Gluten Free And Acne Problems

[Baybay01]

Hello!

 

I am an 18 year old college freshman, and I am gluten free and casien free.  I never was medically diagnosed with celiac, but I had so many symptoms and had already removed gluten from my diet for a while before I was tested.  I am much healthier now, and have been over the past nine years of being gluten free and casien free!

 

My question for other Celiac and gluten free teens out there is regarding acne.  I personally do not have severe acne, but I do have mild acne that constantly fluctuates, and never fully ever goes away.  I have tried nearly every natural and gluten free product on the market; ranging from creams, masks, scrubs, gels, ointments, essentail oils, etc. (Namely, brands include: Alba Botanica's full line of Acnedote products, Burt's Bees, remedies from the health food stores that were essential oil blends, "Yes to...'s" line of acne products, Bentonite Clay and other clays, Lerosett acne products, etc.)   I have also changed my diet multiple times, where I elimintated all forms of sugar, except for small amounts of honey (I have even eliminated fruits, and carbs), with no luck.  I recieved a perscription for a topical medication called Tretinoin Cream, which did not help and dried out my face horribly even after using proper moisturizer.  I am at a loss for what else to do.  Most products seem to work for a few days, and then everything returns again.  (I even rotate products!)

 

I was wondering if any of you have found any supplements or other options that have been effective for treating your acne? I realize that it is an internal issue, and that these external treatments are not actually fixing the problem. I also do not consume any casien/dairy products, so I do not need to eliminate anything like that!  I will be 19 soon, and I am so tired of dealing with my acne that I have struggled with since I was around 14 years old.  Actually, my main birthday wish is to have clearer skin!

 

Any thoughts or help would be so appreciated!  

[LauraTX]

Welcome to the forum!

 

Acne is a tricky thing.  What works for some may not work for others, and it can have many causes.  Sounds like you are doing your best taking care of your face, so hopefully a few people here will have some good advice.  I have had a few friends use the proactive system with good results (no idea on ingredients of that), and I have another friend that is almost 30 and still uses benzaclin RX acne medication and it is the only thing that helps.  Let your doctor know what products you are using with the RX stuff, because some things may counteract each other, and if one product does not work there are numerous RX products that may help, so it could take a while to figure out.  Also, sometimes birth control pills can treat acne, so that may be something else to ask the doctor about.

[Baybay01]

Welcome to the forum!

 

Acne is a tricky thing.  What works for some may not work for others, and it can have many causes.  Sounds like you are doing your best taking care of your face, so hopefully a few people here will have some good advice.  I have had a few friends use the proactive system with good results (no idea on ingredients of that), and I have another friend that is almost 30 and still uses benzaclin RX acne medication and it is the only thing that helps.  Let your doctor know what products you are using with the RX stuff, because some things may counteract each other, and if one product does not work there are numerous RX products that may help, so it could take a while to figure out.  Also, sometimes birth control pills can treat acne, so that may be something else to ask the doctor about.

 

Hello!  Thank you so much for your response!  I have thought about resorting to something a little harsher, so it is great to hear more information on those as well!  

[Mewmew]

I'm not tested for celiac disease yet - but a food intolerance test (IgG antibodies) showed that I have antibodies against gluten (and wheat, rye etc.).

 

I can personally recommend www.thelovevitamin.com . She has written some e-books where she sums up what she writes on her blog (she has a forum for people who buy them) - and sometimes she posts other peoples stories on her blog to help people to think about what could cause their acne.

 

Personally, I think that you shouldn't be harsh against your skin. I've only got more acne by using products (so I don't use anything on my face anymore) - and I have to be very careful about what I use on my body.

 

There's a lot of things to look at:

- The products you use to wash your clothes

- The products you use on your body (I myself had acne on my back for 10 years because I didn't knew that my skin hated my shampoo)

- The hand soap you use

- Some gets acne because they use a antiperspirant instead of a deodorant. Or something in their deodorant might irritate their body.

- Some peoples acne clears up around the mouth when they switch toothpaste

- Some people even clears up when they leave their skin alone. Stop picking. Stop washing your face every day etc. (search for the caveman regimen - just treat your skin as if you didn't have acne)

 

- Is there added flouride to your water?

- Look at your poop: Is it healthy?

- Is there any signs that you might have a gut problem or miss something in your diet?

- Some people go through a so called "candida cleanse" for at least three weeks.

- Some people take probiotics to help their gut in getting better.

 

Sometimes people just need to look at themself and think: Am I good at taking care of myself? Do I listen to myself and my body?

What is my weakest point?

Do I go enough out in the sun?

Do I exercise enough?

How is my hormones?

How is my digestion?

Do I eat healthy?

Do I love myself?

Do I take care of myself? Emotionally? (it's often easier for people to take care of their body, financially, spiritually etc. than emotionally)

Do I take time for fun and things I enjoy?

Am I stressed out?

Do I get enough sleep? Are my sleep patterns stable?

Do I pick my skin a lot?

etc.

 

I hope you can use it for something 

[mamaw]

My acne came from rosacea , have you looked into that? Plus I have not had acne for years & years but did have it as an adult as well..... I wash my face in Nutribiotic for sensitive skin.. non-soap... I have not seen acne since using this product... Also in terms of the face : a little is a lot sometimes wearing nothing clears things up...I can not use make-up or eye shadow or mascara just a little lipstick....

I would also take probiotics & digestive enzymes.... the prior poster had great thoughts.....

[dania]

I second the recommendation to check out thelovevitamin.com! Great site with lots of info.

 

I had mild to moderate acne for many years. I did use Proactiv for a while and that helped, until I developed some kind of allergic reaction to it and my face completely swelled up and was all red and puffy. Fun times. Obviously I had to stop using it.

 

Changing my diet to be gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free and so on never helped much. Probiotics, digestive enzymes, etc. all good things to consider but again never really helped me. Also perhaps deficiencies in zinc, vitamin A, other nutrients?

 

The thing that has helped me the most is taking a supplement called EstroSmart. It seems that for me my acne was hormonally related (in particular estrogen dominance). I also had other symptoms of estrogen dominance like painful/heavy periods, etc. (not to mention hormone testing that showed high estrogen). Those symptoms along with the acne have mostly all cleared up now, due to taking EstroSmart (and then later I switched to a similar product that clears out excess/bad estrogens, recommended by my naturopath).

 

So yeah, for me, it was definitely addressing hormonal imbalances that was the key. Depends what your cause is though!

[Baybay01]

 

I'm not tested for celiac disease yet - but a food intolerance test (IgG antibodies) showed that I have antibodies against gluten (and wheat, rye etc.).

 

I can personally recommend www.thelovevitamin.com . She has written some e-books where she sums up what she writes on her blog (she has a forum for people who buy them) - and sometimes she posts other peoples stories on her blog to help people to think about what could cause their acne.

 

Personally, I think that you shouldn't be harsh against your skin. I've only got more acne by using products (so I don't use anything on my face anymore) - and I have to be very careful about what I use on my body.

 

There's a lot of things to look at:

- The products you use to wash your clothes

- The products you use on your body (I myself had acne on my back for 10 years because I didn't knew that my skin hated my shampoo)

- The hand soap you use

- Some gets acne because they use a antiperspirant instead of a deodorant. Or something in their deodorant might irritate their body.

- Some peoples acne clears up around the mouth when they switch toothpaste

- Some people even clears up when they leave their skin alone. Stop picking. Stop washing your face every day etc. (search for the caveman regimen - just treat your skin as if you didn't have acne)

 

- Is there added flouride to your water?

- Look at your poop: Is it healthy?

- Is there any signs that you might have a gut problem or miss something in your diet?

- Some people go through a so called "candida cleanse" for at least three weeks.

- Some people take probiotics to help their gut in getting better.

 

Sometimes people just need to look at themself and think: Am I good at taking care of myself? Do I listen to myself and my body?

What is my weakest point?

Do I go enough out in the sun?

Do I exercise enough?

How is my hormones?

How is my digestion?

Do I eat healthy?

Do I love myself?

Do I take care of myself? Emotionally? (it's often easier for people to take care of their body, financially, spiritually etc. than emotionally)

Do I take time for fun and things I enjoy?

Am I stressed out?

Do I get enough sleep? Are my sleep patterns stable?

Do I pick my skin a lot?

etc.

 

I hope you can use it for something 

 

Hello Mewmew!

Thank you for your post!  It contained a lot of good information!  I am hoping that I will be able to solve my problems, but it is hard to say exactly what could be causing the issue.  As far as my diet and weight go, I am in the healthy range!  I also sleep well, I don't have bowel issues, and I try to exercise daily!  Perhaps looking into how to the link that you recommend will be a great way for me to help solve this issue!

Thank you so much!

[Baybay01]

My acne came from rosacea , have you looked into that? Plus I have not had acne for years & years but did have it as an adult as well..... I wash my face in Nutribiotic for sensitive skin.. non-soap... I have not seen acne since using this product... Also in terms of the face : a little is a lot sometimes wearing nothing clears things up...I can not use make-up or eye shadow or mascara just a little lipstick....

I would also take probiotics & digestive enzymes.... the prior poster had great thoughts.....

Hello mamaw!

Thank you for your post!  I had not looked into that.  I will definitely look into that product! 

[Baybay01]

I second the recommendation to check out thelovevitamin.com! Great site with lots of info.

 

I had mild to moderate acne for many years. I did use Proactiv for a while and that helped, until I developed some kind of allergic reaction to it and my face completely swelled up and was all red and puffy. Fun times. Obviously I had to stop using it.

 

Changing my diet to be gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free and so on never helped much. Probiotics, digestive enzymes, etc. all good things to consider but again never really helped me. Also perhaps deficiencies in zinc, vitamin A, other nutrients?

 

The thing that has helped me the most is taking a supplement called EstroSmart. It seems that for me my acne was hormonally related (in particular estrogen dominance). I also had other symptoms of estrogen dominance like painful/heavy periods, etc. (not to mention hormone testing that showed high estrogen). Those symptoms along with the acne have mostly all cleared up now, due to taking EstroSmart (and then later I switched to a similar product that clears out excess/bad estrogens, recommended by my naturopath).

 

So yeah, for me, it was definitely addressing hormonal imbalances that was the key. Depends what your cause is though!

Hello dania!

Thank you for your post as well!  I might look into that product too.  I appreciate all of your helpful tips, and hope that I find a solution soon!