Summary of basic preventative measures for P&P

[CrabbyCathy]

Lisa! I hope you didn't type all that out for me! Thank you. I am going to Macy's this week to get a blob to try

[Lisamouries]

I hope you didn't type all that out for me!

Because you're worth it...
Cathy, don't worry. Just a copy and paste job!

[PorridgeMan]

For the benefit of others in my situation, I'd like to give a progress report on some suggestions offered to me.

My antibiotic course (minocycline) expired 8 days ago. The day after, my face erupted in about 10 pustules. The following day was worse. It was back to the bad old days. So I decided to give the MSM and sunscreen a go. My local pharmacy spent 10 minutes and 3 people searching for anything with MSM and finally they found a product called Pain3, made by Totally Natural. Each pill has 1500 mg of MSM (Dimethyl Sulfone I've learnt). I was a bit hesitant about accepting it because nowhere on the bottle is the word rosacea mentioned - it's sold as pain relief for arthritis and gout. I then found an oil-free, non-comedogenic sunscreen (Neutrogena Ultra-Sheer Dry-Touch SPF 30+) and dug out my credit card. These things are not cheap and I'm not used to spending much at all on my appearance, but I'm glad I did. I took one tablet of Pain3 that night and the next day awoke to a near pustule-free face. With reasonably clear skin, I was then able to shave and apply sunscreen for the workday. My eyes watered a bit throughout the day from the sunscreen (always do), but otherwise I seemed to be tolerating everything well. So I took another tablet of MSM that night and repeated the regime for the rest of the week. My skin is now completely pustule free and has been that way for almost 5 days. That is a HUGE step forward for me. I never would have believed that something I didn't need a script for could work this well.

OK, reality check, 5 days is not long and probably like everybody, I have had too many false dawns to start thinking I've found a permanent solution for managing my appearance. But so far, I'm very excited! It has given me a tremendous boost to my self-esteem and made me feel much more positive about my future. I always suffer when on antibiotics (fatigue and bad stomach) and was often worried about developing bacterial resistance. It's wonderful to think that here is something I can use apparently safely long term without the need for expensive (and usually depressing) consultations with a dermatologist. What a wonderful thing this online community is. I would never have gone down this path otherwise. Thank you all so very much.

[CrabbyCathy]

No worries! I get excited too when something works, even if it's just after 3 days or so. I think it's natural.

MSM is marketed for joints and is actually a sulfur compound, so I'm not surprised it worked! I found topical sulfur to be quite helpful, although drying. Thank you, now I am going to have to go to my local Whole Foods to shop. And buy lots of other goodies I don't need. Here's a link where there might be some cheaper you can order next time? Or just some other options for you, me, and others to look at.

http://www.drugstore.com/search/search_ ... srchtree=1

How close to your eyes do you apply the sunscreen?

And Lisa! I swear I could not find the ingredients listed anywhere. Of course I think it was about 3 a.m. when I was searching, so....I blame that.

[Aurelia]

OK, reality check, 5 days is not long and probably like everybody, I have had too many false dawns to start thinking I've found a permanent solution for managing my appearance. But so far, I'm very excited! It has given me a tremendous boost to my self-esteem and made me feel much more positive about my future.

Hi there,

Congratulations on finding something that appears to be helping, well done for persevering, and thanks for adding that reality check. Rosacea is characterised by mysterious ups and downs anyway, so it is as well to offer a "maybe", just in case the situation later changes ... as we hope it won't.

Sulphur treatments have been recomended since time immemorial for skin conditions, especially the eruptive kind, so are usually worth trying imho. Fingers crossed you continue to benefit, and please keep us posted.

What a wonderful thing this online community is. I would never have gone down this path otherwise. Thank you all so very much.

Thanks. We're so glad to have you with us.

Kind regards,

Aurelia

[PorridgeMan]

I don't get too close to my eyes with sunscreen, as I always wear sunglasses. There's probably a good 2 cm clearance around all sides. I think there are volatile components in sunscreens that irritate my eyes, because I have only noticed the problem when there is no flow of air over my face, like when driving my car and sitting at my computer indoors.

[case1953]

Thanks to you all! PorridgeMan, is Pain3 available anywhere in the USA? I would love to give it a try...is it safe to assume any product with dimethyl sulfone will produce the same results? I will be at the Vitamin store when it opens tomorrow!

[PorridgeMan]

Mate, probably not. :(
Pain3 is made by Totally Natural, which is a 100% Australian owned company. You could try getting it online here:
http://www.totallynatural.com.au/arthri ... ntcare.htm
A word of experience though. It worked very well for me for about a week, then I suffered an emotional trauma (the woman I love found another man) and my rosacea went beserk. I am now back on antibiotics (50 mg Minocycline once per day) and a topical application of sodium sulfacetamide every night. This has controlled things very well while I try to re-build my life. I hope to try the MSM again down the track. Good luck trying it out.

[Naturaltreatments]

I use Solgar MSM (methylsulfonymethance) 1000mg per day which works well. Solgar is generally regarded as a good brand of nutritional supplement though there are a couple of other better but smaller brands I believe. So have a look for Solgar MSM perhaps if you can't see the other Pain brand mentioned here. It certainly does work quite well. It is worth cautioning with MSM that it is a blood thinner and so do not use too much of it (1000mg should be enough at the beginning to see if it works for you). Currently I use 1000mg every other day. Side effects can include heart palpatations etc, particularly if you take a lot of it.