Severe Adult Acne

[almostclear7]

Originally Posted by stojack

I'm a 37 y/o female that has suffered with this damn disease for the last 20+ years. I feel your pain sista... I tried everything, including accutane when I was younger, but nothing helped for long or I was too afraid of the side effects. Yasmin worked for acne but my hair started falling out from the change in hormones, bactrim worked but how long can you really take anti biotics????, oh, and b5 worked, but also hair thinning. Anyway, I finally dove into natural remedies, and pieced together the diet/acne connection. There are several old timers on this site that have made the connections and cured their acne natuarally. What's working for me is the paleo diet, or low/slow carb. No refined food, sugar etc. There's a great ebook by Loren Cordain called The dietary cure for acne. It's $20 bucks and trust me there is science in there, not hocus pocus. If anyone has any questions, feel free to let em' loose, it took me a long time to get my acne under control naturally and I can share tricks of the trade so to speak.

Is it expensive to follow this "diet/regimen"? I am going to try this out before I try accutane. I always thought that sugar and all that junk food stuff we normally find in our grocery stores/fast food places, but recently I tried something of an experiment out and now I know. When I eat simple sugars holy ****. I basically gouged myself with sugar this month that I was home for winter break. I never eat fast food and drink plenty of water and I never eat simple sugars, but slowly I increased my intake of sugars. It took about three days when I really took in a bunch of junk food to see huge pimples come up. So, now I'm ready to REALLY eat HEALTHY and rid myself of products. Thanks in advance for any help.

[stojack]

Hi almostclear,
I know what you mean about sugar. It took me so many years to make all the connections. I don't think I ever would have done it on my own. I pretty much always had some form of acne on my face so I never associated it with what I was eating. I was very much addicted to sugar and carbs my whole life, so it's no wonder my face was mess. In the last few years the acne became mainly cystic. I would get huge lumps that required steroid injections to go away. I was in my derms office about once a week, because it was the only way they would go away. They would literally last months if I didn't get the injection. I had one that lasted a year even after two injections, and it didn't totally go away until I started this way of eating.

It wasn't until I came across Dr Perricones book The Clear Skin Prescription that I began to think maybe this diet thing can work. I was also searching this board regularly and there were a lot of links at the time regarding diet and acne. The plan I follow now is a combination of the Paleo diet and Perricone's recommendations. Loren Cordain wrote a book called The Dietary Cure for Acne. Apparantly, I can't tell you where to get it because the moderator deleted this from one of my posts. I'm not trying to push something, just saying what worked for me. It's hard to do that without recommending it by name. Anyway, hopefully they'll leave this info in so you can get the book, because he lays out the science in a fascinating and easy to understand manner. It really made me see the reasons that diet is so effective. I'll try to give you the highlights. You asked if it's pricey and the answer is yes and no. It's definitely a little more expensive and you have to get in the habit of cooking for yourself, but once you figure out a system, it's very managable. I also have a great discount produce place where I load up once a week. I rarely eat things out of a bag or a box. My diet mainly consists of the following:


All meats-primarily chicken, seafood and beef, but lean cuts of pork are fine. Also bison is great if you can get it.
All fruits-Some people have problems with pineapple, mango, banana and other high glycemic fruits, so you want to go slow with these.
All vegetables-No white potatoes, I have been fine with Sweet potatoes and carrots although they are also high glycemic, may want to go slow with those as well.
Coconut oil-Do a google on a this stuff, it has far too many benefits to list but for acne sufferers it's great for balancing blood sugar levels. Coconut flour is also a gluten free, low carb way to bake. I finally found some recipes on the net which allow me to have muffins again!!! YEah. a site called simplycoconut.com has some free recipes. There's also a book by a guy named Fife that has more recipes, I haven't gotten it yet but I plan to track it down.
Pumpkin Seeds are good for snacking
Nuts are ok for me-Some people have trouble with them, definitely no peanuts, they're actually legumes and Cordain goes into why beans, soy, peanuts and the like are bad for acne sufferers because they contain lectins that appear to effect the skin shedding process, eventually causing pore blockage. He does a much better job of explaining in his book.
Almond milk instead of milk

I avoid all sugar, I use stevia to sweeten tea and my baked stuff using coconut flour. I don't eat any refined carbs or pasta. I might have a bite or two of something occasionally, but I find that once I start to deviate it spirals and I'll end up with a pimple. IT's crazy now to see exactly when I get a pimple and know exactly what it's from. I also never get the kind that require and injection, since I don't over load on sugar and carbs like I used to.

I eat very little dairy-really a splurge once in a while.
I love to roast veggies in the oven, it makes them very tasty and you can make a bunch and have them available for lunch and dinner for a couple of days. Add some protein and some cole slaw or salad and you're set.


Hopefully this gets you started. All I can say is it's something that requires a change in mindset. Believe me you have never met someone that loved junk food more than me, but I can live without it for clear skin and a healthier body. This is a life long disease for me. At 37 it was as bad as it was at 15 so this is my only way to control it without drugs. I'll be better off for it in the long run. That's what I tell myself when I want a big piece of applie pie with whipped cream!!

If you have any other questions, just holler.

Marianne

[almostclear7]

Oh my gosh. I want to thank you for posting the wealth of information that you've provided us. I enjoy cooking so that won't be a problem. I never eat take-out/fast-food and I do not eat at restaurants very often. It's hard to do such things as a student, but I have patience/will power to avoid eating unhealthy food. I actually have found that since I stopped drinking milk my acne had started to go away within months. I used to sit there with a box of cereal (any kind...I loved cereal) and a jug of milk and just eat bowl after bowl. My whole life up until about 18-19 I would drink probably as much milk as the recommended amount of water. I took an antibiotic for almost 2 years, which is crazy even when I think about it now. It helped, but slowly but surely the acne started to get worse.

I stopped taking it and got on different creams, moisturizers, washes, etc. I used to do Pro-Activ. It worked initially before I went to a DERM. It turned my face a bit too red for my liking, but worked for my FIRST bout with acne.(the first time I got it OH was it bad...blood filled boil like cystic acne, but i haven't experienced that since then...it lasted about 6 months or so.) I then tried the herbal 3-phase system thing from ZEN-MED, which I know made my skin about as bad as it ever has been. I got on supplements from GNC and it helped a bit. (acidophilus,zinc, etc) I now use Cetaphil Cleanser twice a day, use H2O2 on a clear day sometimes twice a day mostly just once in the morning, and moisturize with Cetaphil day/night. I also take a soy protein shake, 80 mg of zinc lozegens, and flax-seed oil/fish body oil. I do think that the protein I have added to my diet has helped. I think I'll be able to do this so thank you. I just looked up Dr. Cordain's book and I can get it online for not much at all.

I'm just tired of waking up EVERY DAY and KNOWING that I have acne and the best I can hope for is that a few of them are "going away." I do not want to deal with it if for another minute if I can help it. The binge kind of sugar fests I tend to have every three months or so have to stop also. It usually happens when I have no food in the place except bread and something sweet so I go to the store after having like a PB sandwhich looking for cookies/chocolate.

[lindam]

I'll second the diet thing. A decade of dermatologists, antibiotics and accutane did nothing for me. I'm 41 and my skin cleared last spring for the first time since Junior high, from diet.

I don't do anything that strict though. I just eat fewer bad things and more good things. I cut out sodas and sugary drinks. And I used to think I was addicted to Coke. I've had ice cream once in the past year. And I eat fewer simple carbs and never by themselves. Fats, proteins and fiber slow the processing of glucose and keep your blood sugar from spiking. I also take fiber supplements before meals, especially if it's going to be pasta. I think not completely eliminating things keeps you from binging. Although I've never tried a strict diet and therefore never binged.

Also, I eat legumes with no ill effects. They are full of fiber, protein, and anti oxidants. I'd just eliminate the simple carbs and altered fats and see if that helps before avoiding other such nutritious foods. Lecithen is a very important nutrient. I don't worry about high glycemic fruits either. They are too full of important nutrients to not eat them.

The antibiotics can cause Candida imbalances which can cause acne too. So cutting out the sugar means you aren't feeding the yeast.

Exercise is supposed to help too. I walk daily, but then I always have. I always mean to do more than that, but rarely do.

Also, before the diet, I took Zinc and Saw Palmetto for about a year. My skin got a lot less oily and my face was fairly clear. Then I stopped drinking Coke and improved my diet and am now completely clear. I take other supplements, but that's what I can definately say helped.

Another thing: Have your allergies checked. I was suprised to find I was mildly allergic to many things. But one, in particilar, I know caused the horrible cystic acne I used to have. Oranges. Something I was eating believing it would be good for my skin. I figured out the orange thing at least 15 years ago. I just discovered this year that I am allergic.

[almostclear7]

How did your allergy tests go lindam? I might do that soon to see what I can rule out immediately. I have no idea what to expect as far as seeing an allergist is concerned.