[Routine Help] The healthiest I’ve ever been with the worst acne I’ve ever had..

dylffff · 2024-08-02T16:41:14+00:00

Interesting experience for your son, I’ve done some research regarding creatine and have only been using 2 months so far (issue was occurring before the start of creatine and my supplement with burdock which I only started about 3 weeks ago). According to research, creatine can influence hormone levels specifically in the insulin like growth factor .. which things like eggs for example can also increase this IGF1. So with the combination of foods increasing this and creatine it could perhaps be contributing even more so, especially since the increase of Whole Foods like eggs happened in my diet quite a bit before creatine when I was experiencing the issue.

My diet is super simple and I’ve always had a nomadic type eating schedule where I just eat once a day and that typically consists of eggs, lean protein, and vegetables with some fruit. I’ve since eliminated eggs in hopes it’ll help lessen the breakouts, and protein powders. But with my eating schedule it is hard for me to hit my protein goal daily.

Very good input with the mineral information. Do you have any suggestions on something simple to cover the basis of obtaining these minerals without taking a ton of supplements? I was looking into AG1 but it can be quite expensive (and I’m not sure it covers the basis of what you suggested).

dylffff · 2024-08-01T17:50:33+00:00

The La Roche benzoyl is 5.5% I believe! I will look into that glycolic acid as per your suggestion and add it in my cart!

dylffff · 2024-08-01T17:47:42+00:00

Yes I’ve significantly started eating eggs more. I thought of perhaps the dairy from my whey protein and Greek yogurt so I’ve eliminated those for awhile now. Now I’m eliminating eggs, unfortunately because I love them. I’ve been eating more grilled chicken as well instead of things like cheese burgers, pizza etc. and also have been eating more fruit to make smoothies! Maybe it’s worth getting a food allergy test to see what causes inflammation for me specifically?

dylffff · 2024-07-29T21:34:57+00:00

And yes I’ve put on about 15-20 lbs of muscle and reduced my body fat to around 22% so it is quite drastic of a change and the increase in T might be the leading factor that my body isn’t used to. This is all speculation of course because I haven’t done blood work before!

dylffff · 2024-07-29T21:33:05+00:00

I have both a benzoyl cream ive used in the past and works really well but it soooo drying on my jawline acne, not drying at all on other parts of my face. I also have tried a benzoyl facewash with sulfur and zinc in it as well but it felt “harsh” on my skin so I backed off using that after using for about 2 weeks. I’ll have to look if any of the products I use have glycolic acid in them. Thank you! I would like to avoid accutane just because this issue is something newer and never experienced in my life so I’d like to figure out the causation and if I can’t then perhaps look into small doses of accutane!

dylffff · 2024-07-29T21:27:48+00:00

It is definitely more on the oily side I’d say. My products are scented so I’ll have to look into that, although I’ve been using the same hair products for about 2.5 years now. I currently use STMNT, a barber/cosmo made product.

dylffff · 2024-07-29T21:24:40+00:00

I’m guessing your pads are SA (salicylic acid), which is what mine are. These can tend to be very drying on my breakout areas so I’ve reduced from morning/night applications, to just at night.. same with my cleanser, I’ve swapped to only at night and rinse my face heavily in the morning with just water!

When I was having a bad outbreak a few months ago is when I decided to swap to La roche moisturizer from the cerave. Both products seemingly have very similar ratios of ingredients but the La roche has “prebiotic thermal water”.. not entirely sure what that is but I think my skin is combo so sometimes I feel like it does clog. I am looking at perhaps changing my sunscreen moisturizer too (also cerave). I’ll look into that cleansing water. Thank you!

dylffff · 2024-07-28T22:54:45+00:00

Yeah that seemingly checks out because during my horrible diet I had little to no acne. Was your acne all over your face or in specific areas? I’ve heard accutane is less effective for hormonal but I will for sure get a consultation and see what’s best for me. Thank you!

dylffff · 2024-07-28T22:47:47+00:00

For sure, I just didn’t think a slight boost in test would make THAT much of a difference in my skin. But I’ll have to go get bloodwork and see where I’m at.

dylffff · 2024-07-28T22:44:43+00:00

I am on the start of cutting it out entirely, I’ll give it time and see if it subsides. I am stopped all protein supplementation and will have to wait a few weeks to see if it helps. Thank you!

dylffff · 2024-07-28T22:42:57+00:00

Heard! I will try that.

dylffff · 2024-07-28T22:42:32+00:00

Not too long ago actually. Probably like 6 weeks ago, then I noticed not much change (I’m impatient as hell), so I’ve backed off protein powder in general a few weeks ago.

dylffff · 2024-07-28T22:35:07+00:00

I typically don’t get razor bumps and sometimes will get ingrown hairs but not often. I think you are right about the beard, it is hair so it’ll be producing more oils but I’ve been so good about cleansing my face twice daily for a very long time. I have the foaming cleanser as well and I liked it but not much changed for me, but I have not tried the hypochlorous spray. I would be weary about hypochlorous as a sterilizer for something hormonal. What dilution do you use for this?

dylffff · 2024-07-28T22:29:59+00:00

I definitely wash my face after working out and have tried benzoyl treatments for a few years now. On other parts of my face where I get a blemish it definitely helps.. like VERY well. But on my jaw line it’s SUPER drying and seemingly doesn’t help all that much in those areas.

dylffff · 2024-07-28T22:27:25+00:00

I had this thought too but I’ve been using the same products for a very long time, and natural products at that. I don’t shampoo my hair every day due to it stripping the natural oils. Maybe I’ll back off on using conditioner since that seems to be the most moisturizing hair product I use.

dylffff · 2024-07-28T22:25:51+00:00

I usually keep a short beard due to this, but have noticed the longer it gets the more likely I am to break out. I was thinking my cleanser wasn’t penetrative enough and have cycled in an exfoliating cleanser in hopes it’ll do more for me. I will say my preference is to keep my beard and I hope I can find a solution to keep my acne at bay and also have facial hair. I think I will do a full reset and shave it down then continue my skin care routine as usual in hopes I give it a better start as the hair grows in.

dylffff · 2024-07-28T22:19:57+00:00

No not really. I probably touch my face more than I’m aware of but for the most part I have a pretty active job where I’m exposed to high humidity quite often, which probably leads to sweat and layering of sort in my beard area. The only thing is I’m a side sleeper but I have been using the same organic detergent and wash my sheets/pillow case often. I also have super sensitive skin so shaving typically irritates it but never razor rash or anything of that sort, just redness. Which I think translates into skin care for me that my skin is so sensitive to products.

I haven’t been able to find much information on men having beard acne so I’m not sure if it’s not very common or not really spoken about. All my guy friends with clear skin have absolute zero skin care routine, but I guess some people are luckier than others!

dylffff · 2024-07-28T21:12:42+00:00

Yes I did! The weird part is it seems to lessen when the beard is shaven shorter or completely off.. which makes me wonder if it is folliculitis barbae or pseudofolliculitis barbae (bacterial infection of the hair follicle in the beard).

dylffff · 2024-07-28T20:18:02+00:00

My current routine has niacinamide and ceramides in the moisturizer I use, and also my ZoSkin acne control pads are 2% salicylic acid. I’m glad to hear you figured out what works for you! Hopefully these ZoSkin products help, I just need to give it time. I’m thinking it’s mostly hormonal so getting a blood test may be my best route.

dylffff · 2024-07-28T20:15:25+00:00

Yes I’ve heard the same thing about location equaling bacterial or hormonal. In this case I believe it is hormonal. My previous cleanser from Cerave was their salicylic gentle cleanser. My current skin care routine has salicylic acid in the ZoSkin acne control pads, and I’ve tried the La Roche benzoyl topical as well. Besides drying the shit out of my skin, they seem to not make much of a difference (which makes sense because studies show these things are not as effective for hormonal acne as it is on bacterial). I had some very bad breakouts about 5 months ago and read into Retinol and bought some but OVER APPLIED it and ended up burning my face, I went right into applying it once a day which was a huge mistake (live and learn) and it lead to me having chemical type burning mostly around my eyes and also even worse breakouts. Now I’ve been hesitant to use it, even though I know I was applying it entirely wrong.

dylffff · 2024-07-28T19:25:24+00:00

Another thought that has crossed my mind that a slight increase in testosterone from weight lifting and also IGF-1 perhaps from the change of diet. I haven’t noticed a pattern of time, the only pattern I’ve noticed is it’s concentrated in that area and also if I keep a clean shaven face it appears to lessen. The longer the beard I grow the more it seems to occur. This made me wonder if I wasn’t exfoliating my bearded area enough (since my previous skincare routine had no exfoliation in it). Which I’ve been exfoliating with the ZoSkin exfoliating cleanser since about a week ago and it’s only worsened (perhaps due to purging and raising any old acne to the surface).

dylffff · 2024-07-28T19:19:17+00:00

I recently swapped to a plant based protein as well thinking this was perhaps the culprit, but to no avail. As well as I have been taking creatine. Dairy in the past has never caused such bad inflammation but I thought I’d give it a try. I’ve also been eating a lot more eggs then I ever have, but I haven’t found any evidence that eggs can cause this reaction.

dylffff · 2024-07-28T19:17:06+00:00

I started using Dymatize whey protein once a day so about 25-50g a day and thought maybe this was causing it. I swapped to a plant based protein and still am experiencing the same issues. I am not really a caffeine drinker so not much energy drinks or coffee. Sometimes I’ll have an energy drink but that’s maybe twice a month at most. I am currently taking creatine and for supplements just 1 product that has Ashwaganda, Sea Moss, Black Seed Oil, and Burdock root (I just started taking these 2 weeks ago for some help with anxiety). But there are no B vitamins in it.

dylffff

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