Acne Problems
 

Hi! 👋
In the past two months, I’ve lost about 16 pounds after being stalled for years, so that’s great! I’m super excited. I do a bit of IF everyday, which I began in September, with an eating window of 1 to 4 hours. Weekends are more relaxed with an 8 hour eating window. I’m exercising and building muscle and have a good mental outlook on life, which is great after years of battling depression and anxiety.

But I have zits now!! Lots of them! They are mostly on my temple but are spreading down onto my cheeks and forehead. I even got one on my jawline, which never happens to me. I never had this many zits even in puberty. I’m 38, so maybe my hormones are changing? But the past two months of weight loss has coincided with my cycle being messed up too. I’m pretty regular, but in September, I was a week late and in October, I was a week early.

So, it would seem that the weight loss, cycle issues, and the zits are related, but Dr. Google seems to be confused. Some sources say that hormones are released from fat cells and contribute to the zits and cycle stuff. Other sites say that’s completely unsubstantiated. What do you all think? Has anyone here experienced this?

Brandy, Im no expert but clearly you get the idea that our body is a whole unit and what affects one area will impact another as well.

what I have been reading recently.
Our hormones are made from , among other things, cholesterol. Eating enough good fats is important. The processed oils should be avoided , like soy, corn, etc., better to use coconut oil and olive oil, which are pressed. Do not fry, or broil fats. THis changes their molecular structure. So better to gently cook meats, and forget fried foods. ( I am trying, lol)

You may want hormone support; finding a good doctor is worth the search. I read Dr Christianne Northrups works, and since then more and more are on board with bio- identical replacement hormones. Having said that, I use ground flax, and OTC progesterone. THey work in balance. ALso women have more testosterone than most realize. ANd yes, this is the time everything starts to go wonky, lol. When I was ready to have kids, nearing forty, my timing changed too, added another week. Like clockwork ( was not fully doing DANDR at the time) and even my practitioner told me timing before I could finish the sentence. ( Try getting pregnant on not a 28 day cycle but a 35.... lol ) any way, my hormones were getting off kilter and I wish I knew then what I know now to do for support.

Each woman is unique, so my situation may not be your situation. Keep daily logs, and you can get tested for levels of estrogens etc. It is about enough estrogens, some symptoms can be the same for too high or too low. Progesterones balance estrogens. Our body fat produces estrogens too.

When I recently visited the nurse practitioner that had helped me hold on to the 2 pregnancies, I realized that even her level of knowledge was rather limited. Limited to maintaining pregnancies, not quality of life for pre- or post- menopausal women. ( They had treated me for heavy bleeding by doing a scraping method, rather than balancing my hormones, so of course my body continued on its way right into anemia.) I am still looking for a good doctor.

So yes, more likely middle age hormone changes, and just figure out how to balance the hormones. We are usually progesterone deficient--- and that is cheap and OTC on line. Read up on it. I no longer cycle so can take a dose every day; you are still cycling so are likely to need to apply based on a 28 day cycle.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the words of wisdom, Ms. Arielle! My mother is 59 and shows NO signs of cycle stopping any time soon. The ladies in my family are warriors when it comes to periods. 😂But I do have the Mirena, which has progesterone in it and I notice that any time I have a drop in weight, I always have cycle issues and have since high school. So...alas, I don’t think I’m approaching the much anticipated change of life, unfortunately. 😞

But I think I did figure out what is triggering my problems. Turns out it might not be acne at all! It’s a rash! I put steroid cream on it, which I really didn’t want to do, but it became so itchy, suddenly. The next morning, the redness was gone and the bumps were reduced in size by about 90%.

So then I wondered what could be causing a rash on the sides of my face and in the crease of the sides of my nose. I tried to think if anything else had changed besides my weight and it dawned on me, mega doses of Biotin. Then I researched it and it causes redness and acne like problems in many people. So, I didn’t take it last night and my skin was so much better today! So...maybe the weight had messed with my cycle and had given me a few genuine zits, but the massive amount of bumps on my temple and near my eyebrow is a rash. So maybe this mystery has been solved? 🤷‍♀️

Great if you figured it out!!
I take 10K mcg/ 10 mg biotin, which often listed as maximum dose...what is a high dose for you?

Franziska had tips at the end of this article about acne, about certain foods to avoid. https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/benefits/acne

Hum...maybe it’s not the biotin because mine is only 1,000 mcg. That low of a dose couldn’t possibly be causing the problem, could it? Maybe I should take it again and see what happens.

Might be worth a flare up to do an elimination experiment. ...

Ok. So I thought I’d update this. It was not the biotin. Maybe that was causing itching and redness. I’m not sure, but it wasn’t causing the acne. That was dairy! Since I gave up diet cola in early September, I’ve been drinking tons of lattes! Several a day. And they are made with skim milk here. And my face exploded with cystic acne that started at my temples, but was spreading to my cheeks and above my eyebrows. And I had tiny zits on my forehead and chin. My joints were randomly hurting like crazy too. It was so discouraging.

So, I tried to think of anything that had changed and could only think of lattes. I thought maybe it was too much caffeine, triggering a cortisol response. But that didn’t sound right because I was drinking liters of diet cola a day before I started my three small latte a day habit. I don’t know the caffeine ratio, but I didn’t think that could be the problem. Then I read that people who react to dairy usually have the greatest problem with skim milk or soft cheeses. So...I cut them both out and wow!! I’m almost clear, aside from a few that are still healing. And the best news is that my joint pain is about 90-100% gone, depending on the day. Yay!!!

Never give up!! Find what works for you!! Experiment and see what makes your body happy and strong.

Geat news, that's a powerful testimony against eating dairy, from just some lattes.

Great problem solving! I love successful n=1 stories. Thanks for the update, as we all learn from each other's experiences.

Thank you! I love when people figure out what works for them and share it with the rest of us. I can’t be the only member here struggling with this. And I want to mention that the pain in my joints was so bad that I couldn’t sleep for several nights. And it was getting worse, as my face became more inflamed. My mom has had Rheumatoid Arthritis since she was my age, so I was panicked. When I cut the dairy, I had a hunch it would help my skin, but I had no idea it would solve my pain and mobility problem. But they were linked. And actually, the pain in my joints cleared up in about three days. It really felt like a miracle. Acne is awful and embarrassing, but the pain I felt in my joints was disabling. For real. I can give up lattes for the rest of my life if it will help me avoid that kind of pain.