I’d like to know if they’ve experienced their patients suffer from acne after fasts that exceed 80 hours or so.
This year I’ve done three 100 hour fasts (water, black coffee and salt only) and each time it resulted in a really nasty breakout. It would start at about 80 hours into the fast with one on my chin, one on my nose bridge, one on my upper lip, and then they’d spread like wildfire.
I’ve read anecdotes and theories online that losing body fat “releases” estrogen into the blood stream and wreaks havoc. Is there any science to support this? Over the course of the past 6 months I’ve lost ~30 pounds through a combination of low carb, keto, intermittent fasting, and 3 extended fasts.
I personally loved the long fasting experience but won’t do it again for fear of the acne. I’ve had acne most of my teenage and adult life and it cleared up 95% on keto so I hate that it comes back when I fast, and it doesn’t respond to my usual acne fighting routines. So frustrating!
So for now I’ve decided to keep my fasts between 16 hours and 60 hours at most. Just wondering if you have come across patients in your clinic that have gone through the same thing!
Other stats: Asian 27 year old female, was diagnosed pre-diabetic 5 years ago, 5’4", currently 153 lbs. Current hbA1c is 5.0 and fasted insulin is 6.2 (down from 10+) thanks to what I’ve learned via this community!