Role of estrogen in hormonal acne

[CohibaRobusto]

Hormonal acne has been a bitch for me since I started lifting.

I usually let my estrogen levels stay slightly high out of range, but this acne wouldn't go away even when I got on low doses of trt (60-80mg / wk).

It's finally gone now, and it seems like the trick was being more aggressive with my AI. Apparently I aromatize a lot because my estradiol levels stayed high on 60-80mg of trt.

I've been splitting my trt dose to twice a week and doing 25mg aromasin with each shot, then 12mg mid week. New bumps completely stopped over the course of a few weeks when I first did this.

I got lax with the AI for a while and they started coming back, so again, I got aggressive with the aformentioned doses and 2 weeks later acne is all gone again.

Has anyone else noticed a relationship between estrogen and hormonal acne? I seem to remember a few other anecdotal comments, but haven't seen a thread on this.

 

[ATLRigger]

Yes i have the exact same experience.
Test seems to be androgenic to me bc it makes me lose hair and enlarges my prostate, causing me to pee several times in the middle of the night. So, I’m experimenting with other compounds and trying to get away from testosterone blasts.

I started tanning at the salon again recently, and that fried all of the acne away.

 

[Jin]

I think both of you are onto something.

Firstly we need to remember that we’re all different, so many folks will never experience the issues that you guys have in the doses you take.

As for me. I prefer my trt at 150 as opposed to 200 because it’s less problematic for the same reasons ATL mentioned: less waking up in the middle of the night to pee.

I’m not prone to acne at all. But, when my e2 is super high, I’ll get some. I think Cohiba’s e2 management is the correct solution to his problem.

Again, we all respond differently to elevated e2. You need to know how high e2 effects YOU.

 

[lfod14]

Yes i have the exact same experience.
Test seems to be androgenic to me bc it makes me lose hair and enlarges my prostate, causing me to pee several times in the middle of the night. So, I’m experimenting with other compounds and trying to get away from testosterone blasts.

I started tanning at the salon again recently, and that fried all of the acne away.

Test is androgenic to everybody, it’s an androgen! Agree on the tanning. Don’t know why people don’t get that one, UV is sterilizing. Although something to consider is if the the tanning fixes your acne it may be more bacterial than hormonal.

 

[CohibaRobusto]

Yes i have the exact same experience.
Test seems to be androgenic to me bc it makes me lose hair and enlarges my prostate, causing me to pee several times in the middle of the night. So, I’m experimenting with other compounds and trying to get away from testosterone blasts.

I started tanning at the salon again recently, and that fried all of the acne away.

Yeah to be honest, I'm not sure I'll ever blast test again either. If I want to do some type of cycle down the road it will probably be one compound on top of trt dosed test.

 

[lfod14]

Yeah to be honest, I'm not sure I'll ever blast test again either. If I want to do some type of cycle down the road it will probably be one compound on top of trt dosed test.

My last one was my TRT dose of test and 300mg tren and my results were better than when I cranked up my test and Deca to a combined gram/wk. For me at least as long as my test levels stay in the 1100-1500 range (with something else in the mix) I get my results just as good as when I’m in the 3000’s….. and without the downsides like the acne and hairloss which I’m already fighting.

 

[Send0]

To Jin's point, everyone does respond different. I am not susceptible to hair loss from test, or acne from high E2. However, I did recently get bacne for a short period of time from when my E2 was at 6pg/ml (99% sure this was caused by EQ, as my E2 went back to 19pg/ml after dropping EQ).

So I guess in a round about way I am susceptible to E2 related acne... But for me its when E2 is low as opposed to high.

 

[ATLRigger]

Test is androgenic to everybody, it’s an androgen! Agree on the tanning. Don’t know why people don’t get that one, UV is sterilizing. Although something to consider is if the the tanning fixes your acne it may be more bacterial than hormonal.

The dermatologist prescribed me several antibiotics that didn’t really work though.

 

[Dadbod103]

I live at the beach and the best thing for it is salt water and sunlight also dont underestimate the importance of showering you should be showering at least twice a day if you are on androgens workign out and having oily skin

 

[transcend2007]

Let me make it simple for people ... if you got cystic ance as a teen / early 20's prior to AAS you are prone to acne ... if you didn't have cystic acne and most did not you are NOT PRONE TO ACNE .. your solutions will not work for those genetically prone ... just as many Pro bodybuilders can do more than gram of test weekly and many other compounds and have zero acne or any hair loss this is simply genetics ...

OP is on to something ... controlling E2 is the only thing that ever worked for me ... but it is no where near a total solution for those who are acne prone ...

 

[Send0]

also dont underestimate the importance of showering you should be showering at least twice a day if you are on androgens workign out and having oily skin

DB raises a very good, yet simple, point. During my bacne breakout (from low E2, not high) I did increase to two showers per day (technically 3, but 1 of them wasn't a real shower), and that helped as well. It's important that the showers are warm, and not hot. Here's the timing of how I did it personally.

1. Wake up, Rinse off in the shower. No soap... immediately after shower, used a medicated stridex/oxy pad on the bacne spots.
2. Shower immediately after workout; used benzoyl peroxide on my back, and used a non-fragrant soap everywhere else.
3. Shower 30 minutes before bed; used benzoyl peroxide on my back, and used a non-fragrant soap everywhere else.

 

[Dadbod103]

(2) Morning Routine - American Psycho (1/12) Movie CLIP (2000) HD - YouTube

 

[transcend2007]

(2) Morning Routine - American Psycho (1/12) Movie CLIP (2000) HD - YouTube

Somebody send this video to FD immediately ... !!!

 

[flenser]

I had bad acne when I was a teen, very bad. It came back with a vengeance when I started TRT in 2013, especially on my back. I took isotretinoin for about 3 months and the acne went away and hasn't returned. Even when I ran 600mg/week test with no AI, I had no acne.

 

[CohibaRobusto]

I've been splitting my trt dose to twice a week and doing 25mg aromasin with each shot, then 12mg mid week.

I just wanted to correct something I posted here for any newcomers sake, because I was wrong about the dosage on the Aromasin I have, so I am actually taking a lot less than what I posted originally.

My actual dosages were at the time 12.5mg Monday, 6mg Wed, 12.5mg Fri. I seem to have it perfect now at 12.5mg 3x a week.

But like other people mentioned, apparently my body tends to aromatize a lot and on top of that - creates acne when my estradiol levels get high.

Many, if not most people will not need an estrogen blocker on TRT levels of testosterone like I am on. Also, not all acne is due to high estradiol levels. This post has been nagging me for a while, so I felt the need to clarify.

 

[Jin]

I just wanted to correct something I posted here for any newcomers sake, because I was wrong about the dosage on the Aromasin I have, so I am actually taking a lot less than what I posted originally.

My actual dosages were at the time 12.5mg Monday, 6mg Wed, 12.5mg Fri. I seem to have it perfect now at 12.5mg 3x a week.

But like other people mentioned, apparently my body tends to aromatize a lot and on top of that - creates acne when my estradiol levels get high.

Many, if not most people will not need an estrogen blocker on TRT levels of testosterone like I am on. Also, not all acne is due to high estradiol levels. This post has been nagging me for a while, so I felt the need to clarify.

Great point of clarification. Thanks for posting the correction.

Certainly not coming down on you brother, but I want to address somethings that may be tangentially related to your post.

I think your last paragraph is far from a universally accepted fact.

My opinion is that 95%+ of men can find a trt dose that puts them into the Med/normal range in the trough and that doesn’t necessitate an AI. Just my opinion/observation.

personally I can get some urinary issues at 200/wk but have zero e2 issues at 150. 150
puts me in the 500’s 6 days post injection.

This is more than sufficient for me to not suffer hypogonadal symptoms.

As meatheads we have a “more is better mentality”. With TRT I think that approach is not appropriate.

We (and I was guilty of this) tend to slander docs that don’t want us/won’t put us at 1,000+ in the trough. That number is arbitrary and unnecessarily high.

Cohiba- your situation may indeed be the exception to the rule.

Based on my personal experience, our efforts are better suited to worrying about our diet rather than a higher total test number on trt.

No symptoms of low t on your trt? It’s working!

Doesn’t need to be a specific total t number and being 500+ points higher will do **** all compared to an emphasis on diet and training.

my .02

 

[Jin]

Great point of clarification. Thanks for posting the correction.

Certainly not coming down on you brother, but I want to address somethings that may be tangentially related to your post.

I think your last paragraph is far from a universally accepted fact.

My opinion is that 95%+ of men can find a trt dose that puts them into the Med/normal range in the trough and that doesn’t necessitate an AI. Just my opinion/observation.

personally I can get some urinary issues at 200/wk but have zero e2 issues at 150. 150
puts me in the 500’s 6 days post injection.

This is more than sufficient for me to not suffer hypogonadal symptoms.

As meatheads we have a “more is better mentality”. With TRT I think that approach is not appropriate.

We (and I was guilty of this) tend to slander docs that don’t want us/won’t put us at 1,000+ in the trough. That number is arbitrary and unnecessarily high.

Cohiba- your situation may indeed be the exception to the rule.

Based on my personal experience, our efforts are better suited to worrying about our diet rather than a higher total test number on trt.

No symptoms of low t on your trt? It’s working!

Doesn’t need to be a specific total t number and being 500+ points higher will do **** all compared to an emphasis on diet and training.

my .02

May have had a few too many last night. I did not so the will NOT need an ai. So, in conclusion, I fully agree with everything Cohiba said and probably everything he has ever said

 

[CohibaRobusto]

Haha Jin dude I was wondering why you were being so nice about contradicting me when we pretty much said the same thing.

 

[transcend2007]

If you want an opposing point of view (not on this topic I'm in 1,000% agreement - I just meant in general) ... I am available ... lol