Bad Acne on TRT

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

I have been on TRT and my acne has been normal, maybe a bump here and there but pretty much no acne. Well about a month ago, Ihave been getting cystic acne on my back and face, worse then when i was in high school. I am going to the doctor on the 11th to get more bloodwork done but am freaking out a bit about having such bad skin.

I am getting big red inflammed bumps that shoot out on the mirror like a cannon or just the hard round cystic type. Could this be from too much estrogen? I am on 100mg’s per week of cyp, no hcg and no adex. I have tried benzoil peroxide and several other treatments and went to a dermatologist and they gave me some sulphur wash for my face and body and it is still happening.

2

I’ve never had an acne problem but have notices more pimples on lower back and ass since starting TRT.

3

If you do a search you’ll find a ton of threads that discuss this issue

4

BSC, have you read the stickies? You will want to understand T+AI+hCG.

Add info about you, read the advice for new guys sticky.

Read the protocol for injections sticky.

5

[quote]BSC819 wrote:
I have been on TRT and my acne has been normal, maybe a bump here and there but pretty much no acne. Well about a month ago, Ihave been getting cystic acne on my back and face, worse then when i was in high school. I am going to the doctor on the 11th to get more bloodwork done but am freaking out a bit about having such bad skin.

I am getting big red inflammed bumps that shoot out on the mirror like a cannon or just the hard round cystic type. Could this be from too much estrogen? I am on 100mg’s per week of cyp, no hcg and no adex. I have tried benzoil peroxide and several other treatments and went to a dermatologist and they gave me some sulphur wash for my face and body and it is still happening.[/quote]

Correct GI tract imbalances corrects the skin. Probably androgen related or could be e2 related as well. When shit comes out on your skin there is usually a problem with your body not being able to detoxify something properly. If liver, GI, kidneys can not handle then it comes out in lymphatic system AKA your skin !!

6

I get the big angry ones sometimes too, generally on my back/shoulders. Taking an extra shower will help. I notice more if my E2 gets out of whack.

7

I’ve been fighting the issue and working with my doc and dermatologist for several months. In my case, I am converting some of the Test to DHT and the levels are very high. High DHT can cause acne, BPH,and hair loss. I was experiencing all of these. The cure is to lower the test amounts and/or take something like avodart to counteract the conversion.

The dermatologist got me on a gel I put on my back daily and between that and the lower DHT, my acne is finally going away.

8

when I started HRT this was an issue, within 3-4 months it went away…doc told me to get out in the sun more, we adjusted AI dose, and I think bumped up biotin and b vitamins and gone…havent had them in 2 years

lots of showers and scrubbing the back!

9

I’m on TRT and recently switched from Androgel to shots. I’m taking a smaller dose of injectable test but have developed a moderate amount of acne on my shoulders and flanks. I had no acne while on the gel so I decided to apply a single pump of gel once a day to my shoulders in addition to my regular protocol. Within a day the acne appeared to be drying up and after four days I have virtually no acne and absolutely no new zits/pimples. I had a couple bottles left over from when I switched over to the shots. I can only assume the alcohol in the Androgel is helping with the acne.

1 Like
10

Estrogen does not cause acne in fact it helps skin in many ways. Your acne is certainly caused by too much testosterone and more specifically DHT

11

Off TRT I didn’t get any achne on any body part. But with just 25mg E3D I get bad shoulder and moderate facial achne. It’s worse now on the AI.

12

Hey C27, You and I are both on low dose T. I’m around 60mg/week with .25 mg/Anastrozole twice a week. I’m pretty surprised at how much shoulder and back acne I developed on such a low dose.

13

I had cystic acne on my back at 200 mg/week and voluntarily lowered to 150 mg/week and went on an AI + hcg according to the protocols posted here and got me E2 levels down from about 60 to 21. Acne has pretty much cleared up but has now left a lot of pigmentation scars behind. on my back.

My DHT levels were at 401 pg/mL (106-719) and as of last week after the change 541 (106-719). So it seems DHT, the usual culprit, was not linked to my acne issues.

Wish I had something more dispositive, just my personal experience with it.

I got a script for Avodart but only took it for a week or so. Stuff scares the bejesus out of me b/c I’d prefer my penis to work properly, and while perhaps imagined, I had no sex drive while on avodart.

14

To say that estrogen does not cause acne and it’s just high test levels is just not right I don’t think. I’m 52 years old and never had acne in my life. I’m not on any TRT right now and my T levels are like 130 and my E2 is high and I have developed small acne all over my chest, back, and upper arms. So I would say that maybe your test levels have got high enough or the dose you are taking is converting some to E2 and may be causing your problem, I would try an Ai and see if it helped. Good luck

15

[quote]ironman4850 wrote:
To say that estrogen does not cause acne and it’s just high test levels is just not right I don’t think. I’m 52 years old and never had acne in my life. I’m not on any TRT right now and my T levels are like 130 and my E2 is high and I have developed small acne all over my chest, back, and upper arms. So I would say that maybe your test levels have got high enough or the dose you are taking is converting some to E2 and may be causing your problem, I would try an Ai and see if it helped. Good luck[/quote]

Yes it is simplistic to just say testosterone causes acne. Most likely it is rapid fluctuations/imbalances in hormones that are the culprit for acne.