Comments on: trying different OTC products

By: Digital Davo

Digital Davo — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:02:51 +0000

Hi Patricia, Sadly the main treatments that actually are proven to work are prescription only. They do have side effects including being dangerous for some people etc. - so I guess the prescription route and having to go to your doctor is a safety guard for all. Not that it helps most people, but Finacea is available over the counter in Australia. The various natural treatments for rosacea don't normally have the rigorous testing to prove that they both work and are safe. Hopefully in the middle somewhere everyone can find a mixture of natural and prescription treatments to help their rosacea. dp.

By: Patricia Lutz

Patricia Lutz — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:53:06 +0000

Metrogel has helped my rosacea, when needed, without problem; and, over the past 10 years that I’ve had the condition, I’ve been able to go for fairly long stretches without having to use anything at all.
However, when I do get flare-ups, I have to see a doctor again (who may be different than the last because I may have different health insurance) just to get the very same prescription.

A few years ago, my mother also discovered she has rosacea (her symptoms began after mine did) and was prescribed Finacea, which worked well for her. A while back, I was having a break-out and she gave me some of her Finacea to use. After using it for a couple of days, I found it to be effective as well. I continued to use it only when outbreaks occurred. Then, it ran out.

Now, I no longer have an active prescription for other Metrogel or Finacea, so have to go back to the doctor to get a prescription for one of them.

Since, I don’t use the medication daily, only when I have outbreaks, my prescriptions often expire (I’ve been dealing with this off-and-on for 10 years!) before I need the treatment again.

Why aren’t these medications, which are not drugs of abuse, available over the counter?!

By: lori

lori — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:42:46 +0000

I was surfing around looking for an OTC or herbal that would take care of my rosacea and found this site. I just wanted to let you know that I found metrocream to work much better for my pretty mild case. It didn’t dry my skin out.

By: mary

mary — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:46:58 +0000

does anyone know why my base make up appears to have little holes in it when i try to camophage my rosacea? the outbreak looks much worse when i put base makeup and finish it off with face powder. i am substitute teaching (i am an english teacher, by profession) and dread walking into a classroom with my makeup looking like sandpaper.

By: mary

mary — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:42:48 +0000

hi, everyone. on the last day of january of this year, i was layed off after 16 years with a “fortune 500″ corporation. within two weeks, the upper part of my cheeks started turning red. i had no idea what it was until i googled the symptoms on the internet. I look like an extra in “terror in the wax museum”. im 56 and no “spring chicken”, mind you, but i am so embarassed to appear in public! because i lost my insurance coverage one month after i lost my job, i hesitated to go to the doctor. my friend, who has a very mild problem with rosacea, gave me a new tube of “metrogel 1%”. i, too, see no improvement at all! my eyelids are swollen today, and itch. i have thought of everything i have touched, rubbed on, washed with, etc. i have switched soaps, sunglasses (made in china, so thought maybe i was allergic to the lead-based paint the manufacturers could have used). I switched my reading glasses, too. i switched moisturizers…you name it. i am so hapy i can share with others. i am going into my 4th week of misery with this. i never had acne as a teenager because my skin is so darn dry. last one to the apple cidar vinegar is a rotten eggs!

By: PJ

PJ — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 03:12:19 +0000

My husband and sister-in-law didn’t notice any improvement with Metrogel. But they have started using an antibacterial face cleanser, Cetaphil, and that has helped clear up most of the redness.