Hello everyone, time has come to make a post, hoping someone could give some directions or tips.
About me:
Male, 26 years old. Sensitive skin.
Acne type:
Mostly - blackheads and blackheads that turn in to whiteheads. Whiteheads can show up really fast and are filled with loads of white puss. They pop really easy and also heal pretty quickly. Since they are on top of surface, I get no scaring. No cystic acne for me.
Acne history:
Been fighting acne since puberty, so more than 10 years now. At the start it was all over my face, but now mostly on/around my nose and around mouth. Also for many years now - I have developed puss filled whiteheads on my scalp - in my hair. There is also some acne on my upper back, but I can live with that. My acne experience has been like a roller coaster - good days and bad days.
Treatments:
I've been to unlimited numbers of dermatologists and other kind of doctors, and so far only two treatments have helped me -
1) My first dermotologist prescribed - Roaccutane/isotretinoin, but after the course acne came back and there is no way I'm taking that poison again.
2) One of allergologists prescribed- food diet, for about 6 months (cut out white bread, processed foods, alcohol, sweets and many many more, basically all I could eat was meat, fruits and veggies.) As a result I lost about 10 kg/s and felt really terrible. As the doctor suggested - slowly started to introduce the limited foods in to my died aaaaaand acne came back.
+ Been taking all kind of supplements- Vitamin D, linseed oil, zinc, shark oil, fish oil, cod liver oil, drinking fresh squeezed lemon juice, lots of water, green tea and so on. Lotions and creams wont help me at all, I strongly feel there something in my gut is responsible for acne.
+ Done many possible-acne related blood tests and none have shown anything extraordinary. Well, except IgG4 food allergy panel - according to that I can really eat only fish, meat and vegetables. No wheat/grains/peanuts/gluten/sugars/dairy/bananas/apples/eggs/corn and so on.
Current situation:
A month or two has passed since I took the IgG4 food allergy panel test. I have decided to do a food diet again, more than a week has passed, but sadly my acne has gotten even worse -(image added), also my scalp seems to have more pimples + I feel tired and sleepy most of the time. My current acne remind me of herpe virus or even cold sores. Feels like my immune system is breaking.
Hey, Following up to your response. Yea I think we might be somewhat similar. My facial skin would dry out really fast and start peeling slightly right after showers or washing it and then it would oil back up with a really thick skin oil. I really think that was primary cause, oil being too thick, clogging the pores, then drying out becoming hard, then the immune system attacks it or something and it flares up into white heads.
I was basically on a vegetarian-ish diet during college for about 2 years, very very very limited meats, maybe 2-3 times a month? And I really limited my carbs and fats, lots of fruit and veggies, but it never really helped my skin.. just helped me stay skinny.
Anyways, my diet right now is honestly mainly directed towards me trying to loose some weight and get back in shape than it is for Acne. I always limited my processed food intake, eat whole natural foods and limit sugar. But yea.. I kinda eat whatever I want lol. Recently though I stopped drinking Coffee and caffeinated drinks, but that's because I was wondering if it's effects on Cortisol was making weight loss harder and increasing stress levels.
Aside from that. I've been taking Garden of Life Perfect Foods RAW. I chose this one because it was advertised as NON-GMO, Organic, RAW, Juiced then dehydrated into powder form to make it nutrient dense. And the vitamin shoppe brand 10 strain 14 billion Pro-Biotics.. since I had good results I picked up the PB8 10 strand 10 billion too since it had other bacteria strains. So I alternate them. I've read you need 20 billion total to see a difference starting out, so I take both. Will move to 1 a day after a bit.
Truth is, I went into SuperFoods because I felt I was lacking vegetables in my diet.. and it's so dam expensive to get the variety required and so time consuming to prepare it.. I work a desk job from morning to 7pm, not much time left after. Anyways, there are dozens of ingredients in Superfoods that are good for everything, including skin health and inflammation, the gut apparently plays a huge part with inflammation in the body. Lots of meats we eat contain antibiotics < That KILLS the good bacteria in your gut along with the good ones. Probiotics help replace that bacteria, and you NEED that bacteria to properly absorb nutrition.. so I believe you HAVE to take Probiotics WITH your nutritious diet to see the benefits. Right now I take a 60% scoop in the morning with a pro-biotic pill, then a 40% scoop in the evening. Figured splitting it up might help with absorption?
But yea.. I started a week ago, I honestly wasn't expecting much to happen at first. But jeez, it feels like a switch flipped in my body. Everything is just better. Skin is clearer than it's ever been, no longer oily and glossy. Hopefully it will 100% clear in the near future. Energy through the day. More focused. Metabolism went up. My legs aren't as sore after jogging. Crossing my fingers to see improvements to scalp health and better weight control lol.