Question from a newbie

[kewood]

Hi! I'm an American living in Eastern Europe. I've had problems with red cheeks for years and just figured I had sensitive fair skin. Then after turning 40, I started breaking out with what looked like acne on my nose, cheeks and chin. (I never had acne as a teen.) I have changed skin care products several times with no results. Finally, I did some research and have determined that I probably have Rosacea. I have not seen a doctor, but I have emailed an American doctor with my symtoms and a picture. He agrees that I probably do have Rosacea and reccommended oral anitbiotcis and a topical antibiotic. I'm scared to death to see a doctor here in this country. The medical field is frightening here. Anyway, my question is - how long am I supposed to take the antibiotics? Are there any vitamin supplements that I should or should not take?

K

[RedHotCanuck]

Welcome Kewood,

Unfortunately, your Rosacea sounds like it might be progressing.
Fortunately, you came to the right place.

What are the names of the oral and topical antibiotics that you were told to use?

As for vitamin supplements, Pycnogenol, Grape Seed Extract, and Ester-C are recommended.

Check out: http://forum.rosaceagroup.org/viewtopic.php?t=28

I also recommend Dr. Nase's book for any Rosacean. http://www.drnase.com

Take care
Mike

[kewood]

Here are the choices he gave me. I haven't gone to the pharmacy yet to see if they are available here or not.

1) low-dose tetracycline - 500-1000 mg/day

2) doxycycline - 50-100 mg/day

3) sulfur containing topical applications

4) topical metronidazole - 0.75% gel or cream or lotion, used twice a day after washing the skin

5) topical erythromycin

6) topical clindamycin

Hi! I'm an American living in Eastern Europe. ... I'm scared to death to see a doctor here in this country. The medical field is frightening here.K

which country do you live in? in my experience such "eastern" countries like hungary, poland, czech-republic had very well trained docs even back in communism days.

but others like bulgaria, romania might well be frightening:)

i'd suggest to try oral/topicals antibitotic like suggested by your doc. if they don't do much after two/three months you might consider switching to other things (lasers/accutane).

but all those drugs are for sure available in all european countries.

[kewood]

I'm in Romania. We've had experience with the hospitals here. My daughter had to have surgery. Trust me, it's scary!

K

[Bihbicat]

Kewood -- antibiotics are not the only option. Yes, they are very effective for some, but many like myself choose not to go down that path for various reasons. I have decided instead to get IPL/laser treatments and use supplements. I don't know how available they are to you, but just wanted to point out that people are tackling this condition from many different angles, not just the pharmacutical. As someone else mentioned getting Dr Nase's book will help you educate yourself. My rosacea also ramped up after turning 40 and I am now noticing a direct link between how bad it is and my menstrual cycle which leads me to believe it may be primarily hormonally triggered (though of course flushing is triggered by many other daily things too). I am tracking that with a view to maybe looking into ways to regulate my hormones. Black Cohosh has been mentioned as have some other supplements for this.

[drnase]

Bihi,

A lot of Naturopathic doctors are having great success with a new OTC formula that contains black cohosh and soy isoflavones. These are the two biggest names for these types of conditions if you want to go the naturopathic route. It works. I have to find the name......its stuffed here in my pile high hill of notes.

[Bihbicat]

Hey Dr Nase, it's funny you mention this because I just now started a thread called "How safe is Black Cohosh?" cause I've been seriously thinking of experimenting with it. I'd love to know the name of the combo one if it ever emerges from your no doubt mountainous pile of research and notes. If it checks out okay on the safety front (i.e. isn't likely to be too toxic for the liver) I'll certainly give it a go as it sounds promising. I feel so stupid that it took me a year to realise that my skin looks noticeably paler and less papually in the week after my period. Duh!