New from Canada's far north

[arcticrose]

Hey, I am new here and to Rocasea. My name is Susie and I am 26 years old and from NWT, Canada. I have found this site to be extrememly informative and decided to join. I didn’t realize there were so many people with this condition. I don’t feel so alone anymore. As for my condition, I haven’t seen a professional but have the symptoms, the permenant redness and flushing. I went to a normal doctor who himself has Rosacea and says mine is mild. It can seem anything but mild at times but for now I am using Metrocream and that seems to help a bit. What got my attention was when this redness wouldn’t go away and the flushing and the mild heat became more frequent and lasting up to 3 hours when it came. Now I am also breaking out in cystic acne on my back shoulder and little bit on my chest area! I had terrible acne (cystic) in my teenage years and took antibiotics, creams and nothing worked till I took Accutane. Accutane got rid of it all and was acne free for a few years then I started breaking out again so I went on Accutane again and has been acne free for about 5-7 years. So I just started taking Accutane (40mg) again which would make this my third time. I am very aware of the side effects and am rather unhappy that I have to take Accutane again but I know nothing else will work. I’m a bit scared of taking high dose and the long term effects I may get. Anyway, I am glad I found this site and learned so much and hopefully my Rosacea will stay mild for a long time. I HOPE Accutane wont make it worse! :(

[RedHotCanuck]

40mg/day of Accutane might be too much for Rosacea.

Most people with Rosacea take 10mg/day.

[arcticrose]

I know. I tried to tell the doctor that. He said at a low dose like 10 mg or 20, it would take forever to work. He also said at my weight, 170, it wouldn't work. Very frustrating! I better be careful what I say, he might check this site out because I mentioned it when I recently saw him.
Dont know what to do. I need to do more reading here.

[IowaDavid]

Yeah--be very careful about taking higher doses of accutane, it can give you directly the opposite result you're looking for with rosacea. The doses used for acne are far higher and almost certainly harmful for rosacea.

With the low-dose accutane, I believe that "waiting" period for the cumulative accutane dose to build up is understood as standard protocol for treating rosacea. Go find another derm that is more open. Also, you can bring in the Plewig study for reference (I think this is the one?) to show your derm.

I don't use accutane, and haven't read much about it, this is only from memory. By all means read. :D There's a good deal of information here in the archives and also, on the rosacea-support website. Check out this site: www.escribe.com/health/rosacea-support/ . I _think_ that's the web address--the escribe.com site isn't responding right now.

David

[RedHotCanuck]

Search for accutane in the Rosacea Search Engine:

http://rosaceagroup.org/search.cgi

Good Luck.

[arcticrose]

Thanks everybody for your imput. I will read all I can. I would see a derm but there's none up here. They only come up here a few times a year from south. I could put myself on a waiting list. Would low dose also get rid of cystic acne? Well, I'm off to check out the site you gaver IowaDavid and RedHotCanuck, I will look up Accutane :)

[arcticrose]

So many scary stories out there with Accutane! I think I will ask my doctor if I can take the 40mg 2-3 times a week rater than every day. I dont know anymore if I even want to continue taking Accutane anymore. They say a lot of the side effects go away once treatment is done but I have had achy joints, especially hips since after my first treatment of Accutane in my teen years. My hips always make a mild cracking sound too.

I also found this website where doctors are talking about there experiences with Accutane with their patients and about dosage you might find inetersting. Maybe you aready been there.
http://dermatology.cdlib.org/rxderm-archives/accutane-acne

[arcticrose]

40mg/day of Accutane might be too much for Rosacea.

Most people with Rosacea take 10mg/day.

After only three days of 40mg Accutane, I quit. I went to see my doctor and told him I am not comfortable with the high dose or the side effects I would get. I also told him my cystic acne isn't that bad, I only have a few on the back of my shoulders compared to all over I had years ago. I can live with it for now. He gave me some strong cream that I've yet to get at the pharmacy. Anyway, I did a lot of reading and didn't want to make my Rosacea worse and get more side effects.