bad acne....not estrogen related

[willnorthwest]

Hey guys....im still having bad acne on my shoulders and back. In my opinion, I dont believe it is due to excess estrogen. I had my e2 tested last week and it came back at less than 20. I had pretty bad back acne before I even started trt about 10 months ago, but it is now getting to be almost out of hand. I guess I have a pre-disposition to back acne and the testosterone is accentuating this problem. I have been using a salycic acid body wash and back spray with very little to no success. I have read on other threads that some people have had success with certain antibiotics and I would like to discuss this with my doc. What are some goods antibiotics that I might be able to use?

 

[Megatron28]

I have never used it myself, nor have I spent much time researching it, but I have heard that Accutane can help.

 

[Megatron28]

On second thought, perhaps not to Accutane...

http://www.steroidology.com/forum/a...-acne-treatments-suggestions-help-needed.html

 

[MBB]

Roaccutane is the drug that f***ed up my puberty and caused my low T. But that was just my reaction to it, others haven't had half as bad sides.

 

[willnorthwest]

No accutane. Ive read horror story after horror story. I remember when I was a teenager my doc prescribed some kind of antibiotic for my acne and it worked really well. What antibiotics are good for acne? Any antibiotics I can take continuously?

 

[Megatron28]

Tetracycline? Again, I don't know the pitfalls of using these.

Shower twice a day with a good soap. Warm water -- not hot. That is supposed to help.

 

[Gossamer]

Please only take accutane as an absolute last resort. You could try doxycycline. I've had acne off and on since my 6th week of trt. I've been taking a zinc copper supplement which has helped a lot. 100 mg zinc/day. My acne is worse when my diet sucks.

I was on accutane as a teenager, and I swear that it has something to do with my low t. I know of nothing else that could've caused my low T.

Accutane has some severe possible side effects, like depression and thoughts of suicide. For those of us on trt, who have fluctuating hormones already, the risk is not worth it, IMO.

I don't know what your dose of Test is, but lowering your dose can also help with acne. For those of us prone to acne, test just makes it worse. Just like those who are prone to hair loss, test can make that worse.

 

[Megatron28]

Please only take accutane as an absolute last resort. You could try doxycycline. I've had acne off and on since my 6th week of trt. I've been taking a zinc copper supplement which has helped a lot. 100 mg zinc/day. My acne is worse when my diet sucks.

I was on accutane as a teenager, and I swear that it has something to do with my low t. I know of nothing else that could've caused my low T.

Accutane has some severe possible side effects, like depression and thoughts of suicide. For those of us on trt, who have fluctuating hormones already, the risk is not worth it, IMO.

I don't know what your dose of Test is, but lowering your dose can also help with acne. For those of us prone to acne, test just makes it worse. Just like those who are prone to hair loss, test can make that worse.

It is usually estradiol that causes acne. You don't want to let the exogenous testosterone you are taking aromatize.

Serum hormone levels in men with severe - PubMed Mobile

Abstract
In order to evaluate the hormonal milieu in young men with severe acne, we measured serum estradiol (E2), total testosterone (T), free testosterone (FT), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels in sixteen male patients aged 20-30 years with severe acne, including twelve cases of nodular-cystic acne, and in seventeen age-matched normal controls. There were no significant differences in the serum levels of T, FT, DHT, DHEA-S, or SHBG between the patients and the controls, but serum E2 was significantly higher in the patient population. Thus, the hemodynamics of serum androgens in male patients with acne do not seem to differ significantly from that of normal controls. Elevated E2 levels might affect the inflammatory response of acne vulgaris through the release of thymic hormones, as reported in the literature.

 

[Gossamer]

Megatron wrote:
It is usually estradiol that causes acne. You don't want to let the exogenous testosterone you are taking aromatize.

I sure hope you're correct Megatron. I've finally started taking anastrozole. I've been taking it for almost 2 weeks now, but still getting acne. Hopefully the Aromatase inhibitor (AI) will start doing its job soon.

 

[Megatron28]

I sure hope you're correct Megatron. I've finally started taking anastrozole. I've been taking it for almost 2 weeks now, but still getting acne. Hopefully the Aromatase inhibitor (AI) will start doing its job soon.

What was your E2 at?

 

[Gossamer]

What was your E2 at?

My last blood test before getting anastrozole, my e2 was 40. I had been on 150 mg/wk(75mg/2w), and my dr. Wouldn't prescribe an Aromatase inhibitor (AI). So I lowered my dose to 50mg/2w myself, to lower aromatization. So my e at 40 was while I was on 100 mg a week, without anastrozole. Since getting anastrozole(.5 mg/2w on days of injection) I'm back on 150mg/wk. while I definitely feel better, I still don't think my e is at an optimal level for me. But it hasn't been 2 weeks with anastrozole yet.

 

[Megatron28]

My last blood test before getting anastrozole, my e2 was 40. I had been on 150 mg/wk(75mg/2w), and my dr. Wouldn't prescribe an Aromatase inhibitor (AI). So I lowered my dose to 50mg/2w myself, to lower aromatization. So my e at 40 was while I was on 100 mg a week, without anastrozole. Since getting anastrozole(.5 mg/2w on days of injection) I'm back on 150mg/wk. while I definitely feel better, I still don't think my e is at an optimal level for me. But it hasn't been 2 weeks with anastrozole yet.

40 is a good number, especially if you had the Regular Estradiol assay done instead of the Sensitive one.

If I had to guess based on what you are taking, I would say that your estradiol is too low now. You feel like shit when your estradiol gets too low.

 

[Gossamer]

40 is a good number, especially if you had the Regular Estradiol assay done instead of the Sensitive one.

If I had to guess based on what you are taking, I would say that your estradiol is too low now. You feel like shit when your estradiol gets too low.

There's no way it's too low. When I started trt, I was on 200mg/wk, and my e2 tested at 45. I had the typical high e symptoms like moodiness a day or two after my injection. I was a real bitch. I got aggravated real easily too. Then my dose was lowered to 150mg/wk with hopes that my high e symptoms would go away. I still had the same symptoms, just slightly less severe. So I called the dr. to see if she would prescribe arimidex. When she said no, I lowered my dose to 100mg/wk, to lower my e symptoms.

I don't see any way my e is too low. Isn't the one sign of an optimal e level, morning erections? Haven't had any. If my e went too low, it would've passed through my optimal level, and I would've had morning wood at least once, right? And I would've felt really good with a good t level and an optimal e level, right? Overall, I feel better than I did, just not great. I think my e is still not low enough yet. I'm hoping the anastrozole has to take a little while to get my e level better.
And on the test, <39 was considered in range on the estradiol test. But we know most people feel best from a 20-30 level.

 

[jomamma007]

Yes a 40 on a regular panel is probably putting you at a good range on a sensitive panel.
Plus any AI's make me BREAKOUT pretty bad.
OP what is your protocol?
Avoid Dairy
Avoid Gluten
Vitamin E, B , Zinc
Get some sun weekly,
Scrub with a man Luffa
Clean your sheets weekly
Try that consistenly for 2 weeks and see what happens.

As long as I avoid dairy, gluten, and arimidex my skin clears up.
Also was that below 20 on a regular or sensitive panel. Are you taking an Aromatase inhibitor (AI) to keep your E that low? That could be the cause.

 

[Megatron28]

There's no way it's too low. When I started trt, I was on 200mg/wk, and my e2 tested at 45. I had the typical high e symptoms like moodiness a day or two after my injection. I was a real bitch. I got aggravated real easily too. Then my dose was lowered to 150mg/wk with hopes that my high e symptoms would go away. I still had the same symptoms, just slightly less severe. So I called the dr. to see if she would prescribe arimidex. When she said no, I lowered my dose to 100mg/wk, to lower my e symptoms.

I don't see any way my e is too low. Isn't the one sign of an optimal e level, morning erections? Haven't had any. If my e went too low, it would've passed through my optimal level, and I would've had morning wood at least once, right? And I would've felt really good with a good t level and an optimal e level, right? Overall, I feel better than I did, just not great. I think my e is still not low enough yet. I'm hoping the anastrozole has to take a little while to get my e level better.
And on the test, <39 was considered in range on the estradiol test. But we know most people feel best from a 20-30 level.

You are taking 150mg of test per week and .50mg of adex per week (both split into two doses taken ever 3.5 days) right? Depending on how prone you are to aromatization, you could have low E2. Based on what you said about your E2 at previous test doses you don't seem very prone.

It is really easy to drop your E2 levels with adex. Adex is a pretty powerful and effective medication. You easily could have blown right through the sweet spot.

You know that a lot of the symptoms of high E2 are the same for low E2, right. Many of us could have sworn we had high E2 at one time and it was really low; or vice-versa.

Just go get a blood test for E2 using the sensitive assay. Remove the guesswork.

 

[Megatron28]

Will, your thread has officially been highjacked. Sorry...

 

[Megatron28]

.,

 

[.308]

Accutane works and at lower doses. if your acne comes up from deep down and is painful the otc stuff is nor going to work. dish soap fancy acne soaps will nor work at that point. the acne is not coming from dirty skin. it's from other things like estrogen, testosterone, igf and more. (starts on the inside of the body)

Accutane is rough and I don't really like how I feel on it but nothing else is going to fix it.
do your homework on it. dont just listen to me and other opinions even webmd has a good write up on Accutane
I'm not making light of the sides but imo it's a lot hype. like all this gear we like. lots of negative hype. but when used and even abuse properly it's not a big deal.

 

[Gossamer]

You are taking 150mg of test per week and .50mg of adex per week (both split into two doses taken ever 3.5 days) right? Depending on how prone you are to aromatization, you could have low E2. Based on what you said about your E2 at previous test doses you don't seem very prone.

It is really easy to drop your E2 levels with adex. Adex is a pretty powerful and effective medication. You easily could have blown right through the sweet spot.

You know that a lot of the symptoms of high E2 are the same for low E2, right. Many of us could have sworn we had high E2 at one time and it was really low; or vice-versa.

Just go get a blood test for E2 using the sensitive assay. Remove the guesswork.

Yes that dose and injection frequency is correct. But I'm taking 1mg anastrozole/wk, not .5/wk, split into 2 doses, taken on same days I inject.
Megatron,
You do realize that 40 estradiol reading is my trough reading, right? My high e symptoms appeared/peaked about 36 hours after my injection. I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that at the time I was feeling the symptoms, my e was much higher than 40. I have no proof of that, because I never got tested at my e peak, but wouldn't you say that would be accurate?
And yes, I do realize low e and high e symptoms can be similar. But since starting anastrozole 10 days ago, I've had no moodiness whatsoever. The only symptom I've had since beginning anastrozole, is a little weepiness, like before. Do you really think 10 days for a TOTAL of 2mg anastrozole, is enough to bring me too low? Remember, that last 40 estradiol trough reading was while I was on 100 mg of test a week, never have taken anastrozole before. Now I'm on 150 mg test/ week. I heard a good rule of thumb is 1mg anastrozole per 100 mg test. I'm at 1mg anastrozole per 150mg test.

If you are right, and my e has been driven too low from a total of two/1mg anastrozole pills, then my joints should start aching pretty soon right?

I just can't believe a cumulative total of 2 mg of anastrozole could drive my e too low.

But I'm open to the possibility that you are correct, and my e is too low. What should I look for as far as symptoms if my e is too low, besides aching joints?

I might just have to get my e tested at @36 hours post injection, to see what the level is.

And please feel free to split this topic with my posts going to another thread. I certainly didn't mean to hijack someone else's thread.

Thanks

 

[methos0123]

Arimidex is a very powerful drug. 2 mg/week is a large dose. Some people fit into the category of "over responders" as I've heard. It only takes a few days with this drug to crash your E2. The best thing to do is to have your blood drawn. It's more expensive that way, however, you can't put a price tag on your body.