My Rosacea

[jennfran]

My pics guys, maybe you could give me some info on how bad I am or any other info you could give me..Thank you

[img]http://www.msnusers.com/94k2373c25q8sgci683a89d841

[jennfran]

ok I will try again..

[img]http://www.msnusers.com/94k2373c25q8sgci683a89d841[img]

I do not know why it is not highlighted..maybe you guys could type in address and get it that way..I am trying, sorry..Jenn

[Froggirl]

Sorry i'm not very up with how to post photo's either. I tried cutting and pasting the link and it didn't work, it said it was a members only area. Hopefully someone else will be able to explain how to post a photo link.

[jennfran]

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l288/jennhaz/DSCF1194.jpg

[jennfran]

Here is another pic, can see my eye redness better in this one..danggg I look awful..Jenn :oops:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l288/jennhaz/DSCF1210.jpg

[phlika29]

I only see alittle bit of redness on the top of your cheeks and your eyelids.

By the way you look very pretty, very beautiful eyes.

Can you remind me of your symptoms: Flushing and burning?

sarah

[Skywolf]

First, you are beautiful. I do see your eye lid problem though, not just in the second pic (close ups of us can be scary, I have mine on here too, eep, I sometime want to delete it, but hey, it is what it is)
I would definatly reccomend stop using eye makeup, you dont need it, I would kill for your lashes!
Also, a warm compress 4-5 times a day can help, especially if you get styes. (the bumps under you eyelids) Painful nasty things. but you have to leave them be except fpr the compress, I popped one once and went through 2 weeks more of it growing back with a venvence.

[betty]

Hey Jenn

I don't think that the skin on your cheeks looks very red at all, although it kind of has the look that mine gets sometimes which is still quite uncomfortable. It gets a very light pink colour, a bit shiny and I imagine a bit puffy. I think the pain and the light colour indicate inflammation deep below the surface. I have been taking ibuprofen recently to see if this helps at all, I think it maybe alleviating the problem a little.

You are very pretty and have absoloutely beautiful eyes (I'm envious of the clear white of your eye, mine are an icky colour) though I can see the red on your lids close to your lashes. I have this also, but my redness extends about about 1cm in the area where people would flick their eyeliner. I have completely given up on eye-make up recently, except for a bit of concealer to hide the redness on my eyelids and under my eyes, though mine are alot worse than yours. Do you wear mascara? I would recommend giving it a break for a while if you do as this always aggravates eye problems with me, even when using hypoallergenic brands.

Best wishes,

Betty. X

PS. I sometimes use anti-allergy eye drops if my eyes get too bad. Although my eyes blew up recently and I haven't quite worked out what the cause was, eyedrops or my usual eye cream.

[jennfran]

Aww thank you guys for the compliments.

Ok the makeup thing, If I wear eyeliner and mascara without foundation then they do not get red or sore..If I wear it alone they do.

I only have a slight pinkess to cheeks but I always thought it was from smoking and sun damage.

Phlika,
I have only burning sensations on face. When I burn my face does not get red..

So do you guys think that I am bad or am in the early stages and that there can be hope for me with treatment? Thank you...I will post what I look like with makeup on to show you how normal I look, this is why people cannot believe I have this...Jenn

[Skywolf]

You will have to go with your doc on if this is the beginning of rosacea. While your face does not look red it does look reactive, by that I mean the ouch feeling you get, Your eye lids are very red however, and that could be anything from food alergies or makep not agreeing with you, but it is a sign to be cautious.

Laura

[jennfran]

You are right Laura when you say the eyes are the ouch feeling. I just got the ouch feeling though the day after the dx, isnt that weird, probably because I was thinking about it so much. I do have allergies as I always have had hives and get the burning sensation with the hives but the burning seems to stay longer then the hives. I am back on my zyrtec and my prevacid because the prevacid helps block histamine, it is helping with the swollen eyes. Like I said though my eyes do not do this with foundation on so maybe that is some sort of irritant to my skin and the foundation protects it. Here is a picture of me, it was last year but have same look with makeup..Just wanted to show you the difference and show you how with makeup they dont turn red, with foundation..of course remember I have blush on cheeks that is why red. Boy I was just thinking how much better I look with makeup..I want you guys to see me on a good day..lol
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l288/jennhaz/DSCF0484.jpg

[Froggirl]

So do you guys think that I am bad or am in the early stages and that there can be hope for me with treatment? Thank you...I will post what I look like with makeup on to show you how normal I look, this is why people cannot believe I have this...Jenn

If it is rosacea, than from the photos you've posted i would say you were in the very early stages which means treatment and taking care of your skin is very very likely to stop things getting any worse and could make things better. So yes there is hope for you! :wink:

Your skin is really not bad at all and is certainly is not anything that anyone else would take much notice of, as nobody pays as much attention to anyone elses skin, or other physical flaws, as they do there own! And with makeup on your complexion looks totally flawless.

It is possible that the sensations your describing could be caused by your hives and allergies. If you've been off your antihistamines for a bit than don't forget it will take a month of consistent useage before you see the full effects. Another possibility for your eyelids is blepharitis, which is when seb derm effects the eyelid margins and it is really common. Your eyelids in the photo looks just like mine do when i get blepharitis, except mine get flakey too, and i'm not sure if yours do as well. Just in case they do there's some info here:

http://www.dermnetnz.org/dermatitis/seborrhoeic-dermatitis.html

Otherwise with cosmetics around the eye my derms advice was to only use black eyelines and mascara, apparently the pigment in them is very non irritating compared to any other coloured types.

[jennfran]

Froggirl, you have just made my night.

I have thought about other things but my derm who is a practioner in dermatology said it was Rosacea. I would say it is something else but my face burns up. I have wondered about allergies which Lord knows I have alot of things I am allergic to. I am thinking this now. I do not know if you read my "newbie post" but I was dx with Peripheral Nerve Hyperexcitabilty. I have twitches all over my body, fine twitches that feel like bugs crawling on my, mainly upper body and I have tremors because of this. Well I had an EMG(test for muscles) and they said everything is fine, this syndrome is benign but one thing that plays on my mind is that I could not have the nerve part to the EMG because I have a heart defibrillator implant, and that part of test I did not have will show if I have neuropathy. So I often wonder if the burning sensations I am feeling is neuropathy. Now I have had the burning sensations on face far longer then the PNHE disorder, so I do not know. Just a thought but you never know. I have also noticed that my veins are popping out more, I have a marlbed look to my legs(red lines), so that is why I think I have something vascular and Rosacea is coming from it.

I do not have flakiness on my eyes, usually oily skin also. I am going to be more cautious with my makeup.

I take zyrtec for allergies, do you or anyone else know if that med takes a bit to get into system because if so then the last time I had the burning sensation they put me on anti-histamines and eventually it went away..Today is my third day on zyrtec but know I am out of them and the Dr. was not in today. So I am going to try alevert because I can get it over the counter. I hope it is ok to switch like that? :? Anyway, thanks for listening and like I said you gave me some hope. Im smiling.. :) Jenn

[Froggirl]

I'm really glad i can help, feel like i've spent a fortune on specialists and medications in the last year so it's good to share what i've found out along the way! :wink:

I've never heard of Peripheral Nerve Hyperexcitabilty, i'll have to go back and read your first post. I had been going to say that neuropathy could cause the burning sensation but i had though that was a bit left of field!! I developed a facial neuropathy a year or so ago, at first it came ever couple of weeks and cause extreme pain for a couple of hours before going again, then it turned to numbness and now it's settled down into a nearly constant dull burning sensation. So it does seem likely that it could cause your facial pain!

Given that i would trust your gut feeling and see a speacilist as soon as you can. Maybe it's worth asking your neurologist about it?

I have some weird things going on in my body too, i now get all over body flushing which makes my veins pop out and with it i get burning nerve pain. Every now and then i get that feeling like bugs are biting me too! I saw a neurologist lately, mostly about my facial pain though so i didn't mentoin that or the numbness i get in my hands and feet. He was very confused about my body flushing anyway, said he hadn't seen anything like it before. I'm seeing an endorcronologist next and am so hoping he has some answers. Allergies were the first thing that were suggested as a cause but i have seen three different allergists now (a regular one, a food speacialist and an environmental specialist) so am postive i have no allergies at all!

With the antihistamines, they will start to work straight away and will block any further histamine produced from binding to the histamine receptors. Why it takes time though is that once the inflammtion process is triggered it can take quite a while without any further histamine for things to calm down. But switching between any types of H1's would be fine as they all do the same thing more of less (although zrytec is about the only one that blocks serotonin as well as histamine). Is the prevacid a H2 like zantac? Taking both kinds helps me so much more than taking just H1's did.

Kate

[jennfran]

Kate,

Yes Prevacid is the same thing as zantac(reflux med). It does help to take both at the same time and this is what I did seven years ago when i had the burning sensation and hives. THe hives go away but the burning stayed with me but it then went away and then I got the hives back and then this came back, and the same thing hives left burning stayed.

I am going to talk to my neuro about this also. I have also thought of going to a endo Dr.

I am going to pick up some alevert(anti-histamine)today because I ran out of my zyrtec and do not want to stop it at this point.

I again thank you for your support..Jenn

[Melissa W]

Hi Jenn,

I just wanted to say I think you look very pretty without makeup!

Melissa

[jennfran]

aww, thank you, that was sweet. Although I have to say those pictures of me were horrible..I was like, yikesss..lol..Jenn

[Froggirl]

Yeah close up pictures can be a bit confronting! I took heaps at the start but now i figure what i don't notice can't upset me, so i just don't look too closely anymore!
Let us know how you go on the antihistamines and if it helps the burning.

[Skywolf]

Oh the pics! I want to take mine down, but too many peole have looked already, and it was my introduction here, hi, here is my zit face. I want to post a pic of myself looking "normal", but until my face cooperates with me, and Im home at the time when it does to take a snap, well, thats me :cry:
Kind of freeing in a way though, here is the face I hide, its me, and too bad if you dont like it sort of a militant deal. And here we all here in the same boat, the tides run different, I have bad acne, others are dealing wiht the pain of flushing, red or not, sub derm, allergies! Wow, we are a mess, lol!!! You have to laugh, through the pain sometimes, it keeps me sane, though there are definate times I am not my silly skywolf self, but the others here are a blessing when that happens!

laura

[jennfran]

AMEN Laura!

I have been fine since my antihistamines, just like before. Although I think the burning was slowing down before that. It is strange though I think of all the people who I have read about on here who cannot put alot of things on their face, but I can. I can put Clearasil toner for acne and blackheads, which is really strong and I can use retinol roc cream and nothing happens. Sometimes I wonder if I have rosacea or not. I have been using exfoliaters, etc., you name it on my skin for years and I would get no flushes, and they think I have had this for seven years, hmmm..just makes me wonder. Anyway I went to the store and bought the alevert antihistamine until I can get my zyrtec rx from my Dr. Monday. I am also still taking my prevacid. I did just get out of the shower and used Cerave that Dr. gave me I feel a little bit of a warmth to my face but my burning feels like when you have a temperature. Maybe I am hormonal :? ..lol.

I hope you guys have a Happy Easter!!!!...Jenn..Keep smilin!

[phlika29]

Jenn

I think you need to be abit careful what you put on your face. You will find many people here used many of the products you describe for a few years without any visible trouble and then all of a sudden they got rosacea.

I would listen to your skin if it is feels like it is burning and then getting alittle red the products are causing some sort of damage underneath the skin and you could end up getting rosacea.

I was a big flusher untill I used acne products (retinoid cream, clearisil, etc)and then it pushed me into rosacea. Other get it after sunburn and many otheres get it after doing a number of things that have irritated their skin.

Just a warning. It would be a good idea to cut back on harsh products now.

Best wishes

Sarah

[jennfran]

Thank you Sarah. I know I do have to be careful. I always used mild cosmetics before just recently starting doing this, but you are right. I really do not know what is not harsh for my face, well I know that clearasil is not good but I dont know how to look for moisturizers that are not harsh or bad for us. I have been thinking that I should start making my own moisturizer, like avocado. I have used that on my face before and my hands and it does not feel like anything is on my face, it is not tacky or greasy, it felt great. Has anyone tried this?

Ok thank you Sarah and have a Happy Easter...Jenn

[betty]

Hi again Jenn

I would definitely consider ditching the retinol cream. I believe using a retinol product pushed me from a social blusher/flusher into Rosacea. I've read that retinol can trigger the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) which can cause hypersensitivity. This would make sense as it is my experience. I used the retinol product for 6 weeks without any problems, but things stared to go awry after that and have progressed over the past 10 months.

I'd use as gentle skincare as possible and drink something like white-tea for it's anti-oxidant/anti-ageing qualities. You certainly don't look like you need to worry about wrinkles from your pictures.

Betty. X

[jennfran]

I was just reading on Prevacid(acid reflux med) and found it is not an H2 receptor. Why on earth did my Dr. seven years ago tell me that it would help with the hives if it is not a H2? Now I have been taking it again thinking it would help with the antihistamines and I guess it would not and never did. I do not understand that as he gave it to me to help my hives back when...Hmmm.Jenn

[Froggirl]

Wow that is weird. So it's a proton pump inhibitor? I can't imagine how that would help with hives, i had thought that they had a very localised effects on just stomach acid. Maybe there is something we don't know or else maybe your doctor made a mistake?

I had to be on those for three months after antibotics ulcerated my oesophagus and they def did not help my flushing like zantac does. In fact if anything they made my flushing a bit worse.

[jennfran]

That is funny you said they maybe made you worse, as I was wondering this myself. After I take it I feel a bit warm to face. Well I am not going to take it tomorrow but will take my antihistamines. I go to derma tomorrow so I will have her write me a rx for a H2. I specifically remember him telling me that it would work better for hives. No wonder I do not go to him anymore. Well I guess I will look on the bright side of this..I am already feeling better with anithistamines so maybe with the H2 it will work even better. I will let you know tomorrow after appt. Thanks..Jenn

PS. Laying off the harsh wrinkle creams. I am now wondering if this is what started the eyes up flaring..A little mad at myself as I made it worse now because where I put that cream is the spots that are bothering me.

[banshee]

Hi jenn-

I wouldn't necessarily assume b/c facial skin is not yet turning red in proportion to your pain, that the rosacea is "mild". I began with bad burning that you could not see. My face did not get red. This is known as the invisible burning phenomenon. Vessels dilating so deep down, that it doesn't register as much on the surface yet. To this day I am more of what I call a flash flusher, than someone red at rest. My skin can get very red/ruddy & burn to things if irritated, but mainly I just feel this rush of heat.. In 2 months, but it was accelerated by Paxil, I went from having no outward redness, to flushing day glo red & heating up like an oven.

The burning is a warning..."I don't like what you're doing to me, my barrier is down". So as phlika said I think it's best to listen to your skin and alter what you are currently doing. I wish I'd have known this hard lesson in the beginning-but if you have burning back off skin care for 6-8 weeks and use just bottled spring water. I know it's frustrating :( but that's how long it takes your epidermis to heal sub-clinically. Chances are trying to find a product to fix the burning will only snowball. B/C I'm aware of this, I do not get those burning flares as much or as prolonged, unless my face loathes something.

By visual of your pretty blue eyes :) , your lids look like mine & I have ocular rosacea. Docs know even less about this imo or diagnosing it. So very simply, if you've never had consistent eye dryness in your life, & you have swollen red/lids, and red "eyeliner"-I'd say it's classic of OR.

So what to do if this is what you have....With skin not being outwardly red yet, it's tough to get a laser doc to tx it. I've been greatly helped by Laserscope Lyra 1064nm Yags. However, lasers can be daunting and expensive, so I'd consider red light therapy. Beginning it now may curb the need for more aggressive tx later. Also, clonidine or drugs like it, can imo help to slow down the vessel degradation process. Give you time to decide how you wish to proceed. And it'll make your face feel cooler but take care of the dry mouth/eye side effects...Lastly, Clarithromycin was of great help to my eye/facial inflammation.

I'm of course not a doc so it's only my opinion & I don't intend to unsettle you as opposed to give you as much of a head start on your symptoms as possible to arrest them.

HTH & best to you-
Kristen