27 replies to this topic

[OlympusMons]

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

I probably did apply a bit too much and that is why this happened. The steroid ointment didn't seem to be sinking into my skin well so it was sort of sitting on top of the skin looking greasy.

Most steroids come in formulas containing substances to make them very easily absorbed. If that happened, then you probably applied too much.
Or maybe the formula had mineral oil/petroleum jelly/vaseline, which makes it look like that.

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

Something I am trying to remember is do steroids have to be applied to non-broken skin?

Yes, always. It's in the paper.

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

I go to work and I can't have some sheen on my face. The stuff doesn't seem to completely absorb it leaves a slight oily look.

Again, that's cause you're applying too much AND/OR cause the formula contains mineral oil
Can also be cause of the moisturizer.
Try to choose a cream without mineral oil (ex: Hidalone)

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

I start work very early so I can't really do this whole routine in the bathroom at work, especially after I apply all those things, my skin looks a little irritated for a little while after applying...

Those are also two of the reasons why I started doing my no-products regimen.

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

so I've sort of been skipping the cleanser and the moisturizer which I hope isn't a bad thing?

ofc not, just wash with low mineral bottled water
if skin gets dry, use fruit/nut oils or pure glycerin

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

Did you have to cleanse and moisturize when using Elildel?

just wash with low mineral bottled water

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

Can Protopic cause thinning of the skin and red veins like steroids?? Those are concerns of mine as to why I am nervous to try out the steroid creams again and why I cut it short after a few days of use for both times when I tried them.

I don´t know, read the side-effects paper.
If you use little portions of steroid cream, a not-strong steroid and preferenciably natural (which means hydrocortisone 0.1%), only 1x a day (before bed) and for no more then 7 days in a row, I believe it's very rare to happen.

Edited by OlympusMons, 29 January 2012 - 04:07 PM.

[pokerlady888]

OlympusMons, on 29 January 2012 - 03:57 PM, said:

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

I probably did apply a bit too much and that is why this happened. The steroid ointment didn't seem to be sinking into my skin well so it was sort of sitting on top of the skin looking greasy.

Most steroids come in formulas containing substances to make them very easily absorbed. If that happened, then you probably applied too much.
Or maybe the formula had mineral oil/petroleum jelly/vaseline, which makes it look like that.

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

Something I am trying to remember is do steroids have to be applied to non-broken skin?

Yes, always. It's in the paper.

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

I go to work and I can't have some sheen on my face. The stuff doesn't seem to completely absorb it leaves a slight oily look.

Again, that's cause you're applying too much AND/OR cause the formula contains mineral oil
Can also be cause of the moisturizer.
Try to choose a cream without mineral oil (ex: Hidalone)

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

I start work very early so I can't really do this whole routine in the bathroom at work, especially after I apply all those things, my skin looks a little irritated for a little while after applying...

Those are also two of the reasons why I started doing my no-products regimen.

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

so I've sort of been skipping the cleanser and the moisturizer which I hope isn't a bad thing?

ofc not, just wash with low mineral bottled water
if skin gets dry, use fruit/nut oils or pure glycerin

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

Did you have to cleanse and moisturize when using Elildel?

just wash with low mineral bottled water

pokerlady888, on 27 January 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

Can Protopic cause thinning of the skin and red veins like steroids?? Those are concerns of mine as to why I am nervous to try out the steroid creams again and why I cut it short after a few days of use for both times when I tried them.

I don´t know, read the side-effects paper.
If you use little portions of steroid cream, a not-strong steroid and preferenciably natural (which means hydrocortisone 0.1%), only 1x a day (before bed) and for no more then 7 days in a row, I believe it's very rare to happen.

Thank you so much for your response. You have been very helpful.

Well, I have been using the Protopic for 1 week so far. Sometimes I can't manage to put the ointment on twice a day so I only get it in once onto my face and never at the same time since I have nights where I get home very late and days where I sleep in very late. I have an appointment with the derm for this Tuesday. He told me to use the ointment for 2 weeks. He seemed to think that it would help clear up the rash looking skin/bumps. But I have not seem any improvement at all. In fact, I'm worried it looks like the bumps I have are spreading more across my face due to the Protopic I think. I am oddly not having anymore strange side effects from the Protopic like I did for the first few days. No more burning skin or tingling. It's like the Protopic isn't doing anything...like I became immune to it in 3 days of use.

I think I want to try hydrocortisone next to see if it does anything for this redness. Otherwise, I think I may have some case of skin disorder that no one can help me with I am starting to wonder if these tiny bumps will ever go away and if they do, the redness may remain anyway so I am thinking of lasers for the redness. I am starting to think the cluster of tiny bumps on areas of my skin could be a small outbreak of shingles perhaps. Of course it doesn't look like any pictures I've seen but maybe it's a rare tiny outbreak I dont know....

Edited by pokerlady888, 02 February 2012 - 11:25 PM.

[OlympusMons]

pokerlady888, on 02 February 2012 - 11:23 PM, said:

Well, I have been using the Protopic for 1 week so far. (...) It's like the Protopic isn't doing anything...

Sad to hear that
If I was you, I would stop then. You're damaging your skin for nothing, for no benefits.

pokerlady888, on 02 February 2012 - 11:23 PM, said:

I think I want to try hydrocortisone next to see if it does anything for this redness. Otherwise, I think I may have some case of skin disorder that no one can help me with I am starting to wonder if these tiny bumps will ever go away and if they do, the redness may remain anyway so I am thinking of lasers for the redness. I am starting to think the cluster of tiny bumps on areas of my skin could be a small outbreak of shingles perhaps. Of course it doesn't look like any pictures I've seen but maybe it's a rare tiny outbreak I dont know....

Shingles hurt and itch. And affect only a very small patch, then spread from there. I guess your bumps appeared at the same time, and don't hurt, and itch little, so definitely not shingles. Plus yeah, it doesn't look a thing like shingles.

Once again, the only thing that will heal you is stop using tap water and products. You don't you try it? You'll have less stress than with all this dermatologist and products confusion.

[pokerlady888]

H

Edited by pokerlady888, 03 February 2012 - 03:27 PM.

[pokerlady888]

OlympusMons, on 03 February 2012 - 09:55 AM, said:

pokerlady888, on 02 February 2012 - 11:23 PM, said:

Well, I have been using the Protopic for 1 week so far. (...) It's like the Protopic isn't doing anything...

Sad to hear that
If I was you, I would stop then. You're damaging your skin for nothing, for no benefits.

pokerlady888, on 02 February 2012 - 11:23 PM, said:

I think I want to try hydrocortisone next to see if it does anything for this redness. Otherwise, I think I may have some case of skin disorder that no one can help me with I am starting to wonder if these tiny bumps will ever go away and if they do, the redness may remain anyway so I am thinking of lasers for the redness. I am starting to think the cluster of tiny bumps on areas of my skin could be a small outbreak of shingles perhaps. Of course it doesn't look like any pictures I've seen but maybe it's a rare tiny outbreak I dont know....

Shingles hurt and itch. And affect only a very small patch, then spread from there. I guess your bumps appeared at the same time, and don't hurt, and itch little, so definitely not shingles. Plus yeah, it doesn't look a thing like shingles.

Once again, the only thing that will heal you is stop using tap water and products. You don't you try it? You'll have less stress than with all this dermatologist and products confusion.

Hi OlympusMons! Well, I definitely am going to do the whole regimen of mineral water as you suggested, but since I had already started the Protopic, I want to complete the 2 weeks and then will do so. I actually think I figured out what I have...perioral dermatitis on my face. These pics I found look a lot like what I have. Maybe mine is to a lesser degree but it's oddly similar. And this dermatitis the net says is often mistaken for rosacea too!http://www.dermis.ne...96291/image.htm
http://www.dermis.ne...30906/image.htm
http://www.accessem....hStr=dermatitis

And what's more this dermatitis can be caused by face products and steroids. Which would make so much sense how it started for me. It takes months to go away as well and since I haven't been treating it for what it is, it's still on my skin. I don't believe the bumps I have are acne, but something else...and they seem to have spread a bit...

Anyway, these pics and this condition looks and sounds the closest to my skin problems. Not sure why it's in the specific locations on my face that it's in and that's it's not really so much arond my chin and upper lip like i've seen in many photos where it's called the "muzzle rash" but they photos look so similar to the texture and bumpiness of my skin...

Or if not, then it's definitely a lot of acne and rosacea. I had an odd experience today at work actually which I just posted about which now makes me think I may have rosacea. I wrote about it here: http://www.acne.org/...inking-feeling/

I would like to think your water regimen would help and I will try it out to see what happens but it seems like my problems may be more serious that irritation from water :/

Edited by pokerlady888, 03 February 2012 - 03:30 PM.

[OlympusMons]

pokerlady888, on 03 February 2012 - 03:26 PM, said:

Hi OlympusMons! Well, I definitely am going to do the whole regimen of mineral water as you suggested, but since I had already started the Protopic, I want to complete the 2 weeks and then will do so. I actually think I figured out what I have...perioral dermatitis on my face. These pics I found look a lot like what I have. Maybe mine is to a lesser degree but it's oddly similar. And this dermatitis the net says is often mistaken for rosacea too!http://www.dermis.ne...96291/image.htm
http://www.dermis.ne...30906/image.htm
http://www.accessem....hStr=dermatitis

And what's more this dermatitis can be caused by face products and steroids. Which would make so much sense how it started for me. It takes months to go away as well and since I haven't been treating it for what it is, it's still on my skin. I don't believe the bumps I have are acne, but something else...and they seem to have spread a bit...

That's exactly what I think. It's a dermatitis (= skin reaction).

pokerlady888, on 03 February 2012 - 03:26 PM, said:

Anyway, these pics and this condition looks and sounds the closest to my skin problems. Not sure why it's in the specific locations on my face that it's in and that's it's not really so much arond my chin and upper lip like i've seen in many photos where it's called the "muzzle rash" but they photos look so similar to the texture and bumpiness of my skin...

That's cause some areas of the skin are stronger than other, so get less irritated.
I've experienced this a lot with my whole-face burn. Upper lip and chin are some of the "strongest" areas, by my experience.

pokerlady888, on 03 February 2012 - 03:26 PM, said:

I would like to think your water regimen would help and I will try it out to see what happens but it seems like my problems may be more serious that irritation from water :/

The irritation in not only from tap water. It's also (and probably mostly) from chemical-cocktail skin products that we all use nowadays: soaps, moisturizers, exfoliators, make-up, aftershave and shaving cream (for men), etc etc etc.

From what I've seen in your pictures, your problems are not that serious. It's a minor irritation. My guess is that it would go away in a matter of weeks, couple of months at most. An anti-inflammatory diet like Wai Diet would speed this up, but that takes much more effort than just switching your face washing regimen.

[pokerlady888]

So, to update, and I hope people can still help me and get back to me on this thread....I used the tacrolimus (Protopic) ointment for basically 3 weeks. I saw some improvement perhaps with my skin texture I suppose but the bumps and the pink color skin did not go away. The derm told me to stop using it and now has given me Elidel to use in the morning and Noritate (which seems to be a form of metrocream) to use at night for rosacea. This last visit he told me I do have rosacea....which confused me because he didn't say this to me on my first visit with him. But, he said I still have a type of rash on my skin though in the areas that are pink. I have to use the two creams for a whole month and then come back. So, basically he has been telling me that I've had a persistent rash on spots on my face for a year now...

I'm upset the Protopic didn't work. I haven't started using the Elidel or Noritate yet because I plan to try out the whole mineral water regimen as OlympusMons suggested.

My skin feels itchy lately and am feeling pricking sensations. There's something I've noticed that I was hoping someone could shed some light. My skin seems to get smoother and get better texture-wise after I wear make-up. I am wondering if the make-up is protecting my skin from things in the air and perhaps even holding moisture in the skin I don't know.... I use a waterproof thick kind of concealer used for covering birthmarks and rosacea.

A part of me is thinking I really should try steroid ointment again but maybe the simple hydrocortisone at 1% from the drug store instead of the prescribed dermatologist ones I've got at home. Cause if it's a rash...I don't know thought I might try it again.

Also, I am thinking of trying out organic 100% apple cider vinegar. Would that be a good idea for bumps and pink rash? Has anyone used it or tried it for skin problems?

[OlympusMons]

pokerlady888, on 18 February 2012 - 03:05 PM, said:

So, to update, and I hope people can still help me and get back to me on this thread....I used the tacrolimus (Protopic) ointment for basically 3 weeks. I saw some improvement perhaps with my skin texture I suppose but the bumps and the pink color skin did not go away. The derm told me to stop using it and now has given me Elidel to use in the morning and Noritate (which seems to be a form of metrocream) to use at night for rosacea. This last visit he told me I do have rosacea....which confused me because he didn't say this to me on my first visit with him. But, he said I still have a type of rash on my skin though in the areas that are pink. I have to use the two creams for a whole month and then come back. So, basically he has been telling me that I've had a persistent rash on spots on my face for a year now...

I'm upset the Protopic didn't work. I haven't started using the Elidel or Noritate yet because I plan to try out the whole mineral water regimen as OlympusMons suggested.

My skin feels itchy lately and am feeling pricking sensations. There's something I've noticed that I was hoping someone could shed some light. My skin seems to get smoother and get better texture-wise after I wear make-up. I am wondering if the make-up is protecting my skin from things in the air and perhaps even holding moisture in the skin I don't know.... I use a waterproof thick kind of concealer used for covering birthmarks and rosacea.

A part of me is thinking I really should try steroid ointment again but maybe the simple hydrocortisone at 1% from the drug store instead of the prescribed dermatologist ones I've got at home. Cause if it's a rash...I don't know thought I might try it again.

Also, I am thinking of trying out organic 100% apple cider vinegar. Would that be a good idea for bumps and pink rash? Has anyone used it or tried it for skin problems?

Someday, you will learn by your own experience, like I did, that dermatologists don't work, when it's about chronic un-harming skin diseases like acne, rosacea, eczema, psoriasis, etc. And they make a shit load of money from the creams. The only way to resolve this issues are holistic methods. Cutting off what's causing it. Cause there's no way to remediate it. They'll keep on comming over and over.
Other example: depression. Anti-depressants won't cure your depression. It will keep on coming, and your body will keep on suffering from the side effects of the drugs. Solution? Talk, psychoterapy, friends, philosophy, better diet, better lifestyle, etc. We nowadays tend to think that doctors can solve us all of our problems, but's it's not true.

About ACV, hell no, don't use! Your skin is already irritated, ACV would do nothing but irritate it more.
Because the only good thing ACV does is killing bacteria and fungus, and these are not your problem here.