Just been diagnosised with Rosacea

[seashore]

Hi, I've recently been told by the doctor that my red face is rosacea, I'm a bit miserable about it especially as I have had a bad reaction to the recommended antibootic I was put on and so couldn't continue with it - I'm now worried that it will kick back worse as that is what it said on the leafet if you fail to complete the course

I've devised a special diet which is meant to help and I have bought a moisturiser for it also, but if anyone has any advice or tips about make up products to help me I would be very grateful

I really wish I had lovely skin apparently this has it's roots in childhood stress and I can't turn the clock back there.

Please help!

Hmmm, my H&B does not stock Nutrasea, nor does their website. My search continues...

Another sufferer here I'm taking tetralysal and metronidazole, but I'm still very aware of the rosacea... I don't know if they're helping but I'm too scared to stop taking them incase I have a massive flare up!

I was referred to a very scary dermatologist, who gave me a list as long as my arm of foods to avoid. I told her about my many and varied food allergies, but no joy. If I'd avoided everything on her list as well, I'd be eating rice and not much else Apparently any hot drinks, anything containing caffeine, alcohol, pork, spices, vinegar, pepper, citrus fruit, bananas, plums, pasta, cheese, chocolate, peas and beans, tomatoes etc etc. Impossible to avoid all of those...

I'm going to Holland and Barrett tomorrow, so will check for Nutrasea!

HCB H&B don't seem to stock it any more.... I am searching on line and have found nutrisun.co.uk so far... if you find anything else, please post back!

Your list is basically at least 50-70% of my diet!!!AAAGHHH. Am about to cut out caffeine (due to teeth whitening ) for a while and have cut down massively alcohol after a fairy boozy summer. Chocolate is actually something I can take or leave, not bothered. But the rest???? Help!

SpongebobControlPants, my diet is pretty much avoiding the foods that have been mentioned here, I hadn't gone back to drinking alcohol since pregnancies anyway, in the morning I have porridge and blueberries, later a pear and a few nuts, tons of water throughout the day etc, fish, no baked beans (which I love) I don't know, it's hard to get a balance I always ate sheeps cheese and I don't know what to do now cause I don't want to get some bone problems by cutting down so much on dairy. It's a nightmare really!

My period has come on now, at least that's something but I am feeling that this is kind of controling my life right now. Also it explains so much, why I'd always avoid the sun, be down holding my wrists under the cold taps in the boiling hot (Irish) pubs of my 20's and 30's, why I never had any interest in sun holidays despite much nagging from my friends, and getting cranky at the end of the evening beside the open fire in my old flat, (now in a house with a heating switch that I barely turn on) etc.

Anyway, I also had a bad reaction to hair dye at Christmas (Psoriasis, Anonymousbird I sympathise )and so I haven't been able to dye my hair since then so overall it's just been a tough year. I'm used to just sticking on my make up and forgetting about my appearance, now I feel like I'm going through a second adolesence (at 41 yrs!) trying to get used to this new me, I was aging so well cause of super oily skin and I'm slim but now I fell I've lost my identity to a degree that is unhealthy, why does there have to be so much pressure on women? Must say though dh who doesn't have a single grey hair has been so supportive, he says he likes it, just let it grow out it looks great!

Thanks though everybody, you have all been so kind here to me it means a lot X

One week in on this diet and I've got to say, it's not easy, don't know how I'll keep it up.

tetracycline (antibiotic) works a treat for me. not much else works im afraid. but i live in a very harsh climate so thats always going to be a big factor.

Frikonastick,thanks maybe I should ask for that one instead on going back onto the one I'm now a bit nervous of? How long do you take it for?

i take 1000 miligrams for a month,then 500 for a month then 250 for a month.

so 3 months in total, with the dosage decreasing each month.

the last time i did it i was clear for ages and ages afterwards and am only back on it now because stress has kicked it off again.

when i finish this course, i am going to have laser treatment too. zap all those teeny tiny veins :)

Thanks frikonastick, I might try it and best of luck with the laser treatment

thanks seashore, good luck to you too :)

Thanks for the mention of us BelieveInLife!

I work with the doctors at Medicetics. Rosacea is unfortunately a chronic inflammatory condition so anything that increases the inflammation will make it worse. You can only really manage it and never fully get rid of it. Harsh foaming cleansers and anything that smells of mint is a no go. Microdermabrasion and exfoliation can definitely make things worse, just got to think in terms of calming things down. A simple milky cleanser or something like cetaphil and a good sunscreen are two simple things you can do to start.
Intense pulsed light IPL can also work well or even taking low dose anti inflammatory meds. If it is combined with acne (acne rosacea) it can be much trickier to treat and probably worth a visit to your GP - most GP surgeries will have a skin specialist, ask to see them.

Hope that helps the thread! All the best.

Thanks Medicetics, that's a very interesting post

is simple soap alright to use?

What is Intense pulsed light?

Hi Seashore,

Although we think of simple soap as pretty benign, it's actually nearly always harsh on the skin so definitely avoid in Rosacea.

Cetaphil is available in most decent chemists and costs less than £10 for a 250 ml bottle.

IPL (Intense Pulse Light) is a bit like a laser. However instead of treating a very narrow range of spots of a certain colour, it has a slightly wider range. There are good clinical studies that show it reduces the redness of rosacea with a course of treatments and we have had some great results. There is no more than some redness for a couple of hours after the treatment. The downside is that, as rosacea is a chronic condition, you may require maintenance treatments every 4-6 months. What is IPL for rosacea? - here's a link to our website for a bit more info bit.ly/9dh7q2

All the best!

Just for information, I have always used Neal's Yard skincare and recently became a consultant for it. As part of my training, we were told to recommend the rose products for clients with rosacea, and in particular, our wild rose beauty balm, which can be used for cleansing and as a mask. NY also has a rose facial wash, rose water toner and 2 different rose based moisturisers.

If you have a NY shop near you, you should ask for some samples of these products to see if they help. They have no chemicals or synthetic ingredients in them so are ideal for skin that is already a bit stressed.

Having read this thread, I feel so much more informed on rosacea and have to thank you all for that. At several of my parties, I have had people approach me to ask about treating it so it's great to be able to understand these customer's needs better.

Thank you Medicetics, I will buy some Cetaphil instead of soap,and it's good to know what IPL is just in case, thanks

Thank you dingdong also,those products sound interesting and I'm glad this thread has been of help, a lot of the time I feel guilty that this is upsetting me as it is not a serious threatening illness but it is very distressing to live with as I am 41 yrs and have now had a very bad realtionship with my skin since I was 12 yrs old. I was actually looking forward to sawpingspots for wrinkles but now I see I'll still be red

I thought my skin would get better with age, before I knew it was rosacea (am 42 now) so I know just what you mean.

It can be very distressing, although thankfully mine looks a lot better since being on the antibiotic tablets. I haven't gone down the dietary route yet, and when I see lists of what I should avoid it makes me feel quite glum. But I would like to get the overall redness much more under control though.

IPL sounds like it's worth investigating, but not if it costs a fortune....

As an adult acne sufferer, I can empathise seashore with having a bad relationship with your skin....worse thing is having spots AND wrinkles...so not fair

Thanks everybody, it means so much that it's not just me, I'm back at the doctors on Wednesday and will probably get a different antibiotic, that one gave me bad headaches too so I need something else.

I googled some reviews for Cetaphil and there were many bad ones, it seems to work for some not for others so I think I'll just stick to simple soap for now.

What cleansing routine do you all use? Any tips?

I had rosccea for about 15 years. I used to use Avene stuff (you can buy in Boots) which was not bad. However since I gave up drinking over 5 years ago it has completely disappeared. I can now wear no make up and still look OK (well not great but my skin is clear if you get my drift!)

I drank loads and did have an issue with alcohol which I why i gave it up. But one of the best things about not drinking was having nice skin again. I now know there was a direct link between my rosacea and drinking.

I still drink about a glass of wine a week now but my skin is still OK and touch wood it hasn't reappeared. I also found when I took my folic acid when I was pregnant that my skin looked really good.

You have my sympathy...I hated my skin for years. Had awful skin for most of my 20's. I have no idea what your diet is like but if you do drink wine etc try a couple of weeks without (sorry know it's boring!) and see if it improves. Good luck

Wish that would work for me but I don't drink alcohol only tons of water!! And my diet is so healthy it's just not fair anyway I'm back on the anitbiotic now and eager for it to kick in, thanks seshi though, when I'm pregnant it seems to get worse for me, I think because of the hormones etc, but I'm done with pregnancy now!

this is supposed to be good

thanks topsi