lot with this die off! I usually never would break out, but as soon as I started the diet, I broke out really bad. It is finally starting to all go away, but I am sure it will come back. But they were weird,  because they didn't really look like pimple, just red bumps and my face was really dry in patches. It looked horrible no matter what I did. Also right now, I have these really really rough dry patches on the sides of my lower stomach. I have never had dry skin there! Yes this disease does make one feel really ugly at times. It is hard when you are sitting in the bathroom peeing for the what feels like the hundreth time that day, and you just feel ugly. But you are not ugly!!!! You are very pretty in your picture and I am sure even prettier i real life : ). I guess we should be glad we are having die off, that must be what it is. 

inflamation maybe yeast not sure exactly but depending on where it is would tell you what part of the body it is. i haven't felt pretty in a long time. i feel like a lump i keep gaining weight things are sagging and i am too young to feel this old. i can't wait to take back my life. yes i feel ugly and have felt ugly the whole time in treatment. i should do something with myself that pict is now old too. i don't feel myself anymore i am sure your not alone here all that nasty stuff comming out makes you look and feel like an alien but you will get your beauty back and you will be glowing we all will.

Hi Mel,
I was having the same feelings this weekend. I never used to have trouble with my skin, but while in treatment its been difficult. Like you, the trouble spots on my face don't seem like zits exactly. For me, there are almost like giant zits that never ever surface. I want to force them out and get rid of them, but instead I just end up with sore redish bumps on my face and neck. And a lot of them don't go away.
On top of that, every time I look in the mirror I feel like a fat cow. I've always been kind of "big boned" which I can deal with, but some of my clothes aren't fitting these days. Its frustrating as heck to to eat such a ridiculously strict diet, only to gain weight! Especially since I have had a resolution for over a month to not only stick to the diet without cheating at all, but to really get evey meal balanced correctly. I eat at least 1 meal sized salad a day, I've increased by raw veggies, cut back carbs and the whole bit. A month into it I'm bigger than when I started! How's that for motivation!
On the other hand, I try to remember that before seeing Matia, I wasn't ever thinking abut how I looked. I was in way too much pain to even care. In some weird way, the fact that I am bothered about my appearance again (self-esteem issues aside) is a bit of sign that I'm improving. I actually have the energy and wherewithal to think about it!

For those who've followed my posts for a while, little surprise I'm chiming in here. I've dealt with a lot in this regard.  I continue to deal w/ major acne all over my face and neck & scarring as a result... has been a real emotional struggle for me.  Also thinning hair, and many other things. And like a few of you gals I'm completely shocked to now be GAINING weight even with reducing my portions, fat and such.  Ugh.  I think it's esp hard as a woman plus when you're already going thru something so difficult as IC pain and this arduous treatment to feel like the loch ness monster on top of it.  Some days just want to put a bag over my head. (Or a potato sack over my body maybe) - LOL.

The positive side to all this uglification, if you'll travel a spiritual path with me for a second, is that it really aids in the recognition of the ultimate dissolution of form which in turn helps to be less attached.  Usually this doesn't happen until people get much older and have their bodies fail them in many ways, both on a functional level and an aesthetic level.  As much as I don't want it, this experience of the loss of looks & body function makes abundantly clear the transitory nature of our bodies and helps me see my own strong attachment to my body, to the need -- nay, demand -- for it to work perfectly at all times, and for it to look a certain way so I feel a certain way, which we naturally want as human beings but in the grand scheme of things doesn't really matter.