Zinc

For starters, I take 50mg of Chelated Zinc Gluconate from Nature's Bounty. It's one small pill a day that I take after dinner with some coffee, and I've not experienced any of the negative side effects that other's have mentioned. I'm also 17, female, and have dealt with acne since I was about 9 - I believe because of an estrogen surplus. I've tried almost every topical on the market - perscription or otherwise, but my family couldn't afford to visit a proper dermetologist until recently, nevermind a perscription for accutane. (And to be honest, I'd take zits over any of the potential side effects any day.) Also, my mother refused to even consider birth control. It just isn't an option in my family. I've been taking Zinc in this dose for about 8 days now and...low and behold, no new acne. I don't really believe it. I'm sure I sound like a cheesy infomercial but guys, it's actually kind of legit, and it's probably one of the easiest things you can try before heading off to a dermetologist and letting them pump chemicals and silicons onto your face. I used to get these nasty cysts around my mouth and chin, and huge whiteheads right on my lip that looked like cold sores. I have bangs too, so my forehead would get really greasy by 12 o'clock, even in winter. Now my skin is neither dry nor oily, just...normal. I've NEVER had normal skin - you can imagine my excitement. THAT BEING SAID, my skin hasn't just magically become clear overnight, guys. My face is still riddled with old hyperpigmentation marks and scars, and there's still the occasional bump where blackheads are resting or where I suffered the worst breakouts and the skin is rebelling, but there's no new active pimples or pustles to be found anywhere on my face. I haven't had a single whitehead since the first 3 or so days I started taking zinc (and those were small and disappeared in a day or two,) and the redness in my face is going away now that I've begun using an astringent and moisturizor again. I don't want to let myself hope, since so many things have failed me before, but for the first time since I can remember, my skin is actually kind of smooth. It's freaking me out, lol. With the brand I'm using, you get 100 pills, or a three month-ish supply if you only take one per day. I took pictures and plan on updating in another 3 weeks, and then again each month until I'm out. Hopefully, I'll still have good news to report. ^-^

Hey guys, I made an account specifically for this. It works wonders, literally. I've had acne since about 16. I would rate it mild, but at times I would get 4-5 flare ups at once along with acne that's been active. So that made me go from Proactiv, to Doxycycline (which worked for about 3 months) to experimenting with various foods. I came across someone's blog where they praised the "vitamin" cure. Basically, what they did was take Zinc, Vit A, Vit D, & fish oil. Also, the water intake was bumped way high! Think about the amount you drink now & multiple it by at least 4. So, I had nothing to lose and I went ahead and tried it! Boy... Best decision I have ever made in my life! Within days, my skin started to clear up. It was less oily, the active acne was clearing up, & to my surprise no new acne was forming. So I've been on this for about 2 weeks now and it really did the trick. My skin is slowly but surely becoming more clear, there is no active acne (except one small pimple), absolutely oil less. The only downfall is during the first week my acne scars seemed to have been more visible, but that's over with. I drink a bunch of water, probably around a gallon a day since I'm a 200 lbs 6'2 male. Also, go research Borage oil. I hear that it is a lost secret that truly keeps the skin vibrant, & aids in fading acne scars when applied topically & works from the inside out to clear acne. I actually already ordered a bottle so I'll be back to let you guys know how that goes. Alright guys, give vitamins a try! Just make sure you take the right amount.

I've had acne for about three years and there's been ups and downs but generally washing treatments have done very little for my skin. I've tried many bp products and other typical over-the-counter acne products and nothing really "cured" it. My Dermatologist just prescribed me different antibiotics until she wanted to put me on accutane. I started taking 50mg of zinc daily and my skin started healing so fast. Plus I fewer and fewer pimples were sprouting up until it was clear. I stopped for a while without changing anything else and it came back. I'm not saying this is the cure for everyone but if you think you might be deficient, give it a try. It could change everything.

I'm 32 and have been struggling with not just acne but also painful cysts and boils for the past 8 years. I've tried all remedies natural and pharmaceutical and nothing has even budged my acne. About a month ago, as usualI was having a massive breakout on my chin along with cysts on both my cheeks. I've had this bottle of zinc sitting in my drawer that I never took out of fear that it would makes things worse. As bad as my face was I figured I had nothing to lose and started taking 50mg everyday with a meal. In just two weeks, cysts that had been on my face for over six months finally drained and the others completely flattened out. My hormonal acne on my chin was not only almost completely gone but it was also healing with very little scarring. It usually takes my pimples forever to heal and when they do they always leave a dark spot. After doing a little more research on zinc, I found out that it's responsible for wound healing. Almost two months in and my face is gorgeous! My dad and brother even noticed. Not only has it completely cleared my acne but my dark spots are gone too and my face is baby smooth. I do still get an occassional pimple here and there. The awesome thing even about that is that they literally come and go in one day and HEAL very fast with no scarring. Fyi, I use the natural zinc Spribmng Valley brand from Walmart. 200 pills for under $4. That's a 6 1/2 month supply! If you've tried everything then give zinc a try. If you could see how bad my face was just a month ago you would run out and get this stuff lol.

**See bottom for update as of 11/20/13 First, let me say I am a master's student in nutrition and do know what I'm talking about. I highly recommend taking zinc for anyone experiencing dry and flaky skin on their face. It can help for oily skin too, but my experience is with dry skin, detailed below. My biggest lesson is that taking oral contraceptives can cause pretty big vitamin/mineral imbalances. My conclusion after much education is that my hormones were regulated on the pill*, but my vitamin/mineral imbalance has actually been responsible for my breakouts. What I thought were hormonal breakouts were actually deficiencies. So far I've corrected D3 and B12, but my skin was still dry and flaky on my face, no matter how much I moisturized (seriously!). The dry skin was causing uncoverable breakouts that were frustrating and embarrassing on a daily basis. Since nearly all acne products deal with oily skin, you can imagine my exasperation. I then looked to my minerals, and arrived at the idea that I might have a zinc deficiency, which can cause flakey skin and poor wound healing, and is especially prevalent in vegan/vegetarians. I started adding 30 mg zinc with 1000 mg vit c at bedtime. Together with the 15 mg in my daily vitamin, my skin has actually begun to heal, has stopped flaking, is responding to my nightly hydrosol + serum (evanhealy rosehip repair serum and immortelle hydrosol). Scars are far less noticeable, and my breakouts have greatly decreased already... and it's only been a week! Bottom line: add some into your daily/nightly routine, it can't hurt. The daily upper limit for adults is 40mg (which I'm exceeding by 5 for now), so be cautious not to overdo it, since zinc toxicity can deplete your other minerals like copper and iron, which can cause other issues. I'll update in a few weeks, my goal is to be clear by Thanksgiving! *Yasmin caused me the life-threatening side effect of hyperkalemia and panic disorder, I strongly recommend switching away from it (or Yaz) if you're taking it. I have made a full recovery since stopping oral contraception within a month. **UPDATE** 11/20/13 I upped my intake to 50 mg/day of chelate along with the one 1000mg vit C tab at bedtime (in addition to the 15 in my multi) and have had FABULOUS results. I know I must have been very zinc deficient, as this often happens to vegans (zinc is less bioavailable in plant sources). HOWEVER this dosage is only "safe" for up to a few weeks and MUST be supplemented with iron/copper or you risk depleting those minerals (take a multi!). I'm going to bump it back to 30 mg/day in December, then in January just the 15 in my multi. Mineral imbalances only require loading doses for a short period, don't overdo it! My skin is nearly completely clear and is no longer dry and flakey. I have only 3 small active spots right now and even those are healing (compared to 15+ daily about a month ago). I have some hyperpigmentation but know it will fade over time with proper care. My confidence has been restored after a really tough 2 year struggle with my skin. I wish I had known I was zinc deficient sooner! I feel like I can look the world in the face again!

I have been using this for a month now and so far so good. I take Puritan's Pride Zinc for Acne (also a Multivitamin) 50 mg two times a day. My face cleared up, no more acne. But the scars from previous acne is still there, maybe it will fade in time. I'm not used to my face acne free. Usually, I have acne sprouting on my face every other day and now, this is just Wow! refreshing. Good thing I didn't try birth control pills for this. I almost tried it and I know the consequences for BCP could be life threatening. So Zinc, people should try it. It's not bad at all. :)

I just learned about Zinc in acne.org. And now I made an account just to rave about it and hopefully to help people having the same hormonal acne problem. I'm a 25 year old female. I have had acne in the chin area since high school. It doesn't go away and they are very huge, when a pimple is cured another big one shows up again. It's a depressing cycle. Not only is it ugly but it is very painful as well. I have tried everything. I wash my face with a very gentle facial wash, I always eat healthy and drink a lot of water, I change my pillow cases after a few days, I remove my makeup at night and sleep well. Usual advice to cure acne but nothing seems to work for me. No matter how clean I keep my face it's still there. Then I learned that you can only cure hormonal acne internally. Having read zinc is a possible treatment, I bought 15mg daily supplements from the drug store. Taking Zinc made a huge difference to my skin. Although it did not cure the present pimple on my face, after just a few days of taking it, no new pimple pops up! I have been using this for 2 months and I am happy to say that the last pimple that I had was the one before I took Zinc. I now combine it with Vitamin C supplement. You don't have to take a huge amount of Zinc everyday. I take 15mg of Zinc Gluconate everyday. You can also just take a multivitamin tablet that contains Zinc. If you're a female and you have chin acne especially at that time of the month, you probably have hormonal acne like me. Zinc balances your hormones and taking it can help you a lot. I did not make a review immediately because I want to see it for myself first. I am very satisfied with taking it and I highly recommend it. After 10 years of hormonal acne, I am now pimple free and my skin looks glowing.

I had quite severe cystic acne for over ten years, on and off, continuing into adulthood, and tried EVERYTHING. Eventually my derm prescribed me roaccutane which I was very reluctant to take; I wanted to avoid harsh chemicals, so starting using acne.org to research healthy alternatives. I started taking daily effervescent zinc (10mg), vitamin c (1000mg) and cod liver oil about 6 months ago and my acne has all but cleared up! I used to get really bad hormonal break outs around my chin and jaw (two or three new angry, painful cysts every morning which stayed on my face for months) but now maybe will get one small cyst every couple of weeks which goes within a week or two. I'm left with some red marks but these are starting to fade now too. My skin care regime has been the same for about a year (gentle cleansing and salicylic acid moisturiser), so it must be the supplements - I really can't recommend trying zinc enough! I never thought it would work, but it really has, and I can finally leave the house without make up!

I wanted to wait a little while after taking zinc before I wrote a review, because I did not want to get anyone's hopes up. I made this account just to say that zinc has dramatically changed my skin. I started getting acne when I was around 12 (about the time I started becoming a woman if you know what I mean). My sister suffered from similar acne problems, so her dermatologist put her on Accutane. Unfortunately, she became severely depressed on the drug and was forced to stop taking it 4 months in. However, it cleared her acne completely. My mother, of course, would not let me go on Accutane after already having a history of depression, so we tried every topical treatment there is. I was also put on birth control, but I did not see much of a difference. I was hoping that it was something that I would just grow out of. I just turned 21 and I realized that I had to do something, because there is no way in hell that I'm going to have adult acne when I had already had it for 8-9 years. The universe just can't be that cruel. So, instead of relying on "acne clearing" products, I did loads of research on holistic remedies that would help. Like many other reviewers, I realized that my acne must be caused by an internal/hormonal imbalance. I started taking a Vitamin B complex with D3. I didn't see results so I did a bit more research. I started zinc a little over a month ago and my acne is pretty much gone. I may have one or two little ones on my jawline which is nothing compared to having 15-20 large under the skin pimples. I have scars and red marks all over my face, so I still have to wear makeup but I'm hoping those will fade with time. Even with the marks, my skin looks better than it has since I started middle school. It's definitely worth a try! I take 30-60 mg a day after eating a meal. It doesn't make me feel sick. I recommend using OptiZinc. It may take over a month to see results, but when you do, you'll be so so happy. We acne people need to stick together so we can all become acne free people. I'm also obsessed with Desert Essence's Tea Tree Oil Cleansing Pads and their Thoroughly Clean Face Wash. It really helps get any kind of dirt out. I think it was the combo that helped the most.

Zinc cleared my hormonal cystic acne. I had a severe hormonal breakout after coming off Yaz (BCP). I had cystic acne on my chin, neck and jawline. After 6 months of trying to clear it, I realised that you can't 'cure' hormonal acne topically, you have to work from within as well. Just before I decided to turn to antibiotics, I read about Zinc. I was scarred from using pills to treat acne, after my experience with BCP, and really didn't want to use antibiotics, but I thought I had no choice. But instead I decided to start taking Zinc (25mg amino acid chelate) and 3g of fish oil daily. Within a week, my cysts which had been there for over 3 months (yes, one cluster of cysts on my neck was there for about 3 months), were gone. All my cysts had virtually disappeared. 6 weeks in, and I now have one cyst, and maybe 3-4 pimples. This is a dramatic improvement from the cystic acne that was all over my chin, jawline and neck. I will continue to take Zinc indefinitely. It is an easy and safe way to treat hormonal acne (or any acne) from the inside in conjunction with topical treatments. Highly recommended. Also, I have had no negative symptoms relating to nausea. I take the Zinc with dinner, either in the middle of my meal or at the end, and I have had zero negative symptoms.