Zinc

I have cystic acne and have since I was 18. I have been doing acne treatments for over year per the dermatologist to rid of my acne but it only seemed to get worse. The last visit I had they said they didn't know what to do & they suggested get on birth control and accutane (which I refused to go on accutane due to it's risks). I was at my wits end. I started taking zinc when my mom mentioned it to mentioned it worked on acne few weeks ago... within a week my acne was almost gone. My large bumps on my chins, jaw and cheeks started to decrease. They didn't even hurt!! I can't understand it or explain it. I am still taking the prescribed antibiotic and topicals until they run out but wow do see a difference with Zinc. I take 50 mg a day with a multi vitamin! I wish they had thought to checked my blood for how deficient I was in minerals and vitamins, instead of put me a thousand different topical creams and antibiotics. I am so happy and not nearly as embarrassed to go in public.

I guess this works for some people & not for others. I started taking zinc just to boost the good results I was getting with progesterone & benzoyl peroxide, and at first my skin looked really glowy & pretty. I felt great while taking it too- very giddy & energetic but within 2 weeks my face started *exploding* with acne. Not just my face either- my back, my chest, and I even got a few on my neck & I NEVER break out on my neck. My skin is also feeling very sensitive & irritated now. Once I made the correlation I immediately stopped taking it & I hope I can get this acne cleared back up quickly. Such a disappointment. I hate to stop taking it. I loved the happy feeling it gave me but it's not worth being covered in pimps.

I have tried everything, all of the face washes, Benzoyl Peroxide, Salicylic Acid, Proactiv and last year my GP put me on Doxycycline which helped me significantly for the three month duration I was on it. After the prescription ran out I decided not to continue because of the research I'd done which said that it completely destroys your intestinal flora!! I was never warned about that by my GP which angered me but hey, what can you do. I heard about Zinc supplements on this forum about a month ago and decided to try it out. So far, so good. My skin is definitely much better than it used to be. For the last 5 years I have had inflamed red cystic and hormonal acne which was constantly there. At the moment my skin is still far from perfect but I've noticed that instead of the 15+ new pimples a week I used to get, I only have a couple and when new ones do form it's usually just a small white head that is gone in 1-2 days. Also, the terrible scarring on my cheeks has healed up so much I can't believe it and I think that the only thing I can contribute that to is the 15mg chelated zinc tablets I've been taking once a day. This stuff is amazing and I'm so glad that it's natural. I'll be sticking with this and hopefully it continues with these great results!

Just a little back history....I have been dealing with acne for the past 15 years. I'm now 30 years. Over the years, the severity of my acne has gone in waves, but was manageable for the most part. In February of this year I switched from the pill to the mirena IUD. The first couple of months my skin was ok....by ok I mean it would break out by but wasn't horrible. By the third month, my skin went haywire!!! Everyday I would wake up to 3-4 huge cystic pimples on my jawline and chin. My skin has NEVER been like that. I tried proactiv...didn't work. I tried 10% benzoyl peroxide...didn't work. So finally I broke down and went to the dermatologist. I was prescribed 80mg of Solodyn once a day along with Aczone twice a day. I was on Solodyn for all off 2,weeks when I had serious allergic reaction which caused my joints to hurt, extreme rash all over by body and swollen hands. Needless to say, I stopped taking it. As soon as I stopped the antibiotics my acne kicked back in full gear. So me not wanting to go back on antibiotics, I started doing some research on natural ways to help prevent acne. I came across Zinc for Acne. I was a little skeptical but it was cheap so what the heck. The first week I didn't notice anything. By the middle of the second I no longer had breakouts. I'm now into my 3rd and still no new breakouts. I've been using the Bragg's ACV as toner to lighten the scars. I also use the Aztec healing clay mask once a week to exfoliate. So far I'm liking the results of the zinc. I would definitely give it a try if you feel like you have tried everything under the sun or even if you are skeptical of long term use of antibiotics. I will post and update in a month or so.

I have had acne for a long time..Prescriptions are too expensive for me because i dont have insurance, so i tried this and so far so good. It has cleared my face 90 percent. I try to take it every day 100mg. I just hope it doesnt stop working after so me time!

I've used it for a couple weeks now. my skin texture and appearance improved alot. I can say that my skin is lots better than it was before i started taking zinc supplements. The redness of the spots and blablabla has disappeared and the skin tone looks better. IT WORKS FOR ME.

initially, I was able to control my moderate cystic acne with birth control; then, when I went off b.c. (not realizing it had been keeping my skin clear), the acne came back and would not respond to b.c., alone; next, i eradicated my acne using a combo of b.c. & antibiotics (Bactrim), but decided I should go off the a.b.'s after 5 months had passed to avoid possible damage to my immune system/liver/kidneys; before discontinuing the a.b.'s, though, I obtained an Rx for spironolactone (anti-androgen drug for hormonal acne), and after a cpl mo.s of both, I went off the antibiotics and was able to maintain 100% clear skin for almost 3 mo.s; around the end of the 3rd mo., began getting small pimples here and there and took a.b.'s (Bactrim) for 1 wk to clear them; then read about zinc and decided to increase my 30 mg daily dosage to 60 mg whenever i saw a new zit. this worked very well on the little pimples that were appearing on occasion. thus, instead of increasing my spiro dosage (which was not preferable due to diuretic and other more serious potential side effects) or continuing harmful antibiotics, i have been able to prevent/effectively treat any zits I now get with increased intake of zinc. : ) i do not suggest taking more than 60 mg (one 30 mg capsule of Twin Lab chelated zinc twice) daily, as it can be toxic to humans if taken in higher quantities. also, do not take it on an empty stomach, or you may make yourself nauseous

Zinc is not the miracle cure for acne, but it sure does help!! I used to have a least a couple pimples on my face and right now I have none. I have been taking 50mg zinc daily for A MONTH and it has really helped so much! I feel better going outside now that my skin looks sooo much better! It really helps with the smaller pimples. I had some on my forehead, but they are all gone! My forehead is smooth and beautiful. If I do get a pimple, its like one and its not very big like they used to get.

I take a 50mg tablet once a day with food. Been taking on and off for the past couple months. When I started taking zinc I was seeing less breakouts within a week, but I was doing other treatments at the same time so I wasnt sure if it was the zinc, once I stopped taking the zinc I broke out more so I am back on it and have been seeing improvement. :)

It does work! It worked for me, I would never breakout and had insanly clear skin with maybe 1 pimple that would go away withint 1-2 days! And I would occasianly break out around that time of the month but nothing major. So I was taking Zinc for about 3 months along with Omega-3, vit C and vit D and it helped my acne as I said, but it got kind of a hassle to take all those pills along with my allergy medication I had to take during the summer so I stopped stupidly thinking my skin was just kind of grown out of acne. STUPIDEST IDEA EVER! My skin went back to it's norm 3-4 pimples everyday which absolutely sucks! So now i've started taking them all again and my skin is already clearing up again :) And I think its extremely important to take the zinc out of all those iother vitamins cause thats what was making the difference!! ~ also, the first day I took my zinc pill 5 months ago, I had a problem with swallowing it down. It felt like it came back up my throat and the feeling stayed for 2/3 weeks which was annoying because it wasn't! So make sure you take lots of water with it so you don't have the same problem cause trust me it was annoying!!!