In clarification

Let me preface this by saying that throughout my teenage-hood, I had sporadic bursts of moderate to moderately-severe acne. It's just something that I've always had to deal with, coupled with trips to the dermatologist, expensive skin care and makeup and the overall insecurity that comes with acne-prone skin.

(It doesn't help that I have the propensity to stress out. Like REALLY stress out. Yeesh.)

In college, it seemed that my skin had finally calmed down a bit. My moderate acne became mild-to-minimal, and all was right with the world.

Until this happened last May.

All of the sudden I was without a job, and all of the sudden the Himalayan Mountain Range decided to inhabit my chin. And then my cheeks. And then (to the spot that had not had a blemish since my junior year in high school) my forehead. Kind of a confidence killer, especially when you're interviewing for new jobs. Luckily, I was able to procure my new job rather speedily, which was a tremendous blessing. But the stress didn't stop, and neither did my acne.

Enter Crystal's Skin Care. And probiotics. (Wow, that was a long preface, wasn't it?)

Upon several positive referrals, I visited this lovely establishment, and have subjected my face to multiple extractions, chemicals peels and new skincare products. It was all working fabulously until I got sick and hell itself decided to become the new denizen of my face. I went back for another extraction, and was told that basically we were back at square one. (Which is never a great feeling, might I add.) We decided that it might be time for me to start on an intense probiotic (definition: live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host) in order to cleanse my body of any remnant toxins from my illnesses.

Yesterday was the first time I took it, and let's just say it felt like I had a bunch of live microorganisms tangoing in my intestines. It was a feeling akin to my non-vomiting nausea, which I don't recommend to anybody. It was all I could do to not declare, "damn you, probiotics, damn you!"

So I'm skeptical. I may try it again, but will do so on a day where I don't have to leave the house and have an ample supply of saltines.

(Just fyi: my skin's beginning to look luminous again, the peeling notwithstanding. Just in case anybody was curious.)