u/No_Nerve_7490

First month here - https://www.reddit.com/r/keratosis/s/3XKsnHe7ql

It has been about 40 days since my initial post, so I wanted to update you guys again on how things have been going so far. It’s 40 rather than a month because I wanted to keep the pictures the same in terms of lighting etc so had to wait until I came back from visiting the fam. Anyways, I’m still on the same dosage, same product, and wanted to give it a longer term trial of up to 6 months, to see if it warranted increasing given how long it takes for the omega-3 to start working.

I did find at one point it flared and I realised that it was when I was taking the supplements with a low fat breakfast, so absorption was significantly reduced. Apparently it can reduce absorption by 50% if low fat and increase by 300% with a higher fat meal. So that is something I’m aiming to avoid happening again.

So what do you guys think? Should I increase the dose from 2 to 3 tablets now, or keep going to see if any further changes are possible on this current amount given it’s been 2 months? Lmk 🫶🏻🩷

CONTEXT (feel free to skip): I don’t remember exactly when I first got KP, but the bullying for it (and other things) began in school. People would say I had burnt myself in summer and laugh, call me horrid names, make fun of other physical features etc. It was a bad time. 

Doctors didn’t help and brushed it off with things like ‘it’s better than having cancer’ so made me feel even more ashamed. Because I was so self conscious, I spent the rest of school wearing long sleeves to cover my arms up, and also wore heavy makeup. 

This is ten years ago now, and since then I have tried so many things to get rid of my KP, including creams (Smooth KP, SA, urea, lactic acid), body washes, physical exfoliation with a glove, dry brushing, and even sun bed use to help me tan darker to cover it up (I DO NOT recommend). Overall, limited results from everything mentioned really. 

PROGRESS: So I saw a post on this subreddit from someone who found benefit from using Omega-3 (EPA and DHA) BUT at a higher dose daily. I have previously taken Omega 3 but to no avail. So, I did a bit of research first and found for inflammation (and loosely linked to KP) a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of EPA:DHA was recommended, and they were usually at higher doses than what’s more commonly sold. I was also aware that any changes would take a long time due to full cellular integration of Omega-3 taking up to 6 months, but with KP most things take ages to work anyways so I thought, why not? 

I did feel however that the amount the OP took of 4800mg daily was too much for me (and also pricey), so decided to start at 2 capsules per day (equating to 1600mg EPA, 800mg DHA, and 176mg DPA = 2576mg daily). EDIT: Apologies I got this wrong, I am actually on a lower dose as two capsules counts as one serving which is 800mg EPA, 400mg DHA, and 88mg DPA, totalling 1260mg, which is even better as it means I have room to move up if I need! 🤩

RESULTS: Because I didn't want to get my hopes up, I didn’t take a recent ‘before‘ picture, so I am showing you one from August 2024, but to be really honest, it didn’t look much different from then until starting the omega-3 anyways. I did really try to find a more recent picture but I often wear some form of sleeve to cover it or hide my arms in pictures, so sorry 🫣.

I have tried to replicate the lighting and angle a few different ways as best I could to show the progress, the ‘before’ is the first picture. Oh and just to add, this is after 1 month of using the Omega-3, so I cannot wait to see the results at 3 months and 6 (lemme know if you would like an update!) 

Also disclaimer, even without much physical progress until now, my confidence in myself has improved a lot over the years, for example I am able to wear shorter sleeves, and can now go out without any makeup, so I am really happy regardless 🫶🏻

Pic 1 - original ‘before’ Aug 24 

*I did not take a ‘before’ recently*

Pic 2,3,4 are pics in increasingly more light to get different angles at the same time of day.

Thanks! 💓