No problem

Im glad to offer my experiences to help others
Yep we are definitely on the right path

I've had AN since I was about 8. Its mostly around my neck, armpits, and groin. My mom kept telling me to quit being lazy and scrub myself..only I was. As I got older, I've used all kinds of methods to get rid of those ugly "dirt marks", from exfoliators to metal scouring pads to the point of drawing blood. I really don't know what else to use in short of removing the actual skin. I read that its related to obesity and insulin resistance. i wouldn't really consider myself obese, nor has any of my family ever had diabetes. its really frustrating bc i always have to wear my hair down and turtle necks to cover my neck, not to mention NEVER being able to wear those comfy tanktops. Can anyone recommend any Overthecounter drugs to take for it? or does laser surgery help? I'm so glad to have found this site where I have so many people to relate to!

Hey everyone, im new to this forum. I don't have PCOS, but i've had A.N. since I was about 8,9. I have dark patches around my neck, under my arms, ankles and on my inner thighs. I've gone to a dermatologist and like everyone else, she said there was no 'cure' for it. The only thing she told me to do was to diet, stay off sugar and starch as well. She recommended I use Amlactin which is an over-the-counter skin moisturizer, but it's pretty harsh. It has been working a little bit, but every now and then my areas will become irritated and I can't use the cream anymore because it will burn. It's been really difficult living with this. My mother constantly tells me to exfoliate with a pumice stone,but that does nothing as we all know. I wish I never had this. It's affected me so deeply in my life, that I currently don't know what to do about it. It's something that has always disgusted my lovers and sometimes it seems like I can't go on. Due to the dark dark patches of skin on my inner thigh and touching my vagina, none of my boyfriends have ever wanted to touch me. It's embarassing and breaks my heart, and makes me think I'll never find that one person that will love me.

I also have this and the doctor told me that it is a sign of diabetes. I just got my blood tests back and my insulin is 46. The normal is from 1 to 14. My theory on the matter is that if we can get our insulin level down the patches won't get worse or maybe in time go away or we won't get any new ones.

I also have skin tags everywhere. I had a friend cut about 25 off of my neck a few years ago and so far I've only gotten 1 or 2 small ones on my neck. I haven't gotten other ones cut off yet.

I wish that I would of known something about insulin resistance a long time ago and I wouldn't have gotten to the point that I am now.

Well, I'm 33 years old, and have no diabetes. I am overweight now, but I can remember having this as a child I think around 7 years old...and I was actually normal weight throughout my childhood and all the way through highschool, but I always had this darkening of my armpits and innerthighs and neck area. I have a 13 year old girl and a 9 year old boy, and they both have it. They are not overwieight and have been tested for diabetes too. I have been through big depression over this, and totally hopeless. I just can't believe that there is no cure, not even anything to make it at least better. I have gone through many creams, some of which have only made it worse. .. I'm just hoping that my kids don't have to go through as much emotional pain as I have. All the doctors have also told me is sorry there is no cure.

I live on a border city to Mexico. I went to a dermatologist over there, which actually prescribed my son some creams that worked that she makes. However, it costed me $300 a month, and even if I had the money, the violence in Mexico is horrible, I would not risk my kids or my safety.

Hi Lizard!

AN isn't really caused by the amount of glucose running around in your system, it's actually caused by the amount of insulin you have running around. So you can have AN and not be a diabetic.
And Just like you, I've had AN both at a normal weight and when I've been overweight (but I've never been obese). And I've even had it when I was underweight!

I can tell you from my own experience that lowcarb (Atkins Induction levels) helped to lighten my AN noticeably after 3 months. So it's not something fixed over night, and the AN didn't disappear completely... but I wanted to give some of you hope.

* After those 3 months I fell off the wagon, and started eating lots of fruit. LOL Fruit may be healthy for some, but for me I guess my body treats it just like candy. My AN darkened again.
So now I'm back to eating very low carb, and if I get better results I'll be sure to let you guys know... but it might take awhile.