A Tale of Saw Palmetto and DIM

Acne, Hormones, and the Journey to Clear Skin: How I Finally Kicked Hormonal Acne to the Curb (and a Lot of Self-Reflection)

The Hormonal Acne Battle You Never Signed Up For

If I had known about Saw Palmetto and DIM 15 years ago, I could’ve saved myself a lot of misery, money, and zits that made me look like a 16-year-old going through puberty for the third time. But here we are—learning the hard way because that’s apparently how I roll.

Let me rewind a bit. It all started when my son was born. The second that little human entered my life, my hormones were like, "Oh, you thought you had things under control? Watch this!" And boom—hormonal acne made its grand appearance.

Now, naturally, I did what any sensible person would do: I went to the dermatologist and asked for the magic pill that would make my skin flawless again. No questions about my diet or lifestyle, just, “Here, take this antibiotic. It’ll go away.” Well, guess what? It did—because who doesn't love a little quick fix, right? But there was a catch: six years of daily antibiotics. Yes, I was popping those pills like they were Tic-Tacs, thinking I was winning. Spoiler alert: I was not.

While my skin cleared up, my gut was over here throwing a temper tantrum. Antibiotics obliterated my gut flora like a wrecking ball. The lining of my intestines? Gone. So, all the food I ate, good or bad, was just floating around, leaking into my bloodstream like a bad day at the water park. Hello, inflammation! My body was busy fighting off everything from the bad gut bugs to whatever snack I ate that afternoon, leaving no energy to absorb anything good. It was a slow-motion disaster, like watching a car crash in real-time, but I was the car.

After finally deciding to stop the pills (duh, Tina, could’ve done that years ago), guess what happened? Surprise, surprise—the hormonal acne came back. So, this time, I didn’t reach for the nearest prescription pad. Instead, I decided to take the “diet and lifestyle” route. It was time to get serious about what was going in my body and, more importantly, how I was treating myself.

The Diet and Lifestyle Shift: Or, How I Got Rid of My Acne Without Being a Crazy Person

The first step? Tracking what I ate. I discovered that refined carbs are like my acne's best friend. The closer I got to my period, the more my hormones decided to do their thing. And if I caved into the cravings? Boom—an acne explosion. So much for that "glowing" skin people talk about when they talk about pregnancy.

I also learned that stress, lack of sleep, and pretending my emotions didn’t exist (which, side note, don’t do that—it’s terrible for your soul) were all big acne triggers. Who knew?

Enter Saw Palmetto and DIM: The Dynamic Duo You Didn’t Know You Needed

Then, one day, a podcast episode and a Facebook group changed my life. Saw Palmetto and DIM—two things I'd never heard of, but they sounded like they could be the superheroes I needed. So, I put my trusty detective hat on (a.k.a. Google) and got to work. Here's what I found: