Rosacea Treatments

[robbo]

Hi, I am Robbo i was diagnosed with rosacea 6 months ago.After being prescribed
Metrogel for 8 weeks which did not work.My doctor has put me on Oxytetracycline
taking 4 tablets per day, i have nearly completed 8 weeks of this course and have some
very minor pain in the lower back,is this a common occurrence with this medicine?.As my
condition has improved slowly,

Also people seem to treat this condition lightly and some find it funny,has anyone encountered this also.I also get a bit down and frustated with having rosacea incase the oxytetracycline does not work.

Is there any light at the end of the tunnel.
Robbo

[CrabbyCathy]

Welcome!

Sometimes the Metrogel, etc. can take a few months to work; did you notice any adverse effects?

Is your skin improving from the antibiotics? It would be best to ask your doctor about the lower back pain, though. I'm having a bit of trouble finding the medication on the web, as it's not available here in the US, but it does belong to the tetracycline group of drugs....I found this (see link below). Lower back pain isn't listed, but it also states "Other side effects not listed above may also occur in some patients. If you notice any other effects, check with your doctor."

http://www.drugs.com/cons/oxytetracycline.html

I'm sorry you're encountering insensitive people; I haven't encountered anyone who thinks it's funny (yet) but plenty of people who don't think before they speak, and love to point out my skin when it's flaring, even though I never point out their face full of red acne pimples! I also have encountered people who constantly push the anti-acne products and don't understand that's not what I have.

Have a look around the forum, you will find many tips, tricks, products, and stories. Once you find what works for you, and what your own personal triggers are (dietary, etc.) you can control your rosacea.

[Mike T]

Hi robbo

I have had rosace intermittent redness for a while. Constant redness and p&P's for a short time (after a bad sunburn got by staying 6+ hours in intense sun on a sunday barbeque at the beach playing volyball with no sunscream).

Anyway i think metrogel is the same as Noritate (active ingrediant Metronidazol). I found this helped my rosace bumps real quick but caused a bit more redness. (please note i have seb derm also).

For the redness i had used steroids(not anymore there bad for constant use- good for bad reactions). I now use Elidel cream which has worked great. Doesnt completely get rid of redness but manages it and kind of moisturises. Please research this as some believe it causes cancer. My derm believes the tests they did on rats were unsubstantiated. They completeley covered the rats in the elidel then exposed them to intense ultra-violet (or some type of light).

Anyways my point is PLEASE to all people reading this or any other posts if you find a product you like or want to try, reasearch the hell out of it first. You may save yourself money, time and most importently bad reactions etc. You must remember some people on here have great experience and have helped many people (including myself) however they are most likley not dermatologists and dont know which products you are currently on and if they may interfere with the ones they are suggesting. I even research about the products my DERMATOLOGIST gives me which is why i stopped the daily use of steroid Desonide.

Mine gave me the steroid first up and said "use this for a few weeks daily and then whenever you have a bad flare up". Problem is when i saw how well it worked i was hooked not knowing how bad it could be. Luckily i came across it on a website and pulled out early. I read you get acne rosacea from prolonged steroid use which is very hard to clear up with traditional rosacea meds but clears up when you use more steroid on it, thus making it worse. Seems like a viscous cycle i would want to stay away from. However dont get me wrong i still use mild steroids when i have bad flare ups (3 or 4x a month).

All the best

[Aurelia]

Anyways my point is PLEASE to all people reading this or any other posts if you find a product you like or want to try, reasearch the hell out of it first. You may save yourself money, time and most importently bad reactions etc.

EXCELLENT advice. Before reaching any decisions on treatment, there's a lot to be said for reading stuff both for and against what is being offered.

You must remember some people on here have great experience and have helped many people (including myself) however they are most likley not dermatologists and dont know which products you are currently on and if they may interfere with the ones they are suggesting. I even research about the products my DERMATOLOGIST gives me which is why i stopped the daily use of steroid Desonide.

Again, absolutely right. None of us are dermatologists or have ever pretended to be experts. We can do little other than pass on info about what is available and provide a platform for people to say what worked/didn't work for them. There is no claim to special knowledge, apart from the laser and IPL doctors who generously respond to questions in that section of the board. That is why we stress that there is no substitute for getting a proper diagnosis and a treatment plan from a physician and/or dermatologist. If a patient can't afford what is recommended and wants advice on cheaper alternatives, or prefers to try non-prescription methods such as dietary modification, for instance, then members and mods can often help with that, too, but again just based on our own experiences and what others have previously shared.

Never taking as gospel anything posted on the internet will also help keep us all out of the clutches of quacks, charlatans and others whose main interest is emptying our wallets.

We're in favour of common sense, mixed with caution and optimism!

Kind regards,

Aurelia

(for the moderators)

[JameeP]

Hi,
I have had Rosacea for years, and the older I get the worse it gets. I didn't realize that I had it until I went to nursing school and recognized the symptoms. I've never gone to the dermatologist. I would rather try topical treatments rather than take pills, if I can avoid it. I use Zenmed, which works most of the time, but my biggest problem is finding a good moisturizer. The dead skin patches on my face are frustrating. Some moisturizers sting, others seem really greasy ( I am olive skinned and have oily skin anyway), but I get the dry skin patches anyway. I also need a good cleanser to use. Over the counter. I've been reading through the blogs and have found many redness, papule reducing ideas...but not many moisturizer ideas or how to get rid of the dead skin on my face without scrubbing it.
Thanks, Jamee

Oh....Does anyone experience itchy bumps as well???

[Mike T]

Hi jaimee

I have learnt alot since joining this server a few days ago.

I have the best face I have had in ages and feel the best too.

I currently use cetaphil facial cleanser (I love) and cetaphil moisturising cream (not bad).

I never used to cleans and hardly moisturise as I believed it made me redder I just kept using steroids and heaps of elidel.
However a little bit of redness to start of with is nothing to be alarmed about. Aslong as it doesn't itch and sting too much. Now these cetaphil products work very well for me and I have cut back on many other harmful products.

I use noritate every other day for my bumps (works well for me but gives a bit more redness)
I use Elidel for the redness on cheecks and if I feel itchy (sign of inflamation to come)

I recently started using alovera 97%gel for redness. Working well. I may be able to replace elidel with it as some people believe long term use of elidel has cancer risk.

I know what they mean by knowledge is power now and am so much happier than a few days ago.

All the best

[bellableu]

Hi,
Oh....Does anyone experience itchy bumps as well???

*raising hand* I do. For me, that's often a reaction to food. YMMV. Sugar & soy are the big ones that almost never fail to give me an itchy red welt-like bump. I avoid both, but every once in a while indulge in a treat & usually get an itchy bump for my trouble. Ah well. At least Rosacea keeps me slim.

Whoa, is this my first post here? I visit all the time!

[Aurelia]

Hi Jamee and welcome to our group

I've never gone to the dermatologist. I would rather try topical treatments rather than take pills, if I can avoid it.

Obviously, the choice of whether or not to see a dermatologist is entirely your own, but they don't all insist on prescribing pills, and you just might happen to find a derm who has a high success rate with treating your exact type of rosacea.

In your message, does "dead skin patches" mean the same as "dry skin patches"?

When people have naturally oily skin, they often use ever-stronger products to dry up the excessive oil production, not realising that it is often counterproductive and the drier we make the skin, the more the skin's sebaceous glands go into hyperdrive and pump out more and more oil or sebum. There are many other approaches to this situation, including applying a very light moisturiser that is non-comedogenic (meaning that it won't clog the pores) for example jojoba or virgin coconut oil, adding plenty of 'healthy choice' oils to the diet (eg olive, salmon, flax seed) and drinking plenty of water.

Yes, itchy bumps are very common with rosacea. Sometimes from leaky blood vessels, sometimes from allergies, mast cells, etc.

Kind regards,

Aurelia

[Aurelia]

Welcome, Bellableu, and thanks for coming out of lurk mode

We will look forward to getting to know you.

Kind regards,

Aurelia

[CrabbyCathy]

Anyways my point is PLEASE to all people reading this or any other posts if you find a product you like or want to try, reasearch the hell out of it first. You may save yourself money, time and most importently bad reactions etc. You must remember some people on here have great experience and have helped many people (including myself) however they are most likley not dermatologists and dont know which products you are currently on and if they may interfere with the ones they are suggesting. I even research about the products my DERMATOLOGIST gives me which is why i stopped the daily use of steroid Desonide.

Again, absolutely right. None of us are dermatologists or have ever pretended to be experts. We can do little other than pass on info about what is available and provide a platform for people to say what worked/didn't work for them. There is no claim to special knowledge, apart from the laser and IPL doctors who generously respond to questions in that section of the board. That is why we stress that there is no substitute for getting a proper diagnosis and a treatment plan from a physician and/or dermatologist. If a patient can't afford what is recommended and wants advice on cheaper alternatives, or prefers to try non-prescription methods such as dietary modification, for instance, then members and mods can often help with that, too, but again just based on our own experiences and what others have previously shared.

Never taking as gospel anything posted on the internet will also help keep us all out of the clutches of quacks, charlatans and others whose main interest is emptying our wallets.

We're in favour of common sense, mixed with caution and optimism!

Kind regards,

Aurelia

(for the moderators)

Thank you, Aurelia, for saying that much better than I could! We, as mods, do try to help, and only help. We try to caution that we are NOT doctors, to please be sure to see a doctor, but that this is what we have learned ourselves, and perhaps it can help you also.