Awful skin! (acne? rosacea?)

[Laugs]

Please help me sort out my truly rubbish skin.

I've always had spots since I was about 12. Although I had lots of horrible, sore white headed spots as a teenager, they didn't cover my face. There were far worse than me in school. These spots always got worse if I had a late night, was on my period etc. Skin was naturally greasy. This continued into my early 20s.

At 24 I got pregnant with DD and my skin was the best it's ever been throughout the pregnancy. When she was born, I went on the pill (not sure if this is related) and gradually it flared up to being worse than ever. I rarely get white heads, but have so many tiny red spots which virtually join up in places. My skin seems to react to every kind of product I put on it. It constantly looks weather beaten.

I tried antibiotics which did very little. Then I tried going off the pill, but not long after this (2 or 3 months) we decided to try for another baby. During this pregnancy, my skin got even worse again. Once, after being violently ill, it flared up really badly - around my eyes, down my neck etc. The doctor gave me a short course of antibiotics for acne rosacea, but it made no difference and I didn't want to continue as I was pregnant.

Also during the pregnancy, patches of skin on my body lost their pigmentation (don't know if this is relevant).

The baby is now 3 months old, but my skin is just as terrible. It is red, flaky, sometimes itchy, sometimes gets hot. I rarely used to wear make-up, but now I can't even use that occasionally to cover up my spots as it sticks to the flaky patches and looks even worse.

I am getting so fed up with this. I will be 29 in two weeks and I've had awful skin for 17 years!

Does anyone have any advice? I have made an appointment with the GP for Friday, but I would like an idea of what I hope they can do for me before I go. I am breastfeeding, so will be limited in what I can take.

you need a referal to a dermatologist.

do you moisturise? i had rosaca and dermatitus which was aggravated because i became so scared of products and just stopped putting anything on my face.

topical antibiotics helped but changing my diet really helps. i stopped eating spicy food and red wine.

good luck adn do push fora referral because it really affects your confidence.

Thanks Obama. I will ask for a referral on Friday.

I'm not drinking at the moment due to BF, although have a sneaking suspicion my skin is worse when I do (bah!)

I try to moisturise, but everything I put on my skin seems to make it worse. Is there one you can recommend?

You're right, it has really dented my confidence.

dr hauschka rose cream is fairly good but am having to economise so using a oil free one atm but can't remember the make.

i am not normally one for the woo, but i had accupuncture (for something else) and teh practitioner advised me on diet. it really helped

So is the main thing you changed just cutting red wine and spicy food, or other dietary changes?

it was a bit woo. apparently my inner fire was too strong or something so i cut out ginger, garlic all other hot foods, tomatoes caffiene, booze.

i now eat all the of the above in moderation. probably worth asking your gp about diet advice as well.

Thanks for coming back. It feels like my GP is not too interested in diet advice etc, but would rather just prescribe something, but I will ask.

I'm happy to be told about my inner fire if it makes a difference. Maybe I'll try a holistic therapist...

I do drink a lot of coffee.

my sister had this kind of problem and turned out to be citric acid which is in loads of food stuff as well as make up and moisturisers and allsorts. since she has cut it out its cleared up.

be worth checking with gp or dermatiologist

Thanks Martini. Did she have allergy testing or was it just trial and error until she found out the cause?

Just wanted to say I know how you feel, turned 30 last year and realised that I have had bad skin for 20 years. I tried the antibiotic stuff and it helped my skin clear up but am still plagued by dry patches round the edge...

Might be worth trying rosex cream - but make sure the doc prescribes the cream and not the gel if you have flakey skin - for some reason the 'default prescription' seems to be for the gel. If the spots are rosacea related then it should help deal with them. The jury is out on whether it actually helps reduce redness but that's where things like the hauschka cream and others might help. I use a clinique day cream and sometimes also a sulphur cream from harrogate sulphur coy - that can help some people.

Sounds daft - but always make sure the coffee cools a bit before you drink it - often people blame caffeine when in fact it might just be the hot drink that causes your skin to flare. Good luck.

Thanks all for the suggestions.

Bellissima, if I was prescribed a cream, would I then use Dr Hauschka or similar on top?

Mothership, it is depressing isn't it? I am still coming to terms with the fact I am not 17, never mind 17 years of this!

i used to moisturise then medicate.

i took my makeup bag into the labour ward with me, which is really not like me, i just couldn't bear the thought of looking at all dd's first pictures and not being able to think about anything but my big red face!

i had about 3 courses of antibiotics intravenously after having her which help enormmously but wasn't sustainable!

I actually put the rozex (rosex? - doc will know correct sp!) cream on first and then moisturiser on top - but probably doesn't make much difference. During the day I then add a bit of the clinique 'redness solutions' SPF cream (which has a green tint) and foundation. In summer I use a tinted moisturiser or a goldeny (rather than orangey!) fake tan.

Thanks again. I didn't manage to get back on to say that yesterday afternoon.

Can I ask if anyone has recommendations for make-up? I suppose I can't do much about the fact it clags on my flaky skin (Yuk!) but do you use special cover-up make-up or just normal foundation?

Have you tried that mineral powder foundation? That might be less likely to clog up your flakey bits!

Thanks Shaz, I'll have a look at that.

I saw the GP today. Unfortunately as I am breastfeeding a lot of options are out for me, even topical cream, which surprised me. He has prescribed an antibiotic but it was his third choice so I'm not sure how effective it will be. I think I'll have to adapt my diet and find a cream to tone down the redness too - or go into hiding.

Hi Laugs

I too have such rubbish skin.

But I'm a bit older, 41 and for a 2 years or so my skins has gone really bad.

I wash my face good but always have spots, red itchy ones that sometimes hurt. Without make-up I look awful. Then when I wear make-up and it wears off, I look dreadful again.

My nose especially is spotty and red blotchy and around the nostrils it;s really itchy. It's every so flaky too. I usually get them in clusters, some months my forehead, then they fade and its on my right cheek, and so on.

I thought it may be hormonal (my periods are changing too). I should go to a dermatolgist and sort it out.

Maybe after Easter I will book an appointment. Drives you a bit mad.

Hope the antibotics works, tells if it improves and what they are called.

Sounds like it might be rosacea. Antibitoics do help sometimes but you may have to have prolonged and repeated course. There are other options, including creams, but you GP is right - some are not recommended in pregnancy.
In a more general way avoiding spicey foods, alchol and caffeine,as others have suggested, might help. More important is to protect the skin from sun damage and I would suggest a good sunblock if you're out and about, even in winter.

Yes hoomach, it is rosacea.

Could yours be that northern? It's rubbish isn't it? I would quite like to hide.

The AB I got was erythromycin (sp?) but I felt as if they were prescribed because I can take them while breastfeeding, rather than them being the ideal solution.

The GP said if they didn't work I could go to a dermatologist or may have finished BF by then (although I was hoping to feed for quite a while...)

Just wiki'ed rosacea and I think it is what I've got.

I think I will make that appointment.

At the moment is not as bad as usual. I did try head and shoulders which did actually help a bit.

Check this - it's a TV program about skin issues by the Professor Anthony Chu Head of Dermatology at Hammersmith Hospital, and Samantha Braby, an Advanced Skincare Consultant

Really interesting and good to hear the science behind things like this

Avoid seafood and spicy foods. Take bio zinc and vitamin E.