I'm a 52 yr old female and have been treating lyme for about 3 years. I've developed acne which the dr calls rosacea - I guess because of my age. I think the lyme and meds have aggrevated the condition.
Has anyone else gotten acne from lyme and cured it? What do you use?
Posted by Lymeorsomething (Member # 16359) on :
Rosacea can be secondary to other stuff. How's your GI tract? I believe small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is one cause and some people have success clearing rosacea by treating SIBO. SIBO treatment involves a 10 day course of neomycin and xifaxan.
Posted by map1131 (Member # 2022) on :
I was reading on this site the other day person was struggling with the same sx.
Be careful of the SIBO treatment. It caused a huge candida problem for me that I am still fighting 2 yrs later.
Posted by malala (Member # 21848) on :
I have to avoid chocolate and coffee completely for my Rosacea to clear. When I do, it clears in about 10 days.
Caffeine from green tea is fine, and does not aggravate it. The occasional decaf is ok too.
Posted by dbpei (Member # 33574) on :
Funny, I developed rosacea way before my lyme dx. Perhaps it was related. I have been taking a prescription "Metro Gel" which is actually topical metronidazole. It made a big difference for me and I still take it. I apply once every evening. It might help you.
Posted by Talktel (Member # 7980) on :
I have rosacea several years before I got Lyme.
Both are inflammatory diseases.
The doxy or minocyclin that you use for Lyme will work well for rosacea acne.
I used monodox (coated version of doxy) along with bicillin for Lyme, until two weeks ago, and then my gut went.
While I was on monodox, my rosacea was much better.
These days, rosacea issues have taken a back burner seat to the urgent Lyme and gut issues.
Posted by 2young2dieMom (Member # 25434) on :
I can't tolerate doxy at all, not even small doses. I'm also allergic to penicillan and rocephin.
I'm thinking of trying retin A. I have metrogel and finacia but they don't seem to be working.
Posted by Carol in PA (Member # 5338) on :
Pernox...look at Amazon.com for awesome reviews. I didn't see what's in it that works so well.
Face Doctor soap or cream has Seabuckthorne oil, which kills the demodex mites that live in the pores. You can read reviews at iHerb.com and at Amazon.com.
Either of these would be easier on your skin than Retin A.
Posted by kimmie (Member # 25547) on :
I use 3% hydrogen peroxide on a cotton wipe once a day....it works great! BUT: it is very strong and can burn at first until you get used to it. I started off diluting my hydrogen peroxide to half strength at first. Best thing I have ever used for acne/rosacea. Just start slowly
Posted by 2young2dieMom (Member # 25434) on :
I found a seabuckthorne face wash that is helping alot. I also use roc winkle erase night cream. thanks everyone.
Posted by hopingandpraying (Member # 9256) on :
My sister took fish oil and it helped. Just make sure it is one not contaminated with mercury (krill oil is a good one).
Posted by terv (Member # 29410) on :
Bringing up an old thread.
On Wednesday I had a red spot develop on the side of my cheek. By Friday it had grown to more red spots on my right side along with a couple new spots on my left side and forehead.
It isn't itchy at all.
I went to dermatologist who said I have rosacea. I guess I am denial about this because I am having a hard time believing her.
I have red bumps but no other symptoms. I think I got the diagnosis because they weren't itchy. It does seem like it is improving on its own.
I got prescribed 40 mg of doxy. No topical which I would have preferred to start with. Funny that 40 mg of doxy has been repackaged as Oracea.
For anyone with Rosacea, does this sound like it?
Can you have a reaction to something without it being itchy? (This is what I hope it is)
Posted by dbpei (Member # 33574) on :
Yes, terv. I have DX of rosacea. But the rosacea is more like a general redness of your facial skin, due to inflammation and broken blood vessels. You often have a red nose and red cheeks - also can cause redness on chin and forehead. And when it gets really bad, you feel a burning sensation in these areas.
Heat and cold make it worse. Often a hot shower or using the hair dryer will aggravate things. My dermatologist has been prescribing metro-gel, which is topical, for years. It does work for me. But I did an experiment and stopped this for the past few months and my rosacea is coming back, but not as bad as it was years ago.
Metro-gel is also an antibiotic - metronidazole. Makes me wonder if there is any relationship between having Lyme and rosacea. I was diagnosed around the same time we think I was bitten - in 2006.
I do have some red spots mostly on my forehead that just won't go away no matter what I do. I have had them for years. MD does not think they are part of the rosacea. She keeps her eye on them (and I do too) to make sure they don't change into precancerous lesions.
Posted by Razzle (Member # 30398) on :
Rosacea may be caused by a skin parasite (Demodex mites). The parasite feeds on fungus/candida.
Treatment requires anti-parasitics and anti-fungals.
Posted by terv (Member # 29410) on :
I was wondering if this was somehow caused by a yeast issue.
A week ago I stopped all abx, probiotics, and diflucan so I could take the CDSA test by Genova. It is a really gross (in my opinion) stool test that required me to stop all this stuff for 2 weeks.
Because of this I cannot try the 40 mg of doxy.
An internet search showed that Metronidazole cream (because I can't do anything oral) was effective. I wonder if this would screw up the stool test. If not I could try this to see if it helped.
Posted by Carol in PA (Member # 5338) on :
Face Doctor soap or cream has Seabuckthorne oil, which kills the demodex mites that live in the pores. You can read reviews at iHerb.com and at Amazon.com.
Everyone has these mites, but when people have autoimmune problems, the skin becomes inflamed. Lyme causes autoimmune problems.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I sure wouldn't take anything for it right now. I would think it would mess up the testing.
I would say gut issues are definitely at the core of this.
Posted by Ellen101 (Member # 35432) on :
Hmmm... most of those foods are high in histamine. I'd be willing to bet that histamine intolerance can trigger it.
And "HI" is related to gut issues.
Posted by Ellen101 (Member # 35432) on :
All roads seem to lead back to the gut Posted by terv (Member # 29410) on :
The gut is the reason why I am trying to hold on until I am done with this test. I have a week to go before i begin the test and it will probably be 2 more weeks, because of constipation issues, before I complete it.
I looked at the trigger foods and I did have a plum for the first time in a while. The other thing I have going on is that I am trying to reduce my HRT because of my breast cancer.
While I realize now that everyone has Dermodex, it is hard for me not to feel like I have a mite that needs to be treated immediately. The fact that I can't do traditional treatment for it is making me feel worse.
I did see that seabuckthorne is good for it and will I have to order it. Looking around more on the rosacea site I saw that tea tree oil has some promise. Miraculously I found some at Walgreens.
I tried it and it really seems to have helped. The spots and bumps have kind of dried up. Untreated areas are remaining the same. Hopefully it will keep me going until I can get seabuckthorne or start traditional treatment.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Good idea on the oils. I wouldn't be comfortable using something from Walgreen's .. but hope it works.
Posted by Ellen101 (Member # 35432) on :
Amazingly the tea tree oil is working very well. My skin is virtually clear since starting it Saturday. I can't use it all over my face on a long term daily basis because it is drying. However it is good until my face doctor soap gets here.
Interesting about SIBO. Since I suspect I have gut issues it is very relevant.
Thinking about it I guess I have had rosacea a while. I used to flush a lot but it was virtually eliminated when I eliminated gluten 4 years ago. At the time I found that I could reduce the flushing by taking anti-histimines.
There seems more than one treatment for rosacea. It annoys me that the dermatologist I went to said that the only one was the 40 mg of doxy.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Wow... I had never heard of "ocular Rosacea."
The only problem is that SIBO treatment doesn't always work. The treatment made me worse.
Posted by geronimog (Member # 34875) on :
I've had redness in my face for the last 20 years. I's mostly a reddish hue through the centre of my face, but it's worse around my mouth I believe it's caused by acidic sweat.
As long as I keep my carbs low, it's not too bad.
Rifaximin and other ABX make diminish it, which strongly suggests dysbiosis is involved.
However its not just dysbiosis in my case, treating babesia makes it better too.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
High histamine can also make your face red. You can try avoiding foods high in histamine to see if it helps.
Posted by Andie333 (Member # 7370) on :
Rosaca was one of my worst Lyme symptoms--at least I think it was Lyme-related.
I tried everything to stop it, but nothing seemed to work. BUT, as I began to recover, the rosacea diminished.
Now, it hardly ever occurs.
Posted by Maia_Azure (Member # 44330) on :
Hi,
My mother has rosacea, so one Christmas I bought her really nice face lotion with sea buckthorn oil, and a small dropper bottle with sea buckthorn oil to mix in extra with her lotion.
Since using that, my mother has not had to use her steroid metro cream. I am not making this up either. Rosacea gone!
I use face lotion with sea buckthorn oil, however, it has not helped with my acne. But, here is hoping it keeps me from developing rosacea like my mother and grandfather!
Posted by ms dixie (Member # 40818) on :
neem cream or oil - read reviews at iherb or amazon . Many have had good results with it for rosacea and acne too.
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