Thread: My skin is discusting, help me please.

First, a little detective work.

List your:

1. sleep habits (total time, time to bed, time rising)

2. Give me a typical days diet.

3. List all of your supplements (any you don't want mentioned, PM me with them).

4. Unusual or continuous sources of stress.

5. Digestion problems/symtoms.

6. Any other health problems (BP, liver lipids, depression, etc). Family health history. Personal health history (include all dermatological agents used).


Severe cystic acne; localized. Two- or three-part cause: excessive cellular overgrowth (androgen sensitivity), immune system hypersensivity, microbial overgrowth (not one that can be washed away).

To treat: reduce hormone flux, improve immune control, reduce skin cell and sebacious gland activity, improve cell sloughing, reduce scarring probability.

Excessive acrubbing and bathing can aggravate this condition.

Probable time to resolution: 1-6 months.

Trouble will probably set you straight but a couple of quick pointers:
overdrying your skin will have the opposite effect and make oil glands more active (since you mention you wash 2x/day).

Fight with all your might from squeezing acne. That causes the scarring. Don't do it.

Diet can play a big part of it.... definitely look into what you are eating and log it.

Originally Posted by Trouble

First, a little detective work.

List your:

1. sleep habits (total time, time to bed, time rising)
My sleeping habits are terrible. I have had extreme insomnia my entire life. I take massive amounts of sleeping meds, but I can't take them every night because of the cost. I save them for when my sleeping pattern becomes too irregular to function at a reasonable level. I sometimes sleep 4 hours a night, and then make it up by sleeping 20 hours the next. If I ever fall asleep I usually sleep for more than 16 hours. I have had sleep studies ran on me which showed that the eeg went fucking nuts as soon as the room got quite. The neurologist said the only thing to fix it was to put me back on mood stabilizers, and I told him in more polite words to basically shove his pills up his ass.

2. Give me a typical days diet.
I eat a 1/2 cup of oatmeal with an 8 to 10 ounce piece of beef, chicken, or tuna 5 to 6 meals a day. At least one meal contains 2 cups of lightly steamed broccoli. I must have coffee in the morning to bring me to life. My coffee contains half/half with a splash of splenda. I also have coffee at lunch time, but not after.

3. List all of your supplements (any you don't want mentioned, PM me with them).
Centrum Advanced Vitamin
Magnesium 500mg
Calcium Cirtrate 400mg
Ambien 20mg
Dihenhydramine hydrocloride 50mg
Melentonen 6mg
Recently - Creatine CEE

4. Unusual or continuous sources of stress.
This is the most stress free I have been in a long time, but the problem could have bene aggivated by personal issues I have been dealing with. I would say I was about to go insane a month ago, but in the last 2 weeks, I have been in control of my stress.

5. Digestion problems/symtoms.
None

6. Any other health problems (BP, liver lipids, depression, etc). Family health history. Personal health history (include all dermatological agents used).
Type I Bipolar - I am not taking medication anymore. I have learned to deal with it better without meds by surrounding myself with positive forces and staying busy. I have a sneaky suspicion that my recent manic shift is aggravating my skin, because I sweat more and produce more oil when I am manic. I have no facts to back this up, but rather this is an observation I made years ago. My immune system sucks balls. I have little resistance to bacterial infections. I have had pneumonia three times. I get a cold every year sometimes twice. I usually get some form of the flu and I have had pink-eye three times in the last four years. I believe that my immune system's inability to fight off bacteria is a big part of the problem. I ran a cycle of Enanthate and M1T about 3 months ago, and I also believe that aggravated the problem. I have been clean as a whistle for the last two and a half months. I have been eating a pack of green tear everydayfor the antioxidents. I hate the taste of green tea, so I just bust open the pack and eat them like a BC powder.

Severe cystic acne; localized. Two- or three-part cause: excessive cellular overgrowth (androgen sensitivity), immune system hypersensivity, microbial overgrowth (not one that can be washed away).

To treat: reduce hormone flux, improve immune control, reduce skin cell and sebacious gland activity, improve cell sloughing, reduce scarring probability.

Excessive acrubbing and bathing can aggravate this condition.

Probable time to resolution: 1-6 months.

I included everything. I probably told you more than you need to know, but I wanted to make sure that you knew everything before suggesting how I should approach this.

Diphenyl hydramine reliably causes skin eruptions in susceptible individuals.

The green tea is, regrettably, part of the problem. You're over exciting the CNS thru the upper GI.

Sleep issues would be number one on my list.

Not enough green veggies. Need some fresh, uncooked, with each meal.

Do you use whey? You need it, the non-glutamine added stuff. I would also like you to add rice or oat bran. We need to restore immune health, and its one of the best ways to do it. Also wish to see you add AKG, as I advised HAN in his long running thread. Orthinine AKG has been shown to be a potent healer of injured gut and it restores GABA production while reducing brain and gut hyperexcitability.

You you use vitamin E and omega-3s, or just rely on whats in the centrum?

Inositol will help sleep. Get the time released melatonin; I and other find it works better. My guess is not enough magnesium.

We are going to use a trick for your EEG issue: white noise, from a fan. Do you have one you can run in your room at night?

I think we will also start to use music to reprogram your brain wave patterns during relaxation.

Originally Posted by Trouble

Diphenyl hydramine reliably causes skin eruptions in susceptible individuals.

The green tea is, regrettably, part of the problem. You're over exciting the CNS thru the upper GI.

Sleep issues would be number one on my list.

No green veggies.

Do you use whey?

You you use vitamin E and omega-3s, or just rely on whats in the centrum?

Inositol will help sleep. Get the time released melatonin; I and other find it works better.

We are going to use a trick for your EEG issue: white noise, from a fan. Do you have one you can run in your room at night?

I consider broccoli a green veggy. Wait, or you telling me to not eat veggies?

I have not been drinking whey for a few months, but it just so happens that I bough a 6lb tub of muscle Milk a week ago which I will be drinking MuscleMilk as a cheat snack.
I do not take extra Vitamin E or OFAs. Centrum has 30 IU of Vitamin E, so should I supplement more?
I have never heard of Inositol, but I will research it.
I forgot to tell you that I also take Valerian Root Extract.
I also ordered acidophilus pills, and I will be taking those soon.

I am the king of white noise. I run a ceiling fan along with two load ass floor fans. One of the fans was give to me by my grandmother years ago. This fan is older than I am, but the sound it makes is better than any noise machine I have heard in the stores. I have done tons of research about sleep, usually when I am up at 3:00am pissed off that I can't sleep. I use breathing techniques, white noise, medication, etc.

Oh...and thanks for helping me out on this trouble.

just read a bit you might note my problem on the anabolic forum ,but looking at your supliments ,it says on my box of minocycline that was prescribed to me ,not to take calcium,magnisium these can interfere with the effective ness of the drug ,i too suffered when younger face ,neck then late teens it too mooved down to back/chest ,now im on minocycline for acne to my back but thats down to the anabolics,you have my sympathy as i know what its like.

KelJu replied:

>Wait, or you telling me to not eat veggies?

*grin* I saw that one coming, I went back and altered my post while you replied. Not enough variety in veggies. My skin is always looking best when I am comsuming veggies. They supply indoleamines, these are the precursor molecules for melatonin. They also help regulate acetylcholine production.

>I have not been drinking whey for a few months, but it just so happens that I bough a 6lb tub of muscle Milk a week ago which I will be drinking MuscleMilk as a cheat snack.

You need regular daily doses of whey (I never thought I would be saying this on a bodybuilding forum!). At least 2 servings daily. To that, add a couple tablespoons of oat or rice bran.

Does the recent manic shift corelate with the Green Tea crystals consumption? If so, you're stripping out methylation components.

Do a search on methylation and bipolar disorder. This approach of correcting swings in methylation (under/over) works very well. See the quoted material below. I have no idea of which of the three conditions you have, but the pyrrole disorder sounds partially correct.

Other website may have more indepth information on transmethylation cycle correction for bipolar disease treatment. I think you will find the reading interesting and informative; you may elect to seek professional advice on the preferred treatment, as bipolar disease isn't a single disorder, but a family of related symptom disorders.

By using the recommended supplements (now becoming quite popular for naturopathic treatment of bipolar disorder), you also help to regulate liver function. That, along with a few changes in diet and some additional steps for biofeedback training, and improvement in gut/immune function, should help you *slowly* improve sleep quality and duration (right now, you must be exhausted to sleep), and that will help immensely with your hyperexcitability (once you calm down beta-adrenergic excitation from that powedered Green Tea). I think I remember you asking about this green tea; I can't recall my exact response, but I think I recommended brewing it for the theanine benefits. I doubt the powered type has much theanine in it.

Theanine will be another useful supplement for you. I don't want to overwhelm you with supplements, however. Best to devise a simple recipe of small changes that should add up to a slow but steady correction of your related health problems, Kelju.

>I do not take extra Vitamin E or OFAs. Centrum has 30 IU of Vitamin E, so should I supplement more?

================================

Source: Commentary on Nutritional Treatment of Mental Disorders
from Willam Walsh, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Pfeiffer Treatment Center www.hriptc.org

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is not a single condition, but an umbrella term which includes a number of very different biochemical abnormalities. I'm bothered by any attempt to generalize over the bipolar phenotypes & to blindly recommend any formulation or therapy for all of them. The key is to determine a patient's biochemical individuality, and to provide focused appropriate treatment. In our database of 1,500 bipolar patients, about 25% are overmethylated, 35% are undermethylated, and the remaining 40% do not exhibit a methylation disorder.

The three primary biochemical classifications of bipolar disorder are the following:

A. Undermethylation: This condition is innate & is characterized by low levels of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, high whole blood histamine and elevated absolute basophils. This population has a high incidence of seasonal allergies, OCD tendencies, perfectionism, high libido, sparse body hair, and several other characteristics. They usually respond well to methionine, SAMe, calcium, magnesium, omega-3 essential oils (DHA & EPA), B-6, inositol, and vitamins A, C, and E. They should avoid supplements containing folic acid. In severe cases involving psychosis, the dominant symptom is usually delusional thinking rather than hallucinations. They tend to speak very little & may sit motionless for extended periods. They may appear outwardly calm, but suffer from extreme internal anxiety.

B. Overmethylation: This condition is the biochemical opposite of undermethylation. It is characterized by elevated levels of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, low whole blood histamine, and low absolute basophils. This population is characterized by the following typical symptoms: Absence of seasonal, inhalent allergies, but a multitude of chemical or food sensitivities, high anxiety which is evident to all, low libido, obsessions but not compulsions, tendency for paranoia and auditory hallucinations, underachievement as a child, heavy body hair, hyperactivity, "nervous" legs, and grandiosity. They usually respond well to folic acid, B-12, niacinamide, DMAE, choline, manganese, zinc, omega-3 essential oils (DHA and EPA) and vitamins C and E, but should avoid supplements of methionine, SAMe, inositol, TMG and DMG.

C. Pyrrole Disorder: This condition, also called pyroluria, is a genetic stress disorder associated with severe mood swings, high anxiety, and depression. The biochemical signature of this disorder includes elevated urine kryptopyrroles, a double deficiency of zinc and B-6, and low levels of arachidonic acid. Pyrolurics are devastated by stresses including physical injury emotional trauma, illness, sleep deprivation, etc. Symptoms include sensitivity to light and loud noises, tendency to skip breakfast, dry skin, abnormal fat distribution, rage episodes, little or no dream recall, reading disorders, underachievement, histrionic behaviors, and severe anxiety. They usually respond quickly to supplements of zinc, B-6, Primrose Oil, and augmenting nutrients.

To me, a bipolar patient who becomes "well" with greatly-reduced medication requirements may have achieved complete success. I don't believe that medication doses need to go to zero, as long as side effects are absent and long-term effects are minimal or absent.

Incidence of bipolar depression (diagnosis during lifetime):

TOTAL POPULATION OF ADOPTEES ... INCIDENCE = 4.5%
FRATERNAL TWINS SEPARATED AT BIRTH .... Concordance = 32%
IDENTICAL TWINS SEPARATED AT BIRTH .... Concordance = 80%

We have seen more than 1,500 patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder, including a few hundred who presented with a diagnosis of "rapid-cycle" bipolar disorder. Many of the rapid cycle patients exhibited a severe pyrrole disorder as their primary imbalance. The key lab test is urine kryptopyrroles. Most "pyrolurics" are prone to high anxiety, severe mood swings, depression, and may be famous for their temper. Classic symptoms include aversion to eating breakfast, poor dream recall, sensitivity to bright lights & loud noises, abnormal fat distribution, poor short-term memory (often coincident with good long-term memory), and very poor stress control. (Feb 27, 2003)

We have worked with more than 1500 bipolar patients & found that most have an atrocious diet. I remember one young man whose only dietary intake for the past month consisted of Pepsi and potato chips.

In our experience, best results are achieved with a two-step procedure: (1) biochemical treatment followed by (2) life-style changes including a better diet. We learned the hard way that most bipolars are incapable of life-style changes until after their chemical imbalances have been corrected (or at least lessened). Once real biochemical progress has been made, the patient is more functional and real dietary improvements can be achieved. Trying to everything at once tends to overwhelm the patient, and they usually give up. (March 6, 2003)

About 20% of patients labeled as bipolar have a pyrrole disorder (genetic) which is associated with (a) fatty acid abnormalities, especially depressed arachidonic acid, (b) strikingly weak immune function, and (c) severe metal oxidative stress. The definitive test for the pyrrole disorder is urinalysis for kryptopyrroles (Direct Healthcare Access is one lab that conducts this test, 847/299-2440 - there are others). These patients might benefit greatly from therapy concentrating on zinc, B-6, and primrose oil (or borage oil). Omega-3 oils can make things worse because of the competition for Zn & B-6 between delta-5 desaturase and delta-6 desaturase.
============================================

Do you want your thread in anabolics moved here as well? Can do.

Originally Posted by skimmings

just read a bit you might note my problem on the anabolic forum ,but looking at your supliments ,it says on my box of minocycline that was prescribed to me ,not to take calcium,magnisium these can interfere with the effective ness of the drug ,i too suffered when younger face ,neck then late teens it too mooved down to back/chest ,now im on minocycline for acne to my back but thats down to the anabolics,you have my sympathy as i know what its like.

Originally Posted by Gordo

overdrying your skin will have the opposite effect and make oil glands more active (since you mention you wash 2x/day).
.

I've been reading about acne for about 4 years now (since i had quite bad acne.. not cystic) and there is actually no scientific evidence that washing your face has anything to do with the rate/amount of the sebum production. There have been several studies done. Do one yourself. Buy a sebum absorbing tape and start experimenting

It's just a myth. Like when you shave your hair it grows back faster, darker and more thick

there is actually no scientific evidence that washing your face has anything to do with the rate/amount of the sebum production. There have been several studies done. Do one yourself. Buy a sebum absorbing tape and start experimenting

It's just a myth.

I've lived with it since I was 13 and I'm now 35. Science would have had acne wrapped up by now if they understood it. Most if not all treatments, treat the symptom and not the root cause (which there could be several).
Similar to accupuncture, where it hurts is not necessarily where you hurt yourself and where you are hurt is not necessarily where you are treated.

Accutane and other vit A treatments beat up on your liver so badly, I'm not sure they're worth it sometime. Again, they treat the symptom....a lot of accutane patients have to do numerous treatments and many experience acne again down the road.

I'll give another example, they say dietary fats are a myth as well....but from personal experience, I was on a very low fat cut, my skin never looked better but my dietary fats were really low. The benefit didn't outweigh some of the other problems from dropping fats too low. I upped fats (no more than 20% of total diet and most fat was from nuts, nut butters and monos like olive oil and avocados; more daily fish oils too) during maintenance and flare-ups came back, when I was young it was mostly on face, late adult acne appears (for me) to be more body acne, which, as long as you aren't at the beach, isn't as emotionally scarring as when it's on display for the world on your face. Dietary fat's are definitely tied-in somehow....from my personal experience.

Wow, that information blew me away trouble. I had to read it a few times and then check some of the information from other sources to make sure I fully understood it before I replied(your information can be intimidating).

I have every indication of Overmethylation. It is creepy to see that I am being explained to the letter when I always thought I was a complex individual; I guess I am just a textbook nut, lawl. Where did you dig this information up? I have been researching bi-polar for a few years now, and this information seems more accurate then the garbage I keep running into.

I hope you understand that I can't afford the kryptopyrroles, but I do want to run a trial of the folic acid, B-12, niacinamide, DMAE, choline, manganese, zinc, omega-3 essential oils (DHA and EPA) and vitamins C and E.
Could you give me a quick breakdown of the recommended ratios so I can start planning my regiment?
I will research it more as I run the trial.


Also, I believe that I the pyrrole disorder can be controlled through lifestyle changes. I have been continuously productive for the last year and a half with the exception of a small relapse this summer. I have devised my on way of keeping the depression and stress at bay using a combination of pot, weight training, and positive thinking. I had never thought that my immune system issue would have been related to my mental problems. This has opened my eyes to so much. Now that I can put my finger on the problem, I can deal with it better, instead of running from it. Running doesn't work anyway because hey, I never really knew what I was running from.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I will be working on incorporating your suggestions into my daily plan.

I hesitated to make recommendations in my previous post, because I didn't know all of your symptoms. I would research further on the recommended doses for pyrrole control supplements. I have seen guidelines posted, and I probably have links I can provide you - I'll take a look. Rough guidelines for dosing:

folic acid - 400-800 mcg, 2 doses, with meals
B-12 1000 mcg, sublingual (maybe more)
niacinamide not sure, I think I have seen 500mg x2 (or more)
DMAE - not sure
choline 100-200 mg (use the biturate or citrate - BN carries is cheap)
manganese not sure
zinc 30-60 mg (no more than 100 per day)
omega-3 essential oils (DHA and EPA) 1200-1500 mg, concentrated
vitamin C (ester) 2-4 grams, in divided doses, maybe higher (6-10 g)
vitamin E 400-800 iU (may be more for this case).

This is just a starting point. You really need to read up and find out what other bipolar patients have discovered thru trial and error dosing. I think there are list-serv groups dedicated to this topic. You have to adjust dosages for weight and your response. There is no one magic dose - and you may find yourself adjusting dose of various supplements over time.

Keep a daily log of your dosing and response (record physical and behavioral symptom changes: effects on sleep, skin, digestive tract, energy, and mood).

Join a support group using this approach. If you're lucky, a orthomolecular specialist maybe working within the support group to help patients fine tune dosing. Its beyond my experience. There is a professional group in Australia whose page I found first - I will send you that link as well.

On diet, do consider using the whey. Keep the muscle milk, but dilute it with another whey that has less fat in it. Find and add those brans, and add more vegetables. This is really important to help your immune system recover.

Overmethylation appears to be associated not with a buildup of methyl groups in the body, per se, but with a localized hyperaccumulation in liver and brain.

I guess you will have to try small doses of inositol. It may or maynot be helpful, if you match the symptoms for overmethylation..I found that it works very nicely for those who wake up frequently too early in the morning. Your condition, however, is not the one of not making enough melatonin - you are hyperexcitable. That was confirmed by that EEG test during sleep, correct?

Pity, the sleep center should have caught that, and corrected it. This is not rocket science, its been around, as a treatment protocol, for at least 5-10 years (I believe it first was discussed on line, back in the early 90s).

I am not sure if you have pyrrole disorder. If so, you need a small amount of B6 to go along with the B12. Again, the best approach is to get it assayed. Note that in the second Walsh article (circa 2002) that I post here, he mentions that is a simple paper test, its should be DIRT CHEAP to have done in a local setting. I suspect that the local hospital chem lab probably does this test, Kelju.

If you can't get the kryptopyyrole test done, you carefully add small amounts of the suggested supplements for pyyrole disorder, and see if you respond to them, with respect to pyrrole symptom abatement.

Read this article as well, as it explains some of the caveats and cautions you should be aware of, Kelju. Same author. He has a ton of experience with bipolar patients.

Read the sections on metals, glucose control and malabsorption. See the comments on excess acid? It goes beyond that, skin conditions like your own are often seen when histamine response is goosed by supplements (which is why I asked) - and that is what green tea was doing in your stomach. That led to hyperresponse in your CNS, and anxiety kickedup, and that set off your skin condition. At the same time, excess acid also reduced your gut's ability to promote healthy immune control.

I'm glad you posted your question, Kelju. I hope others see it and follow suit, reading up for themselves on the underlying biochemistry and making the necessary dietary/lifestyle modification to regain and retain control.

And there are others here, believe it. Statistically, within our readership, there are perhaps 10s or dozens more who have borderline or pronounced symptoms of biploar disease.

To the lurkers, who will find this thread on keyword searches through web spider crawls: physical fitness, the kind we advocate here, is critical to your treatment. Please, if you find this thread and find its contents useful - learn more about physical training and the benefits it can provide for treatment of debilitating behavioral disorders such as OCD, ADHD, depression and anxiety.

I have had the same experience as Gordo (except that I don't get body acne, since I have far fewer AR in upper body muscle groups). My skin will break out, reliabliy, if I take in excess fats, even the healthier kind. Excess washing does indeed aggravate skin conditions by stripping oils, and thus increasing compensatory production. This is well known. Not so well understood, Kelju, is that excess drying an chapping from concentrated benzoyl peroxide use can also potentially aggravate acne.

Gordo. Post your diet and supplements. I will show you that, as in Kelju's case, its an issue of glucose tolerance that is partly at issue here.

I bet if we adjust your diet a bit, you will see a reducion in your skin flareups.

The dermatologists and immunology medical professionals have been forced to admit: acne, gut disorders, and asthma are all attributable to glucose tolerance issues in the gut.

I happen to be studying this connection. Rather than rattle on about it, lets just say that acne is more than treatable. Its corrrectable, if the underlying biochemistry is addressed.

Moderators Note: In-post bold faced items are suspicious of causing CNS hypersensitivity associated with acne vulgaris.


carbs...the oats is fairly consistent....I mix up different starchier carbs, brown rice, sweetpotato, and as a cheat... whole wheat pastas, whole wheat couscous

So, move away from Oats, coffee,
yogourt...(really? damn I like that stuff, thought it was good for gut health) eliminate or minimize?
coffee, can do...I guess the caffeine hit is counter productive.


example diet (mon-fri...mostly like this on saturday and sunday is clean, just sometimes not as many meals):

meal 1 (preworkout):

Note: creatine monohydrate is quite acidic. I suspect stomach acidity issues are part of your problem. Switch to CEE or Cre-Alkalyn type buffered creatine.

Funny I was thinking of trying out CEE, so no problem there.

meal 2:
PWO shake... (does this have extra glutamine in it?) No.
1/2 cup ground oats (made into flour),
1/2 banana, 1/2 cup skim milk,
1 scoop whey concentrate(22g Pro),
2 rice cakes.
1/2 tsp creatine mono

Hmm this kinda fawks up my PWO shake. What might you suggest instead of groad quick oats....oat bran? Not really into Dex. No banana....bummer.


meal 4:

150g sweet potato,
Hmmm, okay back to the drawing board

meal 5:
60g tuna(water packed), (daily fish not good idea - limit to 3x/wk)
Heavy Metal concerns?





If I cheat, it's usually a half cup of low fat, frozen yogurt icecream or something like that....nothing crazy.


Suggestion for cardio: 3 x 25 min variable intensity. Daily 20-30 min meditation walks for stress control. Preferred 2x day, morning and evening. Kids too small? Get a back pack carrier, or bicycle with a pull cart for a kid. Or go alone, for quiet time.

can do

sleep...not too bad, in bed by 10:30pm up by 4:50am...in the gym by 6am.

Not enough time (6 hrs). Can you sqweek in an extra 1/2-1 hour each night? This is part of your problem.

Okay will try...there's nothing on the tube after 10 anyways

supps
Quest time release multi
2 mg vit c (500mg portions 4 times/day)
cal/mag with vit D(333mg cal/167mg mag/133IU vit D) 3x/day
brewer's yeast (2 - 500mg tabs/3x/day)
b-50 complex 1 tab
glucosamine sulfate tabs 3-500mg/day (joint health)
1 was taking 2 -750mg tabs or tribulus for a T boost/found libido was a little depressed as well (doubtful it was doing much for T-Levels/or libido...hard to say, but it didn't seem to do much, I had acne long before I added trib to my supps)
siberian gingseng root- 1 tab 3 x/day 500 mg

Highlighted should be eliminated?

Got any recent liver panels from checkups? Need to know cholesterol, HDL, LDL, cholesterol/HDL ratio.

Nope....but I might just do that, haven't seen the doc in a long while.

Trouble: From what i have read I'm quite positive that there is no such thing as a feedback mechanism. There are alot of problems with the theories about this feedback loop which range from not being able to describe what is dry skin (water dry, lipid dry.. lipid dry later leads to water dry), how to exactly meassure amount of sebum and the other lipids that are produced (the other lipids are responsible for the water barrier, to what is perceived as really oily (sometimes exfoliation of the skin makes the skin to appear and feel more oily). The studies i am reffering to were done by some 2 guys who did them quite good (on prisoners and on people with ultra sebum production). I can give more info on it if needed.

My skin immidiately responded to the total health program. Everybody comments on how good is my skin looking... how it glows. Hard work pays off

+ (sheez i have to edit my posts a number of time) Of course washing your face can aggravate acne...

Aww crap I just realized I edited out pertinent stuff out of the original post (sorry 'bout that)
I answered questions asked in the original post with comments edited.

Here's the original post:

My diet is pretty consistent....depending on cutting or bulking is usually an adjustment in carbohydrate and fat consumption but protein consumption stays pretty consistent.

was 138lbs at 5'10 (way too skinny....did a 8 month bulk and went up to 160. Did a timed carb maintenance over the summer which took me down to 153. I'm pretty ecto with a little meso tendency (I think). I can drop fat fairly easily. Growing up I was an extreme sugar freak....candy crazy, but didn't gain weight from it....always a hard playing, very active kid. Since 30 hit I slowed some and only the last 2 years or so, I ramped up my activity again and I'd say in the last year I got on a consistent weighttraining plan. I've been on and off training since I was 16 but much of it was wasted years, poor planning, beach muscle training

currently 155lbs sort-a maintaining....easing into a bulk again.... going to target ~170 for a winter/spring bulk... I think should be reasonable)

Proteins fish(tuna, freshwater fish, salmon, shell fish ocassionally...mussels, oysters, prawns), chicken mostly, lean beef (not as often), cottage cheese a fair amount, egg whites.

carbs...the oats is fairly consistent....I mix up different starchier carbs, brown rice, sweetpotato, and as a cheat... whole wheat pastas, whole wheat couscous

example diet (mon-fri...mostly like this on saturday and sunday is clean, just sometimes not as many meals):

meal 1 (preworkout):
1/2 cup quick oats,
100grams blueberries,
175 grams plain ff yogourt (cultures, milk solids and agar),
1 scoop whey concentrate (22g Pro)
2 cups coffee
1/2 tsp creatine mono

meal 2:
PWO shake...(semi-spikey)
1/2 cup ground oats (made into flour),
1/2 banana, 1/2 cup skim milk,
1 scoop whey concentrate(22g Pro),
2 rice cakes.
1/2 tsp creatine mono

meal 3 (about an hour or 1.5 hours later):
2/3 cup rolled oats,
150g dry curd cottage cheese (fat free, no sodium added, high protein ~26g Protein),
175g plain yogurt,
1TB of unsweetened cocoa powder(no sugar),
1-1.5 TB peanut butter

decafe coffee... several cups most of the morning

meal 4:
4 oz cooked chicken breast,
150g sweet potato,
100g green beans,
slice of red pepper,
5 or 6 whole crimini mushrooms,
1/4 avocado,
2 fish oils(EPA 400, DHA 200, pharmaceutical grade)

decafe green tea (throughout the afternoon...say at least 3 cups, sometimes a cup of regular green tea)

meal 5:
60g tuna(water packed),
3 fish oils,
bed of spinach leaves,
1 broccoli stalk (200 -300g?),
1 medium apple

meal 6:
4 oz chicken breast,
broccoli florets (150-200g),
garden salad w. 1TB olive oil, 1TB balsamic vinegar, 1TB mustard homemade dressing
2 fish oils (sometimes I have them with meal 7)

meal 7:
125-150g cottage cheese (dry curd yadda yadda yadda),
1-1.5 TB PB,
1tsp cocoa powder (yeah I like the taste of chocolate ).


If I cheat, it's usually a half cup of low fat, frozen yogurt icecream or something like that....nothing crazy.

Non-workout days, there's no shake.

workout 4 days/week: push, pull, legs(quad dom.), legs(hip dom).

cardio 2 days (1 low intensity 1 hour, 1 medium intensity 30 mins(occasionally pushing it, depending on mood)


sleep...not too bad, in bed by 10:30pm up by 4:50am...in the gym by 6am.

supps
Quest time release multi
2 mg vit c (500mg portions 4 times/day)
cal/mag with vit D(333mg cal/167mg mag/133IU vit D) 3x/day
brewer's yeast (2 - 500mg tabs/3x/day)
b-50 complex 1 tab
glucosamine sulfate tabs 3-500mg/day (joint health)
1 was taking 2 -750mg tabs or tribulus for a T boost/found libido was a little depressed as well (doubtful it was doing much for T-Levels/or libido...hard to say, but it didn't seem to do much, I had acne long before I added trib to my supps)
siberian gingseng root- 1 tab 3 x/day 500 mg

stress - 2 small kids.... they keep me hopping. On the whole my stress not too bad. I've always been pretty even keeled 90-95% of the time, though I can outburst sometimes....trying to calm that

A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with late-onset adult asthma that was allergen and cold weather activated (failed the histamine test). However, since I cleaned up my diet alot in the last couple of years, I don't take ANY antihistamines and I've taken a puffer maybe twice in the last couple of years, I never need it. What'd I change? Got rid of crap sat fats (sausages, hotdogs, McCrappy's, putting sauces on everything, bad oils, cheese etc...) and processed goods. Made a world of difference


What ya think? Anything stand out?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, if you have time

Interesting the comment on sleep. I used to be quite the night owl, and not at all a morning person. I had to 1-80 that to accomodate my life schedule and training, switching to early morning workouts since it's the only time I can make it fit. It's an adjustment I've gotten used to but I would gather the less than 8 hours sleep is sub-optimal.

IF this discourse seems a bit jerky..its because Gordon and I have had quite a bit of back and forth communication.

We have established a positive pattern for suspect GERD, which started as an infant. Also that he has probable issues with fatty acid biosynthesis and consequent metabolism of cholesterol. He also has mild bile acid leaking, and feedback from bile acid that maybe causing a bit of a problem with acne.

I've given him a list of some dietary changes he might consider, alongside lifestyle shifts a few supplements.

IF this works correctly, we are:

correcting extrahepatic bile acid recycle. Correcting improper bile acid conjugation patterns. Providing for improved mucosal cell repair, tightening down ion imbalances, and micronutrient loss. At the same time, we are going to try a rebalance his lower gut fermentation population, which should correct gut sensitivity and slow down peristalsis/premature gut emptying. I have also suggested supplements to address reactive hypoglycemia.

Skin should clear first, sleep should also improve in quality if he makes concurrent changes in quantity, mental focus will become better under daily stress load. In a few months. weight should begin to respond as the microbial ecology of his gut adjusts to shifts in diet and repair of mucosal cell and bacterial community conditions. Strength will follow, as natural test levels rise. Hopefully, bile/gut immune function will be squared away so that the rise in test doesn't aggravate skin inflammation.

It would be nice to have a series of liver lipid panels to show concurrent improvements, but its not imparative.

Hope things work out, Kelju. Skin problems blow ass.

While Kelju's acne vulgaris variant conglobata is among the more severe cystic forms, its secondary to his primary health issues uncovered here. I think he will see a nice turnaround shortly.

Ditto with Gordo skin condition.

This has turned out to be a thread full of curious twists and turns. Much like those over in the Anabolic section.

It makes these sections very interesting to work in as a moderator.

Originally Posted by Trouble

To the lurkers, who will find this thread on keyword searches through web spider crawls: physical fitness, the kind we advocate here, is critical to your treatment. Please, if you find this thread and find its contents useful - learn more about physical training and the benefits it can provide for treatment of debilitating behavioral disorders such as OCD, ADHD, depression and anxiety.

OMG. I'm so glad I stumbled onto this thread. Just like kelju, I've been reading about bipolar for quote a while now, but havn't found information like this.

Originally Posted by Trouble

C. Pyrrole Disorder: This condition, also called pyroluria, is a genetic stress disorder associated with severe mood swings, high anxiety, and depression. The biochemical signature of this disorder includes elevated urine kryptopyrroles, a double deficiency of zinc and B-6, and low levels of arachidonic acid. Pyrolurics are devastated by stresses including physical injury emotional trauma, illness, sleep deprivation, etc. Symptoms include sensitivity to light and loud noises, tendency to skip breakfast, dry skin, abnormal fat distribution, rage episodes, little or no dream recall, reading disorders, underachievement, histrionic behaviors, and severe anxiety. They usually respond quickly to supplements of zinc, B-6, Primrose Oil, and augmenting nutrients.

Trouble could you help me out and recommend medication or vitamins I can take? I have all the symptoms that you described in Pyrrole Disorder. Except sensitivity to light and loud noises. Everything else is dead on. I exercise everyday, and that alone has helped me a great deal. I tried ephedra as a fat burner to cut fat when I started resistance training. And found that ephedra helps alot to alleviate my symptons. So I've been using it for 4 months straight now, 25 to 50 mg per day. When I leave my house, or their are visitors over, I have to take ephedra, or I freak out and have an anxiety attack. (HORRIBLE experiences). Is it safe for me to keep taking ephedra. I can't see anyone, or have a decent conversation without being on it

I have seen my doctor about it. I told him about all my symptoms. And his exact words we're....."so, what do you want me to do?" With a puzzled face, I asked him if there's any medication I can take. He gave me some free samples of anti-depressatants. I think they we're Serotonin Inhibitors or something, but they didn't work at all. They made my symptoms worse, and I stopped after one week.

I really need help. I havn't been out with my friends for over a year now. I can't see no-one because I always freak out, and then people look at me weird, which makes me freak out even more. I want my normal life back. I want to be like how I use to be. I use to be a pretty decent person, but now everyone just thinks I"m a weirdo.

I think it's partly genetic and part lifestyle. I think, but not sure, I had these symptoms all my life. But the symptoms we're very mild, pretty much unnoticable. Up until about a year ago, alot of things happened in my life, and then everything just blew up on me. Oh, i think I have OCD also.

Your symptoms are those of classical social deficit disorder. You respond to epinephrine agonists because you don't convert norepinephrine to epinephrine. You have cortisol issues, because NE is cranking on the HPA system.

For you, we seek to gently manage neural excitotoxicity. GABA, theanine, taurine, magnesium. Low dosese of each, 1/8th tsp theanine, couple times a day. One quarter teaspoon each of the rest of them. Take GABA and theanine separately, alternating use.

You can try bulk inositol, 2-4 grams, in one gram doses, over the day.

Deep breathing exercises are a must. You are sensitive to CO2 in your system.

Will you consider doing the following:

If you have portable CD player or IPOD, put on relaxing music, with a beat that you can walk to at moderate pace. I need you to walk twice per day, morning and night, 20-30 min. Wear sunglasses and your headset, don't worry about meeting others. I need you to pace your breathing, belly breathing style, the whole time you go out walking.

Twice a day, every day, day in and day out.

At night, a 20 min session, wtih trancey type music. No worries, no cares, just focus on the music and deeply relaxing yourself.

This problem is reversible, and yes, we can return you to a fully functional social state, Jon. I personally guarantee this, if you will follow these directions. First, we get you used to a regular cardio conditioning routine.

Then, we work on reducing your stress levels. We may, or may not use compounds like ALCAR to help. First, we get your CO2 levels down and your O2 levels up. Taurine will help. Make sure you are fully hydrated, all day long.

Please describe your sleep patterns (time to bed, time you rise, quality of sleep - has this changed recently, say in the last year).

Start a new thread, Jon. Copy your last post to it, and we'll continue from there.

Update:

My sleeping has improved slightly.
My skin has not improved.
I am desperate, so I am ordering a bottle of Accutane from ag-guys.




Thanks for your advice and suggestions trouble, but my condition is a little more severe than I had thought. I believe that this is all a result of a cycle of AAS that I run back in March.

shit this makes my mrs bitching about 1 zit look pathetic,,hope u can resolve this problem, id say its the oily skin thats the problem is there any way to fix oily skin??

Originally Posted by aceshigh

shit this makes my mrs bitching about 1 zit look pathetic,,hope u can resolve this problem, id say its the oily skin thats the problem is there any way to fix oily skin??

lots of veggies does the trick for me.

I eat 3 servings of fresh veggies a day, so that isn't the answer. I am sure it helps, but it is too little too late in my situation. It is genetic, so there is no cure for oily skin.

I am not going to dedicate myself to living healthy if I don't look healthy. This skin issue is going to be resolved one way or the other. I tried the natural route and it isn't working. It is time to whipp out the big guns.

Take primal defense.

Get a good lip balm, stay out of the sun and get blood work done. Accutane beats up on your liver.