My photos (photos there now!)

[hencloud1]

Hi

yes i have seriously considered accutane but i do get great results with minocin and my doctor is resistant to prescribe it to me. The side effects are reported to be worse.

I can get by with about 1 pill of minocin every 2 weeks but the point is i no longer want to be a slave to these drugs.

I have felt much better since coming off the antibiotics about 3 weeks ago.

I'm luck I'm married with an understanding wife. if I was single i would be taking bucket loads of any drug that could help because you know for sure that no women is going to look at you twice with this condition! anyway your confidence would be so shot to pieces you wouldn't go out of the house.

[hencloud1]

Hi





Update. I have been on the diet for exactly one week and I have been using z cream for 4 days. I know I have a long way to go and there is little improvement. Skin is still very bumby but with reduced outbreaks of whiteheads and less really deep P&Ps. I know however that without the diet my skin would be a mess so although there is little improvement it has not gotten any worse and this is without antibiotics so i am encouraged a little.

I have been waiting for 2 weeks for Linda Sy products for moisturizing so I am currently using off the shelf moisturiser which isn't ideal. Is Linda Sy a con or have others received their goods.

I would be grateful for honest opinion about the difference from the first set of photos at the beginning of the forum to these a week later.

Diet includes;

No sugar
No alchohol
Small amounts of milk
Small amounta of tea and coffee (for sanity)
No bread

Plenty of water and lemon.

Come on Linda get those things in the post.

Simon

[redhotoz]

Hi Simon

I opened up two windows so that I could flick between the old photos and today's photos. There certainly does look like some improvement to me. It looks like the p&p are clearing, especially on the one side of your face where there were larger p&p. Your face doesn't look as sore/inflammed. How does it feel now? Sometimes I find the 'feel' test better than the actual 'look' test. That is, if my face feels calm and not irritated, I know I am doing something right. I figure the 'look' part of it will follow. Very scientific, I know! LOL

Dr Sy is dinki di. Maybe you could e-mail to ask when your order left.

Keep up the great work! It looks like it's paying off! Whoo hoo!

Jen

[hencloud1]

Thanks Jen

Yes I think you are right. I wouldn't say that I jump out of bed whooping about facing the general public but it does feel better and calmer and hopefully this will show later. I am not holding my breath and expect to relapse into a mess at any moment. Under normal circumstances it would be a lot lot worse. I also feel much more in control and less moody for coming off the antibiotics.

Interested in your red light array, are you a talented electrician or can anyone solder one together and are the leds special.

Simon

PS new tip - cut an organic cucumber in half and hold the wet side to your cheeks, very cool and soothing, beautiful.

Will post more photos next week.

[redhotoz]

Yes, I think I was more moody on antibiotics too. I read an article that said antibiotics can cause depression and all sorts of other wonderful (KAK) side effects. In fact, another article linked inflammation to depression! Urgh! Not to say that we are all depressed but it sure has its moments with Rosacea!

Hey, I'm really glad to hear that your face FEELS calmer. That's great!

I am far from being "a talented electrician"! LOL The panels were made up for me and then put together by my boyfriend. He is an Electrician but also very good at putting something together from what ever he has hanging around the shed, hence the frame around the panels and the stand that he made up. Now that I've seen how it goes together though, I reckon most of us could do it - even me! I really like the calming efect of the red LED lights on my face. Not a jump out of bed miracle cure but it does feel like it is helping a lot. If you are interested in making your own, PM IowaDavid for some help.

I like the cucumber tip. Thanks.

Jen

[Tioh2001]

Simon,

I really, really feel for you.

I wish I could say I see improvement between your 2 sets of pictures, but I'm afraid I can't. I'm glad you feel there is some improvement.

Although I have fought p&p's for many years, there were only 2 episodes that were as bad as you are now.

The first one was in October 2003 (this was before I realized I was fighting demodex as well as rosacea). I had been on a 100% vegan raw food diet for 3 years at this point. My p&p's were totally under control with this diet....then 1 made 1 change to my diet....I started eating flax oil. Within about 3 weeks, my face was covered in p&p's worse then I had ever had. I immediately stopped the flax oil, but even 8 months later, I still had the rash of p&p's. In September 2004 I began using the ZZ ointment, which got me clear of p&p's in just a few days.

Then in February 2005, after I had been using the ZZ ointment for about 6 months, I decided to take a break from it. I then decided to try taking oil of oregano because it is supposed to be very effective in treating demodex. I went on a very high dose for about 3 weeks...and WHAM...my entire face was covered in p&p's...terrible red, inflamed, pus filled, weeping p&p's. I stopped the oil of oregano, went back on the zz ointment, took a week off work and got things back under control.

Simon, during a bad breakout (like you are going through now) is the worst time to be making major changes to skin care and diet. I can see you are doing the very best you can....but you just never know what will set off more p&p's (like the flax oil and oil of oregano did for me).

I can only wish you the very best and hope things improve for you.

Heather

[redhotoz]

...during a bad breakout (like you are going through now) is the worst time to be making major changes to skin care and diet. I can see you are doing the very best you can....but you just never know what will set off more p&p's...

Hi Heather

I think you know that we agree on most things here. But with this one, I half disagree. As you know, I know and so does Simon, having a raw face with p&p is a right pain! Ouch! I would agree that playing around with topicals when your face is raw and inflammed is probably not the best thing to do, as you may not get the benefit from it, not knowing if it may work when the skin is less inflammed. Did that make sense? LOL I also wonder why you recommended the ZZ Cream, if you feel that it is not a good time to introduce it for Simon? I'm confused by this. Would there be a better time for Simon to try the ZZ?

However, I do believe that changing what is eaten, a more 'calming' diet is the best thing to do at any stage of Rosacea. I can't see the harm in doing this. I know that it is not a miracle cure but surely it can help to pave the way for less irritation? I would be interested to know why you think changing diet when the face is inflammed is not a good idea. Thanks Heather. I do have great respect for your opinions.

Simon, I think you are very brave in your approach right now and I truly thank you for posting photos. It's not always easy to post photos! Going off antibiotics can result in a rebound effect and this may still happen. I hope it doesn't!

Anyway, keep it up and keep the photo up-dates happening, please. I am really interested to see how things go for you!

Jen

[hencloud1]

Hi Heather

This is not a flare up, this actually is my skin without antibiotics, It doesn't tend to get any better but would be worse without the diet.

As I said before I have come off antibiotics before to give the internal organs a break. I did not change diet or do anything else on those occassions and my skin was an absolute mess, worse than you see here.

I decided to try the diet thing because when on antibiotics and sticking to a high protein diet my skin was so smooth and peechy.

I am grateful you recommended the Z cream. I have been using it and can't really say if there has been any improvement.

Thank you for your honest comments that's why i posted the photos and asked for them. Please keep them coming.

One positive - I do feel better for not being on the antibiotics so that must be doing some good at least internally.

[Tioh2001]

Hi Jen,

I know what it is like to be desparate and to be willing to try anything and everything. Over time, I've become a big believer in trying 1 thing at a time...seeing how it works, then moving on to the next thing. But of course, we can't always do what is ideal (and I don't always follow this advice!).

But, as I have said before, p&p's, especially if they are caused by demodex (which is what I have experience with) are very tricky. As I hoped to illustrate in my last note, anything which changes the environment of the skin can cause unbelievely bad results. Who would have thought I would have such a bad reaction to a change in dietary oil or using a supplement? I hoped to illustrate that just making even ONE change at a time, can result in more p&p's.

I'm just afraid that by doing so many things at once, he will not know what is making him better....or worse.

So, I truly think that during a bad outbreak is not the best time to make many/major changes to diet and skin care....one thing at a time might be better. But to try a major change in diet, plus a change in moisturizer, plus adding the ZZ ointment, plus going off antibiotics, all at the same time, may make it difficult to know what is working and what isn't.

But Simon must make his own decisions. All we can do is offer our opinions, based on our experience....Simon must decide what is best for him.

Heather

[redhotoz]

Hey Simon. It's good to hear that you are feeling better off the antibiotics. Yes, it wil be doing good for you internally! I felt that the cystic-welt-looking red spots on one side of your face (right side in the photos) looked better in the second lot of photos. Sorry, not sure if that is the right way to describe them but those ones looked pretty sore in the first lot of pics and looked like they started to heal in the second lot of pics.

Yes Heather, I agree, Ideally, one change at a time. I know that is what I believe in but it is very hard to stick to sometimes! We all want so desperately to rid ourselves of the red face thing going on, especially p&p. It's hard not to jump in and try the lot. I do now have a lot more restraint but still know that I do try more than one thing at a time.

Ahhh, patience is a virtue!

Jen