Acne

treliac

On a more positive note, my son now has acne, however not in as extreme a form as his sister had. The same consultant has prescribed a number of different creams and lotions for him to try. There seem to be several new topical treatments on the market.

His skin sometimes gets very dry and tight feeling from them and he has DiproBase to counteract this effect.

He is managing to keep his skin fairly clear by rotating the use of the different prescribed treatments and has also found SkinSure (originally formulated to help with MRSA and other bacterial infections and can be bought without prescription) effective. He seems to do best when he doesn't rely on the same treatment for too long.

elm11

treliac wrote: »

I don't know whether a second course of Roaccutane was ever advised for you or whether you would have chosen to go through it again anyway. This is a 'between the devil and the deep blue sea' of a decision to make.

To have another course of treatment, the doctors must again refer you to a dertermatologist at the hostpital. My surgery has had big changes in the last few years and had new management and new doctors. When I mentioned going onto Roacutane again, my doctor went ballistic! he said that its a very dangerous drug etc etc blah blah blah
He wanted to start me again from the beginning - topical lotions!! It took 6 years the first time. I can't bear to go though that all again, appointment after appointment, sore skin, dry skin,t tears...
I would give anything to make it go away.

:j One little thing that I have found to work for me is 'Neosporin'. You can only buy it from the US. It has a similar texture to vaseline but not so greasy. It is an antibiotic solution. Very good for redness and swellings. Can work wonders overnight - best not to use it everyday though as I found my body can get used to it!

treliac

Thanks, I'll have a look at the Neosporin. Dd didn't have to go through all that palaver with GPs again (in fact her dematologist said when he first saw her that she should have been referred much earlier). We just phoned up his team and asked for her to be seen again. In fact, with both dd and ds, he has left an open door for them to be seen again in the future, at their request, if they need it.

Are you sure that, as you are now known to your dermatologist, you cannot just ask to be seen again.... that is, if you want to? It's worth a try.

The consultant we have seen has been really excellent and has always given a full discussion of the pros and cons of each type of treatment and allowed us to decide finally for ourselves.

jeannieblue

I'm in my mid fifties and am currently going thru an horrendous outbreak! I work full time - come into contact with customers all day - so have to try and look presentable.. I've just changed to mineral make up which i have heard is better for it.

I often suffer this time of year but never this bad. My self esteem isn't good either!

I'm on HRT and am wondering if dosage should be lower... anyone have any ideas? HRT is patches only as had hysterectomy yonks ago.

poet123

A treatment called Nlite only available privately I am afraid(unless things have changed )but worked for my son when nothing else did. It is a laser treatment and you need several treatments but it was a wonderful thing to see the spots clear up.

Vez

Well I am about to be refered to the dermatologist for my 3rd, yes 3rd course of roaccutane. I'm 32 and have been suffering since I hit puberty at 11. For years doctors just kept trying me on different anti biotics, I estimate I spent about 3 years solid on them.As well as 5 years on dianette. The topicals and creams didnt work. One day I saw a locum and he actually for the first time asked to look ( my back was worse than any other part of my body) , and he winced when he saw my back.

After my first course of Roaccutane my skin was fine for a couple of years but then it came back so off to the Hosptal I went. I really had to say to my doctor though that it was no use trying the cycle of anti biotics again.
I took the depo injection for a year and that bought the acne back big time. A year on Dianette seemed to keep it under control but because the rules changed I had to come off that in October. 5 months on, my skin is very bad and painful again and I'm waiting for my referrel date.

Roaccutane is brilliant and I would recommend it to any one with cystic acne like me.

RoseFairy

Ted_Hutchinson wrote: »

[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Acne Vulgaris [/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]A Disease of Western Civilization [/FONT]

i believe you are right; but please elaborate, if possible....

tomstickland

About 10 years I took one of the pills for a few months and that was amazing. It cleared up 10 years worth of acne in about 4 weeks and things have been tolerable ever since. Someone did ask me why my "face was so rough" when out drinking one night, so I assume that that's the long term roughening of the skin.

Ted_Hutchinson

RoseFairy wrote: »

i believe you are right; but please elaborate, if possible....

Perhaps this paper will explain the theory better.
Edit that was unfortunately wasn't the paper about acne/diet but this one is.

In this Comment on acne and glycemic index Cordain explains the glycemic index (GI) is a “relative comparison of the potential of various foods or combinations of foods to increase blood glucose, based on equal amount of carbohydrate in the food.” glycemic load(GL) adjusts to account for the usual serving size. Insulin levels chase blood glucose to bring levels back down after eating. High GI/GL foods tend to increase blood glucose levels and subsequent insulin levels “high and fast.” Low GI/GL foods increase insulin “lower and slower.” Regardless of GI/GL, the process is complete within a few hours of eating. Measurements of serum levels are taken every 15 to 30 minutes to reveal the pattern. A high GI/GL diet results in higher area under the curve insulin levels over the course of a day.

In this study, the dietary GI of patients with long-term acne was significantly higher than that of the healthy control subjects. ..........the correlation between high GI diet and acne of greater than 2 years' duration appears to be very real and deserves further rigorous study.

We suspect that insulin (and the diet that stimulates it) may turn out to be one of the more profound influences in acne.

Another paper coming to the same conclusion.

The effect of a high-protein, low glycemic–load diet versus a conventional, high glycemic–load diet on biochemical parameters associated with acne vulgaris

While I don't have acne I have recently adopted a low carb eating style. Apart from the continuing miraculous effect on my waistline and weight I'm convinced it has also affected beneficially the way my brain operates. I'm less tired, sleep well, wake refreshed, remember my dreams and generally feel more alert and energetic. So irrespective on any possible impact on my skin condition I'm all in favour of eating only those foods our bodies evolved to cope with, but remember a paleo diet was eaten by people with optimal vitamin d status (they lived outdoors more than we do now) and Vitamin D insufficiency also has an impact on metabolic syndrome and our hormone control system.

shivkotz

dual daily gel! best out there
try to do something about it instead of going onto strong medication such as roaccutane containing isotretinoid! im on that, life is hell!