My situation w/pic

[Ja9]

Hi all!
First I want to start off with a big thanks for a great forum! I'm a 21yr old male from Norway. My sympthoms/problems started 7 month ago, on christmas evening to be exact. Anyway I had redness and a swollen face for about a week, but it all went away with the use of cortisone cream (which I now know is bad for rosacea). It then came back a month later and it has just been progressing. I now have a permanent redness in my face, but it becomes even more red if I shower, workout, drink beer etc. (normal rosacea triggers?) My skin has also become hypersensitive and I get brakeouts from any moisturizer for sensitive skin. I've tried Emu Oil, Cutanix, Cetaphil etc. without any success.

I went to see my doctor and she suspected it could be rosacea so she prescribed me doxcycline and rozex. Rozex made me flair up (tried it for five days) and I have been on doxcycline for 4 weeks without seeing any result at all, infact it has only been getting worse. This is starting to get a serious problem for me since i just moved away from home, but have been somewhat anti social because of this. I bearly go out and I don't talk to many people. I used to be VERY social and loved to communicate with people! I have never had any problem with flushing or blushing in the past. It just came out of nowhere! Damn it!

Symptoms matching my description:
Rosacea
Eczema
Seb Derm
High Histamine (tried zyrtec, not really sure if it worked)

Medicine that might work?
Moxonidine
Elidel Cream

Picture of me flushing: http://www.geocities.com/manco210/01.jpg. It get like this when i hot the triggers axplained before. But it is still very bad under normal condition.

Edit: I noticed something funny, when i stretch my skin it becomes normal skin tone for a couple of minutes ?? Beats me!

Since the two first attack on this vicious "thing" didn't work, what would you suggest I'll do next? I will appreciate all the help I can get!

Cheers !

Update on situation:
I went to see my doctor today and he said that I should try Nizoral for Seb Derm. I also got reffered to a Dermatologist and I feel somewhat more confident in seeing a specialist!

Can the redness in Seb Derm be triggered by the same triggers as rosacea?

[Jordan]

Do you have flaky skin? Scaly, yellow dead skin flakes? Does your skin itch? I could probably diagnose what you have with some more pics, I have both seb derm and rosacea in the area that you have it. (the butterfly area)

[Ja9]

Yes The first time I had a bad breakout it all ended with lots of dead flaky skin in spot areas. Yes my skin itches, especially if I tend to sweat. But I do get very intens flushes sometimes, and I haven't heard that Seb Derm is supposed to flush as bad as it does. My doctor asked me if I had a very dry scalp, and yes I have experienced a dry scalp latley (But I solved most of the dry scalp problem with Head & Shoulders cream).

Hi.
I looked at your picture. It does not appear you have heightened sebum production or large pores or any signs of acne.
To me your skin does not look typically of the seborrhea type.
This might contra-indicate seb derm. Also, I notice that your nasal folds are not as red as the rest of the butterfly sone where it seems like there is flushing and inflammation. In seb derm the nasal folds will be the place with the ost sebum for the fungus to react too.
Sometimes when I used to take the anti histamine claritine, I some times got a similar flush if I drank a beer at the same time. But it would go away in an hour or so.

Anyways, I am just speculating from my own experience with seb derm that is located in the same area of the face but with heightened sebum production and clogged pores.

[Buster]

I didnt log on before I posted so the reply was logged as Guest reply.
Anyways, as I said I think you might have seb derm, but not only that, since I dont see signs of seborrhea.
Also, seb derm is not triggered by food the way you describe.
Sure, if you drink beer or eat dht elevating foods sebum production will probably increase at least by the next morning, and the skin will be ore uneaven and dehydrated, but the flushing parts and reacting to food and exercise does sound like rosacea.
Dandruff and flaking, on the other hand, sounds like seb derm.

Have you tried the Calm, Cool and Corrected from www.Dermadoctor.com?

Which dermtologist are you seeing? I am from Norway as well.