My Acne Story — My Personal Journey

My story is shaped by many detours, intense experiences, and a long search for answers. From puberty well into my twenties, acne was a daily companion—with all the physical and emotional challenges that come with it.

For years, I tried things, hoped, discarded approaches, and kept searching. Only through intensive research and honest self-reflection did I eventually recognize the true trigger of my skin problems—and through that, I found my path toward holistic health.

Everyone said it would pass — but my acne stayed

When I reached puberty, I developed more and more pimples, and my acne turned into a long-term problem. I spent hours focusing on my skin, squeezing pimples and trying different skin creams that only dried out my skin. To cover the red spots on my face, I used concealer sticks. I felt ashamed of my skin and was very insecure. During that time, I hardly took any photos and did not find myself beautiful.

People around me often told me that my acne would disappear on its own after puberty and that I should simply wait. But that did not happen, and even after that, I continued to have skin problems. I no longer wanted to constantly struggle with my skin and started looking for a simple solution that would deliver quick results.

The pill as a supposed solution

Many girls in my class were already taking the pill and—unlike me—had no skin problems. So I also made an appointment with a gynecologist to get a prescription for the pill. It was quick and uncomplicated. Not many questions were asked, and I was simply given a prescription.

At first, I noticed that my skin calmed down and eventually became clear. I took the pill for several years, but increasingly felt less connected to my body. It also did not feel right to me to take medication every day, and over time I became aware that fundamental questions about the possible causes of my acne remained unanswered.

What concerned me most about long-term use of the pill were two things I could not ignore: on the one hand, the unwanted hormonal side effects such as water retention and weight gain, and on the other hand, the fear that the acne would return once I stopped taking the pill.

At some point, I decided to stop taking the pill to see what would happen. As expected, the acne returned and was worse than before. The problem clearly still existed and remained unresolved. Even far beyond puberty, my skin continued to affect me, which worried me even more. For me, that was the moment I began to search more intensively for other ways.

The turning point: when nutrition suddenly started to matter

During a phase when my skin was particularly unsettled, I spoke with a dermatologist who recommended that I try eliminating white flour, sugar, and dairy products. For the first time, I became aware that my diet might play a role.

This was both interesting and frightening. White flour, sugar, and dairy products were part of many foods I loved at the time. I especially did not want to give up cheese. I knew it would be difficult, but since I did not know what else to do at that point, I decided to try it.

I made a commitment to be disciplined and eliminate these foods for several weeks to observe how the change would affect my skin. While searching for recipes without white flour, sugar, and dairy products, I came across the Paleo diet, also known as the Stone Age diet. This way of eating focuses on natural and unprocessed foods, with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as daily consumption of meat and fish.

Paleo strictly excludes highly processed foods such as sugar, white flour, and dairy products. That is why the Paleo diet seemed like a good fit for me. I followed it consistently for several months and noticed clear changes: my acne improved significantly and almost disappeared. I also lost five kilos, which felt good to me. I felt like I had reached my goal and was happy. Overall, I followed this way of eating for almost two years.

Daily meat consumption did not feel right to me

Despite the positive changes in my skin, I increasingly felt that eating meat every day was not good for me in the long term. I noticed that I had little energy, hardly felt like exercising, and began to question whether this way of eating really suited me.

Of course, there can be many reasons for that. But at the time, I felt that my lack of motivation was more connected to my diet than to my mental state or any other reason. Despite the improvements in my skin, I had doubts about whether the Paleo diet was the right long-term solution for me. At the same time, I had realized that my diet had a strong impact on my skin and my overall well-being.

These thoughts led me to continue exploring nutrition and become more open to trying new approaches. I started looking for scientific evidence for the Stone Age diet and the Paleo diet, but I did not find any, which made me feel uncertain.

A conversation that deeply unsettled me

One day, I had an overnight guest through Airbnb who had come to Berlin for a conference and worked in cancer research. The topic immediately interested me because cancer had played a major role in my family and had been on my mind for a long time.

My grandfather had prostate cancer and later died of leukemia. My grandmother developed breast cancer twice and only narrowly survived lymphatic cancer. These experiences shaped me and triggered a deep fear early on that I might one day become seriously ill myself.

So I asked him very directly what he believed one could do to minimize one’s own risk as much as possible.

He explained that diet is generally considered a possible influencing factor on health and that many experts recommend reducing the consumption of red meat.

This conversation affected me more than I expected. At that time, I was eating meat almost daily as part of my Paleo diet and began to wonder whether I might be harming my body in the long term.

Suddenly, I found myself in an internal conflict: on the one hand, my skin had improved, but on the other hand, I was afraid that I might be doing something that could negatively affect my long-term health.

This fear felt very real to me because I always had the illness stories in my family in the back of my mind. I wanted to do everything I could to stay as healthy as possible and therefore began to question my diet even more deeply.

I started an experiment with fruits and vegetables

After the conversation with the cancer researcher, I could not stop thinking about fundamentally rethinking my diet. I wanted to know how my body would feel if I completely avoided animal products for a period of time. Without big expectations, I decided to eat only fruits and vegetables for one week and simply observe what would happen.

I had no specific hypothesis and did not want to prove anything to myself. It was more about becoming more aware of my body and finding out how it would react to this change.

After just a few days, I noticed a new lightness and felt like I had more energy. My body felt different than before—somehow clearer and lighter. This experience surprised me and made me curious at the same time.

At the same time, something happened that I had not expected: my skin condition worsened significantly, and I got more pimples again, so much so that even my coworkers commented on it. This development made me very insecure because I had hoped that my skin would improve as well.

I found myself in an internal conflict. On the one hand, I felt more energetic physically than before, but on the other hand, I was worried about my skin. I wondered whether I should continue on this path or return to my previous diet.

The positive changes in how my body felt gave me the courage to continue. At the same time, I was uncertain and did not know whether I was on the right path.

During this time, I began to think more deeply about how complex the body is and that changes do not always go in the direction one expects. This phase was marked by curiosity, hope, and at the same time doubt.

Looking back, this experiment was an important step for me because it showed me how strongly nutrition can affect how my body feels—even if not all changes were as I had hoped.

The thought that I needed to cleanse my body

At that time, I was firmly convinced that my impure skin was connected to a “dirty” body and that I needed to cleanse my body in order to improve my skin. I explored the topic of detox intensively and felt that this might be the key for me.

I read many naturopathic books and blogs and repeatedly came across the idea that skin reactions can be seen as a sign that the body is beginning to cleanse itself.

At the same time, I did not really know what “detoxification” actually meant in this context or how long possible symptoms would last. How long should I continue the diet to achieve the desired results? Would a few weeks be enough, or should I continue the “detox” for several years in order to reach deeper levels of the body, as many bloggers and YouTubers recommended?

New vitality through a changed diet

What happened to my body both shocked and fascinated me. Above all, I was amazed by the new energy I felt. I wanted to give the experiment a real chance. My goal was to find out whether I could achieve sustainable changes for my skin and my overall health with this way of eating. That is why I wanted to continue my fasting with fruits and vegetables.

In the following weeks, my headaches disappeared and my skin improved again. At the same time, the new lightness and my energy remained. I also continued to lose weight, even though I ate large amounts of fruits and vegetables. This was especially encouraging because over the years I had steadily gained weight.

After about two months, my weight stabilized, and I reached a weight at which I felt energetic, fit, and beautiful. Overall, I lost about ten kilos during this time. The fact that I lost so much weight so quickly worried people around me. However, because of the consistent energy I felt in my body, I was confident that everything was okay.

At the time, I was convinced that my body was in the process of cleansing itself and that these symptoms could be a sign that something was changing. At the same time, this phase was also exhausting and emotionally challenging.

Looking back, I realized that my acne had nothing to do with a “dirty” body. My body was probably simply reacting to the major changes in my diet.

Over time, I developed the desire to eat a fully plant-based diet, also because I became more interested in topics such as sustainability and animal welfare. At the same time, I noticed that my skin was no longer as stable as before, which made me feel uncertain.

Between hope and doubt

After eating a purely plant-based diet for over a year, I wanted to transition to a vegan raw food diet. At that time, I was still convinced that I needed to cleanse my body.

I sometimes ate very large amounts of fruit, often several bananas a day, and was inspired by different approaches I found in books and online. I also incorporated many avocados, nuts, tomatoes, and foods I had rarely eaten before, such as algae.

I hoped to provide my body with as many nutrients as possible and carefully observed how I felt. At the same time, I tried various measures to support my gut health, including regular fasting, celery juice cleanses, gut cleanses, and homemade fermented foods such as sauerkraut.

This phase was characterized by great hope but also inner conflict. On the one hand, I really wanted to believe that I was on the right path; on the other hand, my skin sometimes became noticeably worse, which unsettled me greatly.

I continued to experiment within this way of eating and tried different variations. At times, I reduced certain foods or adjusted my diet to observe how it affected my well-being.

Looking back, this period was an intense learning process, characterized by a lot of experimentation, self-observation, and a strong desire to find my own path. Whether I was actually detoxing or whether my body was simply reacting to the dietary change, I cannot say for sure today.

A new thought that changed everything

In the summer of 2019, my husband and I visited my in-laws in Canada. My mother-in-law had worked as a nutritionist for many years, and we had in-depth conversations about my previous experiences.

After I told her about my many experiments, she gave me a book about food intolerances. I started reading it and, for the first time, felt that I was discovering a completely new perspective.

In the chapter about histamine, I recognized many foods that I had been eating regularly at the time. This moment felt both unsettling and relieving because I had the feeling that I was recognizing a possible personal connection.

Histamine as a possible trigger

I decided to avoid histamine-rich foods for a few weeks to observe how my body would react. My motivation was strong because I wanted to understand whether this approach could play a role for me.

After just a few days, I had the impression that my skin calmed down significantly. With each week, my skin became clearer until it was completely clear for me.

This felt like a major turning point. After all those years of searching, I felt great relief and had the feeling that I finally understood my body better.

A sense of peace

I still remember the feeling of calm and joy during that time. It was the first time in many years that I truly felt comfortable in my skin.

This experience shaped me deeply and showed me how individual one’s path can be. At the same time, I realized that every body reacts differently and that my experiences cannot be transferred to others.

From that point on, I continued to eat mostly plant-based and paid close attention to which foods personally suited me. I began trying out new recipes and organizing my daily life more consciously.

This entire process became the inspiration for this book because I understood how important it can be to get to know your own body and to pay attention to your own signals.

Here I show a picture from that time, when my skin improved significantly after switching to a low-histamine diet.

My further journey with histamine intolerance

However, my story did not end there. Since I did not want to restrict myself so heavily in the long term, I began to research more intensively. I wanted to better understand which factors in my case might be connected to my histamine intolerance. One possible approach was a nutrient deficiency. A blood test eventually showed that I had a significant magnesium deficiency.

In addition, I had my gut flora analyzed through a stool test at an independent laboratory. It was found that I had a Candida overgrowth—a possible factor that could be related to my symptoms. The analysis also showed a lack of healthy gut bacteria.

As a result, I decided, with the support of a gut health expert, to implement various measures, including targeted treatment and gut restoration, to support my well-being.

During this process, I also became aware of how strongly stress could affect my symptoms. Therefore, I began to consciously notice and actively reduce stress in all areas of my life.

Today, I can eat everything again and no longer have to follow a low-histamine diet. My skin has remained stable since then, which is a great relief for me personally.

I share these experiences because they are an important part of my journey, and at the same time, I know that every body reacts differently.

Warm regards
Nicole