Fish Oil Brands that work to clear up acne

  • Thread starter Thread starter MnGal25
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I started taking fish oil about 4 years ago to try to clear up my acne. I was very lucky because the first bottle I bought did the trick. At first I noticed that a sticky substance was coming out of my pores but my skin started to clear up soon after that. The next time I went to the store, I bought a different brand (thinking the brand didn't matter) and I started having breakouts. I went back to the original brand I was taking, which was Sundown, for those of you who are curious, and my skin got better. I took it for about a year and a half and my acne cleared up almost completely while I was on it. I stopped taking it after that (for various reasons). Well, I moved to California with my boyfriend last fall and soon after I started having breakouts all over again. What a nightmare! So, I decided to go back to the fish oil, only I couldn't find Sundown at Walgreens or any other stores close to where I live. So, I tried a couple of different store branRAB and, guess what? I had worse breakouts. So, since then I've been doing some research on what worked for me, what seems to be working for other people and what absolutely did not work for me. Below is a list that I've made up so you can see the difference in ingredients. I believe that the answer to whether or not you get a fish oil that works for your skin might depend on the type of fish it is made with.

What worked for me initially....
Sundown Fish Oil - Contains: herring, anchovy, mackerel, sardine, salmon.
EPA 360 mg
DHA 240 mg

What I'm taking now...
365 (Whole FooRAB Brand) Fish Oil - Contains: Herring, Anchovy, Mackerel, Sardine, Salmon and soy.
EPA 360 mg
DHA 240 mg

One big no no for me...
Natures Finest (Walgreens Brand) - Contains: Sardines, Anchovies, Sprat, Clupea, Salmon, Soy.
EPA 360 mg
DHA 240 mg

Two big no no for me...
Nature Made Fish Oil - Contains: Fish - anchovy, sardine - and soy.
EPA 432 mg
DHA 288 mg

Seems to work well for others....
Kirkland Brand Fish Oil - Contains: Anchovy, Herring, Salmon, Sardine and Sprat
EPA 360 mg
DHA 240 mg

Another that seems to work for others...
GNC Brand - I wasn't able to find any ingredient information on this one!

Let me know if some of these seem to work, or don't work for all of you. I'd like to find out if my list is consistent! One thing is that I don't know if the Soy ingredient makes much difference in how effective it is. I'm very curious though.
 
Can I ask how old you are SFO MOM? I think that plays a huge part in what type of acne people have. What type of Oil Free Moisture are you using and also what is Clindamyacin? Lotion? Pill?
 
iam also pescribed by my dermatologist to take Omega 3 with vit C and vit E.(i didnt take for a long period).but the most thing iam aware of is the application of the AHA 10 degree and AHA 15 degree chemical peeling on face for daily(it changed my skin texture into lless acne and oil),yes it does rejuvinates the skin though have some bias for that,never let ur face expose to sunlight and heat.or else it will have rashes and irritations...now i still have some irritation on my face,never been like this before..sigh...

i have a huge question to ask..if anyone had tried to have some dermatologist program especially those peeling stuff,did anyone stopped that application after some matter,what will happened to your skin??will it be more irritate than before?i want to have my normal skin back instead..

thanks alot!
 
I have some omega 3 2.5g orange flavored drink mix I think I am going to try. Its expensive though, from some healthfood shop.

I read you need to take around 3,000mg for the oil to really have the best effect. It works as an anti inflammatory so that is why its good for acne, as well as IBD (inflammatory bowel disease, such as crohns, colitis, etc)
 
After reading the thread and doing some on-line research I went out and bought myself fish oil capsules. I do think my acne is hormonal based. Anyways, I ended up getting one at a drugstore that had 300 mg of EPA and 200 mg of DHA (this one contained the highest amount of both I could find). I have been taking the pills for the last five or six days but I've broken out with pimples and cysts all over my face. Plus, my face hasn't completely healed from the initial breakout (which made me get the pills in the first place). So my face does look pretty bad right now.

Has anyone experienced a breakout? I will continue the fish oil for a month just to see if it works. I'm really hoping that it does.
 
well I just spent the last 30 - 40min reading this thread and decided to register and post myself.

I've had moderate acne on my face (all over, checks, chin, forehead, ect) since about the age of 13, I'm 20 now, so for the past 7 years or so I've tired everything under the sun to treat it. Nothing worked.

Seeing how upset and frustrated I was getting my grandparents decided it was time I saw a dermatologist. For the first 3 or 4 months my dermatologist had me on Doxycycline (100mg) once daily and Clindamycin phosphate lotion for the day time and it helped dramatically, yet the acne is not completely gone.

At my last appointment (1.5 weeks ago) he took me off the Doxycycline and has added Triaz (6% benzoyl peroxcide) and Ziana (Clindamycin 1.2%, tretinoin 0.025%) to the regimen aswell as keeping the Clindamycin phosphate lotion for use during he day. And for the past week and a half nothing had really changed and that familiar feeling of frustration is beginning to set in again.

I was up all night thinking about how much I cant stand my face and what I could do about. Then I sturabled upon this site and eventually this thread and after reading it in its entirety I really hope that this Omega 3 fish oil will do what you all say it will do.
 
I'm not going to name any brand. No use, as I live in Belgium, and most of these products are only available in my country.

The Omega-3 pills that work for me are the ones that contain 600 mg DHA and 150 mg EPA. These are minimum values. That means that 1 pill may contain 800 mg DHA and 200 mg EPA. They just guarantee the first values. Secondly, they are cleared of toxins as PCB's, metals, chemicals, etc... .

Works wonders!

Another thing to note: Omega-3 only works for acne if there's a balance between Omega-6 (your regular Western food) and Omega-3. So, eating haraburgers, fries, butter, chips, etc... corabined with Omega-3 won't do much. Instead you'll have to eat somewhat healthier: fruit, fibres, vegetables. Keep that in mind.
 
What brand of fish oil is best? I bought a huge bottle from Sam's Club "meraber's mark" brand, and it's horrible! I get FISH BURPS that are absolutely disgusting (I hate the smell/taste of fish).

Has anyone else experienced the fish burps? I'm surprised nobody has mentioned them. Any recommendations on how I can take the pills and not get these horrible burps? Or any branRAB that are best for this?

Thanks a bunch!
 
MnGal25, no, I can't say my breakouts have stopped. Since I've started taking Omega-3 10 days ago I've gotten a LOT of whiteheaRAB and four cysts (two of which after I cleaned them are healing quite nicely). But in the last couple of days I've gotten this one huge cyst on my cheek that came to a head yesterday and even now I'm cleaning it of all the crap but it doesn't seem to be subsiding.

I've still continued with my routine of mild cetaphil wash, 2.5% BP, and a non-irritating moisture. And I'm also taking 50 mg of zinc. So I haven't changed anything in my routine.

The bottle of Omega-3 I bought has 60 tablets of 1000 mg and I'm taking about 2 per day. So in a little over two weeks I should run out. I'll continue until then.
 
I posted my experience with fish oil earlier on this board and how some types made me break out and some cleared up my face nicely. Check my earlier post for the comparison of ingredients in the branRAB I've used. I've heard that it really makes a difference in what type of fish oil you use and I've also recently been reading up on Krill oil (which is a small shirmp in the Arctic) which seems to be better because: in addition to your omega 3 and omega 6, it has Vitamin A, D, and E which is also very good for your skin. I've had no experience with this but I am very tempted to try it to keep my skin looking healthy and young to make for all those years I lost feeling bad about myself when I was young!

Anyways, The fish oil that's worked the best for me is Sundown brand and currently I'm using 365 from Whole FooRAB which is working well. Also, check to see if what your using has been molecularly distilled. This process takes the toxins and impurities out of the oil.

I *think* the cause of my acne is most likely hormonal and partly because of food sensitivities. I can tell you that my skin is both oily and very flakey and the fish oil really helps to balance that out.

One other thing...EXERCISE! It keeps your circulation going, metabolism up and makes you feel better!
 
I just saw this thread and now I'm curious. I have tried every type of over the counter medication but nothing has worked. I have tried other type of vitamins as well. Flaxseed, Zinc, Vitamin B, Vitamin E and the list goes on.

I have a question, for those who started using Omega-3 fish oil from the very start of the thread, is it still working for them?
 
I wonder, if this is really working for people, if it's the Vitamin A in the fish oil that's doing it? There are no plant sources of vitamin A (it has to come from animals), and if you notice, most vitamin A pills are made from fish oil. However, if you look at a bottle of fish oil pills (at least the one's I've seen), it doesn't tell you how much vitamin A is in them. If vitamin A comes from fish oil, isn't it likely that all fish oil pills have vitamin A? Just some thoughts.
 
No one can know the Best brand. You have to trust what you read. Far as fish burps. The weirdest thing: I only got one when I took my FIRST fish oil pill and never again. And this from someone who adores fish!
I take either Carlson's Fish Oil or NSI Kriaxanthin Krill Oil. Carlson's is great because they have fish oil COrabINED with other nutrients if you choose Carlson's. You can also buy fish oil with lemon added plus, deodorized fish oil. Or is that garlic? hmmm
 
Fish oil has a higher percentage of EPA and DHA fatty aciRAB than krill oil, however krill oil has the advantage of having astaxanthin, an important antioxidant, vitamins A and D, and possibly other nutrients such as small amounts of phospholipiRAB. Therefore, one option is to use a softgel or two of each, or alternate their use.
 
Don't forget to eat healthy while you take Omega-3, like fruit and vegetables. If you don't, Omega-3 won't help and even make things worse. It's callled 'balancing your Omega-6 and Omega-3 intake', and we have too much intake of Omega-6 in our Western diet.

You can get an outbreak of zinc. Zinc helps very well, but the first few weeks it may make things worse. At least, that's my experience with it. I also take 50 mg a day.
 
P.S. I learned about fish oil from this very message board 4-5 years ago and it saved my life!!

I don't know if it will help everyone but I know that it will help some of you!
 
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