Trying to catch Rosacea early but my derm didn't help. I feel helpless. What to do?

[Western Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Western]

I've always had sensitive skin. I'm very fair skinned and my uncle was recently diagnosed with rosacea. My nose used to get red very occasionally, like...once every 6 months or so, if that. It was usually just when I was extremely tired and I thought nothing of it. My face could never tolerate hot showers so I always had to leave the door open. However within the last few months, my nose has started flushing a few times a week, if not every day. It's only my nose but I can feel it's extremely hot and uncomfortable, and it's bright red. This is usually due to me getting hot. But my face seems to get hot even if my body is cold.

I made an appointment with a dermatologist and I was hoping [s]he would be able to help me. However when I went there, the entire appointment was extremely rushed. The dermatologist was about my age (26) and though perhaps it shouldn't have mattered to me, it did. I just...felt like she barely looked at me. She glanced at my face, asked a few questions and then asked me to wait while she got the attending doctor. When he came in, he took even less time than the original woman. He barely looked at my face and that was it.

I asked what I could do about the flushing and she told me to use Afrin nasal spray. I've heard bad things about using nasal sprays because of rebound flushing and there's no way in hell I'm going to try that. I want to make another appointment but I'm not sure how to make the derm take me seriously this time? They seemed to be totally blowing me off, but this whole flushing thing is really affecting my life on a daily basis. I'm constantly trying to keep myself cool so that I don't flush and it's exhausting

I know rosacea is a progressive thing and I was hopeful that since I caught it early, I could help prevent it from getting worse. But I'm not even sure what to ask my derm to do for me when I go back? I'm using metrogel but that doesn't help with flushing. Should I ask for clonidine? Is there something else I can try? I feel totally confused and helpless. Any help would be appreciated

[rosyrose Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rosyrose]

David's Sulphur Cream!

I have battled with this dreadful condition for years having had many previous years with very good skin. I have tried everything including diets, pills, laser etc and then I had a really bad breakout, went to a local healthstore and bought nearly everything that I could find to help rosacea but did not know where to start. Then I started looking on the internet forums for rosacea. I didn't touch any of the products that I bought because I came across David's Sulphur cream and another Chinese one as being recommended (can't remember the name right know but it is supposed to be good) I thought I would try the Sulphur cream first.Result is 3 weeks later, my skin was unbelievably improved ( 60%) and I have not had a flare up since. Everyone is commenting upon how good I look. I have been using it since May and as you only need to apply a little bit of the cream at night, I have not even used an eighth of the bottle . Cost was £25 and postage was a little less. I did not bother with the Chinese cream and all of the health products ( manuka honey, tea tree oil and lots of tablets) are still in my bathroom cabinet. If I had tried to blitz it with all of the products I would not have been able to identify which one worked for me.

[dave75 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dave75]

hi

hi there, you are not alone! I have had same response from dermatologists. I think they are a bunch of lazy trolls that would rather bill patients for a lot of money, and go sit on the beach somewhere. how they make it through medical school is beyond me. it's like ok, now that i've made it thru school. i'm going to be a lazy-ass. I would definitly not go back to that derm. they will just get agitated with you and act like they are the victim. been there and done that. any doubting on your part will make them belligerent. go seek out different derms and maybe you'll connect better with another one.

did your derm mention diet as a means of controling rosacea? diet has played a big role for me...and i had to learn this on my own after a long time of struggling and not knowing what was wrong with me. Also, did he mention oracea? this is a low-dose antibiotic that did wonders for me. again, i had to find out about this on my own. metrogel is the snake oil of rosacea treatments. it definitely didn't work for me and i don't think i've heard one person on here say it works at all. I think the derms all know this and prescribe it knowing you'll be back for another round of billing. one time a derm i went to said "i'll schedule you for your next appointment." and i'm like "no, i'll be back when i'm ready" she set up the appointment anyways! greed! these people don't give a rats ass about us. there are tons of cool people here that will help you and people here care for one another. we're here for you...power to the rosaceans and the hell with the dermatologist trolls.

[Brady Barrows Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Brady Barrows]

I posted some similar experiences along with others in this thread. While rosacea can be progressive it is not written in stone. You can remain in just one stage. For more info click here. Rosacea can be confusing but the more you read and experiment you will find a way to control your rosacea. Others have done so and you can too.

[Western Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Western]

Thank you guys very much for your responses. I'm definitely going to read those links you posted, Brady. I guess I'm going to try to inform myself if the condition more and then go back to a different dermatologist.