roseacea - is it all doom and gloom?

[notactuallyme]

Have suspeected roseacea. Hot flushes over last few months, itchy mildly flaky eyes over last two weeks, and pink sore skin on forehead and nose. Gp given me some gel, using eyedrops and teatree oil on eye margins. But, the internet has terrified me. Images of thickened skin, red faces, huge nosees and talk of depression and disfigurement. Really? Or will it be ok?

Oh yeah...I avoid fatty meat, especially pork and I never rub my face with a rough towel or use any skin scrub, exfoliation etc.

holyfishnets if that is the same as IPL then yes it is used for rosacea

Wow, come back with a load of new prodcucts and find heaps more advice! Thanks - glad we can all share stuff. nigella I mix mine, but you can get them from specsavers - blephwipes or something? Behind the till. Check if you need them tho. I use boots intensive dry eyes drops, and so far so good. My eyes feel almost normal today after about 5 days use? Not an antihistamine one, alltho I take an oral one. Get your optician to check for dry eyes and blepharitis too.

Hello,

I have found that drinking aloe vera gel (it tastes gross) and putting aloe vera gel on my face has helped by miles. I have done this for about a month but two weeks ago I started drinking it at least twice a day and thats when I saw a massive improvement. I use forever products. -They are a funny company but the products are really good.

I've had it all my life - fairly low level mostly, though it did bring on acne for a few years in my late 20s-early 30s.

I pretty much put nothing on my skin now. I have one very gentle cleanser which I wash my face with once a day and I use a mineral sunblock on it, but other than that I just leave it be, and that seems to be the best for it.

Zinc supplements help too, when I forget to take any for a while (I don't take them every day, just a couple of times a week) my skin definitely gets worse.

I get roseca on my face - mainly cheeks and nose, occasionally forehead. It's much worse in winter when dry winter skin just exacerbates the problem. And yet I read that heat can make it flair up
January, February were particularly bad, I had to drag myself off to the doctors and I rarely ever need the doctors it was that bad.

I was prescribed Rozex which cleared it up and touch wood I haven't had to go back. I have thought about asking for a repeat script in case it comes back with a vengeance. I am always waiting for it to come back.

I use Oilatum bath formula as a face wash and the Oilatum repair cream. They work really well for me and keep my flakey skin under control.
Tea tree oil burns like hell. I won't touch the stuff again. Even 'gentle' dermatologically tested creams and ointments aggravate.
It is hormone related isn't it. Though I don't think this is the cause for me, I'm pretty sure that stress is my trigger.

Rosacea

I have long suspected I have Roseacea. I have switched to using Pond's as a cleanser, and all my products have been switched over to those without parabens/sulphates etc. My face is much better now.

I have noticed that too much sun can increase the problem so have been using sunscreen, and I also noticed that the problem, for me at least, increased whenever I used hormone contraceptives. So I switched to a copper coil.

Wine seems to be a trigger as with other people, but I do let myself have some occasionally. Spicy stuff too can trigger it for me.

I'm back from the GP with a long course of doxycycline. So, no alcohol (but that's bad for the rosacea anyhow and I'm not that bothered about drinking) and will probably need that factor 50 sunblock from the warnings on the datasheet.

Oh, and this was the mature woman GP who was a bit stunned her colleagues had still been prescribing me Marvelon - they should have stopped when I hit 50 - so its just as well I've got the ABs as I'm very likely to get actual acne. Oh joy.

can't spell!

Also has anyone tried Retin-A/tretinoin?

Oh grimma - make sure you get her again.
Ample - just to clarify, I'm not using teatree oil for roseaca, but mixed when it might have been belepharitis as a lid wipe. It does burn and would be useless on sore skin.
Bought a load of aloe vera stuff from body shop. And a foundation from 'Vert'? 98 percent natural.
Not heard of retin-a

I'm on day 3 of Tretinoin 0.01% - too early to report but not had excessive peeling (yet!)

FarloRigel, i think i have the same experience as you then.

if i'm constantly on the omeprazole, my rosacea is fine - well my skin is red but no burning. i stopped for a couple of weeks a month ago and sure enough, my skin felt quite burny.

i use a sun screen that seems to keep it under control as well. at least it hasn't got worse...

miomio I've just started Tretinoin gel .025 for fine lines/some spots. Am about to put my third lot on any moment. No peeling as yet thankfully but fully expect it. Using Cetophil moisturiser and cleanser in the hope it might help me through these next few weeks fingers crossed. What about you?

Mine gone within a week with a simple of regimen of putting as little as possible on my skin, no hot water and using a medicated cream.

Dermatologist advised I only use a lotion to cleanse morning and evening (Crealine sensibio) + physiogel lotion to moisturize when necessary.
the medicated cream is called elidel.It basically acts as an anti-inflammatory a bit like steroids.
i used it once a day for a week and now only if needed (works in couple of days)

I now use 45+ sunscreen every morning too.

Praben/silicone/etc... free is always a great idea when you have sensitive skin. I switched to those too and the psoriasis flare ups I used to have quite badly are now far and few with no topical medication at all.

Aloe vera cleanser from the body shop is great.

You must use a sunscreen.

Low dose anti-biotics help a lot (agreed the gel is crap)

Avoid alcohol both on your skin and in it! (wine is worse than lager for me)
Avoid too much dairy/spicy foods

Whgat has helped me most though is avoid too much sugar! In fact if you avoid all sugar (including reducing your carbs considerably) then it might just make all the difference. It has for me.

Good luck!!! and I hope you find what works for you because its such a debilitating thing to have to live with.
I have had it for a lot of years now and at the sore pustule stage for many, didnt self diagnose til late and the docs only ever gave me acne creams til then (IDIOTS) but the above makes me look almost normal, bar the odd tiny flare up! :)

That's interesting. I started with rosacea and hay fever at around the same time.

I take cetrizine hydrochloride for hay fever (which is piriton I think) which seems to have no side effects. Found that drinking alcohol seemed to make rosacea worse but didn't feel it was bad enought to visit doc (probably because I always have flaky skin on face). I look forward to trying some of the suggestions here.

Thanks tinker and everyone since my last post. I need to find a sunscreen for myy face - but which layer should it be? ! Gel, moisturiser, green cream, foundaation....

I would try to get a moisturiser with SPF 15 or 30 already in it, that should do for an average day just going about. If you will really be in the sun get a stronger sunscreen and skip the foundation/makeup.

I would really echo what some others have said about putting as little on your face as you can -- I know it's hard when it's really red and you want to cover up, but it really can exacerbate things. If you can grit your teeth and go a week or two without foundation you may see a huge improvement.

The Body Shop aloe vera stuff is really nice, good choice! I also had good effects with their Vitamin E night cream, it's very soothing.

notactually That's a question i would like answered;not wishing to look like a chalk faced ghoul I often put a healthy Glow mineral powder OVER my sunblock but does that negate the sunblock effect? BTW I use organic Hemp seed Oil Sun Block by Yaoh which does sink in fast to be fair.

Well, I can't find anything about it. Moisturiser witth sunscreen a good idea. Will check the aloe vera stuff to see if it has one.
Gp agreed to change from gel to cream. Am going to summarise all the prodct recommendations.

Mineral sunscreens are the only ones that really work apparently.
Even better with zinc oxide, more coverage but not a great base for make up.

Just tried the maybeline mineral beauty balm which is spf 50+ and that's a great base for days i need to look "made up"

The problem I find with most products is that they're full of crap ingredients I can't understand and I'm usually allergic to them. I was thinking that maybe i don't have roseacea although i used to be red about the neck and face since my healthy eating regime I don't get that just a few tiny spots and the one nasty ON MY NOSE !!!!

Don't know if this is helpful but;
Body shop aloe vera had several yes votes
La roche posay had similar
Clinique had lots of recommendations for variously moisturiser, foundation and city blockn and anti redness cleanser but not the 3 step.
Avene and dr hauska ( rose not quince) came up.
Also: green people, faith in nature, baby shampoo for eyes, dead sea mud soap, lush brit nanny, nip and fab facial oil, bobbi b concealer, akamuti, lauder idealist serum and camoflage cream, www. Rosacea-ltd. Com products, ultrasun, e45 itch relief, argan oil and oilatum.
Appologies for any I missed. Also alcohol, certain foods, best avoided or minimised.
Metrogel good but not makeup friendly - rosex easier to use.
Thank you - this thread is cheering me up weirdly.