Rosacea Treatment

[gardenlover]

Anyone found anything good for rosacea (sorry for spelling?)?  I'm going to ask my doctor next time I go in as my face is "full" of rash.  I'm been told before it is not

characteristic of lupus.  Hopefully that is true.  However, my face is a mess.  I'd rather not take a systemic antibiotic.  Suggestions?

[Tantalus]

Good morning, gardenlover,

I was started on metronidazole twice a couple of years apart, which only made things worse for me.

What has worked extremely well for me is topical Klaron (generic) and Oracea ($$$).  The Oracea is doxycyline, but somehow at such a low (but steady) dose it doesn't work as an antibiotic. 

I now no longer need the Oracea and can control things with just the Klaron.  It has also really helped with seborrheic  dermatitis.

T

[gardenlover]

Thanks, I'll ask about this 

[eye2dry]

I used Metrogel for years, then switched to Finacea 2 years ago with

much better results.  decrease flushing and face smoother.

New topical out that erases the redness extremely well.....Mirvaso.

I am not use to a normal skin tone and when I saw my "real" complexion color

I was startled...took some time getting use to.

One of my coworkers started Mirvaso and I did not know it and when I saw her one

morning I thought she was pasty looking and ill!

It works right now....no waiting.

eye2dry

[gardenlover]

I can't remember eye2dry, are you in Canada?  I'm just wondering about availability in Canada

[Carebear]

I have had success with Metronidazole gel.   And you just need a tiny amount every day. 

I had the painful burning, itching, flushing and oozing for years before I spoke to my doctor.  I know, I know.  It was gone after using the gel for about a month.

[wendyoh]

tantalus--in regard to the seborea dermatitis (sp) do you mean those sort of scaly spots one can get on their back and other areas with getting older that are sometimes mallginant?  no doc has ever offered a treatment for them to me, fortunately they have been in out of the way places like shoulder blade, although they did take a couple off....

[Tantalus]

Scaley, yes.

Mine were on my face and for an entire winter I thought it was dry skin.  I would gently remove large flakes of skin with a washcloth at least twice a day and then use cold cream all over my face in an attempt to moisturize.  I mentioned it to the dermatologist at a visit and he said seborrheic dermatitis--most likely caused by a fungus in areas with a good supply of oil.  Even so, it is not a sign of poor hygiene and grooming, rather needing to use the correct products--in my case, NOT using cold cream.

No mention in anything I've seen of malignancy, so I suspect you are thinking of a different condition.  SD may itch for some people but the major issue leading to treatment seems to be embarrassment. 

[wendyoh]

thanks Tantalus--I know what you mean, am remembering there are a couple kinds of seborrhea, I know which one you mean...now I wish I could remember the name of the other one....but I had some of what you had at times, doc recommended a litte bactarin or o-t-c antibitoic ointment and that worked, I wouldnt mind getting the doxy tho, sounds interesting

[Tantalus]

Wendy,  perhaps you are thinking of Seborrheic keratosis?   T

[eye2dry]

Garderlover,  I live in Ohio....United States.

eye2dry

[SjoGirl]

I had horrible flares when my SJS started, looked terrible. I have had very few outbreaks as a result of the following:

1. wearing sunscreen all the time, even when I will only be indoors. I wear a Neutrogena version that is for faces, it's SPF 70. We have extraordinarily bright lights at work and I figured out they were a trigger so I don't use the ones in my office, I have lamps.

2. determining which foods were triggers. There is a long list (which you can find it if you Google rosacea triggers), but not everything will be a trigger for you. Peas, lentils, and dairy are an issue for me and chocolate can be if I eat too much.

You have to experiment, but you'll figure it out pretty quickly as the dermatologist told me if you have a Rosacea outbreak because of a food it's usually within 15-30 minutes of eating it.

3. using very gentle skin cleanser, Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser (not the kind for faces). I do use Sea Breeze for sensitive skin on my nose if it starts to break out.

Also am very careful with makeup, I use Physician's Formula Mica Free make up (there is a brand new one that covers redness very well and has some SPF) or Bare Minerals (gluten and I believe mica free).

Hope you find this helpful.

[slccom]

Sunscreen! ALWAYS use sunscreen if you even THINK about going outside. That is crucial. And hats in the sun.

For me, that is pretty much all I needed to do.

Sharon

[cccourt1942]

I know this is "skin" rosacea thread.....but has it crossed any of your minds that Bob Costas could have rosacea conjunctivitis?  If he had bacterial or allergic conjunctivitis alrex antibiotics drops would have cleared him up by now.  I realize  his could have started as a virus...but as we all know...by now he has to have secondary infection.  I am asking/stating this because I realize in the 4 1/2 years before I was SjS positive  I had what the ophthalmologist called "allergic conjunctivitis."  Well ..we know it was the dry eye condition which was causing those spells...since I had never had even pink eye in my entire life.  Who knows...we may  have Bob Costas in the mix here in a couple of years!! 

[laura88]

There's a new (as of Sept 2013) topical cream out on the market called Mirvaso that my dermatologist prescribed me recently.  I'm ambivalent about it right now, but it would be worth a discussion with your doctor.

Has anyone's rosacea gotten worse while taking prednisone?  I had been having only a few flushing episodes over the last year or so, but for the last month or two it's been multiple times a day.  It could be from the freezing winter we're having, or it could be from a slightly higher dose (10mg vs. 5-7 mg) or prolonged use of predisone.  There is a lot of information on the internet about topical steroid-induced rosacea, but less about oral steroid-induced rosacea.