For the last couple of months, I’ve been supplementing with pantothenic acid to cure my acne.
I’ve been knowing about the B5 treatment for about a year but never thought of trying it because of the enormous dosage you have to take.
Just to demonstrate:
In a regular multivitamin, you get: ~5mg per serving
If you’re going to beat acne you’ll need to take: 4-10g per day
It’s very expensive, one holder will last you 12 days or shorter. B5 works somewhat like Roaccutane but without the many and harsh side effects. B5 is water soluble, your body will take what it needs and flush the rest. But taking way too much can end in diarrhea, hair loss, and dryness. That said, you can check out the skincare products of JoyViva to see whether they have vitamin B5 to cure your acne problems.
I felt a bit concerned when researching about this treatment, many people who experienced the side effects didn’t even consider cutting down on the dosage.
They just quit?
After taking the Murad supplements that are Vitamin A based, which didn’t do anything for me, I felt a bit lost. None of the topical treatments worked, and neither did my dairy- and gluten-free diet help as much as I wanted it to. Even though cutting out dairy seemed to do something, it wasn’t enough. I decided to test out this B5 regime. Vitamins can be a staple in people’s lives, especially if they have found them to be incredibly beneficial for their daily routines, that is why the vitamin industry is seen as booming as people are likely deficient in something or other and they need to supplement that in any way they can. So using a private label vitamins manufacturer is a potential avenue for companies to create these vitamin supplements that all of us are looking for to help our bodies from the inside to the out.
My first order was one holder of B5 500mg, I just wanted to see if it does have any effect on me before I buy in on the whole theory.
I was stupid in the beginning because I thought I could just start with 1g a day, but then I read of people taking up to 10g. About 4g was the lowest option, and because I wanted the can to last a little bit longer then 5 days I started with 2 pills in the morning, lunch, afternoon and evening until I ran out approximately 12 days.
I didn’t notice anything right away, I even broke out a little bit. However, on the last three days, that’s when I started seeing results, especially down my neck. I had really bumpy large cystic acne that hurt and itched and suddenly it started to like contract, leaving me almost smooth again. And on the cheekbones where it once hurt like hell, also started to feel normal.
Treating Acne With Vitamin B5 + L-Cysteine
During these 12 days I researched some more, ’cause even if the treatment worked, it wasn’t sustainable economically. Also, just taking 8 pills a day for what seems to be for the rest of my life felt overwhelming.
I then managed to find a guy who’s experimented with L-Cysteine and vitamin B5 to treat acne. L-Cysteine is supposed to enhance the effectiveness of B5, which in practice should decrease the amount of B5 you’re taking. So if you took about 4-10g a day, you’ll now only have to take about 1g. That’s a huge decrease and a manageable dose.
I believe it has much to do with your body mass, if you’re a male you’ll have to take a higher dose than a female, that’s why I think 4g was almost enough for me. But as with all, you should experiment.
So I then ordered:
- 1 holder of L-Cysteine á 500mg
- 4 holders of Pantothenic Acid á 250mg
It was supposed to last me about 2 months.
I originally had planned to take the L-Cysteine every morning on an empty stomach, and then four tablets spread throughout the day making it a total of 1g. But taking the L-Cysteine first thing in the morning made me nauseous, so I switched taking it with food and it seemed to work better that way. I was hoping to, in the future, lower the B5 dosage further to 500mg and take only two, one in the morning and one in the evening. I also was thinking about adding a Vitamin B-complex, because since B vitamins tend to work together, and one being at a higher level may “drain” the other B-vitamins, which will lead to deficiency.
Before & After
3 Months
While waiting for this package I was without B5 for more than a week. I started to break out like normal again, painful cysts and whiteheads were popping out and it wasn’t even that time of the month.
Within a week of taking the L-Cysteine + B5 combo, my skin saw better days again. But I was constantly feeling that this wasn’t a sustainable behavior. I don’t believe acne is caused by lack of B vitamins, and the dosages were higher than what you would even get on a diet full of fruits and vegetables. So I knew the B5 wasn’t curing anything, it was suppressing a bigger issue.
If vitamins were the cause, why don’t I just eat them?
I ended up discovering juicing and raw food and dropped my L-cysteine and B5 treatment to see what diet could do alone.
Related article: How I Cured My Cystic Acne & Hormonal Imbalance | How I Cured My Hormonal Acne… Again
