Originally Posted by
Twickle Purple
Hi Claudia,
I'm allergic to Sulfa drugs unfortunately. I have tons of allergies. I'm an atopic individual, if I'm not allergic to it now, give me a minute :roll: I have gone every avenue possible in my time. Even spending a little R+R at a teaching hospital which was embarrasing and not in the least bit beneficial -- to me! While this last episode was occuring I went completely homeopathic. My DR. from Edmonton (Dr. Trethart, I highly recommend him) was an MD who believed that nutrition was the key. I would get all my supplements through his office. I have too many food allergies to maintain a balanced diet. I have gone the lamb/pear route to see if I could calm my gut, once I started flaring from the pears (always organic, including the meat) I started going the shake route, rice protein and add stuff with that. I'm allergic to everyting eventually so I rotate. When I moved to the Sunshine Coast (BC) I started seeing a local homeopath and she was very optimistic at first, then as time went on she became less so, and from there she had nothing more to offer. I did all her allergy tests, as well I redid an ELISA I had done a year previously with Great Smoky labs to see if A) the test had any accuracy and B) if anything had changed. I am pleased to say that all of the testing was pretty much bang on as was the accuracy of the ELISA. So that was helpful, to her, it showed me nothing. I just got more depressed. I was on the licorice to bring my BP back up, at this time I was peaking at 90/60 which was akin to my suppressed adrenal days. My lows were 80/40 and at those times I could not get out of bed. This was before the rash developed.
Once the rash began I went to the regular local MD. The homeopath, bless her, she tried, could do no more.
At first, the skin behavior was very much in keeping with an eczema rash, I was positive that's all it was. The MD, however, was positive it was carcinoid syndrome! She was rather excited about this and brought her books into the office with us. She was blithely unaware that she had dropped a bomb on me. According to her it had to be this, it all fit so perfectly. So I spent the next 3 weeks going through tests. You see carcinoid syndrome is always fatal, but you don't die from the cancer, no this is a lovely drawn out affair in which the unpleasant side effects of the cancer kill you, in about 20 years (with my symptoms, I would have been at about the 10 year mark if this was an accurate diagnosis). Oh, joy. My husband and I were devasted.
Everyone looks for a Zebra.
It was not carcinoid, my hormone levels were fine. But nothing I could do helped my skin, it got worse and worse and continued to act differently than usual. I have atopic dermatitis (hence the over use of steroids) so my skin barrier doesn't function all that well, moisture retention is a serious issue for me. Vaseline is the very best thing out there. I couldn't image living without it. This is the gold standard for moisturizing people like me. My pores were non-existent til the rosacea, pimples were never a problem. The 'eruptions' I have now come from below the surface not from anything I am applying. They are like inflammed blisters, but they do not pop and they are not 'removable (I tried, ow ow ow!).
Since starting the Doxycycline and Metrocream I really do have a dramatic reduction in the inflammation and blemishes. My chest was full of them (I'm not going to post those shots though) and my face is much less round. My eyes feel normal and that is a huge relief to me. I was concerned putting this stuff on my facial skin expecting an eczema flare but the skin has been great.
My biggest concern was using the Gemini -- would I be better, worse -- would my face fall off :roll: (seriously I didn't know what to expect.)
I don't have typical rosacea, it's not confined to my face and steroid usage is a huge part of it. I hope this all makes sense.
Twickle Purple.
My journey to (steroid) rosacea. Gemini Tx. Pictorial.
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I have gone every avenue possible in my time. Even spending a little R+R at a teaching hospital which was embarrasing and not in the least bit beneficial -- to me! While this last episode was occuring I went completely homeopathic. My DR. from Edmonton (Dr. Trethart, I highly recommend him) was an MD who believed that nutrition was the key. I would get all my supplements through his office. I have too many food allergies to maintain a balanced diet. I have gone the lamb/pear route to see if I could calm my gut, once I started flaring from the pears (always organic, including the meat) I started going the shake route, rice protein and add stuff with that. I'm allergic to everyting eventually so I rotate. When I moved to the Sunshine Coast (BC) I started seeing a local homeopath and she was very optimistic at first, then as time went on she became less so, and from there she had nothing more to offer. I did all her allergy tests, as well I redid an ELISA I had done a year previously with Great Smoky labs to see if A) the test had any accuracy and B) if anything had changed. I am pleased to say that all of the testing was pretty much bang on as was the accuracy of the ELISA. So that was helpful, to her, it showed me nothing. I just got more depressed. I was on the licorice to bring my BP back up, at this time I was peaking at 90/60 which was akin to my suppressed adrenal days. My lows were 80/40 and at those times I could not get out of bed. This was before the rash developed.
-- it's a mid-potency flourinated steroid. And when I tried Elidel and Protopic my initial skin reaction was incredible, no red, no rash... then BOOM, worse than ever. I have not come across a lot of smart doctors, most just do what the drugs reps tell them.) Anyway, short rant. I responded better to the test spots than I'd than hoped so I went for the treatment.
