r/Rosacea • u/rouren14789 • 1h ago
ROSACEA SUCKS I'm going on about 2.5 years of terrible bumps on my face and it's spreading Spoiler
galleryI'm honestly at a loss of what to do.
I have always had beautiful skin with maybe one blemish a month until I got poison ivy that required oral steroids.
These pictures are from a few days ago. It's recently started getting angry and scabbing despite me doing nothing different and not touching it. My face feels like it's constantly on fire.
I'm on a few medications, including an NSAID for arthritis which I thought could possibly help since it addresses some systemic inflammation issues. Related specifically to rosacea, I've been to two dermatologists and I've tried...
- Doxycycline (prescription, 2 months): did nothing
- Metronidazole (prescription, 1 month): did nothing
- Benzoate peroxide (prescription, 2 days): made it worse and burned so badly, so I stopped
- Azelaic Acid 20% (OTC, 1 month): Did nothing but kind of burned when I put it on
- Soolantra/Ivermectin (current on 10 weeks): So far, it seems like it's cycled up and down but about 5 weeks in is when it spread down my face and to the other cheek
I've tried using nothing on my face for months. I change my pillow case frequently. I didn't go out all summer. I've tried washing with a super gentle and expensive cleanser with basic moisturizer.
I was going to go on a different topical but then my insurance told me that I didn't qualify for it for some reason?
This is such a blow to my quality of life. I've even given up most dairy and I've cut back on caffeine. I don't really drink alcohol and I don't have food allergies. I know this from doing the Paleo AIP diet a few years back.
I'm just not sure what to do anymore. I've scoured these sites for advice and thoughts, but a lot of people list a lot of the things I've already tried.
I'm ready to just start using whatever acne medication I can get my hands on and slathering baby butt ointment on my face. I need someone to talk me out of it. I feel like an animal about to chew off its own leg.
