"And the funny part is, I know that I need to be very diligent with my diet, cleanse..etc...but the problem is that I have this super intense FEAR that no matter what I do, the Acne will never ever go away ! That is what is bothering me...trying to muster up the courage to TRUST that I can actually heal from this."

You have to change your way of thinking. It's not going to HELP ANYTHING thinking negatively about your situation. On the other hand, thinking that you WILL HEAL will help.

"I am afraid that my boyfriend will think I'm disgusting and want nothing to do with me"

If he thought that he would have left...which wouldn't be worth YOUR time anyway.

On to healing. Continue with the raw diet. Liver Flushes along with probiotics will definably be the key player here. I like ACV to soften stones before a flush. Take 2 TBSP at least a week in advance. You also need to do have your doctor order this test: http://www.metametrix.com/test-menu/profiles/gastrointestinal-function/dna-st...
to see what your gut environment is like and treat accordingly. You will also need to take this to rebuild your nervous system from all the stress: http://www.greatestherbsonearth.com/nsp/chinese_stress_relief.htm


STOP THE PILLS, YOUR MAKING YOUR SITUATION WORSE. You just need to detox your body and rebuild with good stuff.

The saliva test was very accurate. I had tried the progesterone cream prior to the test because I had always assumed I was estrogen dominant but it only helped a little. After the test I was given progest sublingual drops, dhea sublingual drops and pregnenalone drops. My ratio with dhea was off also. After starting these drops I had a complete turn around of all symptoms within 2 weeks. I have noticed that Sugar plays a major role with Acne because it messes with the hormones, so I try to avoid most processed sugar. Natural Sugar is fine like fruits and honey, etc. Hope this helps.

Healing candidiasis is the solution. You don't have to go off Sugar and your cravings for it will go away. FAT is the key, what scares people away is you need saturated fat. I accidentally found this through years of trying to heal candidiasis. Coconut oil is less scary than other fats...and you don't need virgin coconut oil. hormones are made from cholesterol/sat fat. your body can correct its hormones when it has what it needs to work with. corn, soy, rapseed oil (what you buy in the store called "vegetable oil" really upsets the bodies balance) Vits A/D are critical (natural sources) and they are very heat sensitive, look up the tood sources for retinol and consume them RAW. Raw milk cream will make you feel great and rapidly heal your skin.

That and as rich of b-vits food as you can find that are LOW in FIBER.(like veggie juice, fresh white sourdough bread) Fat keeps you regular.

Decide if this is helpful to you, if need be you are welcome to use after you have tried everything else (if they don't work for you...I hope it does)

What worked for others never worked for me(tried hundreds of solutions) and my acne/terrible digestion. Most made things significantly worse.

Feel free to research any/all of this, you can contact me with questions if you want.

I wish you the best!

While I am NO EXPERT I would like to add my 2 cents.
Take it S-L-O-W.
Do not do too many things at once because then it will be hard to figure out what is working and what is not working.

Also from experience WATCH the licorice root tea. I do not know if your ND mentioned that licorice root will lower your potassium (I give it to my husband who has high potassium due to kidney problems) and it will SOMETIMES raise blood pressure in some individuals, but not everyone. So be on the alert.
Low potassium symptoms include:

* Weakness
* Fatigue
* Muscle cramps
* Constipation
* Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias)
* High Blood Pressure

Other symptoms can include muscle weakness, or flaccid paralysis (limpness); leg discomfort; extreme thirst; frequent urination; and confusion.

I joined curezone to help YOU, Shara, so I hope you'll see this and read it. The information is a little spread out and I might come off as a disorganized person, but I'm typing this while doing a couple of other things.

If you want to skip to the bottom to see what I'm going to recommend before reading the rest, go ahead. Doing what I say will cure your Acne whether or not you understand everything -- just like all real cures. But I do recommend you read everything, as I'm a big believer in curing partly with knowledge and understanding.

The first part deals with some misconceptions or un-truths, and the second part lobs everything else together. I may ask you some confusing questions, but they're more for me and my organization than anyone. It's hard to type in a tiny box!

I'm currently very close to curing my own acne, and all I have to do continue my current self treatment. All of my family for the last couple generations has had Acne -- it seems all we can do is get with people who are like us and accept our ugly little condition. (Not to be fickle or anything, of course.)

I've personally had Acne since the age of about 10 or 11 years old, and this following January I'll be turning 22. And I what people will think when I tell them I'm coming up on my own acne cure (not a partial, but a full cure): "You're dropping out of puberty." Like I said just a second ago, my family has all had acne, and all four of my grandparents and both of my parents have adult acne -- even though a couple of them have taken some bits of advice on cleansing and natural therapy.

Anyway, that's enough about me. I want to tell you about the cure and let you decide for yourself whether or not I'm telling you the truth. I'm going to mention some brands and/or products by name, but PLEASE don't let that turn you away from what I'm saying. I am NOT trying to sell a product, and I have no brand loyalty. If you find a product LIKE the ones I might mention, or something that is essentially the same and/or works better, please use that instead -- BUT KNOW that even the tiniest difference in chemical TYPE, arrangement, and source will have different effects in your body. Ascorbic acid, for example, is much different than citric acid , and depending on the source, both could be highly effective at treating scurvy, or one or the other could be much better or worse.

But let's talk about acne and your skin.

I'm sure you know by now that your skin is one of your three primary elimination organs. The three primary elimination products are: stool, urine, and sweat. Stool can be watery or hard as rock -- it's still stool. Urine is urine, and whether or not you're sweating profusely, what comes out of those pours will still be considered sweat.

The cause of your acne: over-elimination of waste, both harmless and harmful, through your skin. Notice how I said "through" and not "from" or "by." Your skin could be very healthy, aside from the fact that it's having difficulty keeping up with what the rest of your body is doing.

Don't let anyone tell you that your skin is simply "unhealthy" because it's experiencing difficulties. (Just hear me out.) Please understand that the world's healthiest cart-pulling horse could seem unhealthy if he easily trips and breaks a leg in a race. (That being said, whatever you do, don't just assume your skin is completely healthy. I'm simply discouraging false information so that you don't run out and buy something that's "great for the skin" for $40 and find out it does nothing to help your acne.)

So, now you know these things:

1: your primary elimination products are stool, urine, and sweat, with >very< minor cleaning being done by flaked skin cells, lost hair, nails, and saliva, and so on.

2: your skin could be very healthy ASIDE from acne -- it shouldn't simply be assumed that your body is having a hard time making strong collagen or what have you... though part of the problem >could< be that.

and...

3: because your skin is having difficulty dealing with elimination, it's becoming infected. Infections can be caused by pathogens, but they can also be caused by things typically considered safe. White blood cells will move against many things -- not just problematic bacteria.

I'm going to repeat that for the extra stubborn people reading this: BACTERIA and FUNGI are NOT the only causes of "skin disease." You and another person may appear to have the same "type" of acne, but they could be caused by radically different waste-things.

To bolster my point: Science has named hundreds of different bacteria and fungi that live in our colon, and they claim >specific< microorganisms are infecting skin and causing acne and other skin problems... but why is it that your antibacterial product, which can contain up to 50% skin-penetrating rubbing alcohol, fails to cure you? After all, you can sweep a topical fungal infection by applying antifungal oils, but the same apparently doesn't apply to these fabled acne-bacteria and acne-fungi. And even better: we have the names and social security cards of a million microbes in our bodies, but when has the true identity of the one behind acne been given? It hasn't -- so far all identities have been fraudulent.

I have plenty more on the subject of misconceptions and lies, but for now I'll drop it with this: pretend harmful microbes DO NOT exist. You may not be able to recall the information consciously, but you -- as >your body< -- know how to deal with any partly-imaginary bug that pops up and causes problems. AS A GENERAL RULE: don't waste your money on anything that your body can't store for later use, and don't place all of your faith in anything another organism made for its own protection. (For example: essential oils)

---

Now, what can you do to aid your body? If the problem is with your skin not being able to keep up with elimination, and there's nothing really pointy to a genetic skin unhealthiness defect you were born with, ask yourself what might be amiss.

I'll save you some time: your problem might have a little to do with the way your skin is made (amount of protein, water, whatever), BUT...

1: What is your skin made of that you might be lacking?

2: What other ways does your body have to detoxify itself?

And I use that word (detox) very rarely, because I hate it. There shouldn't have to be a detoxification, because that implies your body's inability to keep both beneficial and harmful chemicals and beings from reaching toxic or irritating levels. (But moving on...)

In reply:

1- If you're standing and moving and breathing, you're living just fine with the amount of protein you have. Because it would be very obvious if you were lacking any "macro nutrients," the problem is not there, either. But there's something you're not getting or that your body should be using that it's not, and I'll provide the answer for that here soon. Don't fall for this "need more vitamin x" crap; it never works to cure acne, though it can sometimes help to remedy the symptoms...

-Just like cadmium can take the place of zinc in enzymes.
-Just like strontium can temporarily fill out the bones in place of more important nutrients.
-Just like calcium can be used to build mineral tissue, even though it's been proven a million times in nature and Science that magnesium can be changed into calcium, and that serum calcium levels will remain basically the same as a result of removing calcium from the diet and eating magnesium-rich fruits (over a period of years, even).

2- And this one's easy; I gave you the answer already. Your body can "detoxify" itself in two ways: it can actively clean itself up using its own enzymes and flushing methods, or it can prevent the need to detox altogether.

If you have acne, your problem is that your body is stressed. Your body cannot handle everything in the prettiest way possible, because it has a job to do. Here you are crying about the fickle unsightliness of your poor skin, and that negative emotion is making the problem even worse.

If your body is stressed because it has way too much to do and not enough time to do it, WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Stop Stressing Your Body, and Listen To Its Needs.

It's really as simple as that. I'm going to tell you more about myself now, so bear with me.

---

Skipping all the junk where I tell you about my sad teenage life, which is crap you likely couldn't care less about (can't blame you; neither do I), I started the real healing process after completely failing a hundred times. Just like most people with acne, I can officially say that, before getting the right method down with the right ingredients, I had tried literally everything.

So what worked for me? I'll give you some advice: impulse shopping is very useful sometimes. I came across some products I otherwise would have never considered useful, and only bought them because I was curious about what they could do to help me get rid of some food allergy symptoms. (Which is, like my acne, now just a month or two away from being gone completely.)

Here's a list of things I purchased over a couple months' time, basically because I was bored after work and wanted to test how superhuman and energetic they could make me -- but I didn't really put them to use for a long time:

x3 Ionic (not colloidal) Trace Mineral Supplement
x1 Ocean Plasma Supplement (just pure sea water)
x1 Ionic Iron Supplement
x1 Ionic Zinc Supplement
x5 Chelated Molybdenum Tablet Bottles (100 count)
x2 B-vitamin Drop Bottles (w/ the "non-b" b-vitamins)

Other than those things, I also regularly bought these items from the store and used them to do experiments and cleanses and you name it:

xx Psyllium
xx Apple Cider Vinegar (Bragg's -- the good stuff)
xx Clay (calcium Bentonite (Src: Tx) and that Aztec stuff)
xx Bee Pollen, Raw Honey, Royal Jelly
xx Herbs (can't name all of them -- too many -- made teas)
xx Menthol Inhalers (chronic "sinus headaches...")
xx Sodium bicarbonate (to drink w/ water)
xx Coconut Oil


Out of all of those things, can you guess which ones gave me the ability to FINALLY be able to stop therapy and supplements and coast along in the same skin? In other words, can you guess which ones led me to a real cure, and not some lunatically conceived symptom-blanket?

All of them. I'm not telling you to buy all of them, but all of those things sped the process of healing up by a collective hundred times.

On to the next part.

---

To get rid of your acne, you'll have to make sure the most important elimination organs are working well -- or at least make sure they're well-supplied and ready to roll.

The first step is to help your COLON, which will in turn help every other organ in your entire body.

The second step is to help your KIDNEYS and LIVER.

The third step is to help your...

But you've heard all of this. How stressful it can be to have to juggle these organs around in your brain, hoping you're not missing a step and that you've actually accomplished something before moving to the next and the next.

The truth is, you don't have to go in order. Not at all. If you're able to walk and talk and breath, you're healthy enough to go without the stressful ordering. If your liver hasn't shut down completely, you don't have to put it above everything else. Same for the colon and all the rest.

...I'm sort of getting a back ache from sitting here for so long, so I'll just go ahead and give you some steps and some final advice, then leave it at that.


Purchase these things -- no exceptions:
[Note: progressive purchasing is fine, of course)

-Psyllium Husk Powder (amount: four imaginary gallons)

-Clay (bentonite, preferably calcium Bentonite (white))

-Apple Cider Vinegar (Cheap -- get a lot -- Bragg's is the only brand I've purchased that's worth drinking at all, but there might be others. DO NOT go with Heinz or brands that use plastic jugs or bottles! Must contain the "mother," must be unfiltered and raw, and might as well make it organic.)

-Nuts and seeds (no cashews or peanuts), fish, fresh fruit, herbal tea (NO caffeine; cacao OK), fresh vegetables, etc. IMPORTANT: buy things you will eat, and buy organic whenever possible. Don't worry about quantity, because you're going to be eating less for a while. In other words, if you run out of money buying other stuff on the list, go without some of the food.) Great prices: canned sardines in salt water, raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds, loose/bulk herbs for tea. Do NOT buy frozen produce or fish, do NOT buy bananas, and do NOT buy anything that is heavily preserved. Raw is always better for >most< of these things, and sprouted is always better for >most< produce. For water, please see the last item.

-Sodium bicarbonate (not too much -- one medium-size bag should be good -- "Ingredients: Sodium bicarbonate")

-Coconut oil (unrefined, cold-pressed, organic -- buy one at first, but you'll need 4 or 5 in total)

-Water: do you drink tap water? If you drink bottled water, make sure it's PURE water, with nothing else in the bottle save for perhaps natural trace minerals. Try for "BPA free" plastic, but don't worry if you can't get it this way. If you drink tap water, find out what sort of piping you have. You'll need to know here in a bit.

---

Alright... now that you've purchased the essentials, I feel it necessary to say: you're not going to whither away and die. If you weigh a hundred pounds, make sure you buy additional amounts of coconut oil, nuts, and seeds. If you work a lot and can't help it, nuts and seeds and coconut oil. If you have a disorder that makes you need to eat more... coconut oil, nuts, and seeds -- maybe a carrot and some more coconut oil.

The way you use what you've purchased is simple: use them internally. With everything you've just bought, there is no rule other than USE THEM INTERNALLY -- the clay, the ACV, the everything.

But the tricky part is that you have to do it all within a couple months. You're going to experience some classic cleaning symptoms, which could mean your acne gets a little worse for a while. Luckily, Bentonite is great for clearing up skin, and coconut oil is a superb moisturizer. The coconut oil will be very shiny, so mix it with your own saliva if you need to dull it out a little.

The point of taking all these things internally, by the way, is to HELP your body clean -- not necessarily to clean manually. You should make it a new hobby to research their different benefits, because I'd be writing a book to tell you everything about them. Don't use the internet to research unless you're a professional surfer and BS-spotter; you just won't find any reliable information.

If you've been recommended another product by someone else that supposedly does what these do, but works better... don't believe it blindly. The things I've listed so far are cheap in comparison to other things, and I've proven to myself a hundred times that they work just as well as many of the much more expensive tinctures, pills, and packages.

And I'm not going to bother you with order, combinations, amounts, or complicated directions. Use them and you'll figure it all out by yourself, and in a much better way than just reading. (But a hint: psyllium goes down much smoother with bentonite mixed in.)

---

Once you're done with the items above, keep to or switch to a low-meat omnivorous diet. If you refuse because you're a vegetarian or vegan, grab some sprouted pumpkin and sunflower seeds in addition to your normal, hopefully very healthy stuff. If you can't find sprouted, by as raw as you can and soak them in water, following sprouting directions you'll find all over the net.

Now, follow the water-buying directions in the previous list. If you're drinking tap water, know your piping. Once you know your piping, know what minerals "compete" for absorption with the type of metal that's going to be in your tap water. For example: copper piping means you'll need to buy more zinc and molybdenum than usual. When you're finally cured after all of this, don't worry too much about counterbalancing the tap water, because you'll regularly crave foods that keep everything in working order.

The following list is what >I< used, and I can't recommend anything else be used. HOWEVER, that DOES NOT mean that there's nothing else you can use! I'm recommending these products because I bought them and had success with them. When you do your research and buy your own stuff, feel free to modify the list in any way you want. The only reason I'm not listing "this material" and "that material" instead of "this brand's item" and "that brand's item" is because I refuse to suggest you go out and buy something I haven't personally tried.

Do your own experimenting, and feel free to double or triple the dosage recommendations. As always, people are far too careful with their imaginary, legally-armed patients. You know better than anyone what you can take, and to my best knowledge, none of these will cause irreversible damage or discomfort. Try for "therapeutic" amounts -- not too high, not too low.


List:
[Note: read two paragraphs above this!]

Brand: Trace Minerals Research
x5+ Ionic (not colloidal) Trace Mineral Supplement Concentrate, Low Sodium
x2 Ocean Plasma Supplement (just pure sea water)
x1 Ionic Iron Supplement
x2 Ionic Zinc Supplement

Brand: NOW brand (glass bottle w/ dropper)
x2 B-vitamin Drop Bottles (w/ the "non-b" b-vitamins)


SPECIFICS:

ALL OF THE SEA MINERAL ITEMS contain chemicals that are very easily recognized by our bodies. No laboratory-made mineral comes close, period. There may be other brands that sell the same stuff as TMR. I can't remember the full name, but there's a brand called "MRI," I think, who's competing with TMR, and they probably have some great stuff too. Also, if you absolutely cannot buy the listed products, then buy as much kelp as you can -- pure-source, organic, multiple types. It'll take longer going the kelp-route, but it'll get the job done. You can make kelp tea, take kelp-capsules, and eat kelp in all sorts of ways. It's much, much more effective when it's "micronized" -- meaning "nearly as fine as flour."

The x5+ item is called "ConcenTrace," and the quantity is appropriate for the 4oz bottle. This is the magical weapon that will help you so much, but it takes time to work.

The x2 Ocean Plasma supplement is called "Utah Trace Minerals," and it's pure sea water. Research Ocean Plasma Therapy and you'll learn how to use it best. Otherwise, it can be use instead of table salt , and you can drink or consume it safely in basically any amount -- even if you go crazy you'll only get the runs.

For Ionic Iron, spread the amount out over a good, long period of time. The iron is necessary, even if you're eating a lot of meat. Don't take too much at once, because you'll just be wasting it. The iron will help to bring out the effects of the other items, but it's NOT necessary to use it immediately before or after. 1 drop in a large water bottle per day is enough for non-anemic people. For those with cold extremities, it's extremely important to take a higher dose. And by the way, I don't care what everyone else says; Ferrous sulfate DOES work better. I've never had better results.

The zinc (x2) is necessary. I know you hear a lot about it, but whatever. Not only will you need to get your stores of it back up to get maximum results from all of this, but it assists your body's cleansing processes in ways you'd never guess. Plus, like iron, it'll boost the effects of the hard-hitting concentrated (low-sodium) sea mineral drops.

Magnesium IS 100% MANDATORY. The only reason I didn't list it is because the products I listed contain a hell of a lot, and you'll probably already be visiting the crapper 4 times a day without adding more.

The B-vitamins are pseudo-optional. If you feel you're getting plenty of b-vitamins in what you eat, and you don't think you're having any problems at all with absorption, and you don't smoke or drink (very often), then don't buy the drops. However, if you drink more than once a week, or more than a week's worth in one day of the week, buy them. If you smoke, buy them. If you feel you still have bowel problems after taking all of that psyllium and bentonite and ACV, buy them. It's up to you to decide on brands and all that junk -- I just chose NOW because it was cheaper and I wasn't planning on using much in the first place.

---

Now, it's about time I stopped typing. My back's killing me...

QUESTIONS:

-"Why do I have to use MORE minerals? I've used them before and they only helped for a while, so I stopped buying them because I was wasting money."

Fast answer: you forgot something: it can take quite a long time for your body to rebuild its stores of minerals. Some of them are stored in the bones, for example, and remineralizing could take anywhere from a couple months to a couple years AT THERAPEUTIC DOSES. Just trust me and take a broad-broad-broad-spectrum mineral supplement that contains all of life's trace elements. Just taking "zinc" and "magnesium" will do you absolutely no good in the long run... well, in comparison to spending 1/5th the time and money doing it the right way.

-"Why this or that?"

Fast answer: You have no idea how much self-testing I've done. On average, I spend 10-12 hours thinking about, reading about, or using different things to get my body to work better, faster, and stronger -- in the most natural way. Other people have done the same thing, but with a little bit too much reading and speculating. Do yourself a favor and take the recommended mineral supplements over a period of a year or two while on a clean, healthy, partially raw-plant-food diet. Do a yearly or biyearly cleanse at the very least.

I can promise you that, without a doubt, you'll lose that acne in less than a year. Most of the symptoms will vanish within the next month and a half, especially if you follow this line:

When it comes to acne, more high-mineral foods, less meat and dairy (wild-caught fish doesn't count), more water, and less stress is the only way to go. Don't overburden your body!