acne

This was taken in spring of 2005 (the date shown on the camera description is off). I had small papules covering my entire face, and deep, painful cysts on my chin. The skin on my face was also extremely red and irritated, despite being very oily. That same spring, I was diagnosed with prediabetes and PCOS. At the time, I had been abstaining from ALL dairy products for about 4 years. However, I was a vegetarian and ate a lot of whole grain products such as cold cereals and sprouted grain tortillas, which are relatively high on the glycemic index. Eventually, I figured out that when I cut the carbs way down and ate mostly low-glycemic carbs (apples, berries, yams, etc.), my skin and blood sugar did better. At the time of the photo, I was using differin at night and benzaclin (combination of benzoyl peroxide and clindamycin) during the day. I had been using that combination for over two years, and it had been working. I attribute the breakout to stress and a high glycemic diet, which caused hyperinsulinemia and hormone imbalance.