Re: Help! I'm confused as to what to do...

I just started with Curezone Aug 2013 and made my SimplyNatural blog at //www.curezone.org/blogs/f.asp?f=3399
. Here is the blog entry on acne...I didn't have your level of problems, but what I discovered may still help you...especially about zinc.
role of vitamin A, zinc, manganese, biotin, GLA in preventing / healing acne

Date: 8/26/2013 11:13:32 PM ( 13 h ) ... viewed 13 times

I beat it. It took many years but I finally found all the
ingredients needed to prevent acne. As a teenager I suffered greatly from it....I was nutritionally ignorant then. It got better moving into adulthood but there were still occasional outbreaks...embarrassing and sometimes very persistent and hard to heal. For a few years now, it is no longer a problem. I attribute it to vitamin A, zinc, manganese, evening primrose or borage oil, biotin. In my early years I overdosed on vitamin A...so I am still using up what's stored in my body...I will take some when fighting a cold or if other supplements are not helping. If I didn't have that stored A, I wouldn't take more than 5000 units of beta carotene daily (precursor form of A) and prefer to rely on, at least some times, A rich (& delicious) foods like sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, carrots, apricots etc. I take zinc gluconate daily..about 7.5mg. Zinc is very important...without it I would get the subsurface type of pimples, aka boils...red,tender infections below the skin surface that refuse to come to a head, ...a pus head. 7.5 mg seems to be adequate for me. If I took more, I would need some copper to accompany it. Zinc has to be balanced with copper...although in my experience, the zinc picolinate variety does not. But zinc gluconate is cheaper. Copper is a dangerous mineral, I would rather not take routinely...in excess it can cause all sorts of body aches and even schizophrenia. Since we have copper water pipes I suspect I'm getting enough that way..at least with only 7.5 mg of zinc daily. I take 500 micrograms of biotin every other day. That's a B vitamin and is widely acclaimed to be good for the skin. I also take 1300mg of Evening Primrose oil (a capsule) every other day or a 1000mg capsule of Borage oil..actually I alternate them. The prime ingredient in these is GLA ...which is known to benefit the skin..also has special benefits for women...but it works for men too. The last piece of the puzzle I discovered is manganese. I only use a small part of a 40 mg capsule from Albion Chelated Manganese...maybe 4 mg daily. I found that manganese is needed for healing...without it, a pimple that formed a pus head and broke...would continue to fester and not heal. With adequate manganese, I don't get the pimple. If the manganese intake is inadequate, a very small pus head forms which quickly disappears with additional manganese. Some other things about manganese...at least for me...>the greater the intake of vegetable oils..like peanut, coconut, avocado oils...the more manganese is required to prevent acne. >Frequent scalp itching may be relieved by manganese. >manganese prevents excessive inflammation and itching caused by chigger bites (for people living in the South) > inadequate manganese compared to zinc can cause an ear problem: feels like there is something in it...like water or wax ...but there is nothing, but because of it, sounds can be heard when the jaw is moved.

Probiotics are probably also helpful. They can be a source of B vitamins. In particular B2 (riboflavin)is very helpful for healing...can be applied topically to skin for faster healing. Here is another thing you can do...that will surprise most people...STOP brushing with toothpaste...brush with water. I stopped when I heard that the sodium lauryl sulfate or one of its cousins present in most toothpaste can cause receding gum line. To my pleasant surprise, my face became much less oily. This undoubtedly helps to keep my face blemish free. My teeth get just as clean and I do not have bad breath...I brush once a day at bedtime & also floss then. By stopping the toothpaste...unless you buy the very expensive kind...you will avoid the fluoride crap...fluoride does not protect your teeth but can damage your brain health.

One other note: mineral imbalances can cause irritation and/or redness in one or both eyes. This can happen with too much zinc relative to copper, too much manganese. To relieve: stop or reduce the mineral intake and take extra vitamin A.