83 replies to this topic

[NeverSayDie]

Okay...

I'm up for some suggestions as to what might help my terrible skin that I have had ever since I can remember. I have terribly dry skin over every inch of my body; moderate/severe acne on face, scalp, back, chest, upper arms; moderate/severe seborrhea over face, scalp, back, chest, upper arms. Dry, thin, wispy, fragile hair that is like straw and thinning very rapidly as well.

My face is so tight and covered with dead skin all of the time that it hurts to even talk or eat. Even though my face (and body as well) is always covered in dead skin, my face still pours out massive amounts of oil. Exfoliants don't do a thing. This dry skin is coming from the inside...you can't remove it from the outside. As soon as I exfoliate, my dry skin comes back immediately.

I have been dealing with this for about 15 years but it seems to be getting worse year by year. I tried all of the standard allopathic treatments in the beginning that were prescribed to me (antibiotics, steroids) but they never did a thing.

Things I have done:

All the nutritional oils- fish oil, flax oil, cod liver, black seed (nigella sativa), evening primrose, black currant, borage, sea buckthorn
Probiotics- tried just about every type of probiotic out there
Fresh fruit/vegetable juice fasting (my diet is still about 80% raw organic fruits and vegetables with lots of freshly pressed juice)
Calorie Restriction
Liver cleansing herbs (you name em, I've used them...for years)
Kidney cleansing herbs
Skin health supplements- lipoic acid, grape seed extract, lots of whole food vit C, Vit D,
Immune enhancers- beta glucan, astragalus, transfer factor, lactoferrin, colostrum, medicinal mushrooms
And a lot more that I can't think of right now.

Another thing is that water definitely exacerbates this condition. My skin becomes 100% devoid of all moisture after it comes in any contact with water of any kind. I even have tried this with spring and distilled water and the results are always the same. After contact with water on my face for instance, and I can barely even move my face because it is so tight, chapped, and dry. I really can't put anything on my skin either because it clogs my face up. It doesn't matter if it is "non-comedogenic". It will still clog my skin. There is nothing that I have ever put on my skin that hasn't worsened my already bad and chronic acne. Since my face is always covered in scaling, flaking, peeling skin...anything that I mix with it just causes breakouts. I have such an accumulation of dead skin on my face that it is literally like a hard crust sometimes. Anything applied from the outside doesn't even soak in anyway. Yeah, and you though you had it bad...

I've been to well over 20 practitioners in the 15 years that I have been battling this, both allopathic and alternative and none of them have had even a slight clue about this. None of the drugs, herbs, supplements, dietary regimens, or anything else have even made the slightest change in this condition.

I feel as though I may have some sort of metabolic disorder, though I have been tested for adrenal and thyroid imbalances and none of the tests have ever show anything out of the ordinary. One thing I know is that the barrier function of my skin is incredibly compromised for one reason or another. It is really hard to explain, but I can literally feel the moisture evaporate from my body. Now that the weather is turning cold and dry, the air just literally sucks every bit of moisture out of my body. Like I said, I can literally feel my self being dehydrated. Drinking water does nothing for this.

If anyone has any idea as to what might help me, please throw me a bone. Chances are I've already tried it but you never know.

I am in desperate need of help...

Edited by NeverSayDie, 03 December 2009 - 01:28 AM.

[PWAIN]

Have you tried high dose Resveratrol?

[niner]

Wow, NeverSayDie, that is a sad tale. It sounds like a condition that is a bit like eczema and psoriasis at the same time, yet different. You mention that your skin's barrier function seems poor, and that of course suggests moisturizers, but it sounds like you've tried that to no avail. Did you have normal skin as a child? At what age did things go to hell? If you had normal skin for a long time, that would argue against a genetic defect, although I'm not sure that it would rule out a genetic abnormality in nutrient processing, or certainly not one that developed over time. Back when you were dealing with the conventional medical world, were you just seeing ordinary doctors, or were you seeing dermatologists? If dermatologists, were they good ones? It might pay to get yourself to a university teaching hospital, or to try some other way to find a really good dermatologist. There is a lot of therapy and knowledge out there, and if you haven't visited the medical community in ten years it might be worthwhile giving it another shot. Do you have any other medical conditions, even if they might seem unrelated? What do you use in the way of vitamins, other supplements, and medicines? What is your diet like?

[NeverSayDie]

Have you tried high dose Resveratrol?

What would be considered "high dose" for Resveratrol. It has been a component of some formulas I have used in the past, but I assume it was a rather low dosage.

Are you talking essentially about Res mega dosing?

Does Res have a good track record with skin problems?

Thanks

[NeverSayDie]

Wow, NeverSayDie, that is a sad tale. It sounds like a condition that is a bit like eczema and psoriasis at the same time, yet different.

Yeah..it certainly is a sad tale. It has pretty much destroyed my life over the past 15 years. Yeah, exactly...kind of like a mix of psoriasis, eczema, acne, and icthyosis to boot.

You mention that your skin's barrier function seems poor, and that of course suggests moisturizers, but it sounds like you've tried that to no avail. Did you have normal skin as a child? At what age did things go to hell? If you had normal skin for a long time, that would argue against a genetic defect, although I'm not sure that it would rule out a genetic abnormality in nutrient processing, or certainly not one that developed over time.

Yeah, I really feel that this is a skin barrier defect of some kind. Yes, I did have normal skin as a child. I was told that I never had baby eczema either. Things went to hell when I was around 16/17. Severe dryness starting kicking in. It subsided a little and came back when I was 18 and has been full blast ever since...maybe a little worse every year.

I've wondered whether this is a genetic flaw that was somehow "switched" on by something

Back when you were dealing with the conventional medical world, were you just seeing ordinary doctors, or were you seeing dermatologists? If dermatologists, were they good ones? It might pay to get yourself to a university teaching hospital, or to try some other way to find a really good dermatologist. There is a lot of therapy and knowledge out there, and if you haven't visited the medical community in ten years it might be worthwhile giving it another shot.

The standard for treating inflammatory skin conditions was, and still is, steroids and antibiotics. Dermatology is a joke in my opinion when it comes to chronic skin disorders. Forgive me if there are any derms in the house, but it seems like all they need to know is whether to write out steroid or antibiotic on their prescription pad. With allopathic medicine, there is never any desire at getting to the root of the problem. They look at skin conditions reductionistically, and always seem to focus simply on reducing the symptoms. It's the old "let's put some duck tape over the check engine light...hey, look at that...the check engine light is off."

I have been on many different antibiotics and they never did a thing except massive f*ck up my intestinal flora. Steroids are a band-aid joke and cause serious side effects like thinning of the skin, etc. It's really not worth it for something that is temporary at best.

This is why I have been trying to approach this from a wholistic standpoint. I've been trying to search out the cause.

Do you have any other medical conditions, even if they might seem unrelated? What do you use in the way of vitamins, other supplements, and medicines? What is your diet like?

I don't have any other medical conditions as far as I know...but cancer probably isn't too far down the road considering the amount of stress that this skin condition causes me on a daily basis.

I mention of bunch of supps and my diet in the original post.

It's kind of ironic that I have found my way to a life extension forum. If this skin condition never goes away, life extension is the last thing I would want to persue. When life is hell, why would you want to extend it.

If this skin condition continues, I will starting looking into life curtailment rather than life extension.

[hyper_ventriloquism]

Would a cosmetic laser procedure be an option?

[niner]

Wow, NeverSayDie, that is a sad tale. It sounds like a condition that is a bit like eczema and psoriasis at the same time, yet different.

Yeah..it certainly is a sad tale. It has pretty much destroyed my life over the past 15 years. Yeah, exactly...kind of like a mix of psoriasis, eczema, acne, and icthyosis to boot.

I can understand how you would feel that way.

You mention that your skin's barrier function seems poor, and that of course suggests moisturizers, but it sounds like you've tried that to no avail. Did you have normal skin as a child? At what age did things go to hell? If you had normal skin for a long time, that would argue against a genetic defect, although I'm not sure that it would rule out a genetic abnormality in nutrient processing, or certainly not one that developed over time.

Yeah, I really feel that this is a skin barrier defect of some kind. Yes, I did have normal skin as a child. I was told that I never had baby eczema either. Things went to hell when I was around 16/17. Severe dryness starting kicking in. It subsided a little and came back when I was 18 and has been full blast ever since...maybe a little worse every year.

I've wondered whether this is a genetic flaw that was somehow "switched" on by something

That's what it sounds like. Possibly androgen activated, maybe something else, like allergy.

Back when you were dealing with the conventional medical world, were you just seeing ordinary doctors, or were you seeing dermatologists? If dermatologists, were they good ones? It might pay to get yourself to a university teaching hospital, or to try some other way to find a really good dermatologist. There is a lot of therapy and knowledge out there, and if you haven't visited the medical community in ten years it might be worthwhile giving it another shot.

I have been on many different antibiotics and they never did a thing except massive f*ck up my intestinal flora. Steroids are a band-aid joke and cause serious side effects like thinning of the skin, etc. It's really not worth it for something that is temporary at best.

It sounds like it's not a bacterial problem, although the acne component of it presumably is. So did steroids help? If so, then there's a significant inflammatory component, and that provides some things to try. For a lot of dermatological conditions, steroids are actually a good long term strategy, providing you do two things: Use the least potent steroid you can get away with, and use it as infrequently as possible. I have eczema on my hands and wrists, and have gradually increased the amount of time between applications of a mid-range steroid to the point where I am using it about once a week. I've been using it at this frequency or (mostly) more often for years, and have yet to see any evidence of skin thinning. The skin thinning problem really kicks in with the high potency steroids, which you very likely wouldn't need. A couple supplements that come to mind as anti-inflammatories are boswellia and pycnogenol; there are probably more.

In terms of truly causative things, I would consider a micronutrient deficiency, which could be due to poor diet but more likely a defect in transport or metabolism. Another possibility is allergy, either to something in food or to an environmental antigen. It might be a form of immune disregulation, possibly triggered or aggravated by acne.

What I would do is use a good multi, possibly along with a B complex like Jarrow B-Right. To this I would add enough vitamin D to get your blood level of 25-hydroxy-D3 up to 50-60ng/ml. (Probably 3-4000 IU in an oil-based gelcap formulation.) This may help with immune disregulation. I would take 2-3g/d of any decent fish oil. I'd use 5 drops of liquid BioSil, and 20mg of lutein esters daily as general skin therapy. A green tea extract would be a good addition for a variety of reasons. All of these are available from iherb.com at good prices. Finally, as I mentioned above, I would give a dermatologist another shot. Just try to find a good one; seek out recommendations from your regular doctor would be a start. They have a lot of technology that you can't get access to any other way. I have a feeling that a mild topical steroid might do a world of good, and harm you a lot less than you might think.

[HOTCells]

Okay...

I'm up for some suggestions as to what might help my terrible skin that I have had ever since I can remember. I have terribly dry skin over every inch of my body; moderate/severe acne on face, scalp, back, chest, upper arms; moderate/severe seborrhea over face, scalp, back, chest, upper arms. Dry, thin, wispy, fragile hair that is like straw and thinning very rapidly as well.

My face is so tight and covered with dead skin all of the time that it hurts to even talk or eat. Even though my face (and body as well) is always covered in dead skin, my face still pours out massive amounts of oil. Exfoliants don't do a thing. This dry skin is coming from the inside...you can't remove it from the outside. As soon as I exfoliate, my dry skin comes back immediately.

I have been dealing with this for about 15 years but it seems to be getting worse year by year. I tried all of the standard allopathic treatments in the beginning that were prescribed to me (antibiotics, steroids) but they never did a thing.

Things I have done:

All the nutritional oils- fish oil, flax oil, cod liver, black seed (nigella sativa), evening primrose, black currant, borage, sea buckthorn
Probiotics- tried just about every type of probiotic out there
Fresh fruit/vegetable juice fasting (my diet is still about 80% raw organic fruits and vegetables with lots of freshly pressed juice)
Calorie Restriction
Liver cleansing herbs (you name em, I've used them...for years)
Kidney cleansing herbs
Skin health supplements- lipoic acid, grape seed extract, lots of whole food vit C, Vit D,
Immune enhancers- beta glucan, astragalus, transfer factor, lactoferrin, colostrum, medicinal mushrooms
And a lot more that I can't think of right now.

Another thing is that water definitely exacerbates this condition. My skin becomes 100% devoid of all moisture after it comes in any contact with water of any kind. I even have tried this with spring and distilled water and the results are always the same. After contact with water on my face for instance, and I can barely even move my face because it is so tight, chapped, and dry. I really can't put anything on my skin either because it clogs my face up. It doesn't matter if it is "non-comedogenic". It will still clog my skin. There is nothing that I have ever put on my skin that hasn't worsened my already bad and chronic acne. Since my face is always covered in scaling, flaking, peeling skin...anything that I mix with it just causes breakouts. I have such an accumulation of dead skin on my face that it is literally like a hard crust sometimes. Anything applied from the outside doesn't even soak in anyway. Yeah, and you though you had it bad...

I've been to well over 20 practitioners in the 15 years that I have been battling this, both allopathic and alternative and none of them have had even a slight clue about this. None of the drugs, herbs, supplements, dietary regimens, or anything else have even made the slightest change in this condition.

I feel as though I may have some sort of metabolic disorder, though I have been tested for adrenal and thyroid imbalances and none of the tests have ever show anything out of the ordinary. One thing I know is that the barrier function of my skin is incredibly compromised for one reason or another. It is really hard to explain, but I can literally feel the moisture evaporate from my body. Now that the weather is turning cold and dry, the air just literally sucks every bit of moisture out of my body. Like I said, I can literally feel my self being dehydrated. Drinking water does nothing for this.

If anyone has any idea as to what might help me, please throw me a bone. Chances are I've already tried it but you never know.

I am in desperate need of help...

Just curious.. do you have anxiety? Aside from the obvious anxiety of having your skin problems?

[Skötkonung]

Wow, that sounds like something that happened to me around age 18-20.

I used to have great skin when I was younger and then suddenly it got VERY dry and scaly. The dry skin caused me to get frequent bouts of folliculitis, acne, red irritated skin (sometimes mistaken as rosacea). I had the infection (cysts and boils sometimes) cultured and it came out as inconclusive once, staph on two occasions and then yeast on another occasion (likely from all of the antibiotics).

After a lot of experimentation, I was about to give up. I had literally tried everything..not to mention ruined many a t-shirt, sheets, and towels with harsh topical treatments.

Eventually I went and had myself tested at a allergy clinic. They identified a whole handful of foods that I was allergic to. Some like coconut I wasn't surprised about, but others (like gluten, certain nuts, spices, and coffee) were shockers. After I removed the foods, I hoped to see a rapid improvement. Unfortunately, while the symptoms marginally improved, my skin was still awful.

I then took it a step further. I used topical bactroban cream and laid off all the other products I had been using. I completely stopped picking at my skin ..it was very hard. The only thing I used was a gentle, unscented, noncomedogenic all purpose moisturizer and a soap free of SLS, parabens, and all the other nasty ingredients. After six months of a very careful dietary and skin care regimen, my skin finally improved. Now it is gorgeous...well I think so... and you would never know I went through such a difficult time with it.

Like you, I had seen many dermatologists, GPs, and even a specialist (of infectious disease) at a medical university. Incidentally, it was the specialist who recommended the food allergy test. Also, through all the testing, my doctors found out I had von willebrands disease and hemochromatosis (both unrelated to skin problems). That's how thorough I was being treated... and it still took almost 2 years to resolve the problem.

At any rate, keep being strong. I know how it can be, not wanting to go out in public or seeing friends because your skin hurts so bad and looks so terrible. This is just an unfortunate phase in your life. With a little persistence and continued investigation you will find a cause for all of this and finally beat it.

[Shannon Vyff]

How much fish oil daily, what source and for what period of time, did you try taking fish oil?

[PWAIN]

Have you tried high dose Resveratrol?

What would be considered "high dose" for Resveratrol. It has been a component of some formulas I have used in the past, but I assume it was a rather low dosage.

Are you talking essentially about Res mega dosing?

Does Res have a good track record with skin problems?

Thanks

I would consider a high dose would probably be at a minimum, 1gram but much more likely 3 to 6 grams a day and as much as 10 grams a day of 98% or 99%. I would try to get as much as possible into me buccaly (via the inner cheek).

Most formulas have very low doseage and I would not expect any result at all. I would suggest trying 5 to 10 grams daily for at least 3 weeks and then check if you have any positive outcome.

I think some people have reported some sucess with Resv and I personally have found it helps my skin quite a lot - to the point that I seldon use steroid creams now.

I believe that Resv helps regulate the various process in our bodies. Given the timing of the onset of your skin problems, it looks like it could easily be hormonal. Resv may or may not help you with this, but I personally would certainly give it a try.

Good luck and let us know how it works out for you.

[NeverSayDie]

This is just an unfortunate phase in your life. With a little persistence and continued investigation you will find a cause for all of this and finally beat it.

Yeah, I sure hope you are right. It's been 15 years so far and shows no signs of even slight improvement. I lose a little bit of hope every day that I will be able to beat it.

[NeverSayDie]

Just curious.. do you have anxiety? Aside from the obvious anxiety of having your skin problems?

Not so much anxiety originally, but some depression. I know that they tend to go hand-in-hand. Yes, massive anxiety now over my skin condition.

[NeverSayDie]

How much fish oil daily, what source and for what period of time, did you try taking fish oil?

I was taking as much as 4 tablespoons of fish oil a day for something like 8 months or more straight. I'm on flax, evening primrose, and borage oil now.

[NeverSayDie]

I think some people have reported some sucess with Resv and I personally have found it helps my skin quite a lot - to the point that I seldom use steroid creams now.

Ok...that's good to hear. Any particular brand? And are you talking about T-Res?

I will try this out and report back as to my progress or lack thereof.

[ajnast4r]

Eventually I went and had myself tested at a allergy clinic. They identified a whole handful of foods that I was allergic to. Some like coconut I wasn't surprised about, but others (like gluten, certain nuts, spices, and coffee) were shockers. After I removed the foods, I hoped to see a rapid improvement. Unfortunately, while the symptoms marginally improved, my skin was still awful.

I then took it a step further. I used topical bactroban cream and laid off all the other products I had been using. I completely stopped picking at my skin ..it was very hard. The only thing I used was a gentle, unscented, noncomedogenic all purpose moisturizer and a soap free of SLS, parabens, and all the other nasty ingredients. After six months of a very careful dietary and skin care regimen, my skin finally improved. Now it is gorgeous...well I think so... and you would never know I went through such a difficult time with it.

i agree with this path of action... i would suggest you explore food allergies with a good allergist and get yourself on a very back to basics skin care regimen. i can make some brand recommendations if you want.

[NeverSayDie]

i agree with this path of action... i would suggest you explore food allergies with a good allergist and get yourself on a very back to basics skin care regimen. i can make some brand recommendations if you want.

I have done this. I went to 3 different allergists, two of which specialized in food allergies. I went through their entire gamut of tests and my allergies revealed that I am allergic to shellfish (which I don't eat), and horses (which I don't ride).

That's all they could tell me.

[nameless]

What diagnosis, if any, did your dermatologists ever mention? I assume you have had a full hormonal workup too?

A couple of skin supplements you can try: Skingest PSOR (expensive, but at this point I'd think it's worth a shot) --

http://www.nutraingr...-skin-community

LEF currently sells it as DermaWhey. But again, it's expensive, as I think the actual dose in studies is twice what LEF recommends.

Astaxanthin, or Astaxanthin + tocotrienols. There have been studies with astaxanthin showing increased skin moisture (if I recall right).

Olivenol may provide some benefit too -- http://www.creagri.c...l/olivenol.html

Not sure if your scalp is dry and itchy too, but something like a selenium sulfide shampoo probably can increase skin turnover. I know years ago when I used it, it made my skin unusually oily (even though I just used it on my scalp).

Edited by nameless, 04 December 2009 - 07:58 PM.

[NeverSayDie]

Skingest PSOR (expensive, but at this point I'd think it's worth a shot) --

I have used Thorne's BioDerm. It is the same isolated whey protein fraction that is in Skingest PSOR. It didn't do anything.

axanthin, or Astaxanthin + tocotrienols. There have been studies with astaxanthin showing increased skin moisture (if I recall right). Olivenol may provide some benefit too -- http://www.creagri.c...l/olivenol.html

I took tocotrienols for a while in the form of rice bran soluables. I went through 8 360 gram containers of this stuff. I found out about stabilized rice bran soluables after reading about its amazing success with psoriasis. Unfortunately it didn't help at all.

Yeah, I have been thinking about trying both Astaxanthin and Olivenol. Thanks for the suggestions

[ajnast4r]

i agree with this path of action... i would suggest you explore food allergies with a good allergist and get yourself on a very back to basics skin care regimen. i can make some brand recommendations if you want.

I have done this. I went to 3 different allergists, two of which specialized in food allergies. I went through their entire gamut of tests and my allergies revealed that I am allergic to shellfish (which I don't eat), and horses (which I don't ride).

That's all they could tell me.

what type of allergy testing did you have done? did you have elisa/act testing?

[NeverSayDie]

i can make some brand recommendations if you want.

Yeah...that would be great. I appreciate that.

Currently I am using DermaE skin care products, some aubrey organics products, sea buckthorn shampoo.

I just received some 25% manuka oil today. I will try that out and report back. That is supposed to be wonderful for bacterial/fungal infections of the skin.

Here is some info on manuka oil for anyone that is interested.
http://www.agrespons...m/manukaoil.htm

[Brafarality]

What a stumper.
I agree, though, with Skotkonung, that there is a remedy out there.

And, I think it is way cool and honest that you are laying it all out there for analysis by the bright minds on this forum.
It is true: you never know what might pass through here.

I don't mean to impugn your method of self-treatment, but, although it seems like you have tried everything, it is sometimes more in how you try a remedy than in whether you have tried it or not:

Deep body and mind awareness may be important here, and it seems like you are definitely on the right track.

In my opinion, before trying anything else, or any other treatment, stop trying to treat your problem altogether and just spend a few weeks getting in touch with your body and mind:
I dont mean like a meditating monk, but more like a person who just passively but powerfully tunes in to his skin and body, his day, his routine, what he feels might help on some occasions, and just take note the best you can.

Once deep in this mindset, deeply in touch, try each of the remedies you listed, as they occur to you, alone, in conjunction, whatever.

You already seem pretty in touch, as in when you mention that you feel the water evaporating from your skin and how you cannot reconcile oil production with dry skin: let this wash over you and, moment to moment, with no big picture in mind, try something one day that seems like it meshes with your symptoms.

But, whatever you may do, I hope things works out for you.

[Skötkonung]

Do you have any hormone levels you could post? In particular, androgen hormones.

[NeverSayDie]

what type of allergy testing did you have done? did you have elisa/act testing?

I don't remember the particular tests that were performed. I should have kept better records but I didn't.

[NeverSayDie]

Do you have any hormone levels you could post? In particular, androgen hormones.

I went to an endocrinologist somewhat in the beginning of my search. I suspected elevated androgen levels as well as other possibly imbalanced hormones.

I specifically asked for a full hormone panel to be completed including androgen hormones. The results came back as within the normal range (whatever that means...) so I assumed that the etiology of this condition must lie elsewhere.

It's been like a wild goose chase. Trying to unearth the source of a mysterious and intractable skin condition is the height of frustration. The possibilities are essentially endless. I feel at this point that I could potentially spend the majority of the rest of my life just trying to discover how to surmount this problem...if indeed I'm ever able to achieve this.

And the bitter irony of it all- to spend your whole diseased life trying to figure out how to live without disease. I'm not really living right now. My heart is beating and my lungs still inflate with air, but this is deceiving because I am not living.

There is more to life than the physiological health, but without physiological health the other aspects of life are always compromised.

[nameless]

Although I imagine at this point you have tried this, but have you ever went any periods of time avoiding certain foods, such as wheat, or common allergens, just to test first-hand? Or a fast for a day or so?

You could get a bunch of Immunocap allergy tests done, (beyond a regular allergy profile), just to rule out allergies for certain. The common food profile does about a dozen or so foods, if I remember right, but perhaps there is some oddball allergy you have they didn't test for.

[NeverSayDie]

Does anyone have any ideas for nutrients involved with skin barrier function? I was thinking that nutrients that bolstered cell membrane activity would indirectly strengthen skin barrier function, but I don't know. Maybe a good quality phosphatidylcholine might help with compromised skin barrier function? I have used lecithin before in smoothies but I have read before in a few places that straight PPC is better...

"Phosphatidylcholine

The above-mentioned phosphatidylcholine (PC) plays a predominant role for the barrier-active skin care. PC enables the skin to build up bi-layers of lipids and in natural environment it is the most important substance for the formation of cell membranes. PC also provides the fatty acids which are essential for the barrier layers in form of palmitic and stearic acid (saturated PC) as well as linoleic acid (unsaturated PC) for the formation of ceramide I in the horny layer. In cell metabolism, PC transfers its phosphocholine group to ceramides and thus enables the formation of sphingomyelins which are essential for live cells. Both substance groups are of major importance for the homeostasis of the skin and this primarily is why PC is able to influence such different processes as for example atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, skin aging and cornification disorders. In this connection, also transport processes between the stratum corneum and stratum granulosum play a significant role."

http://www.dermavidu...e-measures.html

[NeverSayDie]

Although I imagine at this point you have tried this, but have you ever went any periods of time avoiding certain foods, such as wheat, or common allergens, just to test first-hand? Or a fast for a day or so?

Hi...Yes, I have done all of the above. I have gone on extended diets free of the following:

sugar
wheat/gluten
all grains
eggs
dairy
nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc)
yeast-free diet


Yes, I have fasted on two separate occassions. I did a 15 day juice fast, then about a year later I did a 10 day water only fast. There is supposedly nothing that will help a chronic skin condition like fasting (especially water fasting) and this is why I undertook this difficult endeavor. Yet, it was totally futile. The skin condition never changed at all during or after the fast. It was as though I never changed anything.

[cheesycow5]

Keep eating a low/no carb diet. Sugars are a poison for your body, and even if it doesn't automatically cure you, it'll at least be less damage you're inflicting. Probably stop all processed foods. I would recommend changing to only meat and vegetables and sticking to it.

[NeverSayDie]

Keep eating a low/no carb diet. Sugars are a poison for your body, and even if it doesn't automatically cure you, it'll at least be less damage you're inflicting. Probably stop all processed foods. I would recommend changing to only meat and vegetables and sticking to it.

I still don't eat any sugar (refined that is). I do consume sugars in fruit though.

There is too much valuable nutrition in fruit that is lost if one avoids all fruit sugar as well. Blueberries and kiwis are incredible sources of nutrition and I just don't think that taking an an fractionated, isolated, purified extract of blueberry (finely powdered and encapsulated) is the same as eating fresh berries.