Acne.org Products
Okay so I posted on here a few months ago talking about how Vitex & DIM ruined my face and gave me severe hormonal acne. During the span of those few months I wasn't really sure what Vitex (primarily because I was only taking DIM for a shorter amount of time) did to my hormones. I knew it had somehow shot up my androgens since testoserone and DHT are the main factors in severe cystic hormonal acne, but I wasn't really sure how. At the time that I bought and was taking vitex I didn't know that it's mainly used for estrogen dominant imbalances, of course my mistake for not doing research, I really didn't know much about hormones at all and thought "Well, if it says it balances hormones, it must balance hormones!" type of bs. Didn't bother getting my hormones tested before messing with these supplements, which is a HUGE mistake. About the 3rd month after I was off vitex, my hormones were pretty much back to normal and I got my hormones tested and they came back mostly normal. From what I've read, what Vitex does is raises your LH hormone which can cause more androgenic production in some women, which I did not know at the time. For me it did do so and caused SEVERE acne. I wasn't taking anything in the span of those few months after I stopped taking Vitex and DIM because I just wanted my body to heal from what I had done to it. I later came across Saw Palmetto, which is actually a supplement for "prostate health" but is a DHT blocker. I began taking it about... 2 months ago I think it is now? And let me tell you, it worked wonders. I'm slowly lowering down the dosage so I can ease off of it but it really helped speed up the process of getting rid of the rest of my cystic acne, which was slowly going away around the 3rd month off Vitex. Now, I don't have ANY cystic pimples left, I'm gonna add pictures so you can see the before and after. Now my skin is still pretty bad but mostly because of the hyperpigmentation and scars, which I'm using bio oil, vitamin E, nadinola, and glycolic acid to help with. My skin is smooth now and I can actually wear makeup without looking extremely bumpy. I'm so glad this is over. This year has been hellish and my confidence has been completely shattered over this duration. So my advice to you, GET YOUR HORMONES TESTED! And DO NOT mess with hormonal supplements until you know where your hormones are at. Hormones supplments are risky and do your research before going on them. All of this could've been avoided if I had done my research on Vitex, DIM, and gotten my hormones tested. pic in a red shirt is me about a month and a half off vitex, pic in blue shirt me as of last week (which is just scars and really not much acne left).
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6 minutes ago, MoonlitRiver said:Awesome. I'm experimenting with saw palmetto at the moment too. Can I ask what dose you're taking and how long you reckon it took before you stopped breaking out?
I started out with aruond 540 mg a day (1 capsule) for a week, then increased it the next week by 2 capsules a day. Then I increased it to 4 capsules a day (two in the morning and 2 at night) and kept it like that for about 4 weeks, and now I'm on the 8th week and for the past two weeks I have been back town to taking 2 capsules a day. I would say about the 3rd week I noticed my cysts dying down and I wasn't getting new ones. By the 6th week they were all pretty much gone. Hope you have luck with it!
49 minutes ago, nachtshon said:I started out with aruond 540 mg a day (1 capsule) for a week, then increased it the next week by 2 capsules a day. Then I increased it to 4 capsules a day (two in the morning and 2 at night) and kept it like that for about 4 weeks, and now I'm on the 8th week and for the past two weeks I have been back town to taking 2 capsules a day. I would say about the 3rd week I noticed my cysts dying down and I wasn't getting new ones. By the 6th week they were all pretty much gone. Hope you have luck with it!
Ah ok, I'm taking quite a bit less than you. Took 320mg for the first week, then upped to 640mg in the second week and still on that in the third week. Maybe I need to increase again, although I've added stinging nettle which is supposed to do a similar thing as well. Thanks, glad you've seen improvements 
Thats awesome! Youre looking great.
I was taking dim and vitex too. Dim for 3 months and vitex only for a few weeks. I had an intuition about vitex but kept on for a little. But I knew my estrogen and progesterone was normal, so I stopped. After, my period came quicker (ive always had a normal period) but now its balancing back. I started saw palmetto about a week ago. I took spiro and it worked (but took 4 months of awful breakouts till i hit 100mg). Had to stop because i couldnt get out of bed I was so depressed and weak. Awful! Anyway, i hope saw palmetto doesnt do that to me. I dont want another awful breakout or side effects like that hah
On 9/29/2016 at 8:58 PM, Exning said:Thats awesome! Youre looking great.
I was taking dim and vitex too. Dim for 3 months and vitex only for a few weeks. I had an intuition about vitex but kept on for a little. But I knew my estrogen and progesterone was normal, so I stopped. After, my period came quicker (ive always had a normal period) but now its balancing back. I started saw palmetto about a week ago. I took spiro and it worked (but took 4 months of awful breakouts till i hit 100mg). Had to stop because i couldnt get out of bed I was so depressed and weak. Awful! Anyway, i hope saw palmetto doesnt do that to me. I dont want another awful breakout or side effects like that hah
Saw palmetto causes a little bit of drowsyness if not taken with a meal, so I take it at night. Otherwise I haven't noticed any severe fatigue from taking it. good luck!
My acne looks exactly the same as yours (pic attached) and I haven't found anything to cure it. It started randomly when I was 39 and has hung around for the last year! Did you get any psychological side effects from the Saw Palmetto? I have a history of depression and anxiety so am trying to avoid any potential triggers.
@nachtshon How are you?