Severe base redness, no flushing. No idea what to do.

[raindrizzle]

Please help me. I can't date anyore because I'm so ashamed of how I look. I will do anything, pay anything, just to make this better.

Here is how my skin looked 2 years ago. Granted, I was anemic so the lack of oxygen flow made me look more pale.
IMG_0413_1.jpg

And here is how i looked as of a month ago. I don't see much flushing, but my eyes are always blood shot now. (Red dots are just skin tags that were removed or scars that were subcsised.)
IMG_2066_1.jpg

I've done 2 v-beam/excel sessions, 4 months apart. The latest was done with very slight purpura. Honestly, I doubt it's going to help.

I'm on Ivermectin and Bactrim because doxy caused problems for me. Yes, I know about antibiotic resistance but I'm willing to try anything. The Bactrim controls the pustules but not the redness. I guess this is type 3 or type 4 rosacea now. I have seen multiple derms; they have no answers beyond topicals/vbeam.

What else can I do? Supplements, med, anything? Is Is cutting out gluten the only way or are there other options? That would be really hard for me but I can try.

Thanks in advance.

[RaymondS]

If you find out tell me lol. I'm the same and skin is similar to yours.
Some days are better than other days so it must be diet!?

[Lighfy]

Please help me. I can't date anyore because I'm so ashamed of how I look. I will do anything, pay anything, just to make this better.

Here is how my skin looked 2 years ago. Granted, I was anemic so the lack of oxygen flow made me look more pale.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]4860[/ATTACH]

And here is how i looked as of a month ago. I don't see much flushing, but my eyes are always blood shot now. (Red dots are just skin tags that were removed or scars that were subcsised.)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]4859[/ATTACH]

I've done 2 v-beam/excel sessions, 4 months apart. The latest was done with very slight purpura. Honestly, I doubt it's going to help.

I'm on Ivermectin and Bactrim because doxy caused problems for me. Yes, I know about antibiotic resistance but I'm willing to try anything. The Bactrim controls the pustules but not the redness. I guess this is type 3 or type 4 rosacea now. I have seen multiple derms; they have no answers beyond topicals/vbeam.

What else can I do? Supplements, med, anything? Is Is cutting out gluten the only way or are there other options? That would be really hard for me but I can try.

Thanks in advance.

Hi there,

I'm in the same situation as you. I have a baseline redness across my cheeks and forehead primarily. I have tried a variety of medications and creams but unfortunately to no avail. However, I have noticed that I have a very sensitive stomach. I have tried cutting sugar out of my diet for a month but this seemed to have no effect either. Although, perhaps it's the microflora in the gut which could be causing the issues we have. There may be an imbalance of good vs. bad bacteria in the stomach and the toxins are being absorbed into the bloodstream and circulate to the vasculature in our faces. I'm going to try glutamine and probiotics to see if this has any effect. You may want to try the same. If creams have not helped you this far, then I highly doubt it'll ever be fixed by using them. The issue is to do with your vasculature, and unfortunately creams won't be able to resolve this (although, stay away from Mirvaso).

Did the laser sessions have any positive effects on the baseline redness?

P.S. I know how hard it can be to have the confidence to go out and date/have confidence in general due to this stupid condition, but from your pics I don't see any reason why you should be ashamed of how you look try not to let it control your life.

[Weezer]

To the OP, I have similar symptoms. I took doxy also. Horrible stuff. I sent you a pm

[Brady Barrows]

I can't keep saying over and over that sugar and carbohydrate is the fuel that ignites rosacea. Reduce the fuel and the fire goes out. You can keep blaming gluten, but in the long run you will find out.

[raindrizzle]

Hi there,

I'm in the same situation as you. I have a baseline redness across my cheeks and forehead primarily. I have tried a variety of medications and creams but unfortunately to no avail. However, I have noticed that I have a very sensitive stomach. I have tried cutting sugar out of my diet for a month but this seemed to have no effect either. Although, perhaps it's the microflora in the gut which could be causing the issues we have. There may be an imbalance of good vs. bad bacteria in the stomach and the toxins are being absorbed into the bloodstream and circulate to the vasculature in our faces. I'm going to try glutamine and probiotics to see if this has any effect. You may want to try the same. If creams have not helped you this far, then I highly doubt it'll ever be fixed by using them. The issue is to do with your vasculature, and unfortunately creams won't be able to resolve this (although, stay away from Mirvaso).

Thanks, Lightfy. I've been advised to try Glutamine and Probiotics. Are there any good probiotics you know of?

Did the laser sessions have any positive effects on the baseline redness?

Not yet but I"ve done it sporadically.

P.S. I know how hard it can be to have the confidence to go out and date/have confidence in general due to this stupid condition, but from your pics I don't see any reason why you should be ashamed of how you look try not to let it control your life.

Honestly, it really ages me.

[raindrizzle]

To the OP, I have similar symptoms. I took doxy also. Horrible stuff. I sent you a pm

Got it and replied.

I can't keep saying over and over that sugar and carbohydrate is the fuel that ignites rosacea. Reduce the fuel and the fire goes out. You can keep blaming gluten, but in the long run you will find out.

I've heard that too but I just can't see how I would do that for the rest of my life.

[Alex1927]

I can't keep saying over and over that sugar and carbohydrate is the fuel that ignites rosacea. Reduce the fuel and the fire goes out. You can keep blaming gluten, but in the long run you will find out.

Are you suggesting a total ketogenic diet?

A few years a go I went on a low carb gluten free paleo diet with some dairy for 9 months. I kept carbs to around 70 grams max and most of that came from vegetables and some fruit, milk. My papules eventually cleared up but the redness didn't and is now spreading slowly. I've added most things back into my diet except for gluten and rarely ever get any papules (maybe one once or twice a year).

[Brady Barrows]

Are you suggesting a total ketogenic diet?

A few years a go I went on a low carb gluten free paleo diet with some dairy for 9 months. I kept carbs to around 70 grams max and most of that came from vegetables and some fruit, milk. My papules eventually cleared up but the redness didn't and is now spreading slowly. I've added most things back into my diet except for gluten and rarely ever get any papules (maybe one once or twice a year).

Alex,
No. I am simply suggesting reducing carbohydrate and sugar for thirty days to see if this improves rosacea. A ketogenic data would work the same if you restrict it to just thirty days. If you see improvement in your rosacea then you can modify your diet any way you want with the knowledge that sugar and carbohydrate are both rosacea triggers, just as valid as 'spicy food, red wine, cayenne and red pepper' and other diet trigger. Sugar and carbohydrate are not on the NRS diet trigger list. However, both sugar and carbohydrate are on the RRDi diet trigger list. Gluten is not on any rosacea diet trigger list I am aware of but many in RF say they avoid gluten for their rosacea control. Wouldn't it be nice to have a double blind, placebo controlled clinical study for every diet trigger that is listed? Trigger avoidance doesn't cure rosacea. It is simply an accepted method to control it and physicians will refer to the NRS Trigger list when discussing rosacea treatment with their patients. Many in RF have reported that sugar or carbohydrate triggers rosacea. However, many will never try avoiding sugar and carbohydrate as raindrizzle reports, which is, of course her choice.

[Alex1927]

Alex,
No. I am simply suggesting reducing carbohydrate and sugar for thirty days to see if this improves rosacea. A ketogenic data would work the same if you restrict it to just thirty days. If you see improvement in your rosacea then you can modify your diet any way you want with the knowledge that sugar and carbohydrate are both rosacea triggers, just as valid as 'spicy food, red wine, cayenne and red pepper' and other diet trigger. Sugar and carbohydrate are not on the NRS diet trigger list. However, both sugar and carbohydrate are on the RRDi diet trigger list. Gluten is not on any rosacea diet trigger list I am aware of but many in RF say they avoid gluten for their rosacea control. Wouldn't it be nice to have a double blind, placebo controlled clinical study for every diet trigger that is listed? Trigger avoidance doesn't cure rosacea. It is simply an accepted method to control it and physicians will refer to the NRS Trigger list when discussing rosacea treatment with their patients. Many in RF have reported that sugar or carbohydrate triggers rosacea. However, many will never try avoiding sugar and carbohydrate as raindrizzle reports, which is, of course her choice.

Right. So given that I've already been on a low carb paleo diet would it be safe to assume that carbs aren't a problem in my case? Or would I have to go an even lower carb diet to truly test this?

[Brady Barrows]

Right. So given that I've already been on a low carb paleo diet would it be safe to assume that carbs aren't a problem in my case? Or would I have to go an even lower carb diet to truly test this?

I would suggest you eat all the sugar you want, banana split, ice cream, cake, candy, coca cola, your favorite deserts, tons of pasta or starch, and all the carbohydrate and sugar you want and see what happens? Some say that diet doesn't play any effect on their rosacea and they can eat all the sugar and carbohydrate they want and it doesn't trigger their rosacea. However, others say they notice that sugar and carbohydrate does trigger their rosacea. Only you can decide. I think you will eventually notice that your rosacea will get worse if you try gorging on carbohydrate.

I have been recommending reducing carbohydrate to 30 grams a day for just thirty days for a very long time to see if this works. You mention fruit, which is high in fructose. To eat fruit and keep to 30 grams in a day is a tough one. For example, an apple has 19 grams of fructose.

Avoiding carbohydrate as you did, limiting carbs to 70 grams a day (which is commendable), apparently did some good for you since you mentioned that your pustules/papules cleared up, just the redness remained. Trigger avoidance isn't a cure all, it is simply one of the several tools in the armamentarium to treat rosacea. I try to avoid sugar and carbohydrate and use the ZZ cream which seems to work for me best. I still have rosacea, but this seems to control it best for me, and I have tried all sorts of treatments.

[Forsberg]

Hey,
it is hard to judge real change because one photo is with flash (makes skin a bit whiter) and second is a bit dark, thus making look a bit "warmer".
Anyway as a man I wouldn't think you have bigger problem with your face (bigger than normal problems), when I looked on your face on a date.
You are woman so you can easily use makeup to cover whatever you think wrong is.

Regarding diet - it is personal experience. I've read claims that there are connections between sugar, carbs and rosacea. Thankfully I can eat whatever I want (and drink strong alcohol) and my skin is neither worse, nor better during this time. So either I am resistant or this connection is false.
However even if you do not react to sugar it is still worth to remove it from diet. It is one of the biggest killers, in my country we call it "white death". It is somehow worse than drugs because sugar tastes good and is everywhere nowadays.
Want sugar anyway? Eat fruit, sweet carrot, not cola or snack. Of course I mean daily, nothing wrong would come if one eats a snack bar from time to time.

[Alex1927]

I would suggest you eat all the sugar you want, banana split, ice cream, cake, candy, coca cola, your favorite deserts, tons of pasta or starch, and all the carbohydrate and sugar you want and see what happens? Some say that diet doesn't play any effect on their rosacea and they can eat all the sugar and carbohydrate they want and it doesn't trigger their rosacea. However, others say they notice that sugar and carbohydrate does trigger their rosacea. Only you can decide. I think you will eventually notice that your rosacea will get worse if you try gorging on carbohydrate.

I have been recommending reducing carbohydrate to 30 grams a day for just thirty days for a very long time to see if this works. You mention fruit, which is high in fructose. To eat fruit and keep to 30 grams in a day is a tough one. For example, an apple has 19 grams of fructose.

Avoiding carbohydrate as you did, limiting carbs to 70 grams a day (which is commendable), apparently did some good for you since you mentioned that your pustules/papules cleared up, just the redness remained. Trigger avoidance isn't a cure all, it is simply one of the several tools in the armamentarium to treat rosacea. I try to avoid sugar and carbohydrate and use the ZZ cream which seems to work for me best. I still have rosacea, but this seems to control it best for me, and I have tried all sorts of treatments.

Honestly those foods sound disgusting. I'm not big on junk food but I do eat about about 400 grams of (boiled) rice a day and 120 grams of oats made with milk and some fruit every now and then. I mainly eat those because they're easy calories and to fuel my workouts.


Anyway I went back and checked my MyFitnessPal log from back then and it seems I didn't remember correctly. I frequently ate over 100g (150g max) of carbs, most of it coming from sweet potato, milk, veg, fruit. There were days where I ate 50-70g though. Wouldn't this add credence to my theory that avoiding gluten played a larger part in my improvement?

I am keen on giving it a proper go now though that I've discovered I didn't eat as low as I thought I did. If I go through with it I'll make sure to report.

[raindrizzle]

Hey,
it is hard to judge real change because one photo is with flash (makes skin a bit whiter) and second is a bit dark, thus making look a bit "warmer".
Anyway as a man I wouldn't think you have bigger problem with your face (bigger than normal problems), when I looked on your face on a date.
You are woman so you can easily use makeup to cover whatever you think wrong is.

Regarding diet - it is personal experience. I've read claims that there are connections between sugar, carbs and rosacea. Thankfully I can eat whatever I want (and drink strong alcohol) and my skin is neither worse, nor better during this time. So either I am resistant or this connection is false.
However even if you do not react to sugar it is still worth to remove it from diet. It is one of the biggest killers, in my country we call it "white death". It is somehow worse than drugs because sugar tastes good and is everywhere nowadays.
Want sugar anyway? Eat fruit, sweet carrot, not cola or snack. Of course I mean daily, nothing wrong would come if one eats a snack bar from time to time.

Thanks for the response! I was definitely whiter then. My eyes are totally bloodshot now. I will try reducing sugar though that's hard.