18 replies to this topic

[johnmk]

He's 17, has severe acne, very shy about going into public, his back hurts so much from the acne it's hard to sleep sometimes. He just started the lowest dose of accutane. I don't want to scare him without a solution. I've heard bad things about accutane. Is the damage permanent? Are there efficacious alternatives? Evidently, he's tried everything else without success.

What are some alternative treatments? Supplements? Would mild sun exposure help? Can he get some mild sun exposure while taking accutane?

Thank you,

-John

[scottl]

Given the....I think it was hippocampal damage discussed....here or was it avant recently I would nix the accutane.

I'll post some ideas later.

[stellar]

I think I read something once that indicated a certain percentage of accutane users experienced permanent hairloss.

[bgwowk]

Accutane is a good drug that has been maligned all out of proportion to any damage caused. I know someone who was all but *cured* of acne after a couple of courses lasting a few weeks.

If your friend is using the drug under a physician's supervision, there is no reason to scare him. That disease needs to be treated, and his is a textbook case for which accutane is indicated.

---BrianW

[LifeMirage]

Guggulsterones 75 mg daily with food.

[scottl]

John given the age and the hormones...well I dunno if I can suggest anything that will be really helpful. A few thoughts which should not be too much effort or money to try:

1. Flora. Buy some decent brand of e.g. mixed acidophilus/bifidus and give him it to him...ideally would be twice a day, but once a day is better then nothing. Fiber would be good too...broccoli would be great if you could get him to it eat regularly but a 17 year old...LOL. Well if not...hmmm...figure out some way to get a decent amount of fiber into him.

2. Zinc is also worth a try so get him a good multivitamin e.g. twinlab one daily without iron (Hi Ozone) + and extra...30 mg of zinc.

Gives those both...a trial of say 3-4 weeks. You might double up and make it and extra 50 or 60 mg of zinc for the first week. make sure the zinc is a good form e.g gluconate. picolinate, etc.

The Alternative medicine Ratings guide (By Steven Bratman)..interesting book. Anyway for acne they rank:

Zinc as moderately effective

and next and equally effective they rank:

food allergen identification and avoidance and
digestive enzymes.

I have no personal experience with these for acne. If you wish to try digestive enzymes you want BROAD SPECTRUM PLANT BASED ones as these work in a much wider pH range. I like and use personally (for other reasons) similase. It is only sold to docs, but if you google/froogle it you can find it one the web. Alas this is not cheap, but if the other things above don't help I'd give it a trial of a bottle (well if you can get him to take pills with meals).


Oh and topically sea breeze...the towlettes form if you can find it and stridex both applied twice a day are helpful, but they will not do anything for the deep cystic form.

[123456]

To johnmk;

Perhaps your friend would like to try this product. I have seen it advertised on television with the Stars vouching for it.

Website:

http://www.proactiv....p?acnt=GTPKO10H

[Infernity]

Hehe, well I'm not an expert, but here are few things I know for certain that helps:

Vitamin A* (inject however)

Antibiotics* (inject however)

Lots of water and Vegetables (inject however)

Tomato (put on the filled with acne places)

Sun* (let it be under the sun of course)



* Do not have too much [!]

Yours
~Infernity

[Mark Hamalainen]

Accutane is a good drug that has been maligned all out of proportion to any damage caused. I know someone who was all but *cured* of acne after a couple of courses lasting a few weeks

I also know a number of people who have taken Accutane and gotten fast and lasting results with no apparent side effects. Perhaps any depression was masked by the relief of the burden of the acne. Or maybe sufficient exercise and mental activity more than compensated for the possible damage. Or maybe they were lucky.

Whatever the case, in my experience, Accutane is a legitimate option.

[LifeMirage]

http://www.aesthetic...tent/clearlight for 4-6 weeks.

and/or

Guggulsterones 75 mg daily with food for 3 months.

Should result in a 90% cure rate based on my observations.

This can be a horrible condition that needs effective solutions.

I would Strongly recommend the above.

Yours In Health

[reason]

Surprised no-one has mentioned the bread thing yet. Cut the bread from the diet, according to a study I recall...

Reason
Founder, Longevity Meme
reason@longevitymeme.org
http://www.longevitymeme.org

[Infernity]

Surprised no-one has mentioned the bread thing yet. Cut the bread from the diet, according to a study I recall...

So all the things with fatty acids, especially if he has somewhat digestion problems.
All the bane and the things the body takes out- comes out from the skin among.

So bread, chocolate, nuts, etcetera.

Water and vegetables helps cleaning the body and so avoids coming out from the skin.

Antibiotics inhibitive the system of acne among, heh very useful, but be careful, and don't forget to eat a lot, this is a strike.

Sun drys it.

Tomato, hmm I don't remember the exactly thing, but it helps (put it on the skin) for fatty skin, infections (and acne is also a kind of an infection) etcetera.

Vitamin A, don't remember much, I just know it's really good.

Yours
~Infernity

[scottl]

Since LifeMirage has experience with this I would certainly try that.

Oh and antibiotics...reserve that for last. Detroying normal gut flora....is best avoided.

[fntms]

Accutane worked like a miracle for me at the lowest dose for my weight, no supp ever did anything and I tried everything (not the guggulsterones though), zinc, B5, avoiding certain foods,...nada!
I did have some mild depression which might be due to the accutane and other side effects (some tinnitus, incredibly dry skin that irritates easily, mild hair loss...)
Tell your friend to avoid staying in the sun as his skin might react strongly after some time on accutane, mine still gets very red, with no tan at all, and I stopped accutane three months ago. I use a very strong sun block if I need to stay in the sun for some time and I'm fine.

[vforce]

Two things I can suggest as someone that has battled nuisence facial acne all of my life (I am 40 years old) and found a solution THAT WORKED!

1. Go to www.acne.org and follow THE REGIMEN. It is dirt cheap and worked for me. It is much cheaper than proactive solutions and you get more product.

2. Your friend may be diabetic or suffer from Metabolic Syndrom X. Go to www.lef.org and do a search to see if he suffers from the symptoms, one of which can be acne. However at his age, acne is somewhat normal. He is likly just suffering from Testosterone/hormonla overload because of his age.

[confusion]

what about b5?

[LifeMirage]

Many supplements can be "helpful" but very few truly effective as a sole treatment.

[wannafulfill]

I can't believe this thread escaped my radar. I regret using accutane, for what it is worth and here is more information, including personal exp.

http://www.imminst.o...f=169&t=6317&s=

[confusion]

http://www.aesthetic...tent/clearlight for 4-6 weeks.

and/or

Guggulsterones 75 mg daily with food for 3 months.

Should result in a 90% cure rate based on my observations.

This can be a horrible condition that needs effective solutions.

I would Strongly recommend the above.

Yours In Health

where is a good place to get these guggulsterones online?