Looking for advice for cystic acne

[sharon]

Hi -
About 15 years ago, I had a very bad cystic acne outbreak on my face. Since then, I've done many alternative therapies since then in trying to get rid of (I had had moderate acne when I was in high school, and was on a short course of Accutane, but it never was cystic, and never as bad as a few years later when I got the cystic acne).

Over the course of the 15 years, I've done moderately deep peels at a plastic surgeon's office, microdermabrasions, have changed my diet (looks a lot like what is on this site), done a little bit of liver cleansing and gallbladder flushes, have done Reiki, flower essence therapy, etc. My problem is this: I always have whitish bumps under my skin, all over. These are not whiteheads at all, these are very large areas all over my face where the skin is very uneven, and looks a lot like scarring, but isn't. On my forehead, when I sweat, it looks like a grid, because the white areas stand out very much when my skin gets red from exertion. The whitish areas up there are connected going up and down and across. The problem is the same on my cheeks and chin, basically all over my face. It's like somehow the cystic material got stuck underneath the skin since the 15 years ago, and doesn't have a way to get out.

When I just wash my face, I don't break out, but when I use exfoliating products (I use mild ones), I start break out in large cysts, and also when I don't wash my face before bed (even if I'm not wearing any makeup). I even had laser surgery about 6 years ago, thinking that it would help get the junk out...it of course helped with any scarring I had, but the grooves & bumps stayed there. I had one plastic surgeon say it looked like my skin was inflamed where the large grooves were, but there isn't any redness at all to it, and when I break out, it's always where the whitish areas are.

So, I don't really have active acne per se, but it seems like something that is stuck underneath and comes out when exacerbated. My skin looks very unhealthy either way, and I would love some advice if anyone has dealt with this before?

I also should say that when I first got the cystic acne 15 years ago, I would squeeze it (I know, that was stupid, but I didn't know better and I was desperate to get these huge things off my face!!). Don't know if that is the cause of my problems since then.

Any advice is greatly appreciated, I'm desperate!

[shelley]

Is there any history of autoimmune disease in your family, such as thyroid disease, rhematoid arthritis? Have you had a complete phsyical that included inflammation markers like ANA, Sed rate, white blood cell count, a thyroid panel etc?

I'd prefer to see pictures to really understand what's going on with you, plus your other symptoms (if any), but everyone benefits in general and gets better skin from getting more SuperFood/Skin Food in their diet and cleansing their liver/bowels.

[sharon]

Hi Shelley -
No, there's no history of autoimmune disease in my family at all, and I get a complete physical every few years, but nothing has come up abnormal. I did get checked once for hypothyroidism, as my sister has it, but the test was normal.

I do get migraines twice monthly, which come during ovulation and beginning of menstruation (I take sumaptriptan for those).

I do remember I was very depressed when the cystic acne happened (the major depression was due to an unrelated situation). The migraines started before the cystic acne, while was on antidepressants (I was on them for mild depression - I think they somehow messed up my serotonin uptake, which can cause migraines). As I had mentioned, I did have mild/moderate acne before that (and had taken Accutane about 2 years before the migraines/cystic acne happened).

I have read before in a different forum where someone else had the same problem, and he had taken Accutane earlier. Wonder if that had something to do with it?

Sharon

[shelley]

People react very differently to Accutane and I have heard several people complain that after using it their skin is twice as sensitve and reactive. Sigh.