Acne issues while on TRT PRE-cycle
I’ve researched and looked a bunch and am getting a bit desperate after trying a ton of things.
Backstory: been on TRT for a while, currently prescribed 180mg test, and 1000ui HCG/week. I was using 160mg prior, but was still having some symptoms of low T, that went away once my doctor upped my dosage to 180mg/week. No AI at all, but I do have anastrozole on hand but haven’t used any after tanking my E2 a while back and feeling absolutely terrible for 2 weeks.
So I’ve been having bad back and shoulder acne that has slowly been getting progressively worse and worse. I was prescribed Doxycycline 100mg twice daily and it doesn’t seem to have helped, I have been using 2% SA body wash and wipes, and nothing.
I stopped HCG 2 weeks ago hoping it would help, but I haven’t seen any difference at all in the acne or anything else yet. I just purchase a body wash that has 10% BP to try next. Any other suggestions would be great. I’m looking to start a basic test cycle in the future but want to get this under control before I do. Is accutane my only option?
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Based on my personal experience, I usually breakout the worst with my acne once my cycle ends. I get on the accutane at the end of my cycle and run it with my PCT.
As far as AI goes, I usually do 1/2 pill of arimidex eod and that works great for me. If your nips start to feel super sensitive or get lumpy feeling, that is when I typically know I need to up the arimidex.
Also, just to note on your skin care: as someone who works in dermatology, I just want to let you know that there is such a thing as showering too much. When you shower, all of the soap you use removes all of the natural oils from your skin. The body in turn makes more oil to replace it. If you are showering multiple times a day everyday, then your skin will produce even more oil. It’s counterproductive. I would try and stick to 1 shower a day. Nizoral and accutane are your friend.
Hope this helps
Definitely helps! Thank you, and yeah that is a good point, so I’ll stick to one shower per day.
Would you recommend I use any cleanse wipes in between showers? So usually what I’ve been doing is using these alcohol free cleanse wipes, then wipe down with stridex 2% SA pads, and then moisturize. I do the same after showers minus the cleanse wipes of course.
Should I stop the SA once I start accutane?
And that makes sense about the AI, I’ll just have to pay attention. Should I take a hit if AI preemptively or wait until signs start and then introduce AI , I see this talked about a lot but no great arguments for either side.
Just waiting on blood work to come back then I’m starting cycle and bulk. Will probably start accutane as soon as today.
Bit of an update to this thread:
I swapped from 90mg every 3.5 days(180mg/week)to 50mg every other day(175mg/week), dropped HCG(about 4-5 weeks ago). I was at this dosage for 3-4 weeks or so and just got a full blood work done so waiting on the results of that.
I bought the nizoral shampoo and used 4-6 times weekly and have still been using it along with 2 showers per day, and moisturizing the areas religiously, and over the last 3-4 weeks I have seen a slight decrease in the appearance of new acne but not much in regards to the existing acne. I ordered 20mg(200ct) accutane from a source I vetted from this site and plan to take 20mg everyday for the first week, and then 20mg eod until I run out. Total of 4000mg accutane. I realize the issues with accutane and as someone that has struggle with acne in my face for 15 years and now on my back since starting TRT, I think it’s finally time just to take care of it(hopefully for good)
I have a few questions regarding my first cycle, still looking to start my first 500mg test C only cycle soon, how should I time it in regards to the accutane? Should I take accutane for a few weeks and then start cycle? Or would it be best to do the cycle, and then start accutane mid way through cycle? Or even after the cycle is over? Anyone with their own experiences feel free to give some insight.
Thanks guys, also big shout out to shred for all the help. I also ordered more arimadex to have in hand for the cycle and will be ordering some nolvadex as well to have during the cycle. Only thing that worries me about the cycle is AI dosing as it will be my first cycle so unsure how to gauge things by feel and when to start AI.
AnonI think you should start the Accutane now. I don't think you should start a cycle until you get the skin issues under control.
Thank you fir the reply, I respect your advice a bunch so that’s most likely what I’ll do. Does my dosages sound good?
AnonYeah. You can go with eod from the start of ed for the first week. I've done both. If it's your first time with Accutane the more cautious route would be eod from the start.
Rustyhookerprescribed 180mg test, and 1000ui HCG/week.
Not by a real dr....
So now you don't read rusty. Read the fucking thread and get out of here with the old-school bullshit. I've been on board with you from day one but that red letters up top mean you're above the rest. Get the fuck over it
Yep my first time I've negged rusty
I work in dermatology and I second everything that shred said. Wash with nizoral (whole body; face, hair, scrub body with a loofa) 3x a week. Shower daily. Accutane 20mg eod is perfect. Accutane can be rough but it works.
Also, don’t pop or pick at the pimples no matter how tempting it is. The pimples contain bacteria. When you pop them, you are smearing the bacteria all over and it only spreads and gets worse as the bacteria enters other open pores. Popping them also causes a lot of scarring.
Taking care of your skin in very important. Going through all of the hard work to build your body and muscles can be completely ruined if you don’t have the confidence to wear tank tops and such if you are too insecure about the acne. You end up hiding in your clothes. Also, it draws attention to what we are doing. If you are muscular at all and people see acne on you, they automatically assume roids. It’s unfortunate but true. Acne can really mess with you mentally. Just some advice from someone who sees this stuff everyday for my work.
Bought the nizoral shampoo and used it once last night and will be continued to use it as body wash and face wash and see how it goes.
And yes I’ve unfortunately had bad face acne since I was 12 or so, I’m almost 27 now so it’s been a long time since I can even remember what a clear face is like, the last 4-5 years the face acne hasn’t been bad but definitely worse than the average person. Nothing I’ve tried has EVER fully worked or it will work for a bit and then seems to break me out even more. I’ve come to accept the face acne at this point. The body acne I’ve never even had ever, like probably not a single pimple or black head anywhere besides my face, and now my back shoulders and chest are slowly getting covered. It definitely looks like the PF/MF that shred was mentioning, pretty much all of the bumps are the same size, and like 90% are not poppable/have a white head. If this doesn’t work over the next month or two I will probably start accutane because I’d like to stop this before any scarring occurs.
Should I get a dermatologist appointment when I go the accutane route or should I self administer?
Also I am thinking of switching to EOD injections instead of E3.5, was messing around on steroid plotter and didn’t realize how BIG of a difference those two frequencies have in blood serum stabilization.
AnonAccutane prescription in the US is expensive. If you are self pay (no medical insurance) then it's incredibly expensive. I order pharma grade or UGL brand Accutane and use that instead. I don't take any Vitamin A supps while taking Accutane because doing so would put me at risk of Vitamin A toxicity. Dermatologists who prescribe Accutane tell their patients to stop taking any Vit A supps before taking Accutane. I also take milk thistle daily year around.
If you're pinning Test C or Test E then I think you should stick to pinning every 3.5 days. I only run long esters and pin Monday mornings and Thursday afternoons.
Damn I didn’t realize it would be expensive, I would be doing self pay so I’d probably end up sourcing some myself, and doing low dose eod, gonna give the nizoral shampoo a month or two, and see how I react before trying accutane. and be very careful not to use any products that have fatty oils or anything that the yeast will feed off of if that is what I have.
I was seeing about changing my injection frequency to maybe help control e2 a bit, because I’m scared of AIs lol.
AnonScheduling blood work is the best way to find out where you're E and T levels are.
You did mention crashing your E before from an AI so I understand having some fear of AI's. Getting gyno that requires surgery would be worse, about $10k worse. It's considered a cosmetic surgery so insurance wont cover it even if you have insurance. When it comes to AI's "Arimidex" is fairly mild compared to other AI's. Unfortunately it's hard to find Adex in .5mg tabs, most tabs are 1mg and I don't like to take more than .5mg at a time, so I split 1mg tabs. I always keep plenty of Nolvadex on hand because I don't like to run too much AI. So if I get high E symptoms or I'm just not sure where my E levels are I can add Nolva daily to keep my bases covered until I sort things out. Having some Nolva on hand will make you feel better, because you know if you start to get gyno from not running enough AI that you can throw the Nolva at it immediately along with upping the AI dosage. If you research it online, you'll find several human studies where Nolva was used to treat and also cure gyno. And Nolva will not crash your E. So I think you should maintain a stash of Nolva and research those human studies online demonstrating it's effectiveness for treating gyno. Research and learn the dosages, durations, all that good stuff. That way you're prepared.
Some great advice, I have maybe 30-40mg worth of anastrozole, split into .25mg but I haven’t taken or used any in a while. Is that gonna be enough for whenever I start my cycle or should I pick up some more?
And that’s interesting about the nolva, I’ll definitely get some to keep on hand for the cycle, what’s a good amount to keep on hand? Gonna do some research to learn more about it.
And yeah I’ll be getting some blood work in 2-3 weeks.
Also just wanted to say thank you again, you’ve given me so much info aswell as leads for me to do my own research. It’s been incredibly helpful and I appreciate it a ton man.
AnonI don't know how much AI or Nolva you'll need brother. Better to have more than enough than not enough. With shipping delays nowadays you can't count on getting every order on time so it's good to stay stocked up on things before you need them. I would go with at least enough Nolva for 1 standard PCT, keeping at least that much on hand is a good idea imo.
Benefits of going to a doctor and getting on accutane: Pharma grade, monitored by doctor, they will monitor your liver/kidneys via bloods or urine (depending on the doctor), safer.
Benefits of doing it yourself: cheaper.
I’ll let you decide which route to take. I am just here to help people out where I can. Fortunately, when it comes to dermatology, that is my specialty. If you do choose to get the accutane yourself, just be sure to only start with 20mg eod. This will help with your cystic acne. Be sure to keep lotion, chap stick, and even eye drops on hand. Accutane can dry you out pretty good. It’s not uncommon to get very dry skin, dry eyes (often bloodshot looking), and dry cracked lips.
I hope this is helpful and that you get your skin cleared up.
Bigun2See a doctor so a) they can prescribe you pharma Accutane and you know what you’re getting and b) they can monitor your liver values via blood work.
I saw a dermatologist for Accutane when I was younger and they’re super serious ab making sure it doesn’t hurt your liver. If memory serves me correctly they had me take bloods before they would prescribe it to check liver health then pulled bloods monthly to make sure everything was still ok.
I’m always going to advocate going the MD monitored approach vs self administering bc I think it’s all about overall health. As far as I know you’re not a doctor (neither am I) so it just makes sense to trust someone who’s been to school to study the body with your long-term health. Nothing we put into our bodies is free; there is a cost in terms of health for all ingested substances. Medical guidance helps to mitigate the risks.
Bloods. Sorry to say but you sound like high estro and I'd just run bloods. Private labs md
I wouldn't throw water on a fire. Unless you knew what cause the fire is all I'm saying
Edit. Didn't read the whole thread. +10 to shred but I'd still go with bloods at least through the accutane regime if you go that route. I had major acne my first couple runs. Especially when I came off during pct it was extremely severe. I couldn't wear light colored shirts as the shit would pop just by hitting a bump on the highway. Get the bloods good and you'll b good. Either way I have faith the community will get you square
Thank you for the reply and I definitely agree I will be getting bloods in the next couple weeks, before I start the cycle.
What eventually solved your cycle and pct acne?
Not sure if my body just got used to it but bloods helped a lot. My first cycle it was bad. My wife could see the acne through shirts. Got it square with bloods. Then pct I had major flairs but it was caused by estro rebound. Again bloods. Now I run a complete regimen that has been built off previous bloods and I really studied the signs of high and low estro. All the info I've used is from this great site called eroids. I think you've heard of it. Blue magnifying glass up top. Good luck and I'm here if you need anything
Bigun2Great reply Shred. I didn’t know about PF. Always learning.
Yeah shred definitely knows his stuff, when scowering the forum last night after his mention of PF, a lot of the threads about it also had comments from him helping others out with this same thing.
But it makes sense that the antibiotics would make my “acne” worse, because it throws off your whole skin and gut biome.
Also it seems that with PF, the fungi/yeast feeds off of fatty oils, specifically chains 11-24, which are present in a TON of acne skincare products, specifically some that I have been using.
Bigun2Yea I’ve always suffered from horrible (cystic) acne. I was prescribed Accutane as a teen. That’s a HARSH compound but it was effective at curtailing my symptoms. I still suffer from occasional outbreaks but nowhere near as bad as it once was.
AnonI run Accutane on and off. I have used both UGL and Pharma Grade Accutane and both have worked well for me. 20mg eod is the sweet spot for me. Accutane will not cause PF folliculitis to worsen, but it will make it harder for PF folliculitis to thrive because sebaceous gland activity will be reduced (dryer skin).
I have taken Accutane while treating PF Folliculitis topically with Ketoconazole. Accutane will help with both acne and folliculitis.
Bigun2Good stuff. Thanks for the contribution, bro!
AnonThe 2% SA (Salicylic Acid) will help remove excess oil and dead skin cells because it is mostly a chemical exfoliant, it's a keratolytic agent.
The 10% BA (Benzoyl Peroxide) kills bacteria including acne causing bacteria, it's a peroxide/topical antibiotic.
It sounds to me like you might have PF folliculitis (Pityrosporum Folliculitis), research it (use google images too) to see if that doesn't match the description. PF folliculitis will commonly get on the upper arms and torso. PF folliculitis is often misdiagnosed as acne. And PF folliculitis and acne are also very often present at the same time. PF folliculitis requires a different treatment than traditional acne because it's fungal. So what you should try is OTC (over the counter) Nizoral (ketoconazole) 2% Shampoo. Ketoconazole is an anti-fungal prescribed by dermatologists to treat PF folliculitis. You will want to use it at the end of your shower. Go ahead and wash with the BA 10% then turn off the water and lather up the affected areas with the Nizoral Shampoo and wait 45 seconds, turn the water back on and rinse it off. Do this everyday for the first few days, then do it every other day, then 2x to 3x a week. There isn't an exact protocol for this shampoo and if you use it too often it will cause some mild skin irritation. I'm advising using Nizoral every day for the first few days to nuke the PF folliculitis hard then reduce the frequency of Nizoral use. I am telling you to do what I myself have done and it worked for me. Years ago I went the demonologist route and got the prescription Ketoconazole, since then anytime it has occurred I just used the OTC Nizoral Shampoo and cured it myself.
My advice is to add the Nizoral Shampoo to your skin routine and see how that goes. Also discuss fungal based Folliculitis with the doc that prescribed you Doxycycline.
Good luck bro
Edit: using less HCG such as 250iu 2x a week might also help. Too much HCG causes my skin to get radical man. I use HCG as needed and I don't need much to make my balls plump back up.
Man this reply was a great one to get, thank you, after some research and google pictures of PF, that’s very similar to what mine look like, and i thought it was weird because they’re not like acne that I’ve had on my face, and they also spread, like it’s slowly went from just my lower back and upper shoulders and over the last 6 months has made its way down my upper arms and even onto my chest and upper abs a bit.
Seems like antibiotics could even make this worse as the bacteria on your skin is what helps to keep this fungus in check. This fungus feeds off of oil, so it would make sense that this can start along side TRT. I had seen mention of the anti fungal wash on other posts on these forums, but no mention of PF, so thank you for that ever important lead, I will definitely buy some tomorrow to start using asap and will report back with how it works.
In regards to the HCG, would it be worth to continue if I can get this issue under control? I have 0 need for it as I don’t plan to have kids for at least 10 years. I have big balls as is so unless the shrinkage is bad I can’t imagine needing it. Thanks again
AnonI'm glad I can help man. It really does sound like PF Folliculitis based on the slow spread and lack of response to typical acne treatment. I hope the Nizoral works for you.
I think you should take a break from using HCG for a while since your balls are fine now. The TRT dosage you are one is not gonna cause your balls to shrink fast like running a heavy cycle would. So just take a break from the HCG for a while. The HCG might be causing your skin issues to worsen. If a month from now your balls are smaller and your loads are smaller then start the HCG again at 250iu 2x a week for a couple weeks and if that doesn't work then slowly increase the dosage until it works. I don't run HCG all the time, I just use it as needed at the lowest effective dose and then take a break from it when it's done it's job and I don't use it again until I need it.
Awesome, man thank you for the advice. Also the idea that the “acne” is cause by fungus makes me feel very weird and I don’t even want to touch my back lol.
Also it seems that the same fungus is responsible for excessive scalp dandruff which I’ve also had random flair ups of over the last 2-3 years. Going to stop taking the antibiotic, since that can worsen the issue. Pretty hopeful that this is what I have. Nothing else was even effecting it.
AnonI just did a search and can't find any info that says Doxycycline cures Pityrosporum folliculitis.
I would stop taking the Doxycycline if it's not working. I still recommend calling the doc that prescribed the Doxycycline and asking about Pityrosporum folliculitis.
The 10% BP acne wash will help kill acne bacteria (which is probably present) without overkilling the skin's natural bacteria. 10% BP is topical and much milder than oral antibiotics, so I think you should use that and then use the Nizoral as I explained. Don't use the 2% SA because that would be too irritating for your skin...3 topicals all at once is a bit much. Your skin is gonna get a little irritated from the Nizoral at first and that's ok, it will get better as you decrease how often you use it.