I have been suffering from Felliculits on my scalp and for the past 3-4 years on my face too.. Its a very awful condition. I have tried everything you can think of from 4-6 diff antibiot to Accutane to going Vegan. Nothing has long term affect.. If there is anyone that can share what they have been doing with me I would be very greatful since I have been suffering from it almost 10 years . Im 32 now but been on anti biotics and I dint want to be on meds rest of my life.. Thank you

Hi Kerry

Initial thoughts:
Extra-Virgin Coconut oil internally and topically at night, non-flavored Coconut Kefir pro-biotic scalp masks,
Wild Oil of Oregano topically and/or added to allergen free shampoo.

If you try WOoO internally begin with one drop and large glass of water to see how he tolerates it as it is powerful. It can sneak up on you as much as an hour after you take it.
I began with 3 as instructed and wish I'd built up/tested for tolerance. The first time I took it I had heart palpitations. I lowered it for my second go and got impossibly sleepy. I stopped taking it internally and now use topically.
It should be used internally with caution anyway as it is known to be a powerful anti-biotic/anti-fungal both topically and internally.

For the long story and further suggestions read further:
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I'm a 32 year old Post-Bacc/pre-med at Loyola. I've struggled most of my life with Acne, Eczema, and now Gram-Negative Folliculitis.
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Various derms began dosing me at age 13 with multiple forms of Antibiotics for what was then a minor case of acne. Tetracycline, Minocycline, and Doxycycline - I've now developed resistance to these over the near decade they were prescribed to me.
Topical Antibiotics are out of the mix as well...taken off of Accutane 2 months in due to severe headaches.

I decided to go off Antibiotics soon after a college nutrition class in which my prof hipped me to the dangers of resistant strain susceptibility and the rise of bad bacteria.

This class was the harbinger of things to come.
Years of successive yeast infections, deep cystic Acne (of which I'd never experienced prior to going to the derm as a young teen), and what I now know to be gram-negative folliculitis.

I also began having digestive issues, everything I ate seemed to make my stomach blow up and enrage in addition to making my eczema flare.

When I moved from the South to the West Coast I was incredibly lucky to be exposed to new modes of eating and natural treatments.
I went raw vegan - strict raw vegan, cutting out even most of the fruits (except grapefruit and goji) in favor of veggies and nuts (using a variety of raw vegan cook books to keep it interesting) and within 5 or 6 months my skin was so clear I stopped wearing makeup.
This was in my mid-twenties. All my skin/yeast issues including my eczema cleared. At that time, without insurance, the best I could do was understand I either had severe candida issues or food allergies .

When I moved to the midwest a couple of years ago, I began eating a variety of foods again and everything returned with a vengeance.

I took advantage of the free Celiac screening at U Chicago and was diagnosed Celiac.
I've been dairy free for over 5 years now, this is never an exception for me, soy is an occasional exception of which I'm about to permanently nix, and I've been gf despite the inadvertent 'spamming' when cross contamination occurs.

Finding gf/vegan topical products without hidden soy and wheat derivatives is a nightmare.

All I know is that being raw vegan without wheat berries and soy products either balanced the bacterial upset and/or removed the hidden allergies.
It's soooo terribly cold here - which is why I went off it to begin with. The craving of warming foods is intense.

My case of gn folliculitis on my face and neck is the worst it's ever been, worsening in just the last few months.
Last semester was a stress mess of Organic Chemistry and Physics, thus perhaps the loads of caffeine, chocolate, pacific rolls with soy and little else set yeast and bacterial balance way off.
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After talking with a couple of the nutrition profs at school I generated a list of treatment options to try/alternate that perhaps are in line with your homeopathic/MD. These are among my new year's to try list.

FYI: I also work PT at WF while in school. I peddle supplements and herbs - I am grateful that I often get to sample products that could be of benefit and have a decent discount to keep up with this lifestyle.
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Greens smoothie 'cleanse': Lacino Kale, Celery, Avocado, Dandelion Greens (for the liver), Grapefruit (tart yes, but low glycemic), Celtic Sea Salt and two scoops of optically active MSM (sulfur is incredibly cleansing).
Raw foods flood the system with living vitamins, minerals, and active enzymes. Anything dehydrated below 113 degrees counts too.
When not eating raw, allergy-free digestive enzymes to aid and relieve the system of having to work too hard thus more energy to heal or tackle other issues.
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Begin by tackling Candida nixing all sugar.
This to combat the good/bad bacterial imbalance caused by years of antibiotics and iffy consumption.

Re-estab good bacterial balance both internally and externally.

Topical antibiotics and Acne treatments can destroy the slightly acidic protective pH balance of the skin and create the perfect landscape for bad bacteria/gram neg and yeast to thrive.
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Allergy free pro-biotics topical masks using non-flavored Coconut Keifer alongside TCA and Jessner Peels to re-establish acidity.
Favoring topical products with acidic pH - juice organics makes a great blemish serum that's organic and all natural the pH will preserve skin's acid mantle creating a favorable foundation for good bacteria.

I've long used q-tip spot treatments with at-home TCA and Jessner solutions to help heal/prevent scarring - the only prob, using baking soda to neutralize the peel which has an alkaline pH :P I've always assumed the acidic serum restores the balance of the theory.
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Internally: No fruit sans lemon and grapefruit due to their alkaline forming properties and low glycemic index.
No alcohol, sticking to no dairy nor glutens, no soy of any kind (I will miss liquid aminoes).
Alkaline forming/low glycemic foods.
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Neem internally.
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Wild Oil of Oregano internally 3 drops 3 times a day.
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Topical application of Wild Oil of Oregano is new gem treatment for me.
I began this a couple of weeks ago and the largest nodules that were not budging for past couple of months have begun shrinking.
A few smaller ones cleared, but the largest most painful ones are def taking time to clear, but there' no doubt the WOoO is responsible for them beginning to clear.
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Saccharomyces Boulardii for Candida - it is technically not a traditional probiotic. It is a non–pathogenic yeast that combats Candida.
This taken alongside a multiple strain probiotic - look for an allergen free, Jarrow def makes one. I plan on taking these at different times of the day.
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Yeast Cleanse which has Zinc, Pau d'Arco, Vitamin C, garlic, Caprylic Acid...if you don't want to do a formulation you could always try tablespoons of Extra-Virgin Coconut Oil and take Zinc and fresh garlic (make sure to chew or chop).
EVCO is a medium chain fatty acid as is Caprylic. They aren't stored as fat but are quick burning fats that are also used as anti-fungals.
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Dandelion tea will help to cleanse the liver during times of scriipt pollution, high fat meals, and healing crisis.
Burdock and Milk Thistle aren't to be underestimated.
The Detox Tea formulation by Yogi is pretty fab. The Trad Medicinals Roasted Dandelion is tasty.
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Switch to glass bottles for water. NO plastics. I bought a couple of glass gallon jugs and use the UV/reverse os/charcoal water dispense at WF to refill.
Plastic is a prob period. My Chem prof laughs at BPA free marketing and maintains that all plastics when not temp stabilized are an issue beyond being endocrine disrupters.
The steel/aluminum togo bottles are a joke to as these metals are not immune to eroding into the fluids they're meant to store.
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Garlic. Fresh. Chopped or chewed well. As many as can be tolerated throughout the day. Wild Oil of Oregano and Garlic about as powerful as it gets, at least according to as much as we pretend to know at the moment.
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All info regarding Folliculitis seems to point towards long-term Antibiotic use and systemic candida.

There are sooo many possible avenues to pursue when fighting the imbalance.
The hardest thing for me is the willpower to stick to being super clean while in school.
Stress and the need to stay awake 18 hours a day in order to accomplish all my goals is what seems to undermine my health and healing, which may also be an issue for your young son.

When combating something as rebellious as gnf, a long-term, probiotic healing protocol must be adhered to.

At least in my experience I know there's no short term cure all. It affects many organ sytems and no one thing, especially topical can be expected to heal it.

I hope this helps?

-Lady Mae

PS Kerry - regarding his depression:

If you live in a big city you could look on line for local meet ups and groups that are into raw vegan or allergy free living.
Meetup dot com is a great site.

Most of the larger high schools and colleges will have a youth for animals or vegan club that could help support your son when on such an extreme diet or when dealing with seemingly depressing restrictions.

I attend a local raw vegan potluck that meets at least once a month.

U Chicago's Celiac center hosts dinners and info meetings...even if he tested negative for Celiac it is known that most everyone can benefit from a gluten-free, alkaline forming, nightshade free diet that can help ease internal and external inflammatory issues.

Ask your naturopath/MD or immunologist if they know of group meetings or maybe form one using their office as a sounding board.

The local vegan and PETA clubs are always a valuable resource for people that eat restrictive diets by choice and could introduce him to kids his age that eat healthy and restrictive by choice, maybe helping him to not think of it as a source of Depression or restriction.

There are really great allergy free recipe resources like Cybele Pascal's blog, Mimi Kirk, Natalia Rose's book the Raw Detox diet has excellent easy to make recipes (just nix the Tamari and/or Nama Shoyu), David Wolfe is all over the board with interesting (his interviews with others are sometimes a bit far out) youtube videos and excellent informative books - I <3 his fascinating, healing superfoods book.
Gnosis Chocolate in NYC is my go to splurge for healing treats that don't crash the healing process as is the Canadian Raw Foods Witch site hosted by a cute young raw vegan gal.
Another Canuk and endurance athlete Brendan Brazier has an entire line dedicated to gf/vegan health togo goods - the line is Vega.
Durian Rider is another very funny raw vegan athlete from Australia, his videos get hilarious but offer a wealth of info.

I hope it doesn't seem like I'm shoving raw vegan down your throat.
I've just found these diets to help me the most during my times of flare up crisis as raw is generally allergen free and if not, recipes are so easily modified to cut the Sugar and/or major allergens when looking for a healing diet.
Plus, finding local groups into such lifestyles may be a way out of his depression, by steering his focus into one of community and health from one of frustration related to obsessing over a major inflammatory response.
I genuinely know how he feels. Why do you think I comb and respond to these forums?!

Hi,

Does your son still has folliculitis?

I had it for 4 years, that was after I had 4 rounds of anti-biotics. 2 in Holland (I'm Dutch) and 2 in Canada in 2008. So I got severe scalp Acne and later also on my back and bad in my face.
The only thing that helped me is putting PROBIOTICS on my skin. Crush a caplet or open a capsule, make a paste with a few drops of water. Put it on the affected skin.
Let it sit for 1/2 to 1 hour and rinse it off.
Don't use antibacterial soaps or Acne cleansers.
My skin cleared up in 2 days. You have to apply it every day. The probiotic/good bacteria will fight/eat the yeast/fungi. My Acne is still gone, now for 1 month already. I take now also probiotic orally to increase the good bacteria in te intestines.

It's worth trying and it is so simple.

Missy157

Hi Kerry

Hope everything has turned out well for your son. If 200mg ketaconazole is not enough, you may have to increase it to 400mg per day. This is what I did and it cured me. Whenever I get another flare up (due to antibios) I go back to the protocol: 1. 400 mg nizoral tablets 2. polybac8 probiotics 3. strict anti-candida diet (no sugars, fruit, gluten, wheat, dairy, alcohol, coffee, chocolate, fried junk food, etc). It's hard, but worth it.

After a few weeks, you should real improvement. But you need to stick to the protocol for at least 6 weeks. No Cheating. It's the only way to kill off the excess yeast, and make sure it stays off. Also, try never to use antibios - I'm hoping never to use them again!

I had terrible follicitis in my hair, on my face, chest and back for over two years. I took OoO for THREE DAYS and 50% of my pustules were gone! I started putting drops of the OoO directly on the sites and by morning you can tell they are healing!
I am going to increase my probiotics and iron levels from what I've read here. Prayers that things are better for you two.

I heard eating any meat is not good for a cleanse or candida diet in the 1st few weeks.
The eggs you are eating are organic? if not, they probably have hormones and Antibiotics in them. Same goes for chicken and meat.

I am on just green vegetables for 3 days now with supplements and lots of water, lemon in the water in am, and on raw green vegetables. It seems to be subsiding. This is before my true cleanse tomorrow. Olive oil and lemon with water. No Antibiotics , No Sugar, bread, fruits, meats, or cooked food.
There are lots of different cleanses it gets confusing. I will do a 7 day cleanse with just veggies, then organic eggs, then organic coconut bread with probiotics and reintroduce some fruits. This is tough.

The dermatologist I was sent to see did not seem able to do very much for me. His help was not much better than my GP's. Personally I would not take their word for what you have as gospel, because sometimes they don't always know with real certainty. Sometimes one type of spot simply looks like many other types of spot. So it's sometimes necessary to try to research what might be causing the problem yourself. If you simply wait to see what solutions your doctor can provide, you could be waiting forever.