Oracea

[case1953]

Thanks for the welcome, and i would be interested to hear about other peoples triggers in case some may apply to me. I am having a flareup right now because of Christmas goodies. My nieces made some brownies for our get-together Christmas Eve, and i did my share of putting them away. Every time i eat too much chocolate it happens. Also i am on my last dose of Z-Pack, which is a high dose antibiotic prescribed for strep throat. We have 13 people in our family and have passed the sore throat around since thanksgiving. I assumed the mega dose of anti-biotic would enable me to stop taking Oracea for the 5 day course of Z-Pack treatment, but i flared up anyway. It killed the sore throat, but had no effect on Rosacea. It gets old at my age trying to deal with bumps on my face again. It doesnt help living in Florida where just 10 minutes in the summer sun can cook your skin. I wonder what a good old fashioned sunburn would do...thanks for this forum.
bob

[CrabbyCathy]

Me: dairy, dairy, dairy, sometimes cola and hot "spicy" foods.

[Aurelia]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the welcome, and i would be interested to hear about other peoples triggers in case some may apply to me. I am having a flareup right now because of Christmas goodies.

Sorry to hear about the current flare, which I hope will soon disappear.

I've always thought food wasn't much of a trigger for me, but over time things can change, and dried fruit does now seem to bring about an increase in blocked pores, as does eating walnuts. All-time worst - candied chestnuts. Superb, but not worth it!

It doesnt help living in Florida where just 10 minutes in the summer sun can cook your skin.

Florida looks magnificent, but I'd be even more put off by the knowledge that there are well over a million alligators, and now increasing numbers of enormous snakes. The fierce sunshine seems almost benign in comparison.

Kind regards,

Aurelia

[case1953]

Aurelia, thanks for the kind words...just wanted to say, as i posted under another subject, i began taking vitamin B3(niacin) 500mg twice a day to lower my cholesterol, and my rosacea is gone. I have been clear for three weeks now, even when eating foods that have caused flare ups....go figure! No p&p's at all! First time in 3 years clear.
bob

[LoisAnne]

Does this Niacin cause a flushing of the skin? I know that some Niacin medication does cause flushing as I took it years ago and found the "hot flash" to be very annoying. Perhaps it has been improved by now. Anyway, I am glad it is working for you.

[Naturaltreatments]

I think that niacin (or B3 as it's sometimes called) is non flushing when sold as "nicotinamide" (someone please correct me if I'm wrong)?. This link from the Food Standards Agency suggests nicotinic acid version of niacin can cause flushing: http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/n ... ls/niacin/. I think you will find some brands are sold specifically as "non flushing" (though I have to say that this side effect does worry me about taking it!, but Case's posts about B3 are very persuasive).

[case1953]

The niacin i buy is called "non flush" on the label. I am going on 3 weeks COMPLETELY clear now, and have not felt any flush. I know it sounds too good to be true, but i see the results in the mirror every morning now. I began taking it on 12/16/09 on the advice of my G.P. to help bring my cholesterol down. After about two weeks i cleared up completely and havent had the first p&p so far. I read a post on this site from a guy in Australia that had success with B3. Thank goodness for this community.
Bob

[Naturaltreatments]

Very, very tempted! The niacin (B3) is also included in the Sher Skin Support Formula, though this also has B1, B2, B6 and B12 in as well as many other vitamins and herbs. My rosacea responded very quickly to that Formula, though other side effects meant I had to stop unfortunately.

[case1953]

I have only been taking B3 and B12...so far no side affects....what happened when you took it? So i will know what to look for...
thanks,
Bob

[starbuck]

I have started to noticed increased redness and eye burning since I started taking Oracea. I thought it was just the rosacea flaring up, but I read the possible side effects today and they include:
# pain
# rash
# redness and soreness of eyes
# redness of skin

Isn't that kind of counter productive for a rosacea treatment? Has anyone else experienced this? I don't usually get papules, just redness, flushing and visible veins. Actually I'm starting to wonder why my dermatologist even put me on Oracea.