Adult acne question

I suffer with rosacea and recently discovered lactose was the major cause, if that helps?

I have unusual breakouts on my chin and the area around my mouth. Recently a friend told me to be aware of sulfates in liquid face wash and I switched to Dove Sensitive Skin fragrance free bar soap. (I had been using baby wash on my face under the assumption that it was gentle.) Also, I am careful to not let my toothpaste dribble out on my skin as that can be irritating. Sometimes things appear to be acne but are actually irritations or fungal. Hope this helps-- I know how embarrassing this can be.

For me it was quite bewildering as well.
I had severe cystic acne when I was married and I took accutane for all of 5 months. I got divorced about 2 years after accutane and it came back, although not as bad but still REALLY bad.

Then I started really USING MFP. I drank ONLY water, cut WAY back on alcohol (I was a 4 bottles of wine a night kinda girl pre-divorce), finalized my divorce, broke up with my new d*ckhead boyfriend, quit my super stressful and downright horrible job, AND lost 20 pounds all within about a year and the acne vanished.

It really hasn't come back at all and it's been a year and a half since my last real cystic pimple (It was on my cheek, near my chin, right side, I still have the scar).

I just figured it was the combination of factors like reduced stress, less excess body fat(it does something to your hormones), more water, less sugar, and, yes, less diary will ALL affect your skin in a mostly positive way.

My cystic chin acne mysteriously went away last year. Only thing that has changed from that long ago- I have stopped eating wheat. My skin is still pretty oily with lots of sebum but no acne.

For me, it is greasy food. I do not know if it happens to everyone.

I am going to guess that maybe your weight loss, though relatively modest, resulted in a slight hormonal change. Perhaps?
Androgens are known to stimulate oil glands in the skin and certain cells that line the hair follicles. Guys tend to outgrow their acne when they leave adolescence. Many women do not, even when they do have normal androgen levels. One study done about five years ago found that 45 percent of women aged 21-30 years have "clinical" acne (clinical meaning that a dermatologist would agree to treat them, should they want it.), 26 percent of women 31-40 years, and 12 percent of women 41-50 years.
Maybe the women who don't outgrow acne are just more sensitive to the androgens they do have???? (Many women get flares of acne just before their menstrual period, when their estrogen and progesterone levels have fallen off, but their androgen levels (testosterone) have stayed the same. Is the androgen taking over?) They don't know.
Many dermatologist believe that they are seeing more adult-onset acne in women these days. Again, they don't know why.
I don't mean to offend those who have identified food products as a cause of their acne -- they know themselves better than anyone, after all -- but dermatologists tend to be skeptical of the claims that particular foods cause acne. The one exception may be milk. Milk can contain cow hormones that are known to stimulate oil glands. Maybe, when you eat oily food that oil gets on your skin and clogs your pores. But, in general, dermatologists believe there is not a lot of evidence that specific foods (like chocolate) spur more acne.
The best treatment is probably to find a moisturizer than is "non-comedogenic" (non-zit-causing), which usually means a moisturizer that is not oily or greasy. And, better, but often drying and/or irritating, at least for a while, a topical retinoid. Topical retinoids tend to be very effective.

I'm using retinol on my skin as well. But it has side effects and increases sun sensitivity. Paula's Choice Clinical 1% Retinol. And it doesn't address the root cause (for me dealing with food intolerance).

It could be from foods you were eating before. I had a similar thing happen last year. I love chocolate. I have/had a huge sweet tooth. Last year, I had gone to my doctor to get a topical cream (thinking it was acne issues). I used the cream for about 2-3 weeks and then Lent started. I had given up everything chocolate (including anything with cocoa) in it. My face and back had cleared up. I didn't realize it during Lent what had happened. The first week after Lent was over, I had a Jenny Craig chocolate chip muffin for breakfast one morning. Within a day my face and back had broken out in acne again. I was shocked. I went back and looked at my food log from the past 2-3 months and realized it was the chocolate chip muffin (cocoa) that was causing my acne issues. I went in for an allergy test last September and found out I was indeed allergic to chocolate. It could be the same thing for you (food allergies). Or it could be stress and hormones. It's common when you are stressed to eat more sugar which increases your sugar intake and then it spikes your insulin levels.

tufel wrote: »

I am going to guess that maybe your weight loss, though relatively modest, resulted in a slight hormonal change. Perhaps?
Androgens are known to stimulate oil glands in the skin and certain cells that line the hair follicles. Guys tend to outgrow their acne when they leave adolescence. Many women do not, even when they do have normal androgen levels. One study done about five years ago found that 45 percent of women aged 21-30 years have "clinical" acne (clinical meaning that a dermatologist would agree to treat them, should they want it.), 26 percent of women 31-40 years, and 12 percent of women 41-50 years.
Maybe the women who don't outgrow acne are just more sensitive to the androgens they do have???? (Many women get flares of acne just before their menstrual period, when their estrogen and progesterone levels have fallen off, but their androgen levels (testosterone) have stayed the same. Is the androgen taking over?) They don't know.
Many dermatologist believe that they are seeing more adult-onset acne in women these days. Again, they don't know why.
I don't mean to offend those who have identified food products as a cause of their acne -- they know themselves better than anyone, after all -- but dermatologists tend to be skeptical of the claims that particular foods cause acne. The one exception may be milk. Milk can contain cow hormones that are known to stimulate oil glands. Maybe, when you eat oily food that oil gets on your skin and clogs your pores. But, in general, dermatologists believe there is not a lot of evidence that specific foods (like chocolate) spur more acne.
The best treatment is probably to find a moisturizer than is "non-comedogenic" (non-zit-causing), which usually means a moisturizer that is not oily or greasy. And, better, but often drying and/or irritating, at least for a while, a topical retinoid. Topical retinoids tend to be very effective.

This is good info. And I do think some women have skin that is sensitive to androgens. I never had acne. Until I was overtreated and wrongly prescribed powerful antibiotics and a vasoconstrictor. After the vasoconstrictor food would cause severe nerve pain in my face. So, my diet changed. I developed severe food intolerance. The symptoms were severe (most likely tmi). Then I developed cystic acne. Two dermatologists said they think the cause was from the antibiotics changing the microbiome in my gut. The dermatologist wanted to put me on Accutane. But, I didn't want further injury. My Rheumatologist suggested a food diary to track my GI symptoms. I found the correct diet change that addressed the severe GI problems I was having (which included all my food going through me rapidly leading to weight loss and inability to gain). Within a month I went from over 30 severe cystic acne and acne rash to clear skin with one small acne. My dermatologist agreed the food intolerance due to my gut injury had been the cause. She also thought stress was a contributing factor and my stress reduced when my GI symptoms were improving. My situation is pretty unusual. So, people get confused. It's not direct cause that food A causes acne. But, when a person has a food allergy or food intolerance or a GI injury it can lead to acne. Perhaps it causes hormonal disruption as well.

P.s. I hope it's not chocolate too, Op!!! ;-) ♥