azzyzzy what areas have those supplements helped you with. I have issues on my face (cheeks), under arms, middle of the chest and inner thighs. Ive searched for EVERYTHING. I know weight loss is needed so I am doing that. I have lost 7lbs so far and I want to lose about 35 more before the year is over. I guess with that weight loss I should see a substancial difference. Its such a hassel and has taken a toll on me emotionally.

Today, I found out I was nt alone... I have had AN since I was 9 . I thank God I ran into this site n read.. I have been embarrassed n hiding for years. I can't wear cute clothes, wear my hair up etc b cause u have to sure my AN is hidden.. its try sad how much this has affected my life.. I would like to let all of u knw ... I would love to chat w sumone .. anyone who suffers from thia because I have never ever ever spoke of this w anyone.. hope thia diet wrks.. I jus started bt am determined.. email me if u wanna chat or support Lullabi1988~gmail.com .. or KiK me Lullabi1988

Dieting and exercise help...A LOT. First two years, living by myself, I ate almost everything I could get my hands on. Pizza, burgers, chicken, chocolate- you name it. And by the end of that period, I weighed a staggering 97 kgs (213.4 pounds). I still did not particularly start a diet or exercise plan, but did reduce my food intakes slightly, started walking to and from college, and did exercises in intervals of about 2-3 days. This continued for a year, and now I weigh 80 kgs (176 pounds). I do have AN, it has improved as a result of this weight loss, but not much. Howver, about a week or two ago, I realised I had still not changed my diet - I still have too many carbs and sugars in my foodstuff. So, I started cutting down on them severly. Fibres and water helped me tide through. And I am telling you, within these two weeks itself, my AN has improved CONSIDERABLY. btw, I also started gymming, only two days before, and I also try to get in a bit of exercise whenever I am alone. I am POSITIVE that my AN will improve if I continue with this. I will keep posting my progress and things that I find out help in this regard, if anyone wants me to.

Guys, do you think that Dermablend can be usefull in our situation?I want to try,I want to use it on my neck because of the big difference between colors.

hi everyone! I'm new,just chanced upon this thread looking up AN.
i know this is a really old thread and no one has posted in a while, but thought it may be good to finally talk about this condition.
im 25 years old and have had AN since i was 10.
i have it most noticeably on my neck and armpits and most embarrassingly in between the folds of fat on my stomach and as a result suffered from social awkwardness and lack of self esteem. I'm constantly preocupied with wearing clothes that cover everything up (even in summer) and strategic hair styling to cover my neck.
i never went to my doctors as close family alway told me to scrub and exfoliate and it will go away and we all know that all that gets you is skin thats been scrubbed red raw (i even took to scrubbing my neck daily with harsh soaps and a tooth brush every day in my teens).

recently i looked it up on the internet and all the symptoms/photos are exact! I'm working up to going to the doctors as I'm terrified he will just tell me I'm dirty, as he has a history of not being bothered to investigate things and I've heard that older doctors like mine haven't even heard of AN!. As you all can guess I'm terrified of actually telling some one about this as only my mum and stepdad know about this, even my friends haven't noticed because of my cunning clothes/ hair choices.

I am very much over weight and have decided a couple of weeks ago, after doing LOADS of research about this to go on a low carb/ low gi diet. I've lost a bit but have a very long way to go.

i was just wondering if anyone has any meal ideas or general advice about this. The diet itself is quite hard, as I'm a lover of all things carb and I'm a vegetarian, so double trouble!
also i read on earlier posts that lemon juice and turmeric mixed and applied over AN areas will help fade them the mean time? does anyone know if this works or gives you rebound pigmentation afterwards?

thanks everyone for sharing your stories, in a twisted way it good to know I'm not alone
xxx

Congratulations on starting low carb. Since AN is a symptom of insulin resistance, you are doing the single best thing you can to eliminate it.

Eating low carb can be difficult but it is possible and it is rewarding. You're a vegetarian....do you eat eggs and cheese and other dairy products? The New Atkins has a vegetarian plan. Whether it would be as effective as an Atkins plan that includes meat, I don't know - it will likely depend on your degree of insulin resistance.

This may come down to a question of YOUR health or protecting animals. And only you can decide which is more important to you. Good luck!

thanks so much for replying to me.
yeah i eat dairy can't say i like eggs too much though, so its going to be quite the challenge.
and i had no idea atkins did a veggie version!, thought it was all about meat. that is definitely the next book on my reading list
thanks again

Here's a llnk:

http://www.amazon.com/New-Atkins-Yo...s+for+a+new+you

Actually, Atkins is more about fat than protein. It's low carb, moderate protein and high fat. The hard thing is that most vegetable based foods have a high carb count for the amount of protein they contain. Hope this helps.

yes it does help,its so very true that vegetarian based meals have a staggeringly high carb count.Its all filler like rice and potatoes ect. for the most part i think ill have to fill up on "good" vegetables and protein.
and thanks for the link and advice, you seem very well versed in low carbing! have ordered the uk version of the new atkins and some other low carb/GI books looking forward to LOTS of reading.

Hi. I'm not new to this thread. I have posted before..and it helps to know I'm not alone. I too have suffered from AN most of my life. I'm close to 37 years old and it has affected my self esteem very much. The hardest thing is that my two kids have it too. I feel horrible not being able to find a solution. I've tried to ask several doctors..including dermatologist to help me..but nobody has helped. All I hear is that there is no cure. I'm not overweight and my kids are at a very healthy weight yet they still have it. I've tried tons of creams..spent so much money on them and nothing has worked. This is one of the hardest thinf s I've had to deal with. I know that eating a low carb diet might help but it is hard to do. It is especially hard to get kids to understand and get them to stay away from carbs. I just wish that there w

I do not have AN and only learned about it in passing when a friend on another site who had it went to see Dr Mary Vernon, a low carb bariatrician in Kansas. Here's a link to an article she wrote. You may be able to find more through google. http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/484768_6

From what I understand it is a symptom of insulin resistant and one can be insulin resistant, but not overweight.

And, yes, it IS hard to eat low carb (at first) but the rewards are many.

I think I posted here almost an year back. I mentioned that I had seen hopeful signs upon starting dieting. Well, I reached my target weight, lost the worst of the acanthosis, then relaxed my strict regime and started picking up weight again. Sure enough, the acanthosis returned. Now I am doing an intensive treatment. I searched a lot and have come up with these measures -
1. Eat low carb.
2. Use Retin-A to lighten skin, and help with the texture. I'm on week 2 only and am noticing improvements. Be wary. The first few weeks of using this are hell.
3. Take a chromium supplement to lower blood glucose.
These 3 combined should produce results in around 6 months.

I have the same skin condition. For us unfortunately it is hereditary and can be passed down to our children. I have had this condition on my elbows and knees since I was about 10 and then it appeared on my neck at 14. It depressed me most of my life and I had a lot of issues. Finally I met my husband, we married and had two beautiful children. Life was great, I had come to terms with my AN, until my daughter (6 at that time) started showing signs of the condition. At 7 it began to appear on her neck. I started to get depressed and it scared me that I would fall into deep depression. My heart broke for her. I decided to start taking action and I was determined to find some sort of solution. I have tried lemon, exfoliants, baking soda, skin bleaching creams and nothing seemed to help. Finally I got the courage and made a dermatologist appointment for her and for myself. I was seen same week, hers is next week. My dermatologist gave me some Retin-A samples. Since I only had a few, I started applying them only on my daughter. Within a week, her neck is 90% better!!!!! Her knees and elbows are still dark however I figured they would take longer to clear up. I have also been applying AmLactin however it has irritated her skin so I am currently not using it on her. I am so happy that there is something that is working for her. I got a prescription for tretinoin (generic version) and have began applying it to myself as well. Only thing is, you need to be very careful and always ALWAYS apply sunscreen. I do not let her out without it. I have done extreme researching and there are very promising studies done on the effect of tretinoin on AN. I really hope this helps someone out there. I have been living with this for most of my life and know what it does to those affected.

I had it for years but I no longer have it.

GTF chromium...helps insulin resistance
Vitamin A from fish oil...much less toxic than Retin-A.
Vitamin D3
Oregano oil or gel caps
Low/lower carb

Mine went away once I got my blood sugar levels under control.

It was on my thighs, knees, elbows, under my boobs and also on the back of my neck.