Acne Rosacea: Re: [rosacea] Re: Having alot of problems lately

Elena,

No need to apologize for your lengthy letter. It is good that you feel comfortable talking so openly to this support group. It is therapy...for free!

You know, I have only been suffering from this (full-blown) since August of this year. I simply cannot imagine what it would be like having to live like this the rest of my life! Bless you for enduring...

Relationships are hard to begin with. Added stress, from financial, personal, and/or other problems only exacerbates a strained relationship. But if your husband supports you and knows what you have been going through, having live through it with you, it can also be a source of strength that bonds you together.

I can tell from all you have been through that you are indeed a strong woman. Keep your chin up!

Donna

Elena Mutter <emgm42000@yahoo.com> wrote:
Artist, thank you so much, you are such a sweet heart! You made me cry! Which is such a bad thing right now, but thank you anyway LOL! Here's what I did new: A month ago I started 15 min. a day with the RED LED light from acnelamp. I also started the Aveeno like I said. No new medications. I use Noritate once or twice a day. Here's my regimen: After I shower, I was washing with Eucerin Redness Relief (but recently tried the Aveeno Calming wash). Then, while my face is still wet, with my wet hands I put on my wet face two to three drops of jojoba oil (recently added vitamin E oil with rose hip oil to this though). I let that dry naturally. Then I use my Patanol drops (which the last week has been switched to Elstat drops and Restasis drops). Then after 10 min. I put on the Noritate. Then after 10 min. more I either put on Hopes Relief or I was using the Eucerin Redness Relief moisturizer but then tried the Aveeno. Then if it is sunny out I put on Zinc Oxide
before going out. You know, just writing this out I notice I am using a LOT of product on my face. Night time is washing with the Eucerin Redness Relief. The whole wet face wet hands oil thing and it was Patanol eye drops but now is Elestat and Restasis eye drops (also, frequently throughout the day I use TheraTears eye drops and Genteal Gel drops), then it WAS the Eucerin Redness Relief moisturizer but NOW is the Aveeno calming moisturizer. For internals: I wake up at 5 a.m. and take my pro-biotic. Go back to bed. Between 6 and 7 a.m. I take the doxycycline (I was taking 40mg. in the morning and 40 in the evening and the eye doctor asked me to cut back but that was BEFORE this really bad flare). Then two hours later I take the first course of my supplements for the day after breakfast. This is the three Thera Tears oil cap. (a combination of fish and flax oil), one 1000mg. Ester C, two flaxseed caps., one Beta carotene, one selenium, one pycnogenol, one biotin,
one garlique, two MSM capsules, two grapeseed extract capsules. Two hours after that I take my reflux med. Two hours after that I take a zyrtec. Around 3 or 4 p.m. I take the rest of my supplements. One more grapeseed, one more MSM, one more flax seed cap., one more Ester C. Then two hours after that I take the doxycycline. Then before bed I take one 10mg. of Amitryptaline. Just before this flare I did color my hair but with a non-irritating natural color I get from either Wild Oats or Whole Foods. It's the only color I am able to use because you don't even feel it on your scalp.........NO BURNING whatsoever. But we all know the way it is with this disease. It is clear that I was already coming into a flare and maybe that tipped it for me. For sure my scalp is on fire NOW. This is definitely the worse time of year for Rosacea for me. Winter is bad. Even though I keep my heat down to 58 during the day time and my bedroom and upstairs zones to 60 or 62, it
doesn't matter because the air in the atmosphere is just drier too. I have a cool mist humidifier going from October until late spring. I clean it every two days with vinegar. It is literally never off. I honestly don't know what else I can do to keep hydrated. I drink minimum 8 glasses of water a day but during winter try very hard to get 10 to 12 in. Plus the green tea I think counts as water as long as your not using sugar and I use Stevia. So, do you think that maybe I am now reacting to my jojoba oil or maybe the vitamin E rosehip oil I added a few weeks ago? I think I must be reacting to the Aveeno wash and moisturizer (which is too bad because that is the nicest moisturizer I've felt in a looooong time). I have already gone back to the Eucerin Redness Relief Wash that I have been using for half a year now as I find it very cooling and soothing. Probably shouldn't have messed around with other stuff but I remember it being said here that we should
alternate so our skin does not become used to one product and then that product stops working. Do you think I should just go to washing with bottled water very plain and gently and then doing nothing else? Seems like that would be very hard to do. Wouldn't I get drier? Or just maybe use the Noritate after the water? The eye doctor told me to right away up the doxy very high. Not for very long, but he definitely said to double or triple it for now. So I'll do the 200mg. 100 in the day and 100 in the night. I have never done that before. The highest I've ever gone is 100 for the whole day. So the atenolol is for the flushing? How does it work for you. I really think I am ready to try ANYTHING to not feel this way anymore. I am allergic to pennicillin so I am not sure if someof the other options I read about in Dr. Nases book are okay for me. There was an antibiotic called Clarithromycin (not sure about the spelling) and another one in that family but I don't
know if they are okay for people who are allergic to pennicillin. Artist, I'm so sorry this is so long, and the rest of you guys........don't mean to take up all our time and resources, so so sorry guys! You are all very patient and compassionate. Now Artist, you mentioned the H pylori and I have heard this mentioned before. When your doctor checks for that, what does he prescribe for it? And medically it could be very possible that I am going into menopause (I will be 47 on the 18th of this month), but I have no signs that I am aware of. At this point people like to joke with me about "hot flashes" , but I have ALWAYS been hot. Well, at least I can trace it back to around the time I was diagnosed with Rosacea in my twenties. My clearest memory of being "hotter" than everyone else is when I was about 22 years old. I just chalked it up to being a mom and "house wife".........you know, always vacuuming, cleaning and washing in hot water. But I am sure it was the
Rosacea. I know that after EVERY single birth of a child about two to three months later I felt very much like I feel right now only no visible redness. I felt hot and stingy burning in my face, eyes, head, and ears and sometimes upper chest area. As for any new stresses, well my husband was sober for many years and has begun drinking again and it is becoming a strain on me and the kids. But we have unfortunately ALWAYS had a very stressful relationship. But this does kick it up a notch. Anyway, thanks for all your help and for wanting to help me figure out what could be going wrong for me here and get this under control. I really appreciate it. And again, my apologies to the group.

Much gratitude,
Elena

nurse_artist <nurse_artist@yahoo.com> wrote:
Oh dear, I am so sorry this is happening to you!

Elena is there anything you are doing or eating differently in the
morning? I wonder why the doctor would have you cut back on
antibiotics? Seems like you would need them right now to cut down the
inflammation. Maybe you can ask?

Is your home more dry than usual this year?

Or, the low-grade inflammation you describe might be the
culprit. Have you had that for a long time? Maybe not as bad, but tolerable? Perhaps that could have caused worsening over time and you reached the breaking point? Topicals have done this to me in the past. I had to cut back to no foundation makeup and extremely simple or no topicals a long time ago because they just caused a very low grade inflammation. I could feel low grade inflammation from lotions and even jojoba oil (I switched to Emu oil). If I let it persist, I get worse over time. Flush more easily, burning, painful skin, etc. Even an otc lotion or switching cleansers will cause problems for me over time. Combine that with dry winter weather and I'm in big trouble. And the flare can happen very quickly.

I cannot use any otc lotions - maybe the Aveeno line has caused problems?

I must use very, very simple topicals (just a few ingredients), humidify my home for moisture (along with my Emu Oil), IPL, RLT, Toleraine Dermo Cleanser, and oral meds (when I'm not pregnant): Atenolol for blushing 25mg per day, one Loratidine a day as my antihistamine. Tetracycline has worked for me in the past, too. All this prevents inflammation - even the low grade kind.

Another thought is that something is going on to cause you to flush more, which would make your rosacea worse. Things like H. Pylori infection (do you have an ulcer?), hot flashes, hormones, etc. Can your PCP check for H. Pylori? My PCP regularly checks for it when he has someone with rosacea. Are you taking any new medications for other health issues that might cause problems?

Well let's keep thinking and working on this. We are here for you!

Artist

--- In rosacea-support@yahoogroups.com, Elena Mutter <emgm42000@...>
wrote:
>
> Hi Everyone,
> Well, it's offical that I am in a pretty bad flare at this point.
I am flushing constantly now. It seems to be mostly afternoon, but
now it's hard to say; it's kind of constant to a low-level degree and
then it will intensify and then go back to this low-level flush/burn.
Last night my right eye hurt when I closed it too tight and when I
washed and looked in the mirror I noticed there is a bump on the lower
outside lid of the right eye. I have never had styes or the
chalazon's I've heard talked about. I know that winter is bad for me
but this is a whole new level. The last month I have introduced the
RED LED acnelamp, and the Aveeno Ultra Calming line of skin care
products. But it could be a coincidence as I was noticing redness of
a more permanant nature and increased burning since October. My eye
doctor also reccomended that I stop taking the 80 milligrams of doxy
and go back to the 40 milligrams and switch from Patanol eye drops to
Elestat eye drops and
> Restasis Eye drops. I have been doing that for about a week. And
I am a total mess now. I am burning and flushing on face, ears, top
of head, and eyes..........tons of heat coming off these areas. If I
put my hands on top of my head you can feel the heat. If I put my
hands close to my face, again, you can feel the heat. I am so afraid
this is going to go into what happened to me a few years ago. I can't
cope with that again. It was pretty unbearable not to be able to even
be touched by your childs hand. Not to be able to have clothes on
without excruciating pain. So far, it is just my face, eyes and
head, but that is how it started before too. It is clear that
dermatologist don't know how to handle this disease. Please, does
anyone know what kind of doctors handle flushing disease?? I am in a
very bad place right now and crying is killing me! I find that I am
better when I first wake up but as soon as I get going............take
a shower and start my day
> it goes bad very fast. I hate and am afraid of drugs but I'd take
anything that stops flushing right now, I just can't do this anymore!
What are the best ones for flushing again...........clonodine, lyrica
and there were others too right? I read Dr. Nases passages last night
for the eyes and he reccomended Borage Seed oil too, but didn't we
establish here that Borage seed oil made us flush? And now Evening
Primrose oil too? Why is it so contradictory?? Sorry, this is long,
I know and I am just very desperate and depressed now. The derm will
see me next Tuesday and I am waiting for a call from my eye doctor but
it is depressing because I know it will come to nothing and I will
just have to pray it goes away again..........but what if it doesn't
this time?? That's the fear that haunts me.....
> ~Elena
>
>
>
>
>
> Recent Activity
>
> 14
> New Members
>
> Visit Your Group
> New Message Search
> Find the message you want faster. Visit your group to try out the
improved message search.
>
>
>
>
> Share feedback on the new changes to Groups
>
>
>
> .
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

---------------------------------
Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

---------------------------------
Any questions? Get answers on any topic at Yahoo! Answers. Try it now.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]