Acne getting worse

Daisy24 · 08-28-2006, 01:29 AM

Hello Everyone

I'm 26 and over the past 9 months or so, my acne has gotten worse. I've started getting cystic acne, which I've never really had before. A few months ago, I started using Murad, but there hasn't been a "miracle" for me. My cycles have also been pretty wacky (they range from 30 - 90 days), but I'm still ovulating every cycle. The cystic acne typically happens around my period. I also know that the ingrown hairs I get from plucking contribute to the problem.

I know I should do something, but I'm kind of at a loss for what my best options are. Since my acne is hormone related, what kind of a doctor should I see? I'm also very self-restricting about what I will take. BCP never did a whole lot for me before and I no longer consider them an option. I am also extremely hesitant to try anything that would effect my NFP charting or that shouldn't be taken while pregnant. (I originally learned NFP so that I could use it, but my situation has changed and I'm continuing to chart for educational and health reasons. Pregnancy isn't anything I need to be concerned about at the moment, but I don't see the point of starting something that will have to be stopped when pregnancy is an option.) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Acne Be Gone Fairy · 08-29-2006, 06:11 AM

Daisy, I really believe acne and PCOS to be an internal imbalance. You may want to consider going to an endocrinologist. A liver cleanse, and herbs to rebalance your hormones would be a great option as well. I really like Dr. Cynthia Foster's products. I believe diet is a huge factor. Try to eat natural, whole foods, like fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes. Stay away from antibiotic and hormone induced animal products. You may find the teachings of Dr. Fuhrman, a very well respected medical doctor and one of Discovery Health Channel's doctors, helpful. www.drfuhrman.com I would for sure incorporate fruits and leafy greens into you diet. I cleared up my acne in a little over a month by drinking green smoothies, a fruity tasting drink made up of fruits and leafy greens - highly nutrition, tasty, easy to make, and a possible cure for acne. I made a post about it over at Pioneer Thinking, and lots of people over there are doing well with it and have begun noticing positive changes in their skin. As long as I do the smoothies, my skin stays clear, and to top it off, I'm getting my fruits and veggies in! You can read the post here:http://www.pioneerthinking.com/cgi-bin/mb/YaBB.pl?board=skin;action=display;num=1154902025 I hope things get better for you.

Daisy24 · 08-31-2006, 06:20 AM

Thanks Acne Be Gone Fairy. (Very appropriate name, by the way.) I know my diet isn't as good as it could be, but it isn't as bad as many other people I know, either. I eat chicken every once in awhile, but that is all the meat I really eat. What foods are a good source of vitamin A? I don't have a blender, so the smoothies can't happen anytime soon, but I'll keep it in mine.

Acne Be Gone Fairy · 08-31-2006, 06:54 AM

^ If chicken is all you're eating as far as meat, and it's free of hormones and antibiotics, then that's not too bad at all. Fruits and leafy greens are a great source for vitamin A. Maybe you could just try eating them whole, since you don't yet have a blender (eBay has some good deals on Vita-Mixs, which is the blender I would recommend), you could make salads and add some cut up fruit - that would be really tasty! You could do olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and lemon juice for a dressing. Dr. Fuhrman, who I mentioned above, says that leafy greens are extremely important when it comes to clearing acne. Here's a quote of his:

"The number one priority is nutrient density in your skin. To increase the phytonutrients in your skin have two to four ounces of green cruciferous juice a day, mixed in some other juice such as carrot/strawberry.
Then have 6 ounces of raw greens, mixing kale, organic spinach and lettuce smoothie.

Also consume a daily bowl of a green-based soup with broccoli rabe, bok choy, collards and other dark greens cooked into the soup base. You can eat raw nuts, but not more than two ounces with any one meal. You can eat fresh fruit, but not more than 2-3 fruit equivalents with any one meal.

Try to sweat as much as possible and of course, eat when hungry and do not overeat.
If you do all this your hormonal peaks will diminish in 2 or 3 months and your skin will make great strides."

That's a LOT of greens, but you get the idea.

I just do 4 cups of green smoothie a day, and that alone has been enough for me, and it's a lot easier than doing everything Dr. Fuhrman mentions. He has recently become a green smoothie fan himself though.

....so anyway, I think the best thing you can do right now is to try to get as many leafy greens into your diet as you can. I would consider doing a cleanse as well. You'd want to start with a colon cleanse and then work towards a liver cleanse. If you'd like to read more about cleanses and how to do them, here's a link from Dr. Cynthia Foster, M.D.: http://www.startthehealing.com/begin.html

Acne Be Gone Fairy · 11-26-2006, 07:58 PM

You might want to look into the ingredients of your skin care line to be sure it doesn't contain acne causing ingredients. Two good sites for information on ingredients are: http://www.cosmeticscop.com/learn/di....asp?TYPE=MAIN, and http://www.zerozits.com/Articles/acnedetect.htm. Paula Begoun (cosmetics cop), is a skin care expert. I use her acne skin care line, but I'd feel good about any skin care line that she recommends.

To see what foods contain vitamin A, you might want to go to www.whfoods.com and do a search for vitamin A. If you do green smoothies though, you should get plenty of vitamin A in your diet.

AmericanWoman · 11-26-2006, 09:22 PM

the only thing I ever found to work was accutane. It is very toxic and has sometimes side effects. I though was getting and still have scars from acne.

So try everything else under the sun but it other things do not work, that is an option to CAREFULLY look at.

Daisy24 · 11-27-2006, 05:54 PM

Thanks Ladies! I found the cosmetic cop site and aad.org link I found there especially helpful. I'm almost done with my murad stuff, and I don't think I'll be getting more. Paula didn't review the specific products I use, but she didn't seem too encouraged by the doctor that created the products. I looked up some of the ingredients with mixed results. I don't think I want to take any medications for my acne, but, once I get my insurance situation figured out, I may have to break down and see a dermatologist.

montana_in_la · 12-04-2006, 02:13 PM

I'm using Murad too - I'm about a week or so away from the 1 month mark. My skin has cleared up some, but the pimples that I do get are really red and unhappy. So I have really nice skin with a few hyperpigmentation marks that are going away rapidly, and unhappy red marks! LOL

I heard pomegranete is loaded with lots more antioxidants than green tea. . .I don't know what it would do for the skin but Murad puts it in a cleanser and a lotion. I drink pomegranete juice at least a couple times a week.

tk26225 · 12-15-2006, 11:17 AM

Acne is an internal imbalance but it's an imbalance of the hormones. You need to see an endocrinologist and if that does not help see a Dermatologist. I know you said you are skeptical about BCP but not all of them are the same and people react differently to them so you need to be willing to try different ones to find the right one for you. I've heard that a combination of Metformin, Yasmin and Spiro works great for acne and that is what I'm going to start doing. My doctor wants to start slowly with each medication so I'm only on the Metformin right now. Until you get the hormone imbalance in check nothing OTC will help.

Daisy24 · 12-19-2006, 06:58 PM

Thanks for the responses. I just canceled Murad. I thought I was almost out, but I just found another shipment. Unfourtunately, its too late to return it, so I'll use it up while trying some other things too.

Its not that I'm skeptic of BCP, its that I'm against them. I used them back when I was a teenager and before I learned more about them. Although they never did a whole lot for me, I continued using them until I was engaged, because I am waiting until I'm married to have sex so the moral implications weren't a factor. The engagement ended, but, now that I'm at an age where marriage is a possibility, I don't see the point of going on something that I'll eventually be going off of.

I tried a few different birth control pills while taking Spiro. I believe Yasmin is the one I ended up sticking with. My cycles were regular, but they always game the last week of the active pills. Neither the Yasmin or the Spiro did a whole lot for my acne or facial hair. (I went off of them at seperate times to see how much each was helping.) They may have lessened it, but never to the point where I had relatively clear skin most of the time. Any benefit I was receiving wasn't worth the cost of the prescriptions.

Would the Metformin alone help acne? What exactly is it for/does it do? Isn't it for Diabetes? I am a skinny Cyster, so I don't know how much it would help me.

Thanks!

bookyeti · 01-09-2007, 06:52 PM

Daisy24, I went on BCP about 3 months before I got married (hubby and I, too, practiced abstinence until we were married).

My husband and I do not want children by choice, and I figured the BCP was our only really fool-proof choice. However, I paid the price. The BCP really wreaked havoc on my health, and unfortunately, I stuck with them for nearly 3 years before deciding I've had my fill with them. (My health was in utter shambled by the end of it all.)

I first was put on Alesse. It gave me horrid cystic acne, which I've never seemed to rid myself of after that. I literally felt (and, no doubt, looked) like someone had punched me in the face - OW! After about 2 years on Alesse, I decided to switch to Yasmin, which I was told would help with my acne. Nada o' nil.

It made it worse...if that is possible.

After another year on Yasmin...I decided enough was enough. I stopped the BCP and my husband and I have been combining other forms of contraception. I feel SO much better now, and my acne has somewhat improved.

However, it's still gave me a problem. About a month ago, I started Metformin...I'm on 1000mg/day. It really does seem to help, when I combined it with better eating habits and more exercise (and LOTS of water).

And since serious acne is mostly due to hormone imbalance, I feel Metformin has really helped to get my system leveled out to keep the acne at bay. You may want to try it.

christyc82 · 01-10-2007, 07:52 PM

You know what may work for you. I use to use it, but then its like I became immune to it. Walmart carries a product called natures cure. Its a twice a day pill and cream that you use. It takes about a month for the full effect but it kept my face under control for a year. Because acne is hormone related, natures cure is formulated for females and males. I loved it, that was until it stopped working. So if you are looking for a temp fix until you can get into see someone, try it. Its like $8 a month at walmart. I found the best thing that worked for me on it though was to take the pills together, instead of morning and night. Id forget to take the 2nd pill if not lol.