This is what I've done and my cystic acne has been reduced to almost nothing. (any cheating will cause acne)
1. Cut the sugar
I have always been able to eat fruit sugars without a problem. Anytime I ate processed sugar, I was guaranteed acne the next day.
No sugar from any unnatural sources, period. Quit the addiction! I usually have strawberries, blueberries, banana, mango daily. I love fruit. It tastes like candy now. (I have been off of processed sugars for almost a year - it's fairly easy once you break the cycle)
2. Cut the dairy
The only dairy I am able to tolerate is kefir. I have it almost everyday. Organic lowfat kefir (although I am trying to find the whole milk version) I am not sure why, but cheeses, butter, and milk are a nightmare for me. I have not tried regular yogurt because I don't want to take a risk. Perhaps I tolerate kefir since it is 99% lactose free?
3. Wheat/Rice
I started to get reactions to wheat/rice little by little. At first, it was itching. Then it was weird feelings in my stomach. And finally, I had a hard time breathing through my nose as whenever I had wheat/rice, my nose would clog up right away.
No crackers, bread, rice, anything made with flour, etc.
I had a DRASTIC change when I quit the wheat/rice and started intermittent fasting. Almost instantly, my scars that were super red faded completely (these aren't shallow acne scars, these are deep rolling, ice pick, boxcar that continued to remain red forever). I was already sugar and dairy free (with the exception of the kefir) and I ate pretty clean, but once I eliminated the wheat/rice and started intermittent fasting the redness disappeared. I am not sure if it was both or one, but they were done at the same time.
Other things I do:
Drink a glass of cold water with 2 lemon wedges
Intermittent fasting (I only eat between a window of 8 hours per day (I only eat between 12pm-8pm)
Take Vitamin B5 500mg once a day.
Drink a glass of water with a tbsp of ACV
Sit in the sun as much as I can (without sunscreen!)
I don't really wash my face. (Sometimes I apply tea tree oil to active acne and put ACV all over with a cotton ball)
I still have a long way to go with fixing my scarring, but you can't start scar repair when you are breaking out.
Hope this helps someone.
Congratulations. what type of acne did you use to have? Did you have the kind where every pore is blocked with blackheads and whiteheads and get inflamed?
Severe acne. I still have some blackheads on my nose and congested pores on my chin/lip area, but the huge cystic pimples are gone.
The blackheads on my nose have lessened. I think applying ACV to my nose really helps. I'm not religious about it but will try it and report back here how it works.
I'm not too sure if people refer to these as whiteheads, but i have bumps all over my chin that are super annoying. Trying to find a way to get rid of those too.
Also - I will note that I think a diet lacking in certain vitamins/minerals affects skin greatly. It's not only what you don't eat, but what you do eat. Trying to focus on eating a variety of foods.
I will start drinking 1tbsp of ACV twice a day and eating coconut oil (starting at 1tbsp and slowly increasing doses)
I am also starting sea salt baths soon.
I'm following a similar regime.
How long did it take for your cysts to disappear? When did you notice the first changes?
I can't remember if I had cysts when I started, but I do know that I did not get new cysts, except for a couple from a lemon water purge. Lemon is very good for your liver, and I think people with acne have problems with the liver.
I have not found something that helps my cysts go away to be honest. I just think the best thing to do is put things on it such as castor oil/olive oil so that it forms a head fast so you can pop it and get all the gunk out. I pop with a needle, put acv on after, and keep it moist with Vaseline so it can heal better.
The redness went away in a month or less.