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Adult Acne Blog - 2002: November 2002
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nurse, nutritionist, herbalist, or otherwise medically trained person.
I am an ordinary person who has suffered from adult acne since 1995 and have found no solution to my acne through conventional medicine.
November 8, 2002
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
11:48 AM (Pacific)
OK...and I almost hate to say this...but I think I have found a solution to my adult acne, that I've had, off and on, since 1995.
The reason I hate to say it...is that everything else I tried before...from salicylic acid products, jojoba oil, changing my pillowcase, avoiding hormones in food, anything prescription topical, plus fiddling around with different birth control pills...really did not work. Helped, but did not work. Adult acne sufferers will know exactly what I mean.
What I'm doing new--two things. One is, get this, brewer's yeast. The powder, not the pills. Two is zinc...zinc lozenges.
It's the brewer's yeast though that really works. The theory is this. Brewer's yeast is basically a B vitamin complex with chromium. This combination can be used to treat stress. Adult acne is aggravated by stress.
I found out about it on the Net (naturally)...the recommendation is, start with 1 teaspoon of brewer's yeast powder per day and work up to 3 - 4 tablespoons of the stuff per day.
I tried it out in coffee--DO NOT DO THAT--you'll kill a perfectly good cup of coffee. But it's OK in unfiltered apple juice. It doesn't really dissolve, it's kinda gloppy, but it doesn't taste overly bad. The brand I got is Lewis Labs, $13 for 16 oz.
I looked into the pills...but each pill contains like 1.3 grams brewer's yeast. Two tablespoons of the powder contain 30 grams...so the pills won't cut it.
There were a couple of cautions that I read...one is, don't take it if you get frequent yeast infections. The other is, don't take it if you take certain anti-depressant medications (MAO1 inhibitors? I'm clueless...but if you're taking any prescription meds you will want to investigate possible problems first).
My skin is actually...dare I say it?...almost perfectly clear. This was during my placebo week of Yasmin birth control pills.
And speaking of Yasmin...Yasmin is good. It just took forever to kick in for me...I think I've been on it for nine months now. Ortho Tricyclen, it seems to me, started working pretty much right away.
The zinc...I read about that also so I'm giving it a try. 15 milligrams per day.
I'm still doing some topicals...I put a little Differin on my forehead and this stubborn spot on my jawline, plus the sides of my cheeks, last night. But I don't have to use topicals every night or all over my face anymore.
Ummm...I haven't even been ingesting the brewer's yeast every day. I started out with every day, now I take it every other day.
There was an article in "Allure" magazine...the August 2002 issue (Beyonce Knowles on the cover). Finally!!!!!!!!! Everything I've been saying for years. That there is this sudden epidemic of adult acne in the U.S., affecting women more than men, over say the past ten years. That it might be caused by exposure to hormones in food (there's a coy reference to that in the article).
But...taking it from here...assuming you already have it. I do recommend the brewer's yeast and zinc and, if you're female, finding the right birth control pill.
I'll have to stick with this for a while longer and see if it's possible to actually stop using topicals.
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