Pimple and Cyst- mid month 5

Why am I still getting stuff???!!!!

I got one pimple/blackhead thing on my temple today. One pimple on my scalp yesterday. And a small cyst is living in my cheek for the past few days.

Why is this happening on the accutane?

Was it the pizza from this weekend? Why am I so stuck on this dairy and acne relationship?

On the plus side most of my bad side effects are gone. I don't feel 100% physically, but I am feeling so much better!

Special Occasion-beginning of month 5

I had two beers tonight, right in a row with dinner. Its wonderful. I've had so little to drink through out this ordeal. I want to sorta celebrate and have a lovely evening with my husband on our back porch. It was the first beautiful evening and we could eat outside. It was worth it and I loved it.

No Whey! No Milk!

So I bought 4 different almond milks and 1 hazelnut milk today. (I can not eat too much soy because of its relationship to my migraines (soy become MSG when processed)) I will be performing taste tests and reporting on the different tastes of the 5 nut milks here. However, nut milks have only 1 gram of protein per cup, compared to the 8 grams of protein per cup of skim milk. This prompted me to do more research about weather or not I could maintain my protein intake by using a whey supplement? Well in short, No Whey!

This is the most prolific article I've found about the dairy acne relationship. It covers both the growth hormones that are NATURALLY occurring in pregnant and lactating cows (this is not an issue of the growth hormones injected into cows, its in all milk, made worse by artificial growth hormones), but it also suggests that the protein whey contributes to the acne as well.

So my protein options continue to narrow. I have until now lived happily as an omnivore that consumes little meat. But my vegetarian sources of protein are now left to beans and wheat gluten. I'm afraid to read about them....

Does a Body Good?

The more I investigate this idea of milk causing acne, the more I believe that it may be contributing to my condition.

I started drinking skim milk (which according to Dr. Weil's website is the most aggressive culprit) when I left home for college. At home my parents always had 1%.

My acne really started to get bad about 2 or 3 years after I left home for college. I had some problematic acne as a teen and took some antibiotics, but I never had these cysts until college. I always thought it was so strange that this acne started to attack, just when I thought I was becoming an adult.

To some degree the severity of the acne could follow my milk intake. About two years ago, just before I went to the dermatologist because my acne had become so unbearable and disfiguring, I had started working out and drinking extra protein, mixed with milk! I loved drinking milk. Protein makes me feel good, triptophan makes me feel good. I always thought I was doing something good for me.

So as of today, I am quiting milk.

I am trying to determine the difference if any, between milk and cheese, but the main suspect in this dairy equation seems to be the hormones that are naturally occurring in the cow because she is constantly pregnant and nursing.

Although I can not find any fool proof published evidence of this, here are the best sites I've found, but if you just google "milk acne" this information goes on for pages.

http://www.acnemilk.com/

Dr. Weil

I don't know how to give up cheese completely, but luckily I don't consume too much of it. Even so, I will cut back.

Skim Milk vs. Acne

Yikes! I drink skim milk everyday, and after reading some posts on acne.org about the link between dairy and acne, I did my own search and came across this post on Dr. Weil's site which I respect.

Does anyone know where to get calcium fortified almond milk? I am quiting my daily skim intake, completely. Maybe this is why I've suffered so long. Maybe this is why the accutane isn't working as well as it should.

I just LOVE milk and will miss it so much.

Bad News- Blood Test 5

I had my 5th blood test today, and it was supposed to be my last. But since I've had few cysts on my back over the past 2 months, it probably won't be. Julia said I shouldn't be getting any more cysts at this point in my treatment. If I don't get anymore cysts this month it might be my last month, other wise it'll be another month- 6 months total. I told her I would be happy to go for another month if I knew it would help prevent needing a second treatment in the future. She said that her and Dr. Berk didn't really know if an additional month had any effect on the need for future treatments.

So deep in this bad news is more bad news. Not only do I think I will be on accutane for another month, but I also think I will need another treatment, like my cousin did.

This bad news has been really hard. I've been trying to not (re)act to and not suppress my emotions. Its a new thing I am working on. Although I can say the advice in my head like a mantra, its actionable execution is questionable. I do know on some level that I am fortunate that this treatment is available to me.

And at the heart of this bad news is the end of my waiting. Knowing that I will be on this for not only a month longer then I thought, but probably an additional treatment at some point in the future means I can't wait for it to be over to get on with my life. I need to figure out how to exercise and have energy which will help my mood. I think the rhodiola has really been helping, and the gentle yoga I've been doing and springtime!

Yoga and Rhodiola

I did yoga today! Hurray! Not like really hard workout or anything, but I actually moved my body around and stretched it out! I'm going to try it everyday! I can't wait until this over and I can really workout again and ride my bike everywhere!

Just when I think everything is awful, something changes, it could be the rhodiola.

Rhodiola Rosea- mid month 4

I am trying so hard not to be discouraged. I slept for 12 hours last night, woke up exhasted, and I feel like taking a nap right now. I have a mild dull headache and my eyes feel dry like I've been crying, even though I have not.

I bought some Rhodiola Rosea extract today at Whole Foods, its not cheap, but its pretty good. I used to take it regularly for energy and to prevent depression, of which it helped greatly with both. Hopefully it works now.

Its "only" a migraine

Today, I really thought I was loosing my mind. Coupled with the resent emotional turmoils, I thought "Oh my god! They were right, this stuff makes you crazy."

I left my house and returned to it four times this morning, locking it each time before I realized what I forgot!

But just a few hours ago in the middle of critique for one of my classes, the small dull headache blossomed into a migraine. I haven't had a migraine in a long time, which I attribute to my lack of drinking while on accutane, so this one caught me a little off guard. But I am glad its a migraine and not psychosis.