U.S. veterans living in Vietnam - Acne, is it just me?

Gia-na-dai wrote:

Hello - this is not about the teen-age acne thing we went through in high school.

This is about the break-outs on my back and neck and shoulders since I came to this country the end of Feb., this year.
Last time I experienced this was - not in high school - in the U.S., in 1971. I learned afterwards
that chloracne was one of the side-effects of the Agent Orange/dioxin that the government was
thoughtfully spraying in Vietnam then to kill off vegetation to help us in fighting the guerillas.
Cold intolerance was another serious problem I had that I later learned was an effect of dioxin contamination.  I never got the serious cancer which the U.S. government recognized as coming from dioxin poisoning - just some chunks of skin cancer that the VA hospitals cut out for me - so I never tried seriously to get the Agent Orange people to look at me.

I remember the dermatologist at the VA hospital in Phoenix, 2014-16, who had two of my skin cancers removed, told me that the worst thing for acne was milk. She said dairy products had a high concentration of chemical pesticides and so the body reacted to this problem by expelling the poison through the skin. I have not been taking in much dairy at all - just some ice cream sometimes.

So now I want to ask: Is anyone else breaking out in acne here in Viet Nam?
Or is it just me?

Does anyone have a theory as to why this should come up now ?
The food? The water?
Not the climate. I was in Thailand for a few years 2009 - 2014 and even during the rainy season I didn't  break out like this.

Since you ask, and since I've met you personally, perhaps stress is part of the problem?

Have you read Jim's story on here, about a skin infection that wound him up in the hospital, costing him over $10,000.00 USD in care costs?

Do not mess around with this stuff by seeking anonymous internet care while you remain isolated.

Get to a dermatologist - "bác sĩ da liễu"

You have a very good income, so you can afford to get professional help.

Hire the Vietnamese woman our mutual friend introduced you to if you need assistance in searching Google and the city for a qualified dermatologist.

Or not...

Thanks for the tip, O.B.
Bac si da lieu. Got it.
I am not thinking stress - seems I am always stressed at any given time.
But I wanted to bring this up to learn if this was a common thing for ex-pats here - and so had
to do with the environment.

Have you ruled out shingles?

Don't know how old you are but rosacea could be a possibility.

Gia-na-dai wrote:

Thanks for the tip, O.B.
Bac si da lieu. Got it.
I am not thinking stress - seems I am always stressed at any given time.
But I wanted to bring this up to learn if this was a common thing for ex-pats here - and so had
to do with the environment.

My thoughts about stress were both about related hormone changes that can occur, as well as the effects of the stress you've been experiencing during your move from Thailand to Vietnam.

Please don't be offended by my thinking, but stress and PTSD do not play well together.

I know when I'm stressed, I isolate, stay in bed longer, eat more crappy food, don't change my clothes as often and don't attend to my own personal hygiene as well as I do when the anxiety doesn't fuel depression.

I highly doubt that the problem has had an acute onset because of Agent Orange dioxin residues in the local environment.

It's probably going to turn out to be a combination of things.

FYI, cooks in Quy Nhơn are known for the heavy use of MSG (monosodium glutamate) according to two local Vietnamese friends, and that's an example of how diet may be contributing to the problem, if you have a sensitivity to MSG.

I'm hoping your dermatologist will be able to help you.

Thanks for the input guys.

Shingles I went through a couple years ago. The VA hospital in Phoenix was on it right away. It turned out to be not as horrible as I feared -suicide did come to mind; as I believed it could re-occur- but the medicine knocked it out in a little over a month.

The skin condition was starting to clear up - after some 40 days in country - but on the strong advice of friends I went to get it checked out by professionals.  The good bac si suggested it was from eating sea food. And she asked why I was not married - handsome devil that I am. But they took biopsies and blood and ruled out cancer - and they found my blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides had dropped to normal range, after the VA had tried to make me take those statin meds a few years ago and I had refused. IN the end they just said to moderate my intake of fish and sea animals and sunshine.

I can do that.
ANd they gave me a bag full of meds.

All this set me back about 840,000 VND plus a few thou for parking at the Benh Vien in Quy Nhon, which it seems is affiliated with the hospital in Quy Hoa.
The value of the drop in my stress level - to around moderate/mellow - was priceless.

So I am passing the info on.

Gia-na-dai wrote:

Thanks for the input guys.

Shingles I went through a couple years ago. The VA hospital in Phoenix was on it right away. It turned out to be not as horrible as I feared -suicide did come to mind; as I believed it could re-occur- but the medicine knocked it out in a little over a month.

The skin condition was starting to clear up - after some 40 days in country - but on the strong advice of friends I went to get it checked out by professionals.  The good bac si suggested it was from eating sea food. And she asked why I was not married - handsome devil that I am. But they took biopsies and blood and ruled out cancer - and they found my blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides had dropped to normal range, after the VA had tried to make me take those statin meds a few years ago and I had refused. IN the end they just said to moderate my intake of fish and sea animals and sunshine.

I can do that.
ANd they gave me a bag full of meds.

All this set me back about 840,000 VND plus a few thou for parking at the Benh Vien in Quy Nhon, which it seems is affiliated with the hospital in Quy Hoa.
The value of the drop in my stress level - to around moderate/mellow - was priceless.

So I am passing the info on.

Great news! Also, getting all that health care for under $40.00 USD is amazing, huh?

Hope to see you soon.

Give me a call or shoot me a text.

It isn't just you.  Vietnamese youth, although the Viet Nam war was 50 years ago, are suffering from chloracne as well.  And for the same reason as many veterans of that war. The effects of the dioxin (Agent Orange) used to kill vegetation (for the obvious reason), still attack the youth, which is ironic, as they weren't even born then. And yet, they suffer terribly because of this poison. And most of those kids can't afford to go to a proper doctor, or buy the prescription medicine needed to keep it under control. Their only avenue of help, lies in the “acne clinics” on every corner, where young girls mash, squeeze, and poke with needles, scalpels and heaven knows what else, assuring these kids that later in life, with the absolute BEST outcome, they will look in the mirror at a scarred, pock marked face,  and again, laser treatments and plastic surgery will be something only the very wealthy can afford.  Relics of war. The kids are  always the ones to pick up the tab.

FYI: I know the OP personally.

He ended up being diagnosed with a heat rash.

He has since returned to CONUS.

dmedlin1 wrote:

It isn't just you.  Vietnamese youth, although the Viet Nam war was 50 years ago, are suffering from chloracne as well.  And for the same reason as many veterans of that war. The effects of the dioxin (Agent Orange) used to kill vegetation (for the obvious reason), still attack the youth, which is ironic, as they weren't even born then. And yet, they suffer terribly because of this poison. And most of those kids can't afford to go to a proper doctor, or buy the prescription medicine needed to keep it under control. Their only avenue of help, lies in the “acne clinics” on every corner, where young girls mash, squeeze, and poke with needles, scalpels and heaven knows what else, assuring these kids that later in life, with the absolute BEST outcome, they will look in the mirror at a scarred, pock marked face,  and again, laser treatments and plastic surgery will be something only the very wealthy can afford.  Relics of war. The kids are  always the ones to pick up the tab.

Not only youths here, my personal observation in the nearly 14 years, I have never ever seen so many people even adults with chronic acne & nothing to do with agent orange me thinks.

goodolboy wrote:

dmedlin1 wrote:

It isn't just you.  Vietnamese youth, although the Viet Nam war was 50 years ago, are suffering from chloracne as well.  And for the same reason as many veterans of that war. The effects of the dioxin (Agent Orange) used to kill vegetation (for the obvious reason), still attack the youth, which is ironic, as they weren't even born then. And yet, they suffer terribly because of this poison. And most of those kids can't afford to go to a proper doctor, or buy the prescription medicine needed to keep it under control. Their only avenue of help, lies in the “acne clinics” on every corner, where young girls mash, squeeze, and poke with needles, scalpels and heaven knows what else, assuring these kids that later in life, with the absolute BEST outcome, they will look in the mirror at a scarred, pock marked face,  and again, laser treatments and plastic surgery will be something only the very wealthy can afford.  Relics of war. The kids are  always the ones to pick up the tab.

Not only youths here, my personal observation in the nearly 14 years, I have never ever seen so many people even adults with chronic acne & nothing to do with agent orange me thinks.

Sugar?

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

goodolboy wrote:

dmedlin1 wrote:

It isn't just you.  Vietnamese youth, although the Viet Nam war was 50 years ago, are suffering from chloracne as well.  And for the same reason as many veterans of that war. The effects of the dioxin (Agent Orange) used to kill vegetation (for the obvious reason), still attack the youth, which is ironic, as they weren't even born then. And yet, they suffer terribly because of this poison. And most of those kids can't afford to go to a proper doctor, or buy the prescription medicine needed to keep it under control. Their only avenue of help, lies in the “acne clinics” on every corner, where young girls mash, squeeze, and poke with needles, scalpels and heaven knows what else, assuring these kids that later in life, with the absolute BEST outcome, they will look in the mirror at a scarred, pock marked face,  and again, laser treatments and plastic surgery will be something only the very wealthy can afford.  Relics of war. The kids are  always the ones to pick up the tab.

Not only youths here, my personal observation in the nearly 14 years, I have never ever seen so many people even adults with chronic acne & nothing to do with agent orange me thinks.

Sugar?

Not sure about the cause but my GF broke out 2 years back & she is 37 year old vegan! Told her to pop some Doxycycline for a month & that will clear it up good but she wont take antibiotics for some reason.

goodolboy wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

goodolboy wrote:

Not only youths here, my personal observation in the nearly 14 years, I have never ever seen so many people even adults with chronic acne & nothing to do with agent orange me thinks.

Sugar?

Not sure about the cause but my GF broke out 2 years back & she is 37 year old vegan! Told her to pop some Doxycycline for a month & that will clear it up good but she wont take antibiotics for some reason.

Maybe kindly suggest to her that the hidden sugar and not so hidden sugar in her vegan diet could possibly be slowly poisoning her much worse than any antibiotic might.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

goodolboy wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Sugar?

Not sure about the cause but my GF broke out 2 years back & she is 37 year old vegan! Told her to pop some Doxycycline for a month & that will clear it up good but she wont take antibiotics for some reason.

Maybe kindly suggest to her that the hidden sugar and not so hidden sugar in her vegan diet could possibly be slowly poisoning her much worse than any antibiotic might.

Headstrong & no talking to her about it so anything for an easy life these days for me!! 

I really hadn't given this much thought in a long while but my wife had occasional acne when we were living in Vietnam.  It was usually a singular blemish but rather large.  After we moved to Hawaii it no longer occurs.  That might be a coincidence or it might not.  In Hawaii, we eat a largely Vietnamese diet because most all the ingredients are available here.  In her case even while in Vietnam, she avoids using sugar in cooking as much as possible, except of course for desserts.  She said this was because she learned from her mother who was a Northerner and it was Southerners who put sugar in everything.  None of this "proves" anything but I do think it may go back to something in the environment or diet.