Crackers And Acne

[FairySprinkle]

Hi, I am keeping a journal of all that I eat. I know that some foods play a role in those horrible pus-filled pimples. Some small ones form. Sometimes a pimple will form with two yellow-head on the same pimple. I have known that crackers whether or not it's whole wheat or regular causes acne to appear the next morning. I am not sure if it's the wheat or some hidden glutten-term in the ingredients which I am going to look up from the list on this site. I'll post the ingredients also. I ate crackers with cream cheese yesterday as well as the day before that. On both mornings I woke up with about 5-6 new pus-filled zits. They vary in sizes. Sometimes they are big about a little less the size of a pencil eraser in diameter. They are so weird and gross. I, of course, drained them out with an extractor because they are so ugly, but I just can't understand the pus in them. I have red bumps. I am on a treatment that has glycolic acid that seems to be doing well because it doesn't irritate my skin or flakes like the Retin-A which I have tried for a long time and didn't get rid of my acne. Also, the glycolyc acid seems to be doing well, but I notice that if I do not eliminate what goes into my body, the skin is going to have a hard time adjusting and clearing up. Of course, with the treatmen it's supposed to purge out my skin, and I have been on it for about 3.5 weeks. My skin tone seems a lot better and my forehead and jawline bumps have been drying up nicely until I ate the crackers, and I know KNOW it is not from purging. I KNOW it's the crackers. Something's not right.

There's also a chocolate powder I used to drink with milk, and I always appeared with a horrible, horrible abnormal pimple on my cheek to which I don't get anymore ever since I stopped drinking that and using Olay Sunscreen lotion. I haven't gotten red bumps or horrible pimples since I stopped the Olay lotion. So, as you can see, there is something in them that had been causing them.

Is gluconate a type of glutten? That's one thing in the milk powder that I can think might be, but I will type the ingredients, so someone could help me.

I want to get a test, but would a glutten or wheat type specialist believe me because a lot of so-called studies claim that food causing acne is a myth, but I know that is not true for everyone! It makes me mad because I know something's not right, and I am sick of having those acnes at my age.

I am thinking that if I have some form of allergy, it might be a mild form because I don't get other types of symptoms except a bit of dry hair to which I can't go anywhere unless I style it.

I tried to look up books at my library but there's none, and I really want to read about it.

Any insights would be appreciated.

[bluelotus]

There was an article about a year ago that my mom found for me on MSNBC's website about how milk can cause acne. I know that dairy and gluten cause acne for me - it may be a form of an immune system response, as you suggested. I never had luck with any acne treatments my docs prescribed (duh, likely b/c I was still eating gluten), but I am on Proactiv now.....although its not perfect, I have had great luck with it (and its gluten free). How long have you been gluten-free? If its only been a few weeks, your skin may take a while to adjust, but then again, your skin seems very sensitive since you notice problems right away.

Also, your red bumps, are you sure they are acne and not DH or psoriasis?

Sorry I can't help more.

Kudos for keeping a food journal too. (I wish I had the patience and diligence to do that!)

[FairySprinkle]

Hi, thank you for your reply. I found out that milk could cause acne also by this site called www.dumpdairy.com, I think is the site. It's so gross, and I can't believe that the media and magazines claim that milk help you lose weight or have a flat stomach. I tried that, and it didn't do that or anything more beneficial. I was taking calcium supplements because I thought at one point that Coral Calcium was helping my acne, and it may have, but I haven't found the exact bottle that I took. It's from Sundown. Anyway, so I found that milk and yogurt by itself did not make my nails stronger and longer like taking supplements, so I am very weary that we get enough calcium from milk. Instead, I have been drinking soy milk for a few weeks now. I try different ones, and I can live with soy milk. It's also lactose-free, and I don't get bad gas from them. My mom is reluctant to change. I am reading about vegetarianism more now, but for me, being in a non-vegan family, it's going to be a gradual process or to at least switch to organic and healthier things--I'll see what I decide to do in the future as I discover more because I am new to it now. I have discovered that food does have a HUGE impact on our health. Being vegan is a hard choice to make, but with the different neat meat-free, animal-free alternatives there are, it's interesting. Alicia Silverstone is a vegitarian and she credits her healthy glowy skin to her healthy eating ways and it cleared up her complexion, so I know acne can come out from what we eat.

I showed the dumpdairy.com site to my mother, and she said, "yes, but I don't believe it happens to everybody." This is denial, and it's true to a degree, but I told her--don't you want to prevent what could happen and switch to something healthier? It's gross what's mentioned in the site about milk. I just bought Rice Cream Cheese to try, and it's gluten-free . I not only think that some enzyme in milk could be causing acne, but the hormones and antibiotics added to the cows.

It's just recently that I discovered I may be allergic to gluten, and it may be causing my acne. I know the chocolate I mixed with the milk has something wrong with it because milk by itself wasn't much of an effect as with chocolate powder. My brother got horrible acne after Christmas and mom said it's probably from the eggnog that I told her to stop buying it or at least just one half gallon and that's it. He's never had his face like that in his life.

Okay, so looked at the cracker ingredients and the ingredients are:

enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, barley malt, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin, mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, whole wheat flour, partially hidrogenated soybean oil, high fructose corn syrup, yeast, sodium bicarbonate, soy lecithin, salt, caramel color, monocalcium phosphate, salt, ammonium sulfate, calcium sulfate, azodicarbonamide, enzymes. Contains: wheat.

As I looked again, I am thinking barley malt is gluten, right?

The chocolate powder ingredients are:

sugar, cocoa processed with alkali, soy lecithin, salt, carrageenana, artificial flavor.

and Vitamins and minerals:

calcium carbonate, ascorbic acid, biotin, zinc oxide, copper gluconate, manganese sulfate, and pyridoxine hydrochloride. Contains: Soy.

I can't figure out what in the chocolate could be.

I also tried ProActive, but it didn't work for me. I also found that scrubs aggravates my acne.

I was also resistant to making the journal as my mom suggested, but then I decided to get a comfortable small notebook I can take with me--and I think it helps more than trying to remember what I ate days ago. It's worth a try. My mom is also resistant to making a journal to lose weight.

Today I notice that I don't have bad acne since I didn't eat crackers yesterday, just really tiny, tiny, tiny ones, so I have to check if it's the fried food or rice or the potatoe since we use flakes. I knew the crackers had something, and I was off of it for a long time because I was so scared of the bad acne until I try again to see if it happens, and it does.

You mentioned if it may or may not be DH or psorasis. I don't think I have psorasis, but I don't know what DH is. I will have to look it up. Both my parents had bad acne. I mostly get pus-filled ones. I got red bumps with the Olay sunblock that I stopped long ago, and I don't have them. I also have back zits and some clogged pores on my chest.

It really helps to journal. I am hoping there are open-minded doctors who could help point this out to people who fail with acne medicines. It's horrible to see desperate people not know what to do with their skin.

[FairySprinkle]

Look at the bottom of this site with Acne Case studies:

Open Original Shared Link

I know I have had clearer skin before, and was off of gluten things for 3 days, and it cleared up my bad cystic acne on my back. My face took longer to heal.

[Rusla]

DH can also appear that way. Mine does and I get it from the corners of my mouth along the bottom of my lower lip and up by my nose.

[bluelotus]

Hi again,

The barley malt in your crackers has gluten, yes (as well as all of the wheat ingrediants). Are you trying to go 100% gluten-free or just testing yourself with various ingrediants? My acne (and other symptoms, I have celiac disease) improved after going 100% gluten-free. You might want to see a doctor first though to get any sort of blood work done that you may need to test for an intolerance or celiac disease.

[FairySprinkle]

Hi. I checked and even saw pictures of DH, but it doesn't relate to my acne because they absolutely do not look like blisters or crusty. They are inflammatory bumps with a pus-filled head like a pimple, but bigger in diameter, so it doesn't look anything like blisters, and it's not normal acne. My face can look dull when I don't eat proper, by proper I mean eating things that are likely to have gluten. My hair's a little frizzy and limp also. I haven't been able to explain the limp I got the past few years.

One other thing I have tried is taking certain supplements that's supposedly supposed to help like zinc, fish oil, flaxseed oil, vitamin c, etc. for about a year or so, but it doesn't really make a difference. It's in the food, so I have given up on vitamins.

Well, since I just discovered that it is likely the gluten (thanks to the journal ...I want to eliminate gluten, and since my mom is so stubborn to helping me by helping look for ingredients (we had a fight) that has gluten, it would help if I had some sort of doctor-diagnosis because she's like, "well, it means you need to go to the doctor, and get something." I am like, "get something? pills? There's no pills, it's eliminating gluten!" Ahhhh!! It drives me nuts. My brother has recently gotten bad acne. I am sure he's clueless about gluten and is eating an italian loaf that contains gluten. My mom thinks we both are allergic to something in the food, and she is like a hypocrite saying, "well, you should get a diagnosis." It makes me so irrate. I don't know how to deal. I said, "mom, why don't we try gluten-free food for 3 weeks." She was not open to it. I, honestly, don't care much for diagnosis, but if it would help my mother confirm what I am saying..it might help her not be so stubborn. Sometimes hearing it from someone else makes my mother less resistant to supporting me. I don't know why. How ironic my mom was so persistent to get me to journal in the first place whereas I didn't care.

Also, do you know who I can call to get a test? Is it a certain specialist I must contact? What's the name I should look under in the yellow-pages?

Thank you so much.

[FairySprinkle]

Open Original Shared Link

Look at this website. It sounds like me. I KNOW it comes from something in the food. The crackers contain barley malt and wheat. Horrible food. If you read the cases below, it is so familiar to me. My derm laughed when I mentioned acne as a reaction to allergy. I am not sure what this website is all about, but is the ELISA test done by many doctors? I will definitely have to know where to look for a doctor to do this test.

[bluelotus]

For blood tests, ask someone else in the panel as to the entire work up, I know there are several tests, including a gene test if you want one. I had the tissuetransglutaminase TtG IgA test, which is one of the more accurate ones (there is also an IgG test too that you normally get with the Ttg IgA, but my doc drew the blood wrong and that test was never done for me). You have to be eating gluten for these tests (except the gene test) to be accurate. The gene test is for celiac disease and won't tell you if you have it, only if you are at risk....people can 'carry' the gene without developing celiac. You can also get an intestinal biopsy to test for celiac, though some in here argue that it is not necessary if you have positive bloodwork and positive results from a diet challenge (going gluten free for a while, then testing yourself with gluten).

As far as the ELISA test goes, people have had mixed results, though any doc should be able to order one for you. I wanted an ELISA done b/c I get sick from dairy and eggs and wanted to know if it was in my head. My doc wouldn't order it though, saying that the test wasn't accurate. Who knows......

One more thing, did you ever get a skin allergy test done? Gluten intolerance vs gluten/wheat allergy are different pathways in the immune system, and the tests are different. The skin test is supper easy (as is the bloodwork) - just see an allergist.

Good luck.

[FairySprinkle]

No, I have never had an allergy test done. I did go for a physical a couple of months ago because I told my family doctor that I still get acne, and I had a blood test done. Everything was normal, and my doctor response was, "I mean, I had acne at your age and it went away, so I think you just have to put up with it until it goes away." He wanted me refer me to a dermatologist, and I told him, "what else is there to do?" He said, "there's more." I said, "Accutane?" I said, "I don't like the side effects, so I won't take it." I have done my research and notice that it's no guarantee of getting rid of acne, and I can believe that it won't work for me just like everything else failed. I know that his answer is not right because I know different because you see, we have an instinct about ourselves that nobody else is going to see. He just did a bunch of tests like, "are your bowel movements okay?, etc." I even took a detox and colon cleanse pills for about 2 weeks (the detox for 30 days though). My bowels are normal, so I know it's not from not having regular bowel. I have done a lot with taking supplements, trying OTC and prescriptions and even cleaning my colon with supplements. None of this helps until I eat the right food. I have had some rare acne where it gets inflammed first, and you see a red dot growing on your skin, until a tiny pus forms, and I squeeze it and pus comes out. The weirdest about this is that it can bleed for a little bit than normal. This is abnormal acne for me. I normally don't get a bit of tissue full of blood like it comes from a cut on your skin. They say not to squeeze, but when I squeeze, it's like a relief to my skin because it grows and grows until I get rid of it.

I guess the first thing I got to do is see an allergist, and then go from there? I know the doctor doesn't draw blood, and it's a different room (which surprised me) that I have to go to where they draw blood, is that what you mean by a different panel? The terms and different tests is a little overwhelming and new to me .

[bluelotus]

Someone that has had a full panel of celiac blood tests can give you a list, there are maybe 4 tests? A good doctor should know what tests to give. You will need to see a primary care physician - they can do the blood work required (I am not sure what blood test you had before - for anemia maybe?), then get a recommendation from them to see an allergist (otherwise your insurance may not approve the test and you'd be stuck with the $300+ bill, yikes!). Then you wait for results and decide what your next step will be (gluten free? dairy free? biospy? a different skin culprit? etc.) Wish some others that have had acne could give some input...

[FairySprinkle]

Hello! Thank you for your post. That makes it much clearer . I decided to test myself by going gluten-free, and I am already seeing an improvement, and I will keep up the gluten-free diet and post an update not for myself, but to help others who may find relief in this. Even my mom notices. Only still hard to convince that gluten is what might be. I put away some foods, and my brother was mad. He, too, has acne that's difficult to treat. Time will tell if he'll adopt this diet. The only thing is that I just found out yesterday that Quaker Oats is best to be avoided, and I ate that. Even the smallest contamination could have gluten like I am reading. I also notice that that Shredded Cheddar Cheese (no gluten) gave me flatulence for like an hour, and I know I am intolerant to dairy products like you also. Sometimes in the morning, I have felt like throwing up and have when consuming milk. I have flatulence, but also notice that I sometimes feel like I have diahrreah. I thought it was from being nervous which can sometimes cause diahrreah, but I'll keep an eye on this. Sometimes there's more than one allergy like you say that may be necessary to avoid down the line. There are so few articles regarding gluten, food allergy and acne. I found one that I will post for anyone to see that may help them.

Open Original Shared Link

On another link in that website, it says that it is best to also have an allergy test like you also say .

Gluten should be banned from being used! It seems like it is not good for anyone. In my view, if there was no gluten in foods or products, there would be no disease from gluten. Isn't that such a small favor companies can do for us?

I am so glad I can write about this without being scorned like other forums and hopefully more people who also have acne will find hope here.

[jenvan]

hey, just popped on this thread to ck it out and glad i did. thnx for the web links. one of my best friends has had pretty severe acne for years, as well as other health problems. i told her some of it has got to be related to the state of her bowels. she is getting married in 2 weeks, but i told her when she gets back and settled we are going to figure out a plan of attack etc. to try and get her healthy and figure out the acne. i am definitely recommending allergy/intol testing for her.

[FairySprinkle]

I am glad to help. If your best friend does not have regular bowel movements, it could cause acne and other health problems. People must have regular bowel movements either through high fiber foods or some natural form of fibers, etc. Make a salad mix of cantaloupe, strawberries, kiwi, pineapple, etc. and squeeze orange juice over it. Have it already cut up for easy servings daily. Someone in the health food store might help with a colon cleanse program. That's an important part to take care of, not just for acne.

You may want to read The Acne Prescription by Dr. Perricone. He has a 3 day diet to test, and that's what I tried, but his 28 day diet is costly for my lifestyle right now--some of it I do not like. Probably the only dermatologist and book to admit that acne can be caused by food.

[FairySprinkle]

If you know of my post below Crakers and Acne, you see that I get bad acne the next day from eating it. It's why I suspect I don't have DH because it does not itch. At one point, I had acne purging on the side of my face everyday, and it did itch a little--I suspected it was because of the pus infections of acne. Pus and infections can itch, which is why I doubt I have DH.

Danna Korn said that she does not have studies that I could read about acne because gluten intolerances, celiac, etc, is very new, but she's had people tell her that gluten gives them acne. My mom said that when she was younger, she'd eliminate all kinds of refined sugars and pastas. She said, that in one month her complexion would improve. She really did it to lose 5 pounds before an event. I think that since gluten and acne is such a rare topic no one wants to discuss in the medical community (because I find articles denying that food is the cause of acne), it may never be an easy thing to diagnose with a doctor unless I found one that's open minded. A naturopath, as I have read, is more likely to be open-minded to food as the cause of acne. I find it so weird because isn't what's wrong on your skin, an indication that something you ingest or in your body is not right? It's hard for me to understand why medical doctors would diagnose it as just a hormonal problem or genetic problem because you produce too much sebum and nothing can be done about it except treat it with acne creams and antibiotics. Some people are never going to get acne with the same foods that I eat, but they are not prone to acne. I know, I have families like that. Just like, I will never tell someone who says he's allergic to peanuts that he's not because I don't have an allergic reaction to peanuts. That's nuts (no pun intended ).

I guess I want this topic to be acknowledge in the medical community because it is very saddening and frustrating to acne sufferers who finds no treatments from creams after creams after pills.

My mom went to the doctor today for her appointment, and he wanted to know if I went to the aesthetician he recommended. He seemed eager to know about it more than once. Okay, so it seems that the aesthetician talked to him, and told him that she thinks I was not consistent with her program and Retin-A that I used. I was so irrate that she said something like that. I have been on Retin-A for a long time, and I know how Retin-A works because it did work for me a long time ago. She thinks she knows more about Retin-A than I do. I told her I've been on it for a long time, too. Maybe she doesn't remember what I told her. Her treatment program consisted of washing for 2 minutes and scrubbing with sugar about 2-3 times a week. It left my skin crying (metaphorically) from dryness, overtouching and overstimulation that it broke me out all over my face including my forehead (which I don't get much there). My skin felt like sandpaper. I had to stop to have my skin recover. I never had my skin like that in my life. Scrubbing aggravates my acne--but I wanted to keep quiet and try her program just so that I am not told that I am stubborn + to give something else a try. I did read on a paper that overwashing and scrubbing or touching skin can make acne worse. There are people who fantastically treat acne with scrubbing. I wish it were true in my case, but it's not. Her purpose of the program is to calm down my skin, it did the opposite. Retin-A actually leaves skin irritated and dry, so I don't know what she really expected out of my skin while on it. It just seems she has no clue about Retin-A. I wrote her a letter after 2 weeks to let her know why I canceled the appointment. Maybe I should have gone to show her how her treatment didn't calm my skin down, but I was too scared to let her do or recommend anything. It irrates me that people don't believe what I have tried all these years. I just feel that the doctor believes now that I am a stubborn person. If Retin-A would have worked, I'd have never gone to anyone for further treatments. I am not against Retin-A at all. It worked for me long ago, and it worked for my mom as well, as other people. It just doesn't work for me anymore.

I felt like venting because I feel like I am not being listened to, including my mom who can't understand why Retin-A isn't working. On some days she seems to forget and says I am not consistent. On some days, when I remind her, she'd remember I am consistent. Why would she say that? She doesn't watch me every night to see what I put on my face. It irrates me. There's no other way to prove to her or the doctor or anyone. I felt like writing to the doctor, but then what's the point? He might just be one person who doesn't listen about acne problems.

FairySprinkle.

[Ursa Major]

Fairysprinkle, I just got back from a cruise. I have known for years that I am very intolerant to all nightshades (potoatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant), and found out about gluten, lectins and salicylates fairly recently.

I knew that potatoes caused severe gastronintestinal distress, and tomatoes horrible migraines, but didn't know for sure what peppers do, and didn't care to find out, as I knew it couldn't be anything good. Anyway, the cook didn't read my list of no-no foods I guess, and put peppers into my stir-fry one morning. By the evening I had three very large, pus filled pimples, one on my nose and two on my chin. And by the next morning there were TWENTY more, all over my nose and chin, and they were BIG and disgusting! And that at my age, I looked a sight for sure. I had to pop them all, as it was just GROSS! I had a shower and washed my face with soap to disinfect them, and covered up the red welts with cover up as best as I could. I felt like a monster.

Anyway, my point is, that yes, I appear to get DH and psoriasis, but this was neither. And it was caused by peppers, something I would never have suspected. I had another one or two of those ugly, pus-filled pimples pop up every day for about another week, but thankfully, most of them weren't that big. That was two weeks ago, and it's totally cleared up now.

So it may be a food you totally don't suspect. I always used to get those pimples, but never knew why. I hated peppers for years, but everybody told me how healthy they are, and that I should eat them. So, for several years I did, until I found out about the intolerance. My skin wasn't as bad when I cut out the nightshades, but never made the connection until now. I guess also because I still had many other skin problems, due to my other intolerances. My skin usually shows whenever I eat something I have a problem with.

[FairySprinkle]

Ursula,

Thank you for replying. The more I hear from others, the more things becomes clear and confirmed. I still don't know 100% what I may be allergic or intolerant to except that I know the cracker are horrible for me to consume. If I get stuff on my skin after that, it must not be good for my body. Like you, I feel like a monster when I get those pus-filled pimples. I want to get an allergy test done first. It's a work in progress because I have been only a while making the connection of where acne may be coming from. I, too, dislike pepper. Most in my family dislike it anyway, and I never knew that they were considered healthy. It looks to me that it is possible to live and eat healthy when eliminating certain foods that aren't good for an individual.

I am thankful that I am able to talk about this without having people deny what I say just because it doesn't happen to them or their friends consume 'crap' and still have perfect skin. So frustrating to talk to closed-minded people. This forum is the most open one I have been to. I feel that there is understanding and openess. Keep it up !

[Fiddle-Faddle]

There are a lot of chocolate milk powders that contain barley malt. If the one you like, FairySprinkle, is made by a manufacturer who also makes a malted milk variety (like Ovaltine, for example), there might be cross-contamination.

[debmidge]

Last summer while driving & listening to a doctor, who has a talk program on 710 WOR radio (Dr. Dean somebody) was speaking to a caller and tellling him that his teenager who had skin problems should probably eliminate wheat from diet as wheat sometimes aggravates acne.

[Nickie]

I started getting acne after I was 30 and can relate to the large ones you are talking about, Dermatologist about 4 months called it cystic acne, I take 100mg of Dorxy a day and I can't remember the name but it is a medicine with derma....and mised with a lotion it has benzoyl peroxide and is less drying for me then Retna A. I also take 100mg of Dapsone for my dermatitis herpetiformis. I started a total gluten free diet on March 10th and my face is so clear it makes me want to cry. Talk to your derm about it. Might help you. Not sure if it is the lack of gluten or the meds that cleared it up, but it is good.

[stardust]

Fairysprinkle

Hi, I'm glad you have found this forum, as I am glad I did. I actually have DH, and also used to have trouble with big ole' "park a gift shop on it" zits. I am gluten free now for over 3 years, and glad to say clear skin, but I tell you what, have you looked at the Oats? I was still trying to eat oatmeal every so often, and every time, the next day or two BAM ! Big old zit. Two headed even like you said--although I can never get anything out of mine--but I don't have an extractor thing like you said you had. I just stays there, sometimes a week or more, very swollen and painful. I can usually get the heads off, but not the deep "core" . This all sounds so gross--but it's true. Everyone has them sometime, don't they? Maybe not Pamela Anderson.

Also, since I'm off the gluten-and now oats too-Not only has my hair improved MIRACULOUSLY, but my fingernails have grown long for the first time in my life! They used to be so weak and brittle-so was my hair, but now they are all long and healthy. Fairy-you figure, if you are eating a little bit of POISON every day--what will that do to your body eventually? It may not kill you, but you will not be as healthy as you could be either. Well, that is what Wheat and similar proteins are to me.. POISON...and maybe you..and your brother. Congrats on educating yourself and keeping a journal. It's tough I know-I did one for one year, birthday to birthday. But it has proven invaluable to me in figuring out what the hell was wrong with me. Now I know and I feel Lucky!! It has been hard. and people DON'T understand. But think of all the chemicals and preservatives and crap that I no longer eat in all this gluten-y food anyways! I'll probably live to be 107, and be healthier than most while I do it too! Keep up on your good work-Keep on your Moms-she will only want the best for you. If not, YOU are the only one that has to live with yourself for the rest of your life. YOU DO FOR YOU. Prayers and Luck Dove

[Guest Robbin]

Fairysprinkle, I have had the same weird giant zits pop up and I am 45!! They totally stopped when I went gluten-free and casein free. Also had a fine, extremely itchy rash. Just as the other people have said, it is YOUR body and what is ok for one person is not always ok for another. Moms sometimes see their children as extensions of themselves and forget that they are separate people.

Also, I noticed that the chocolate drink (I think) said artificial flavoring? I have been "glutened" by artificial flavoring before, so that may be it right there. Find a dr. who will listen. A good internist, a gastroenterologist, or a good family practitioner. They are so hard to find, I know. I have had bad results just going to a dermatologist -they don't look at the "whole health" picture sometimes. I highly recommend an osteopathic physician. Same as an M.D., but treats the "whole human". Good luck, and take care

If you can't find a decent dr., you may even want to just go gluten free on your own for awhile to see. Then, try gluten free/ dairy free until you get to the bottom of it.

[Sandyo]

I have just started the gluten-free Free diet about 2 weeks ago. I've tested negative on the blood test...but I stopped eating gluten for three day and then eat it for three days before the blood test. About 6 months before I started having stomach ache, heart palputations, fatigue, gas, bloating, etc....I suddenly developed acne again. I had it very bad as a teenager but it had cleared up. I have very oily skin. I thought it was the start of menopause so I was tested and found out I was not making enough estrogen. I started taking Estrodal but the "acne" didn't go away. It only got worse. The derm prescriped Doxycylcin and it cleared up but came back as soon as I stopped. But when it came back it was different and all over my chest where it wasn't before. The derm said it was an allergic reaction to some health care product. I changed everything...nothing made it go away. It didn't itch. But sounds like what you described. Small red almost rash looking "pimple" filled with puss. I went to a different derm and he put me on Accutane. It went away and so did my greasy skin and hair. I was in heaven for a couple of months until my lips got soooo dry that they started to crack and peal no matter how much stuff I put on them.

So I stopped taking Accutane after 5 months. After 1 month the "rash" or "acne" is back and getting worse everyday. But that's when I started having all the stomach problems. I asked my derm if it could be intolerance to gluten causing it. He said no cause it didn't itch. But he said it didn't really look like acne either. So he did a biopsy and I just got back the results. It's call Gover's Disease. You can read about it on-line...but it say's it's a temporary condition that no one know how we get it mostly effecting men over 40. Well, I'm am over 40 but not a man. Lucky me!!! It is spread by sweat, so they say. And I'm a runner. Guess that's why it keeps getting worse. I have an appt. with the derm in 1 week. But I'm kinda like you.....I think it does have something to do with gluten. Although it hasn't gone away yet....I do feel better not eating gluten but it's been up and down. But when I had "given up" and decided to eat some bread cause I was still feeling bad.....well the next day was very bad. I've sent away for the stool test from Dr. Fine.

So I guess this long story is maybe it could be Grover's Disease. Check it out. Internet says topical steroids, antifungla pills, cortisone injections, acitretin and calcipotriol can help. Don't know what my derm will have be do next but I will let you know.

[JJYFan]

Wow! I searched Ovaltine and Acne on a hunch and came up with this site. After reading many posts and learning more about gluten, (still have more reading to do) but I believe my hunch has been confirmed that the Ovaltine my 14 year old son has been drinking has caused a terrible acne flareup. His acne is usally mild and he uses Proactive, although not always twice a day. Recently I noticed a terrible flarup, it was spreading all over his face! I tried to figure out what was different and realized I'd been buying the Chocolate Malt Ovaltine since school started in September. He loves the stuff and drinks several glasses a day! I just thought maybe, so I switched to regular Hershey's chocolate syrup, no other changes, and his acne is back to normal (just a few very small bumps).

I'm so glad I did this search and came up with this info. Now I'll have to read more about Celiac and see if that's a possiblility for him. This is very interesting. Thanks to all who posted and mentioned the Ovaltine Malt connection.

[ang1e0251]

Just had to chime in and say I have been gluten-free for a year and my skin has never been this clear and skin so soft as it is now. Not since I was 12 YO!!