I finally figured out that milk and dairy fat makes my skin freak out more than anything. I used to drink alot of milk and when I stopped I was amazed.
Gives a new twist to the “pizza face” thing, huh? /groan
If you’re not pounding the diet coke for the caffeine, but instead for the ability to drink something that tastes different from water, try caffeine free. It’s the caffeine that’s dehydrating you. (And of course it’s not just from the DC that’ll do it; caffeine from any source will dehydrate you.)
I had pretty bad acne from middle school through high school. I eventually started taking Accutane and it cleared up practically overnight. The major side effect was that my lips were perpetually chapped for about two years, but my skin’s been clear ever since. I consider it a fair trade.
Only two things work for acne: accutane or a strict regimen of facial cleaning with Benzoyl Peroxide 2.5%.
BP 10% will just irritate the skin. It doesn’t work any better.
BP doesn’t address the whole problem. As someone who has used BP before to no avail and now uses the combination approach, the latter works much better. And various dermatological studies are indicating this as well.
Finding BP 2.5% is a bitch, because in marketing “bigger is better”.
I got quite a good result just switching from soap to glycerol/propelyne glycol (e.g. Cetaphil) as my facial cleanser, twice a day, but my acne wasn’t all that bad, and still not totally gone. Still, it helped, and it was a very limited regimen.
In HS, my step mother had us all drink a glass of water first thing in the morning. It really did help, though my acne was never that bad and went away after HS. I still get the occasional blemish, but it’s certainly not an issue. But then I have VERY low caffeine intake (I like chocolate after lunch…that’s about it), and I enjoy the taste of water, so my habits may be helping me.
Well, I have a caffeine intake that would kill anyone without Swedish blood, I almost never drink water, and I’ve basically never had acne. My brother and sister, however, both of whom have better health habits, were not so lucky.
I’ve never had bad acne. I’d get zits in high school, maybe three or four at a time. I basically stopped getting them when I was nineteen. Now I’m getting them again, maybe because of the steroids and hormone treatments I take, or maybe because I stopped smoking and my diet changed, probably both.
http://www.fda.gov/CDER/DRUG/infopage/accutane/medicationguide.htm
“Possible serious side effects of taking Accutane include birth defects and mental disorders.”
And BTG wasn’t even on the poll!
Accutane is incredibly dangerous shit, but it’s amazingly effective. It can cure acne that people have that is absolutely catastrophic emotionally – cysts that cover chest, back, neck, face, etc. For people like that, Accutane is the difference between being a part of society or not, it is emotionally debilitating to have that degree of acne.
It irks me that there is serious talk about Accutane being pulled from the market because of women that get pregnant when taking it. Roche can’t say “Hey, only prescribe this to men” because they’d get sued for sexism and/or look like assholes, so it’s pull it from the market to avoid the insane birth defects that happen from irresponsible users or keep it on the market and have the insane birth defects.
The back of an Accutane blister pack has a little picture of a pregnant woman with a big circle/slash on it. On every pill blister. I asked a dermatologist I went to about that, and I was like “What happens if someone gets pregnant?” and he was really calm and serious and said “I am opposed to abortion, but if you get pregnant while on Accutane I counsel very strongly to get an abortion, because that will not be a child that wants to live.”
That gave me chills.
I remember your skin being pretty bad when we met, BTG. I’m glad to hear you’ve found something that works for you.
My wife has an unusual regimen for popping pimples. She has a collection of disposable needles, and will use the needle to actually cut open the pimple. She uses Q-tips to roll the blockage out (along with yummy pus). She then uses decolorized iodide tincture on what’s left; not only does this kill any germs, but done properly, no scar is left behind, and the pimple is gone for good.
Man, thanks a lot asshole. I remember you being pretty bipolar when we met, how’s that working for you?
:)
Hahahahahaha!
That wasn’t quite what I meant…
What I meant to say was that I remember you having bad skin, but I don’t remember it being that bad.
You weren’t exactly a pizza-face.
So are there any topical creams out there that will help with scarring somewhat or am I just dreaming?
It just gets better and better.
Oh gawsh, I feel SO MUCH BETTER NOW. I wasn’t “exactly” a pizza-face, I was just like a pizza face. I was a pizza face simile, kthx.
Wait, was this the one time we met up where I gave you a fucking 24" monitor for free? Was it that time?
Man, talk about ingrate bitches.
Dreaming, unfortuantely. This is one of those things that’s kind of the holy grail, but most places recommend some time of dermabrasion, peels, or resurfacing, but christ that sounds uncomfortable. AND I’m not even sure how effective it really is.
Dubrow’s book also has a chapter on this, fwiw.
This parachute’s a knapsack!