5 months post last tx with Dr C

[scrumptious]

Hello everyone,

Haven't been around for a while. Thought i would share the last photo i took, obviously my skin looks pretty good. In the last 5 months i have mildly flushed twice although i am fully aware come Winter that may all change.

I think i had 6 tx's in all (the info is in the laser area of this site) with Dr C, i am seeing him again on Wednesday for a maintenance blast and plan on booking every three months for the foreseeable. I am also taking 100mg of spiro every other day, which is keeping the zits to a bare minimum.

I think that's it really!

xx

http://i4.tinypic.com/23u3koh.jpg

[redhotoz]

Wow! You're looking great! Fantastic! Thanks for the up-date.

Jen

[Quench]

Wow - your skin looks amazing. What is spiro btw?

[IowaDavid]

You look quite pretty. :D

[scrumptious]

Thanks.

Spiro works as an anti-androgen.

' An antiandrogen, or androgen antagonist, is any of a group of hormone antagonist compounds that are capable of preventing or inhibiting the biologic effects of androgens, male sex hormones, on normally responsive tissues in the body. Antiandrogens usually work by blocking the appropriate receptors, competing for binding sites on the cell's surface, obstructing the androgens' pathway'.

So basically i have high levels of testosterone naturally, i took Dianette when i was younger but the effects wore off. Went a good 10 years with having quite a few spots and it making me feel rubbish, and decided to try Spiro so i could forget my face. its worked really well.

I do think though that i am just on the cusp of moving past that stage now at 31 1/2 as the KP on my arms seems to have nearly gone and i can get away with taking Spiro far less and i'm getting the same result.

Woke up this morning with a gobful of coldsores though, but we can't have everything :wink:

[Quench]

Thanks for the info. Is Spiro a prescription drug or is it available to buy?

[Quench]

It's OK - I found it!

http://www.thinknatural.com/products/114095/Higher-Nature-Spiro-Cal-90-tablets.htm

Edited - or maybe not! just saw that there is a drug Spironolactone? that sounds more like it.

[scrumptious]

It is a prescription drug but i do buy it online having discussed it with a GP and read lots of literature on it.

I can't condone buying prescription medication online, it is always advisable to get it through proper channels and be monitored initially at least as it can cause irregular periods and birth abnormalities.

ETA: yep it is Spironolactone.

[slippy]

What's TX? I dont have much time on the internet and therefor dont know as much jargon as you guys.

Please explain.

[Felix2]

TX doesn't mean anything really, people who are rosacea "savvy" use it.

Well done, Truly Scrumptious!

[GJ]

Excellent!

[scrumptious]

TX is just short for 'treatment'.

i had a really interesting treatment session today. I haven't had a tx for 5 months, i was a little concerned that in that time my condition may have regressed, instead it has progressed healing wise and the blood map shows that my skin i now normal. no high peaks of blood flow, in 3d landscape view is is pretty much flat. Amazing!

Dr C also used a new bit of kit that works with the Dermetrics software where you take a photo and it shows the blood flow immediately underneath. It showed that some areas in my cheeks, my chin, nose and areas of my forehead (where i have picked at spots in the past) are somewhat affected. But this just showed as a varying shade of blue, as opposed to a bright yellow which is apparent on those that have base redness.

Hope that made a tiny bit of sense! So anyway the technology tells me i am better, i am still going to have maintainance treatments to make sure i don't slip back but otherwise i am going to start focussing on my mental health as i am finding it very difficult to snap back to 'normal' living. I am looking into cognitive behavioural therapy, and hope one day i come back and not only talk about my skin having improved but also that my life in general is now much more rounded.

xx

[Twickle Purple]

Congratulations Scrumptious! You look lovely!
I've got to read more on this blood mapping you talk about. I've seen it mentioned before, the high testosterone too. Is "Dr. C" Dr. Crouch?

Best wishes with getting 'out there' again.
Twickle Purple.

[Quench]

hi scrum,

What you've written about all this new technology is really interesting. It sounds like it could even be used as a diagnostic tool for rosacea.

[Felix2]

i'm sorry to say that i think all those laser treatments have tightened your face up a tad. tell me, are you able to close your mouth these days?

[scrumptious]

i'm sorry to say that i think all those laser treatments have tightened your face up a tad. tell me, are you able to close your mouth these days?

Thanks


Quench, i've found the new technology really helpful but i can only give my opinion.

[scrumptious]

Congratulations Scrumptious! You look lovely!
I've got to read more on this blood mapping you talk about. I've seen it mentioned before, the high testosterone too. Is "Dr. C" Dr. Crouch?

Best wishes with getting 'out there' again.
Twickle Purple.

Yes, Dr C is Dr Crouch. I did go into the technology in more detail on my other threads in the laser area of the forum. I found it helpful as otherwise the physician only has his eyes and your opinion as a way to judge how things are going, and its difficult to be objective about yr own progress.

[supdawg234]

I'm glad to see you seem to finally be Rosacea free. Did you honestly ever anticipate that you would? How long have you suffered? I'm just wondering because you seem like you've had amazing results and that gives me, as I;m sure with many others, hope. Thanks for sharing and best wishes.

[scrumptious]

I'm glad to see you seem to finally be Rosacea free. Did you honestly ever anticipate that you would? How long have you suffered? I'm just wondering because you seem like you've had amazing results and that gives me, as I;m sure with many others, hope. Thanks for sharing and best wishes.

Hmmm, i think i probably didn't believe i would ever be free of it and yet i prayed everyday that i would. I also had people around me that were convinced i would get rid of it so they probably helped my mindset.

I started flushing daily at 22, first noticed i had a problem at 20 and am now 31. That's about a decade gone.

Thanks for yr best wishes.

[Mark_M]

Hi remember me.... Mark from before the big crash on ESFB.

You are looking great, (I am a tad jelous) I will be coming to England for some IPL laser work soon. So if you could recomend someone that would be good. Hows the graphics work going?

Hey keep positive you look great. Beautiful eyes..

Well that should be enough compliments to last you untill tommorrow..

See ya gorgeous,

[claudia]

Hi Scrumptious,

Congrats on GREAT looking skin! Good to see someone else is also benefitting from Spironolactone! It's worked great for me too. I started at 100mg/day and am now at 50mg/day. I tried 25mg/day but it didn't work as well (...pharmacist says that 50mg/day is really low and 25mg is basically nothing). What is "KP"???

FYI --- I don't have high testosterone but my derm says that some people are just sensitive to even regular amounts of androgen (testosterone) in the bloodstream and their skin inflames easily from it. I'm one of those.

CV

[red111]

Hi there what treatments did you have again not clued up on the names of them you mentioned somthing about tx and spironolacton.

[Gemini]

Scrumptious, you look beautiful. I am interested in some more info. about this Spironolactone. I never heard of it. I am going to my female doc. next month and I was going to ask her to check my hormone levels. I am having some symptoms of pre-menopause (so I think) and I'm thinking that this might be another symptom. I eat very well, I excercise, and I try to take good care of myself. Could you please help me. I went for so many laser treatments and I still flush every night. What symptoms should I be haveing if I am in need of this Spironolactone treatment. By the way I was diagnosed with rosacea when I was 30 I am now 36. Thank you for all of your info.

[claudia]

Hi Gemini and Red111 (...sorry I didn't respond to your earlier post - must have missed it somehow...)

Spironolactone is actually a very mild diuretic that's been in use for over 60 years I think and considered a very safe drug. It was originally and still is prescribed for people who need to lower their blood pressure or for heart problems associated with excess fluid in the body (...although at much higher doses than used for skin problems...).

It spares potassium so the only thing you have to watch is not eating table salt replacements, potassium suppliments, or too many high potassium foods such as a whole bunch of bananas in one day...but as my pharmacist says - who does that anyway?

The only other side effect is that it blunts androgens (male hormones) which then allows any estrogen in the body to be more dominant. This is not good for males since it can lead to enlarged breasts! So consequently Spiro fell out of favor for males especially as newer meds were developed. However, this "side effect" was found to be very good for many females, especially ones dealing with excess facial hair and adult "acne"...both of which seem to occur more as we lose the balance of hormones we used to have. Pre-menopause we have more estrogen than testosterone and post-menopause is just the opposite. So if you know you're in or starting menopause, your hormone balance is going to be changing but it won't show up as an imbalance because that's normal (...just FYI). Plus I think many rosaceans are ultra-sensitive and stress releases androgens which are for many people very irritating. My derm thinks my hormone balance is normal for my age (56) but the Spiro helps my body cope with it better!

The dose used for skin problems is very low, although to get things started it is a little higher sometimes, i.e. 100mg/day. As I shared above, I'm down now to just 50mg/day and tried to stay at 25mg/day but that didn't work. FYI --- spiro takes several months to really work because it is gentle to the system. However this means it can also be used for a lifetime because it was developed specifically to do this. I like the fact that it is using a mechanism within my own body to increase estrogen (...by blunting androgens...). I may not have much estrogen in my body but the balance of estrogen to androgen (or testosterone) is now favoring the estrogen.

The other drug I take is Bactrim but this is because in addition to rosacea I struggle with cystic acne. I've been slowly lowering the Bactrim as well and hope to get it down to just 2x/wk. I tried the usual rosacea antibiotics (minocycline, doxycycline, etc.) but they didn't seem to work very well for me so my derm put me on a sulfa drug which worked immediately - amazing! I started both the Spiro and Bactrim about a year ago following a really bad bad flare-up.

Actually now that the Spiro has had a long time to work I should probably trust that I can lower the Bactrim. After decades of suffering I have to admit that I get scared of changing anything that's working! But my derm is trying to get me to trust the process...

cv

[Strive]

Claudia,

KP is short for "keratosis pilaris."

http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic211.htm

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/keratosis-pilaris/DS00769

[zafeirenia]

:) you are super
you are looking great!!bravo!~