face/attempting to pop pimples WHAT. SO. EVER. (this used to be a huge habit of mine)
-No smoking (I cheated like once or twice but they were cigars and we were golfing, so how could you not?)
And now on to the supplements. Disclaimer: it is the first day of my regimen and do not recommend this just yet as it is too early to notice any positive or negative side effects.
-60 mg of Zinc supplement everyday (30 mg x2)
-400 IU Vitamin E supplement every day (200 IU x2)
-Teen Boy's Regular One-a-Day vitamins (2 gummies)
-10,000 IU of Vitamin A once a day (1 pill)
-1,000-2,000 mg of Vitamin C (one pill once or twice a day)
-4,000-5,000 IU of Vitamin D3 (2,000 IU pills x2, plus a possible extra 1,000)
I will probably be adding a copper/iron supplement to offset the fact I have been taking so much zinc. Well here is my plan, and I feel as if it is safe enough for me, and just what I'm looking for. Although many people wrote great reviews about products such as Vitamin B5, Omega Fatty-Acids, and Vitamin B Complex, I realized that some of the potential side effects of those were not worth it. So here it is, and I will keep everyone updated as time goes by. Feel free to ask questions, or to give your input. Recommendations or stories would be greatly appreciated.
Well this is Day 1 coming to a close!
Day 2
Hey guys so I'm on day 2 and I actually had a slight supplement change. From now on I will be taking 5,000-6,000 IU of Vitamin D3, and then 2,000 mg of vitamin C.
As for my face:
It might be the placebo effect, but I feel as if my oiliness went down a tad (if say the amount of oil on my face on day 1 was 100%, today feels as if it's 95%). If I had to give a scientific reason for this, I'd have to say that since my system is so used to the synthetic vitamin A from accutane that I don't need to get used to vitamin A once again therefore quickening my effect time, but that's just a hunch.
As for my actual acne, my two pimples are going down well. This is a mixture of both my face healing faster from the past accutane, and the fact I've been using my sister's BP wash on the two spots haha. Either way, solid first day with no negative side effects to report.
Day 3
Alright so now I'm on my third day of this! Nothing major is happening, but I knew I wouldn't since my face was pretty clear from accutane. As for the two spots, they are continuing to flatten, and hopefully the redness will go away soon.
Oiliness: 90%-95%
Acne: No new ones since starting the plan (and hopefully never)
I began looking at jojoba oil if I do not see any more decrease in oil in about a month. Any feedback about that would be great, thanks!
And as always, ask anything you'd like!
Day 8
Sorry I've missed so many days. Between work and going on a vacation for a wedding, my schedule has been all messed up.
In this time I unfortunately ate donuts, smoked, ate dairy (pizza and ice cream pies), greasy foods, and chocolate. Plus I didn't have my supplements with me to help so really my results aren't very accurate. I'm home now and will be restarting. However in this time, I received about 4-5 tiny pimples but about half of them went away already.
Since I cannot accurately give any description of the effects, instead I'll post why I'm taking each supplement:
-Zinc- My dad said he took zinc as a teen and it helped his acne. Between this and the reviews online, it doesn't hurt to try.
-Vitamin E - My dad said he also took vitamin e as a teen and it helped his acne. Between this and the reviews online, it doesn't hurt to try.
-Teen Boy's Regular One-a-Day vitamins - To be honest my mom buys them and I just take them to be well rounded
-Vitamin A- Since it is SOMEWHAT related to accutane of which I responded well to, I hope it will have some of the same effects in the long run. I mainly want the drying component it apparently has.
-Vitamin C - Whenever I'm sick, my acne actually does get better. This is a mixture of antibiotics from the doctor of course, but also from drinking orange juice and things like that. In other words, I view this as the supplement to get rid of the potential acne causing bacteria inside of me. Even if this is not scientifically accurate, I just see it like that.
- Vitamin D3 - This is good for many things. I mainly take it for it's potential drying component, but it also helps with anxiety and depression, both of which can hit me hard at times. Really this seemed like an all around amazing supplement and I have no problems taking it.
Hey everyone!
So I believe that I will also be trying OC8 Professional Mattifying Gel too, as I'm trying to order some online. If my supplements are able to help a little internally and this is able to help a little externally, then my face should start looking non-oily all day as if I was on accutane again