Anyone Else Have Achne Problems?

[Mango04 11]

I am wondering if I should try Acutane. I don't think it's severe enough that he'll allow it, but maybe begging him will help. I have no plans of becoming pregnant, at this age.

Oh gosh Susan don't do Acutane. I did two rounds of it when I was in high school and it was the worst experience ever. It causes depression and horrible muscle pain and it messes with your white blood cells and it basically like...dries out your brain Oh and it didn't make my acne go away

[dancer29 0]

Hey everyone!

I'm new here but I thought I'd resurrect this thread with my story and a note of thanks...

When I was a teenager, I didn't have acne. My friends use to ask what I did to keep my skin so clear! Then... Five years ago I started to suffer with cystic acne. At the time of my first, extremely painful breakout, I was in my third year of university. I was convinced that the breakout was triggered by an extremely stressful event, and so, when my stress levels had calmed (and my acne hadn't) I went to my family doctor and got meds... not Accutane, but a milder one that worked!

But the acne never really went away... it was always lurking and would flare up every once and awhile.

My mom has been gluten-free for 4 years and, knowing it is a hereditary condition, she'd advised both myself and my sister to be careful. So I'd been gluten light for 4 years (because I was living at home). This year I went back to school and became really lazy with being gluten-free... one weekend I noticed that after every meal I had experienced nauseousness and indigestion and a general bloating.

That very Monday morning I woke up to 6 of the largest cystic acne spots I've ever had, clustered together on my chin. They were huge (the largest was the size of a quarter, the others were dime size), painful and horrid looking.

I was ready to take accutane, but thank goodness for this forum! I had already begun to wonder if my weekend symptoms had been gluten related - after some googling I found these posts and realized that the acne might be gluten related.... I went gluten free right then.

And since, my acne has cleared. Its not perfect yet - I had what I believe was a 'detox' breakout, but the gluten was definitely related to the acne... I was glutened a few weeks ago and experienced immediate funny tummy and the next day? Boom! A new cyst.

So THANK YOU to everyone who shared their experiences here ... I probably would have been put on accutane, and it wouldn't have worked. THANK YOU a thousand times!

[samcarter 1]

I never had acne as a teenager. My brother had horrible cystic acne (he was put on antibiotics all the time, had to get one lanced). Apparently our maternal aunt had bad acne as well.

But then after college, I started to get a rash that looked like acne on my forehead. I was put on Differin gel, which helped some, but i didn't like the dryness. It was never cystic, but just bumpy (very small, hard bumps) and red. Sometimes it will crust over. And i can run little white hard grains out of it. I tried cutting out sodium lauryl sulfate containing cleansers and shampoos and that helped for a while, but not any more.

Now I'm wondering if it's a reaction to wheat in shampoo. So i went out and got Suave shampoos and Neutrogena face cleanser....as well as eating as gluten free as possible. It's only on my forehead, I rarely have a breakout anywhere else. Weird.

[DeerGirl 0]

It was never cystic, but just bumpy (very small, hard bumps) and red. Sometimes it will crust over. And i can run little white hard grains out of it.

Can't offer any info about gluten reaction - just a thought but could it be milia? Beyond Differin, salicylic acid containing products may help with that, or Retin-A.

[DeerGirl 0]

Wish I could say that going gluten free has cleared up my acne, but alas dietary changes have provided no response whatsoever in the past 10 months. If anything it has gotten worse!

Then again, I'm one of those people that diet never affected my skin anyway.

[Nancym 4]

I've heard a lot of positive things about this book: http://www.dietaryacnecure.com/download.htm

[MyMississippi 2]

You might want to get checked for Rosacea--- it can cause "adult acne".

I always wondered why I continued to have flare up of zits into my 40's --- weird----

Went to dermatologist for a bump on my nose that came and went--- thought I might have skin cancer- he said I had rosacea---- Duh ! ! I should have known---- I had a red face for a couple of years ( thought it was hormones)----

He gave me a VERY EXSPENSIVE Rx that didn't really help that much, and felt greasy!

So, I started treating the flare ups by rubbing with plain old cheap alcohol on a cotton ball and cleaning my entire face with it --- GASP ! ! And my skin cleared up.

My skin is clear now--- some days it's downright nice looking ----- I don't use make-up except eye makeup. I wash with Ivory soap, and put a cheap moisturizer around my eyes and mouth. I no longer have periods and I guess that probably helped some too.

I went gluten free 2 years ago---- perhaps that helped a lot ! ! !

[lizard00 33]

I know this is old, but wanted to add my experience as well. I am 26, have one child, and my face broke out in the 4th grade... I'm thinking that would put me around 8/9 yrs old. People said it would clear up when I had my child, nothing. Thought maybe it would clear up when I found out about celiac disease and cut out gluten. Nothing. I DO know that dairy will make me break out and make me itch... Oh yeah, did I mention, my skin is DRY.

A woman where I work came in about 2 weeks ago and said I know what you can use on your face.

To which I said, thank you... but you and EVERYONE else have already told me that. But, what do you suggest, so that I may add it to my list of things?

She told me to try Cetaphil and I did and my face is clearing up! And it not red anymore and it doesn't itch either. I put it on my face dry and just wipe it off. Seems that the water/cleanser combo dried out my face more. So, I've been using it for about a week or so and my complexion is more even. I'm starting to clear up, which is the first time in what.... 18 yrs.

So, if you're up for something new, give it a try. I found it at CVS or whatever local drugstore you have.

Hope that helps someone!!!

[DeerGirl 0]

She told me to try Cetaphil and I did and my face is clearing up!

Cetaphil is great stuff isn't it?

I had hoped that going gluten-free would clear up my skin at least a little, as I had heard from several people that it could.