Pity party

[Skywolf]

I am not feeling good, cant sleep. I have a major break out happening, and it hurts.The right side of my face is fine, the left side has gone to heck in a hand basket. Sorry for bringing down the Christmas spirit, but this stinks. I want my face back.

[Skywolf]

How do you all afford this disease? I have no money for this, I cant go to a derm, I have to self treat. My Dad, also a rosacean, gives me motrogel, which doesnt help. Im sorry again, just having a really bad day.

[redhotoz]

Hey there Laura

It's late here and I've just finished up my Christmas celebrations. Guess you are just about to start.

You know, it doesn't have to be expensive. I don't bother with a Derm. I learn more here and the RSG than any Derm can tell me.

On a positive note, I spent some time shopping in the city. Whoo hoo! What fun! What I did find was a brilliant makeup to cover the permanent redness I have. I'm not a big user of makeup but this one has been great the past few days. Has lifted my spirits and made me feel 'normal'. Also found a sunscreen...brilliant...even though I have never liked using them. This one is fantabulous.

I'll post about it when I get back home. I'm still at Mum and Dad's home right now and have a big day tomorrow. Beach on the agenda. Whoo hoo!

Will check in tomorrow or the next day.

Jen

[Skywolf]

Thanks Jen,
Got a little sleep, feel a little better, just needed to vent I guess. I have also learned a lot here (my most recent research topic, demodex mites, how yucky! No wonder I cant sleep thinking of a colony of yuckies living on my face!) I have also been doing a lot of research on the benefits of tea, quite fascinating really.
Have fun on the rest of your holiday, though I am now seriously jealous of you since you are at the beach!

Laura

[Twickle Purple]

So sorry that this is happening to you Skywolf.

I'm not familiar with your medical system, so forgive me if these are obvious questions. Do you have to pay out of pocket to see a doctor or derm? If not, could you find one that can give you some free samples to try? Do you have coverage for Rx? I know that someone here posted that they get their stuff from the Mexico pharms which is a whole lot less expensive. Then there's the Canadian pharms... I've read that Rx were very expensive in the US.

Have you checked out the mites theory? Your rosacea symptoms seem like the type that are similar to some others that have treated the demodex with great success. Along with a diet change, the ZZ cream brought HenCloud's symtoms under control and cleared up his P+P alot. His last post was inspiring.

I hope you find some relief!
And, I hope that 2007 brings a CURE!!

Big hugs,
Twickle Purple

[Millie]

Merry Merry everyone!

Listening to a little John Mayer - present for my sweetie - while I write this - I am loving this new album!

Mites - yep, I think that I MITE have them as well!

I have been using this new prescription (see prescription meds) 2x a day, and I must say, that after a HUGE day of celebrating - wine, chocolate, heavy food, a long walk outside, sitting by the fire - my face looks pretty good. No flares/flushing most of all. My face is not on fire.

I have been using this stuff for 5 days.

The idea of these smarmy critters on my face is revolting.

So sad to hear that you are bumming, skywolf.

[Skywolf]

Yes I have to pay out of pocket. Im not employed at the moment, and can't afford healh coverage on my own.
I have been looking at ZZ cream, seems within my pirce range but I havent fpund a site I can order it with a money order (no bank account or credit cards at the moment)
I have been using green tea (read it can kill the little buggers) as a face wash, and for 2 days i looked great, then broke out like this. Is it true that when the little beasties die, you break out more before you get better? Something about them decomposing inside your skin (oh how gross is that) The thought of decaying microrganisms in my face is only slightly more disturbing that having them live on it

[Twickle Purple]

I found this site. I don't know if it will be helpful or not...

http://www.demodexsolutions.com/default.asp?testimonials.asp~mainFrame

[phlika29]

Might be worth laying off the green tea for a bit and seeing if it calms down or diluting it more. After christmas I've got some new meds to try but decided to wait until after as I didn't want to break out and ruin christmas and my birthday.

Try an antihistamine as it might calm the break out abit.

Best wishes

sarah

[claudia]

Hi Skywolf --- so so sorry to hear about your bad flare-up! I'm thinking about you and hoping things calm down soon. And I know what it's like to be poor without insurance and needing help! Was there for many years...

Here's some ideas to help get you over the hump of this flare-up while you're still figuring out how to pay for more specialized longterm care from a derm...

The natural - no prescription route that much has been written about is definately worth a try (trigger diet, ZZ cream, etc.). Unfortunately that doesn't always completely take care of nasty bad flares with deep p&p's...(like my situation).

FYI - one of the primary active ingredients in ZZ cream is salicylic acid which is really cheap to buy over the counter. Some people swear by it. And as far as mites are concerned all of my doctors swear that mites are killed by any topical antibiotic (ie metrogel) and anything that kills germs...ie benzoil peroxide, salicylic acid, etc. ZZ cream is NOT the only thing that kills mites. Plus there's still a tremendous amount of controversy about the mites issue...whether or not it's really a significant cause of rosacea. If you're diligent about putting something on your face once a day designed to kill bacteria then you're also killing the mites.

Do you have community health clinics in your area? Ours here will see people for a very small nominal fee and if you know what it is you need to treat your condition (i.e. doxycycline, minocycline, or bactrim, etc., metrogel, etc.) then the clinic will prescribe it for you.

Next thing is to ask if the clinic has samples and then also call the pharmacies to see if any will consider a payment plan. Many clinics carry samples of antibiotics.

Or you can call all the derms in your area and see if any would consider a payment plan. (...pleading and begging with tears sometimes helps...). To get you over a flare-up would require one visit + the prescription for antibiotics and metrogel. Could anyone front you the money and then you pay them back?

You say you're using your dad's metrogel but is it the new 1% strength? This new product is totally different than the older lesser strength stuff.

Asking for help from family (...you can make this my birthday + xmas gift...etc.) is ok. As a mom I'd want my kids to ask me if they needed money for a medical problem and I'd want to help them. That's what we're here for...for life!

I hope this helps a little.

[Skywolf]

Thanks Claudia, that does help.
The metro from my Dad is the older stuff, .75%.
I don't have a health clinic near me that will take someone for a non emergency, or at least not that I know of, but will check into it. I didn't think this sort of thing would be on their agenda, except to refer me to a derm.
But I will look around to find out. Also have a secret santa who is going to send me zz cream. Bless them. I will keep everyone posted on how that goes.

Thanks to everyone for their kind wishes and kind hearts.

Laura

[IowaDavid]

I don't bother with a Derm. I learn more here and the RSG than any Derm can tell me.




Exactly--I haven't seen a derm in a few years now.

Sorry you're going through a rough patch, Laura. If it's only on one side, that's sort of encouraging; I mean, it's not face-wide so it may have a specific cause. Good luck. :)

[Barbara]

Hello Laura,
I hope you are better soon! Wish you all the best.

Barbara