Lara Briden's Forum

Hi. I am desperate for help. I am 32 years old and have been dealing with moderate to severe hormonal cystic acne after experimenting with too many phytoestrogens years ago. My estrogen is considered in the normal range, but on the lower side (52pg/ml blood test, 1.0 pg/ml saliva test.) My androstenedione came back high on a saliva hormone test (70pg/ml)and within "normal" range on a blood test (121 ng/dl.) My testosterone came back low on saliva test (<5 pg/ml) and within "normal" range on blood test(26 ng/dl.)

To make a very long story short, I started taking maca around 7 years ago after I read it can balance hormones. It broke me out badly. I didn't have a hormone issue to begin with and should have never taken that. The acne remained until I got pregnant with my 3rd child and the pregnancy cleared it up. After I gave birth, I started taking flaxseed for milk production and broke out horribly once again. I looked up ways to balance hormones and started "seed cycling" which was one of the worst mistakes of my life!

My acne became severe and now if I eat anything high in phytoestrogens, I break out horribly for like 2 months straight. I can't even have garlic or beans or whole eggs without breaking out! I can only have egg whites because the yolk contains soy if the chickens are fed a soy diet.. I eat the same things every single day of my life (mostly fruits/vegetables/salmon/egg whites/ and grassfed dairy only) and can't order anything from a restaurant besides dry salad. Everything contains soy!! I overdid it with the phytoestrogens and must have made my hormones extremely sensitive to them now. If I eat a diet low in phytoestrogens, I can get about 2 weeks of clear skin, but I still break out in the luteal phase, which never happened to me before this. If I eat whatever I want, I will have severe cystic acne constantly, even in the follicular phase.

My doctors don't have a clue and only suggest birth control, which I refuse. I can't find a naturopath in my area who accepts insurance and I'm completely lost as to how to fix this. It's ruining my life. I have researched this for years and the only suggestions I can find online to raise estrogen naturally are PHYTOESTROGENS!!! I just want to be able to eat like a normal person again. Any suggestions are extremely appreciated!

Edit to add- I was completely dairy free for years and it never helped me at all. If I don't have grassfed dairy, the acne gets worse! I don't understand this at all, but maybe the grassfed dairy helps raise my estrogen a tad?

Hi Rosegold. You sound exactly like me. Have you had any success with your skin? I have been working with a naturopath for 7+ years now and she has helped but I'm still experiencing confusing issues. I discovered that I have histamine intolerance (you may want to look into that) and my symptoms flare during my luteal phase like you. My typical symptoms are an acne like rash on my neck, chest, and back. I can typically keep my skin clear by eating a low histamine diet. But recently I've been experiencing itchy welt like acne on my jawline that appears whenever during my cycle. I've never tried seed cycling but I sprout green peas to increase my DAO (it's a histamine thing) and I realized these are high in phytoestrogens. I also eat a lot of chickpeas. I think I overdid it with these 2 things and now my hormones are completely messed up. I have a history of estrogen dominance. My estrogen levels are high but within range, but my progesterone are very low. I've tried to supplement with progesterone but it doesn't seem to help. In fact it makes my symptoms worse.
I also experienced 100% clear skin during my pregnancy in 2021. I assumed it was due to hormones but also my DAO levels finally increasing. I'm hoping that if I stop all the phytoestrogens that I will notice some improvements. Please let me know if you have made any progress.