I am desperate for any advice and help.
Long story short, I've had bad cystic acne since I was about 14 or 15 years old. I'm talking about the deep, under the skin, extremely painful, pimples all over my face. I have tried literally everything. I've been on rounds and rounds of several different oral antibiotics that seem to work temporarily until I become immune to them. I have been on oral birth control twice which seemed to only worsen my acne. My mother is an esthetician so I have had all the skin treatments including facials, peels, light therapy, oxygen therapy, none of which have worked. I also use all organic skin care including face wash, peptide cream, and moisturizer and organic makeup. I go to the best dermatologist in Atlanta and have been on prescription topical creams including retinoids and two types of Epiduo. I discovered two years ago that perhaps I had a gluten allergy so I cut out gluten COMPLETELY from my diet which worked for a while but now does not seem to have the same effect. I take Shaklee Vitamins, Herb Lax to detox my gut, and drink greens. I exercise regularly and eat well. I recently cut coffee completely out but have not noticed a difference. I'm almost 22 now and have been FIGHTING this furiously forever. I'm setting up an appointment for an allergy test this week because I can't think of anything else I can possibly do.
Can anyone help me?
Just want to let you know you're not alone! I'm in the same boat. I cut dairy out of my diet and I noticed a decrease in oil production and have been GF for 1 month now. Allergy testing seems like a good idea but I just worry that it might not be conclusive. My mom had an allergy panel done when she was a teen and it showed she was allergic to basically everything! Maybe it's the right solution for you though. If you have a little bit of money to work with, maybe you could see a naturopathic doctor since they tend to have a lot more knowledge about skin and gut health than dermatologists who just slap a cream and antibiotic on every acne patient and do not even discuss diet! Good luck, let us know what happens!
Have you had your hormones checked? Nothing topically works for me and after years of trial and error I found out mine is from testosterone.
Im also allergic to everything! Beans, corn, avocado, oats, olive, apple, lots of things you find in natural skin care. Not fun haha.
id try to get some extensive bloodwork along with your allergy testing if you havent already, but I have a feeling you probably have? Hormones, thyroid, vitamins to check if youre deficient, see if your liver and kidneys are working properly. Cystic acne is usually from something internal. Good luck to ya!
also, HollyMarie cutting out gluten (if youre 100%, youd be surprised how much gluten is in everything from vitamins to sauces) usually takes about 3 months to be completely out of your system. So, if you accidently have a little bit, you basically have to start over. It sucks! I know. Haha