So fed up...hormonal acne at 35!

[pinkgin85]

I've suffered from acne since my early teen years. It was probably at its worst from 16-22 but it kinda calmed down a bit since then and I learnt how to manage my skin and since then my skin has been relatively good as long as I stay on top of it. My regimen since 16 included benzoyl peroxide every night and it worked so well!

Until now, I had my 2nd baby 6 months ago and I'm 35 now and the last few months my skin is going crazy. I've always had oily/combination skin so that hasn't changed but what has changed is that my skin has become hyper sensitive and won't tolerate benzoyl peroxide anymore! Even if I put on the lowest percentage my skin goes red.

At my wits end, I don't want to be dealing with acne at this age! Any suggestions? I'm hoping it's due to hormonal imbalance after baby and it will go back to normal but I'm not sure it will

Have you tried zinc supplements? I've battled with HA for years (I'm 37) I started taking 40mg zinc and it's almost cleared up.
It's quite a high dose and gave me tommy ache after 4 weeks so I dropped down and only take one tablet every couple of days. So far, so good. Might be worth looking into.
My acne was all along my lower face.

Intermittent fasting can help skin issues, including acne. Gin Stevens Facebook group has lots of positive stories.

Mine cleared up when I reduced dairy. Swapped to plant based milk but still have a bit of cheese now and then and skin is very clear now.

Drs appt, don’t piss about with something that can scar your face. You’ll still get free prescriptions till baby is a year old.

There’s more available than benzol, that never worked for me at all. It doesn’t matter what the root cause is the cures the same.

cks.nice.org.uk/acne-vulgaris#!scenarioRecommendation. Gp guidelines.

@Mumoftwo12345

Have you tried zinc supplements? I've battled with HA for years (I'm 37) I started taking 40mg zinc and it's almost cleared up. It's quite a high dose and gave me tommy ache after 4 weeks so I dropped down and only take one tablet every couple of days. So far, so good. Might be worth looking into. My acne was all along my lower face.

Yes most of the breakouts are along my jaw line and not on the T zone as would be expected so it's definitely hormonal! I'll try the zinc thanks, already take a multi vitamin but will include extra zinc.

@DianaT1969

Intermittent fasting can help skin issues, including acne. Gin Stevens Facebook group has lots of positive stories.

I actually already go IF as I've been trying to lose some post partum weight but the acne is actually getting worse instead of better!

@Fluffycloudland77

Drs appt, don’t piss about with something that can scar your face. You’ll still get free prescriptions till baby is a year old.

There’s more available than benzol, that never worked for me at all. It doesn’t matter what the root cause is the cures the same.

cks.nice.org.uk/acne-vulgaris#!scenarioRecommendation. Gp guidelines.

I wanted to see the GP but figured it's probably trivial in the scheme of things right now. I will try to call soon though if things don't improve. What else is there apart from BP? Salicylic acid doesn't do much for the hormonal cystic spots unfortunateky. I already use an AHA toner and recently started using niacinemide but not much luck.

I know you said your currently using niacinemide I use this too. I never suffered acne in my teens and always had clear skin. I then started with terrible hormonal acne when I was around 34. Many things were tried, in the end supplements including zinc and changing my foundation worked and my skin cleared right up.

Now age 38 and seems to have started again. I read about niancinimide and so I bought some. Initially it seemed to bring on spots or make things worse. I decided to persevere and actually I now think it’s great stuff. I would say that it does 2 things in my opinion, firstly seeming to speed up the process of drawing the spot out and the secondly help speed the healing process. I’ve also heard great thinks about vitamin c suspension but I’m yet to try that. Likewise the same about retinol skin peel stuff, I heard it helps a lot with scarring but I’m a bit too scared to give it a try.

Mine flares up with dairy consumption. The link is massive for me. If I cut out or right down on dairy products the cystic lumps just don’t happen. If I go back to even a moderate amount I will start getting small cystic lumps about 2 weeks later. A large amount (the amount I would really love to eat!!) and I am constantly battling huge deep cysts all along my jaw and chin that don’t even come to a head and that leave huge red patches even long after they’ve faded. Not just in the week leading up to my period but all the time.

It’s a pain because I adore cheese and yogurt but for me the trade off is nowhere near worth it.

@pinkgin85 It’s really not trivial. NICE don’t write guidelines on trivial things. They just don’t & at least if you go to them with acne they can treat you remotely.

You could try what I did & use cosmetic treatments, cut dairy from my diet, give up processed food, alcohol & drink loads of water every day but none of it worked and I scarred. Little red scars that have been there 3 years.

I went to my Gp in the end and she was lovely. I had a course of differin and have been able to reduce this and am now using dermalogica with a lovely non pushy skin therapist and it was improved massively, the acne has gone but i do have some dark pigmentation. I will be having laser on this once salons are able to.

I had the same problem for years OP, and after a lot of trial and error I've finally got it under control. The things that worked for me were:

• Washing face in the morning with the green Pears soap (it's meant for oily/combination skin).

• Using a flannel when cleansing at night, it exfoliates without being too rough. I use the Cetaphil gentle cleanser with it.

• I use a Clinique anti-blemish gel about twice a week, more often before my period (if I forget, I'm likely to get at least one spot around this time). Link: www.clinique.co.uk/product/1672/29793/skin-care/anti-blemish-solutions/treatment-specialists/anti-blemish-solutionstm-clinical-clearing-gel

Those three things together have worked wonders, and I rarely get any spots now. When I do, they're not as severe, and the Clinique gel sorts them out pretty quickly.

I have coeliac disease and once I went gluten free my skin cleared up loads. I also take lots if vitamins including zinc.

@YoureBreakingMyHeartCecilia

Mine flares up with dairy consumption. The link is massive for me. If I cut out or right down on dairy products the cystic lumps just don’t happen. If I go back to even a moderate amount I will start getting small cystic lumps about 2 weeks later. A large amount (the amount I would really love to eat!!) and I am constantly battling huge deep cysts all along my jaw and chin that don’t even come to a head and that leave huge red patches even long after they’ve faded. Not just in the week leading up to my period but all the time.

It’s a pain because I adore cheese and yogurt but for me the trade off is nowhere near worth it.

Same for me. I spent years having treatments and spending a fortune on expensive skincare, but my acne only disappeared when I quit dairy. It's so obvious to me now. If I have yoghurt or a cream cake then 2 days later my chin breaks out. I wish I'd known this years ago!

It makes sense really because cow's milk is from a recently pregnant mammal so is chock full of hormones. If your body is sensitive then these hormones will throw your own out of whack.

Some years ago I had a phase where every month pre menstrually I would get a couple of horrible headless spots that would not be gone by the time the next ones arrived...they were really bad. I took Agnus Castus and it was a miracle. They just stopped. Some time after that I had mid cycle spotting which it was suggested to me was caused by the Agnus Castus, so I stopped it and the mid cycle bleeding did clear up, but luckily by then the hormonal spots didn't come back either.

Most people seem to tolerate Agnus Castus well, if you do decide to take it then look into it (esp if breastfeeding, not sure re that) and keep an eye on your cycle. I would try for a few months at least, it might settle things down. I was stunned by how well it worked.

By the way I took it for years, probably didn't need to.

I suffered really badly along the jaw line for a few years. I tried cutting out dairy and had a couple of prescriptions from the doctor but none of that worked. After lots of trial and error and hours googling, I came across someone who said they used Dove misceller bar soap. I tried it, with a fresh flannel each evening, did nothing in the morning other than la roche posay spf50 and it worked like a dream! I still use it now, 18 months on and it's so cheap! When I wash my face in the eve I do it twice. I hope you find something that works for you soon. Its heartbreaking isn't it!