10 hours ago, CleanSneak said:

I wanted to share my story and struggle with acne in the hope other people can relate and share their advice, including any information they may have found that could help.

Long story short, I began to suddenly suffer with severe acne two years ago - unsure and frustrated with why this suddenly occurred I was put on a 4 month prescription of Accutane or Roaccutane depending where you're from.The accutane helped, it cleared my skin significantly and didn't damage my liver etc.

1 year later after continuously researching about acne, diet, insulin and other things I've found to be linked with acne, my lifestyle and diet have significantly changed which I've found (contrary to the doctors belief) that diet has a MASSIVE impact on how clear my skin is. Frustratingly, my diet consists of only chicken, tuna, brown rice, lentils, vegetables and eggs everyday. When I eat a high amount of carbohydrates, especially when it's processed food such as pasta, pizza, bread, beer and cake I seem to suffer quite immediately afterwards (sometimes acne follows a day after eating such foods).

This link has become clearer to me through experimenting with foods, but what I'd like to hear from other people is if it's possible to change this!? I'm desperate to live a normal lifeagain where I can drink a beer, have some pizza or sweets knowing I won't develop acne days later. It may seem my body is now very much insulin sensitive, and that when I eat these kind of foods my body struggles to deal with the sugar spike/carb spike and so produces excessive sebum followed from the insulin spike which quickly leads to breakouts. What confuses me is how I used to eat many many sweets, cake, pizza as a kid and now it's impossible...

Please please, anyone who suffers from a similar experience or has any other findings I'd love to hear your story.

Pasta, pizza, bread, beer and cake aren't the healthiest of foods and will be detrimental to your health in the long term anyway, so maybe it's a good thing that you break out in response to eating them. It's like your body is trying to say "hey, stop it! I can't do this forever!" In my opinion you might never be able to eat the way you used to again, but why does that have to be a bad thing? Eating junk might be easy or tasty, but if you think about it, a tasty food only gives you a moment of pleasure, whereas acne and other physical ailments are chronic and might cause years of suffering. Maybe it's just best for you to accept it and make your new diet YOUR new normal. (I'm sorry if this is not the answer you wanted. I'm in the same shoes as you.)

@CelestialElfThank you for your reply. You're right, I'd much rather have clear skin/healthy diet than a small moment of pleasure eating cake etc. I guess I'm just desperate to find an "answer" as to why my body reacts this way to certain foods, that's if there is one! At the very least, it's reassuring to know they're many other people who are in the same shoes. Thank you again.

And believe me I KNOW it's hard staying away from those kinds of things, especially if people around you are eating them. And it's kind of hard to fit in and be seen as a regular person when you have specific dietary needs. But have hope! Even if we have to abstain from sugary goodness for a while, they are developing an acne vaccine .. and that keeps me going on my worst days! I we can just hang on a little longer, there is light at the end of the tunnel!

I definitely think there is a correlation between high blood glucose levels and acne. I have followed a non-dairy, keto diet on and off for a few years and I'm pleased with how well my acne (and chronic dandruff) cleared up. Although, if I strayed even the tiniest bit I would pay the price!

I too struggle with self control, especially in social situations. It's incredibly isolating not being able to indulge/celebrate with your family and friends.

A few months back I stumbled upon arnica montana homeopathic pellets. I was originally taking them for a sports injury, but happened to notice how clear my skin had become.

Fast forward to today, I still follow a clean diet (I'm a strong believer in a healthy lifestyle) but allow myself to have a treat every few days. Low and behold no new breakouts, and I could not be more thrilled!

I have no idea how arnica montana is keeping me clear.I assume it's because it's reducing inflammation in my body. I've also read it may reduce blood glucose, and also contribute to good circulation. The fact of thematter is it's not studied well.

Hmmmm, its a mystery to me, but I'll take it!!

I recommend trying arnica montana pellets for a few weeks to see if it makes a difference. Best of luck to you:)

I'm like you except that I'm suffering for about 10years now. It was only until mid of 2017 did I start changing my diet because none of the topical, oral medications and advice from dermatologist really cure me.

All the foods you've mentioned like bread, pasta, pizza are also my triggers and I used to eat A LOT of them without having negative reactions to my skin. But now when I eat them, I get acne, dermatitis and eczema.

All foods that are high in Glycemic Index worsen acne. Try to stick to an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant diet. I know it's hard but @CelestialElfis right with every word she said. I totally agree.

I've experimented with diet since I was 16. I'm 23 now and started accutane in July.

My personal experience has been similar to yours. My skin gets significantly oilier when I eat badly (from overeating/binging in general), and I tend to get more breakouts (more severe than usual as well), inflammation, redness, etc. It definitely exacerbates it.

But it's not the root cause either. Eating healthily just makes my acne slightly less severe than the base-line level of pre-existing acne. For instance, when eating healthily my skin might be 7/10 good. Eating badly it can get as low as 4-5/10. But no amount of good eating can get me to 10/10.

I've done some pretty long experiments, including (but not limited to): 1+ year no dairy (I still avoid dairy because I've gone off it since then), 1 year gluten free, almost a year vegan (no meat/dairy), high carb low fat (HCLF), high fat low carb (paleo/ketogenic).

Despite all of these experiments, I could only conclude for myself that I seem to breakout when I overeat or overindulge. I could never pinpoint anything specific as being a problem for my skin. It was more the case that having a balanced diet overall helped. So a good balance of carbs/sugars/fats/proteins, vitamins/minerals, water and overall calorie intake. It's not like I would eat a sugary snack and be like "oh no, I'll have oil and a pimple in 6 hours time" or "this grain made me breakout" or "that cow milk gave me a cyst".

Acne is caused by overactive sebaceous glands, which in susceptible people can clog pores and cause acne. If our diets (or a blood sugar / insulin spike in your case) are causing our oils to increase so significantly that it's causing acne (as above), then I'd argue that that's a problem with the sebaceous glands going crazy, and not a problem with that particular food itself or our blood sugar levels. I don't buy people who claim that certain foods are poisonous/evil and that the acne is a result of toxins/inflammation from the foods etc. It doesn't mean the food is bad, it just means the sebaceous glands are overacting to the diet and causing acne like normal. Like in your case, I'd be willing to bet your glucose levels are within the normal range when you eat carbohydrates, so it's not that the food is bad. It doesn't make sense to remove them necessarily.

To be honest, unless you want to constantly restrict all of the time, I think the only hope is accutane, as it suppresses the glands and apparently permanently reduces oil levels in some people. You said you did a 4 month course of accutane 2 years ago, so I'm not sure what to recommend there.

Ancedotally, online I've seen/read of many people who had severe acne in the past, took accutane, got relatively clear, then fixed their diet and got fully clear, then claimed the accutane didn't work and that it was the diet that cured them, then start raving on about diet. IMO that's naive thinking, but IMO it highlights/suggests that oils might be more controllable after a course of accutane, so much so to the point where diet/lifestyle changes might be enough to make that final difference in getting/staying clear and keeping oils under control (whereas diet wouldn't have been enough prior to taking accutane).

That's my long anecdotal rant. Hope it helps.

Another thing I want to add: After 2 months of being on accutane, my skin has virtually stopped producing any visible oils. But whenever I eat badly/overindulge, I still feel like my skin is desperate to release some oils. It's a weird feeling, but I can feel it underneath my skin, like I'm on the verge of it coming out. It'll be interesting to see how my skin reacts when I finish my course in a few months.

Anyway, that's enough pseudo science for one night 

On 9/10/2017 at 3:38 PM, dw75 said:

I
Ancedotally, online I've seen/read of many people who had severe acne in the past, took accutane, got relatively clear, then fixed their diet and got fully clear, then claimed the accutane didn't work and that it was the diet that cured them, then start raving on about diet. IMO that's naive thinking, but IMO it highlights/suggests that oils might be more controllable after a course of accutane, so much so to the point where diet/lifestyle changes might be enough to make that final difference in getting/staying clear and keeping oils under control (whereas diet wouldn't have been enough prior to taking accutane).

That's my long anecdotal rant. Hope it helps.

Another thing I want to add: After 2 months of being on accutane, my skin has virtually stopped producing any visible oils. But whenever I eat badly/overindulge, I still feel like my skin is desperate to release some oils. It's a weird feeling, but I can feel it underneath my skin, like I'm on the verge of it coming out. It'll be interesting to see how my skin reacts when I finish my course in a few months.

Anyway, that's enough pseudo science for one night 

Whoa, I think you have a point there, I never thought about. For a lot of people post-accutane, maybe even myself included, that could be true! Before accutane, my acne was "moderate", but my rocasea was severe, which made my moderate acne look WAY WORSE than it might have otherwise. But Accutane cured both 100% while I was on it and a few months after. My acne did come back, but for the most part not as bad. My bacne went away completely for years. It's only now, like 5 or 6 years later, that it's all come back, plus some. So for others who haven't been off so long, natural methods may be "sealing the deal" so to speak.

For me right now, my regimen (of diet and supps) is actually working, but maybe it wouldn't be as effective had I not previously been on Accutane!

BTW I know exactly what you mean about feeling oils under the skin. I can actually feel this prickly inflammation feeling when I'm getting oily and it almost always presages a breakout. D: