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Advice on Hormonal Acne

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73
(@chloe123)

Posted : 10/19/2015 5:13 am

I dont know if i started this topic in the right section but is it possible to cure or help hormonal acne WITHOUT medication? fish oil makes my skin worse but ive heard it work for others. Ive recently started drinking 2 cups of green tea a day (i cant do more because i have iron deficiency).
I basically have clear skin for two weeks, then two weeks before my period i break out with papsules and around 4 days before my period i get 1-2 massive cysts. All on my chin. People would think i suffer from acne just because of the scars!

I hope someone could help, im losing confidence....

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1
(@301825_1443948653)

Posted : 10/19/2015 5:39 am

While I can't conclusively recommend any of these, consider doing some research into: Evening Primrose Oil, Maca Powder, and Saw Palmetto. I've read plenty of female (hormonal) acne sufferers report great success with each of those.

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(@moon)

Posted : 11/13/2015 8:22 am

Maybe DIM could help you, or a b6 /magnesium /zinc combination :) I would recommend researching the b6 /magnesium /zinc combination definately ..
fish oil does not help me but im pretty sure it doesnt hurt you if its a good quality product. 

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MemberMember
72
(@geekgirl13)

Posted : 11/17/2015 10:31 pm

On 19/10/2015, 2036, Chloe123 said:

I dont know if i started this topic in the right section but is it possible to cure or help hormonal acne WITHOUT medication? fish oil makes my skin worse but ive heard it work for others. Ive recently started drinking 2 cups of green tea a day (i cant do more because i have iron deficiency).
I basically have clear skin for two weeks, then two weeks before my period i break out with papsules and around 4 days before my period i get 1-2 massive cysts. All on my chin. People would think i suffer from acne just because of the scars!

I hope someone could help, im losing confidence....

DIM or the herb vitex might be worth investigating - they are meant to help balance hormones. It depends what your imbalance is though - DIM is for removing bad estrogens, vitex raises progesterone.

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MemberMember
3
(@rnic2)

Posted : 11/19/2015 2:14 am

It's good for inflammation.

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21
(@porswis)

Posted : 11/19/2015 3:07 pm

I have the same issues as you. I always get 1 to 3 cyst/red pimples before my period and during ovulation. Other than that I dont really have bad acne besides the red marks and clogged pores.

I found ways to help it. Drinking green smoothies every morning, drinking enough water, eating healty foods helps it. But the things that has worked the best for me is the clearogen sulphurlotion. Its not a pretty popular product but it really did help me. You can searchonline for it to find more details

 

Good luck 🙂

Chloe123 liked
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MemberMember
21
(@porswis)

Posted : 11/20/2015 6:36 am

9 hours ago, Chloe123 said:

Yesss me too! I have managed to reduce my clogged pores with retinol, but my hormonal breakouts just gets more severe and worse! I will look into that lotion :)

 

Btw, with the cysts you do get while on your period, what do you spot treat with? BP only dries the surface of it and always leaves the actual cyst raw underneath :/

 

Yeah retinoid helps alot to clogged pores. But cystic acne is so hard to treat! 

I tried every topical for those red pimples but as you said it only dries the surface. Urghh the worse with them is they leave horrible red marks that takes months to leave!! So even if my skin is spot free it still looks bad!

De la cruz sulphur mask 10% helps to reduce them. I put a tiny amont of it on the cyst and leave it overnight. It dries quite alot but its better than bp for me.

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(@ihatemylifesomuch)

Posted : 11/22/2015 9:30 pm

i need help with this too

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2481
(@wishclean)

Posted : 12/27/2015 8:23 pm

I was going to move this thread to the Hormonal Acne forum, but people here can probably offer more useful advice that is not of the type "go on birth control, take antibiotics, etc."

I recommend sharing some photos of what your acne looks like - we can give more specific feedback based on what it looks like and how inflammed it is. Sometimes people moan about 1-2 zits, and they get recommendations for heavy-duty treatments that are not necessary. So, I advice posting a couple of photos.

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2481
(@wishclean)

Posted : 12/30/2015 1:30 pm

On 10/19/2015, 636, Chloe123 said:

I dont know if i started this topic in the right section but is it possible to cure or help hormonal acne WITHOUT medication? fish oil makes my skin worse but ive heard it work for others. Ive recently started drinking 2 cups of green tea a day (i cant do more because i have iron deficiency).
I basically have clear skin for two weeks, then two weeks before my period i break out with papsules and around 4 days before my period i get 1-2 massive cysts. All on my chin. People would think i suffer from acne just because of the scars!

I hope someone could help, im losing confidence....

NO GREEN TEA!!!! Green tea's impact on testosterone levels is controversial. In my case, when I was drinking a lot of green tea daily, my skin was at its worst. Switch to roiboos instead, much better for your skin and it doesn't impact hormones.

SInce you know you have iron deficiency, try to address that through your diet and ditch the green tea.

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1
(@leilei)

Posted : 01/14/2016 4:43 pm

I have had severe acne since I was more or less 15 and now im 20. I know for sure mine is genetic b/c both my parents had. My mother went to a derm and got prescribed a pill and she got cured and my father he never went and told me he cleared up when he was 25. He has holes in his cheeks. Mine is only on my chin but I remember having around 10 different pimples. At this very moment I have 3 and only one of them is very noticeable. But my entire chin and the sides are red b/c of inflammation. One month ago I had around 5 noticeable pimples all over my chin. They get internal, red , big and with pus. I have been on minocycline 4 times and the first 2 times didn't worked at all. The 4th time I took it longer,(75 mg two times per day) for two months and it cleared my face(90-95%) to the point that I didnt use makeup and was happy with myself. This happiness lasted only for three months. I was even going to social activities which in the past i didn't do b/c of it. I need to admit that this has been for the first time in many years that my face was this clear. I stopped using it b/c my doctor only gave it to me for 2 months and guess what? It came back. It came again and also severe. Need to admit that not as bad as before but still severe. Right now im on 100 mg of minocycline two times per day and it will be for around 4 months. Im scared b/c I think when I stop taking it, my acne will come again since it is antibiotic. Im also scared of the side effects this can be causing me. My derm told me if this continues he is going to see what happens with Accutane but he told me that it is a very big step from where im now to Accutane. He told me I need to be checked every week or something like that. Since my acne is bad but not as bad a severe severe the doctors don't know exactly what to do with it. I have been for one year on benzoil peroxide 5% and tazorac( topical creams)

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1
(@leilei)

Posted : 01/15/2016 11:47 am

11 hours ago, Chloe123 said:
I always knew green tea was fking my skin up. Thanks, I'll try that type of tea!
Maybe it's hormonal? Or caused by your lifestyle (lacking vitamins, sun, diet, exercise, underlying diseases)
11 hours ago, Chloe123 said:
I always knew green tea was fking my skin up. Thanks, I'll try that type of tea!
Maybe it's hormonal? Or caused by your lifestyle (lacking vitamins, sun, diet, exercise, underlying diseases)
11 hours ago, Chloe123 said:
I always knew green tea was fking my skin up. Thanks, I'll try that type of tea!
Maybe it's hormonal? Or caused by your lifestyle (lacking vitamins, sun, diet, exercise, underlying diseases)

so where should I go to fix hormones? endocrinologist and also nutritionist? btw thanks!

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1
(@leilei)

Posted : 01/16/2016 1:39 pm

20 hours ago, Chloe123 said:
Naturpaths/nutritionists can't do shit. Definitely go to a endocrinologist, they specialise in that area and have the ability to demand special tests and also figure out underlying hormonal disorders, such as PCOS etc. :) 

Thanks again! I have definitely thought about doing an appointment at an endocrinologist before but never called until I saw your comment.Yesterday I went crazy calling endocrinologists close to where I live. One even told me that my appointment needs to be one year from now and I called another and gave it to me for April. On Monday im calling others to see if one can give it to me soon. Meanwhile im going to the derm every two weeks and im on antibiotics (been before on this one(four times) and hope I don't create any kind of resistance to it or have any kind of side effect. last time it did made a miracle on my face but only for 3 months and then it came again).

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MemberMember
1
(@leilei)

Posted : 01/18/2016 8:38 pm

On 1/15/2016 102, Chloe123 said:
For me only three things have worked (neither longterm)
1) the antibiotic minocycline
2) zinc but be careful b/c high quantities can be toxic. Cleared my face for 2 around 2 to 3 weeks
i was using 25 mg and for me that was to much to the point it gave me constipation
3) life free of stress (vacations)

I always knew green tea was fking my skin up. Thanks, I'll try that type of tea!
Maybe it's hormonal? Or caused by your lifestyle (lacking vitamins, sun, diet, exercise, underlying diseases)

On 1/15/2016 102, Chloe123 said:
I always knew green tea was fking my skin up. Thanks, I'll try that type of tea!
Maybe it's hormonal? Or caused by your lifestyle (lacking vitamins, sun, diet, exercise, underlying diseases)

So where should i to ?

I have had severe acne since I was more or less 15 and now im 20. I know for sure mine is genetic b/c both my parents had. My mother went to a derm and got prescribed a pill and she got cured and my father he never went and told me he cleared up when he was 25. He has holes in his cheeks. Mine is only on my chin but I remember having around 10 different pimples. At this very moment I have 3 and only one of them is very noticeable. But my entire chin and the sides are red b/c of inflammation. One month ago I had around 5 noticeable pimples all over my chin. They get internal, red , big and with pus. I have been on minocycline 4 times and the first 2 times didn't worked at all. The 4th time I took it longer,(75 mg two times per day) for two months and it cleared my face(90-95%) to the point that I didnt use makeup and was happy with myself. This happiness lasted only for three months. I was even going to social activities which in the past i didn't do b/c of it. I need to admit that this has been for the first time in many years that my face was this clear. I stopped using it b/c my doctor only gave it to me for 2 months and guess what? It came back. It came again and also severe. Need to admit that not as bad as before but still severe. Right now im on 100 mg of minocycline two times per day and it will be for around 4 months. Im scared b/c I think when I stop taking it, my acne will come again since it is antibiotic. Im also scared of the side effects this can be causing me. My derm told me if this continues he is going to see what happens with Accutane but he told me that it is a very big step from where im now to Accutane. He told me I need to be checked every week or something like that. Since my acne is bad but not as bad a severe severe the doctors don't know exactly what to do with it. I have been for one year on benzoil peroxide 5% and tazorac( topical creams)

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MemberMember
33
(@baxtermcdoobinson)

Posted : 01/18/2016 8:45 pm

How do you know it's hormonal? Have you had a bacterial culture taken of your dermis? Have you actively monitered relevant hormone fluxuations?

Causation and association are two different things!

Do you take hormonal/nonhormonal contraceptives? Take spironolcatone? Any androgenicity issues or oestrogenic irregularities?

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33
(@baxtermcdoobinson)

Posted : 01/18/2016 9:36 pm

I've only known irregular menstruation from one experience with a friend, but her's was due to being a complete invertebrate jelly and never maintaining consistency with her daily intake. She'd also routinely double dose to compensate for missed days and I remember she had her period 45-50 days late with spotting the last week or so.

Facial hair is usually associated of hyperandrogenism and can commonly lead to androgen induced baldiing via dihydrotestosterone's affinity for binding to our androgen receptors at the base of the follicle rendering it "dormant."

I'm not entirely certain of the test name and I'm too lazy to dig up my notes, but you need a comprehensive female hormone panel that involves like chemistry panels with LDL/HDL, estriol (E1), estradiol (E2), Estrone (E3), total oestrogens. Sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) is a major one and if this is above/below your range expect dysfunction across the hole system.

EDIT: Forgot to mention DHEA/.DHEA-S, TSH, T3 and T4 (thyroids), and another important one cortisol.

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33
(@baxtermcdoobinson)

Posted : 01/19/2016 1:22 am

Your answer is there, but it's just easier to call your doctor to have them explain it again. I'm just wondering if they didn't find appropriate levels to justify beyond a doubt the pathogenesis of your acne is hormonal irregularities. Doctors can be weird at times, but if you found yourself a good endocrinologist try to hold onto them as long as possible.

My endo right now that I see is the best and is willing to prescribe me what I ask if I can provide enough validation. And I don't get harassed during blood test results.

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MemberMember
33
(@baxtermcdoobinson)

Posted : 01/19/2016 2:52 am

Oh naw I just try to offer what little bit of knowledge I bring to the forum. My acne just slowly cut out around 19-20. Now I'm 23 and it just vanished. The rare moments I do get an outbreak it's crazy because 100% of the time it's after a 3-4 days festival binge or something. Bacterial acne is a lot easier to clear up.

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0
(@purdyaldebaran)

Posted : 06/25/2016 6:27 pm

I have been having the same issue with hormonal acne in the chin area in response to my cycles for a few years. It's worse as an adult than it was in my teens.

Then I started changing my skin care and supplement strategy up a bit and noticed a dramatic improvement.

One of these improvements is that I am no longer getting cystic acne. I may get a white head occasionally from all the different things i have put on my skin as an experiment, but those regular cysts that were so omnipresent they felt like bad family are now gone and I hope they are gone for good. It's been a couple of weeks and I still wait for it to pop back up but it hasn't.

I think the "Maca" root capsules (500 mg, vegetarian) by Now(tm) are whats clearing up my skin issues. It is an adaptogenic herb meant to balance hormones. Not only has my hormonal acne vanished, I have lighter periods, and even feel less fatigued.

I have also tried to stay away from excessive soy since that has phytoestrogens. I have heard others say the same.

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