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Health Journal Update: Acne (Team: Mustard Seed)

Health Journal Post: Because my mom prayed for a healthy child…

Since I was about 24 years old, I have struggled with adult acne. As a teenager, I had the occasional pimple here and there, but it seemed that when I hit 24 and chose exercising and eating healthy, my body went out of control. After research, changing diets, changing diets again, and changing diets realized it has to be hormones. I grew up with a sickly mother who was always in and out of the hospitals. She was given every medicine known to man and only made her worse. I decided never to go to the doctor. (It would be years before I went to the dentist, and that is a miraculous story in itself.) If they filled her with poison and kept getting sicker, then my Doctor would be the creator of the universe, and I just needed to find out how I could naturally cure it. (You should have seen the trauma when I had an ingrown toenail and antibiotics required a few years ago.)

I had PTSD from the medical community.

I caved in and went to the dermatologist ONE TIME in my 20s because it had gotten so out of hand. Flash forward to age 32, and after years of strict diets and battling anxiety, I decided again to go before I ended up in an institution. I texted a friend that I could not deal with it anymore and hated my face and began to hate life. I needed help because my mental state was going under, and I was giving up.

I was venting more than anything, but low and behold, my friend who lives in North Carolina and is addicted to Tik Tok said, “There is a dermatologist I follow who does online consults and suggests natural remedies.” There was eye-rolling from me because “Tik Tok”, but this was during quarantine, and I was desperate. After looking at the doctor’s website, my friend asked, “Is (name of city) near you?”

Not only was this seeming to be a legit Tik Tok woman doctor in my state, but she was about twenty-five minutes from my house AND took my insurance. I immediately called and made an appointment.

I told her all I was doing and all I had researched, and coming to her office was a last straw out of desperation. She was so kind and understanding and stated she respects people who do not run to medicine but would instead take the long road of doing things naturally. However, some things cannot be cured naturally. She cannot currently help naturopathic-wise (I am sure legally), but she gave me a list of people in the New Orleans area who can.

After going over the medicine options and shutting down birth control and Accutane, I decided to try “fluid pills” (which I found out are androgen blockers) and a face cream she recommended. Usually, I research every single detail about whatever it is and am terrified of face creams, but this time I just took it and did not even care. After starting the meds, my face worsened before it got better, and it was not very nice.

After a few weeks, my face started clearing up. I like to exercise and also struggle with, I’m guessing, potassium. After years of randomly waking up with neck spasms since I was a little girl, I came to realize it is a “food” thing. So, when I travel, I travel with bananas, and I am cracking up thinking about it. If I wake up and do not deal with it right away, it will last for hours and wear me out. Good times. So all that to say, after starting the medicine, I could not figure out why I was suddenly having this trouble every single night, and then it finally dawned on me: OH MY GOD, FLUID PILL DEPLETION. Now, I keep Pedialyte in the refrigerator, buy fresh coconut, and always have fresh bananas whether or not I eat them right away (banana bread, hello).

Let me tell you something else; I feel free not to wear makeup everywhere. I finally am freed from the insecurity of adult acne. I can ‘get up and go’, which is the best thing to me and something I have prayed about for years. I made an appointment to deal with the scars, but after realizing I did not want to mess up a good thing, at the appointment told her I changed my mind. She smiled and said they would fade over time. I feel so free and happy and have found the anxiety has lessened because I was fighting a losing battle: I had anxiety over clearing my face, which only caused stress to my body leading to more breakouts.

I am enjoying this season of a clear face, even though I feel like I gave up on God in a way. I had severe guilt about that but could not deny my prayer, and my friend was immediately responding about this dermatologist who works in my city. Because I am more relaxed and am on medicine, I will admit to enjoying good food now that I am not on as strict a diet anymore. I still watch what I eat, but not obsessing over everything I am eating twenty-four hours a day for clear skin has allowed me the freedom to enjoy food truly.

For the first time in my entire life, I am not dieting to control my weight or my acne, and I am happy in the skin I am in because my worth is in Jesus. If you want to be humbled, I recommend having acne, but as Brent would say, “issa joke”. I’ve gained a couple of extra pounds (that I am very aware of), but I am not worried about them. I told the amazing Rene a few weeks ago, I allowed myself to eat things I have not for years and eventually will realize it is a bad idea (when I gain 30 pounds).

This week I made Coq au Vin (fancy name for chicken in wine) for the first time after reading the recipe for weeks. I chose to use Ina Garten’s recipe that calls for homemade chicken stock, which is also her recipe. My mom and I watched ‘The Barefoot Contessa’ on Food Network and always thought she was fancy. I stumbled on the recipe when we were on our road trip and dreamed of making it for weeks. It was delicious, and my next goal is roast beef po-boys by The Cajun Ninja (he’s on YouTube and Facebook). If you do not know what a po-boy is, it is a New Orleans staple, which is just a sandwich on french bread, and we like them “dressed”.

I am so thankful to finally enjoy life and not obsess over my weight or my acne. I am worried about getting off the medicine but will cross that bridge when I get to it.

Cajun Ninja Roast Beef Po-Boys YouTube Link

Ina Garten Coq au Vin – Food Network Link