24 and riddled with Rosacea!

[sleepylea]

Hi As the title suggests I am 24 years old and my nose is bright red! Well its not just my nose, it looks like I have a dodgy STD round my mouth and chin too (this has cleared up lately now though WAHOO!)! My nose would burn and peel just like sunburn, and for years I have suffered the teasing and torment. Deep down I have always known that this is not acne. However, I have not had the best experience with doctors, and they dismissed my Rosacea claims as I am too young.

They finally gave up on the Acne theory when I sat in the chair at the doctors and refused yet another treatment I have tried before, and refused another course of antibiotics which didnt help. They have finally referred me to a derm appointment, where to my releif they said it was rosacea! I am on Rosex, and this seemed to help for the first two weeks, its calming down, but the redness is not really reducing all that much. Give it time i am sure it will work.

Anyways hi and all that. There is hope for us all!!! Has anyone tried the trigger diary you can download, has it helped identify your triggers?

Take care, keep that nose up!

Lea
x

[redhotoz]

Hi Lea

Welcome to the Forum.

Yes, you can develop Rosacea at 24 and younger. Many, many web sites (and docs) need to be up-dated about this!

I haven't tried the trigger diary. Where is it located on-line? No doubt I have read it, or something similar but I've book marked and printed off so much stuff. I just keep a daily diary myself of what I am doing and how my face is reacting.

Good luck with everything and keep us posted on what else you decide to try. There's heaps of info from fellow Rosaceans here and also in the Yahoo Rosacea Support Group.

Jen

[Bob Bear]

Hi Lea, and welcome!

Yep, aint rosacea great? To right, the early symptoms hit me at 16. They got pretty bad around age 19-20. Now Im 25 and have managed to keep it at bay pretty well. But its still there and doesnt look like going anywhere in the foreseeable future!

But on the plus side, you have come to the right place

You are still young, so hopefully with the right lifestyle you'll be able to keep it under wraps like I did.

Can I ask, did your Dr give you the 'rosacea only occurs in middle ages white women' speech too? Mine did, and it went down just great

BB

[sleepylea]

Hi, thanks for the nice welcome! At last its no longer just my nose that is warm!

Yup I was sneered at by the doctor and he actually chuckled at my idea, no no no you are way to young for that, its acne, rosacea is for older women. The plot thickens though. I changed surgery about 6 years ago back in the day of paper based notes, and my previous doctor diagnosed me with it, but he didnt tell me (brilliant!) and my new doctor didnt look through my old notes. Oh yes I am seeking legal advice on this one. Thank heavens for free medical ins at work, free legal advice!

The rosacea diary is on line somewhere, I will try and find a link, I have a print out which is now all tatty so thats no good. Click the link for a print out diary which is easier I find then hand writing because I am lazy! http://www.rosacea.org/patients/materials/diary/

[redhotoz]

Thanks Lea

Ah yes, from the NRS web site. It's a good way to get started on working out triggers, although it is somewhat vague. I too printed it out many years ago and used it as a guide.

I use FitDay ( www.fitday.com ) to record the foods I eat on-line which is a great little programme (and free) and has a Journal section for notes too. This may also help you keep track without the need to hand write anything! It's not specifically designed for Rosacea but a great way to keep tabs on what you are eating, the amount of exercise you are doing, making notes and if you want to track weight loss/gain you can do that too. I dont obsess about it but it's a helpful little on-line tool.

Jen