65 replies to this topic

[tracy521]

So a few weeks ago I tried a new cleanser by Hylunia. I love their organic cleanser so I figured I would have no issues with their Salicylic Acid cleanser. After a few weeks of using it my face got super red and dry and peeled then I started getting bumps on my face. I went to the derm and she said it was perioral dermatitis. I am already on doxy so she said to stop using all creams and that salicylic acid cleanser and to use what I was using before as well as clindamycin on my face twice a day. I was still getting new bumps each day so I switched back to the Olay Cleanser that I used to use years ago and the bumps got worse. I stopped that and then just used water for a day and my face seemed better. I went and got my hair dyed and when I got home my face was covered in red bumps. I took a Zyrtec and went to the emergency room because it wasnt getting any better. They gave me a high dose of steroids and told me to come back if it didnt get better. I woke up the next day and my face looked so much better. I was so happy. I then went and got the script filled to take the prednisone for 6 days. So that day I went back to the cleanser original cleanser because I didnt know what to use and my face seemed worse so then I went back to my derm yesterday and they thought maybe I had dermodox on my face and took samples of it in 3 different places and it wasnt that at all. They said I just had dermatitis and gave me a sulfur face wash to use and then said to take Zyrtec because they said my skin was highly reactive right now. They did some sort of test on it with the back of a q-tip and it reacted right away. Anyway so after using the sulfur wash twice my face is even worse. I am waiting for the derm to call me back but I am just so upset and feel like I look like a freak. I have had acne but never anything like this before with so many raised red bumps all over my face. They are small and red and it doesnt feel like my skin if that makes any sense. I am going to just rinse with water now but does anybody have ideas on what I could use to calm it down? The derm called me in for a script of desonide cream but said I should only use it for 3 days at the most but I am hesitant to even bother with it. Thanks!

So an update my derm said to stop using the sulfur wash and only use water and it's making it worse. How the heck can water make anything worse? I dont get it at all. I dont know what to do and am so upset about this. I am freaking out!!

Edited by tracy521, 24 October 2012 - 10:51 AM.

[Aballarina]

I might e able to help as I. Am almost threw my perioral dermatitus. What a horrible rash I got it all over my face as well. Try some apple cider vinegar on it (organic
Kind) and try to get some metro gel. I am also on antibiotics but they take like about 3 weeks to start working. Also don't wash ur face with anything other then water or something organic. I know it's hard but your not alone. Let me know
Of you have any more questions

[Aballarina]

Oh, I should also mention a few more things I missed. Stress is said to play a roll in dermatitis although personally I haven't experienced a
Difference. I also know not
To use any steroids as your skin gets "addicted " to them and it rebounds horribly. Trust me
That's how I got perioral dermatitis. Many
Gps will prescribe topical steroids etc
But you aren't actually helping the rash. Also keep in mind most people are on the antibiotics for about 12 weeks. I also changed my
Shampoo to an all natural one from aveeno as well as my toothpaste to squiggle. I also heard diet has something to do with it, and it's said to try n avoid sweet foods, spicy foods, or hot temperature foods. Hope this helps you

[tracy521]

I might e able to help as I. Am almost threw my perioral dermatitus. What a horrible rash I got it all over my face as well. Try some apple cider vinegar on it (organic
Kind) and try to get some metro gel. I am also on antibiotics but they take like about 3 weeks to start working. Also don't wash ur face with anything other then water or something organic. I know it's hard but your not alone. Let me know
Of you have any more questions

ok i will try that apple cider vinegar and i do have metro gel at home but never used it. so it works then? i have been on doxy a long time so when i first got this it wasnt that bad but i am guessing the hair dye somehow pushed it over the edge. this is crazy! i did use some plain greek yogurt last night on my face and it seemed to take away some of the redness but i am still only using water for now. my face just feels so freaking disgusting and its oily and just gross. ugh! i talked to my boss yesterday at work and he let me have off until monday because i think the stress of going to work right now is just making it worse. i do have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow because i just want to be sure its not something more serious. i have lost some weight but i think its probably more related to stress than anything. thank you so much. it helps to know i am not alone

Oh, I should also mention a few more things I missed. Stress is said to play a roll in dermatitis although personally I haven't experienced a
Difference. I also know not
To use any steroids as your skin gets "addicted " to them and it rebounds horribly. Trust me
That's how I got perioral dermatitis. Many
Gps will prescribe topical steroids etc
But you aren't actually helping the rash. Also keep in mind most people are on the antibiotics for about 12 weeks. I also changed my
Shampoo to an all natural one from aveeno as well as my toothpaste to squiggle. I also heard diet has something to do with it, and it's said to try n avoid sweet foods, spicy foods, or hot temperature foods. Hope this helps you

yeah i can see how stress could make it worse thats for sure. my derm gave me desonide steriod cream but i used it just on a few spots and it made them worse so i am done with that. i dont want to deal with that stuff thats for sure. the only thing that i used that was different was that salicylic acid cleanser for 2 weeks and then the hair dye. i switched to fluoride free toothpaste a few weeks ago and i use pureology shamppoo/conditioner which is sulfate free but it does have fragrance in it. i will check out that aveeno stuff but this is so odd because i use mostly all organic products and even the hair dye that my hair salon uses is organic too. its the same dye they use every single time they dye my hair. so strange. yeah now my derm mentioned they could up my doxy to 100mg if i wanted but not too sure. at this point with me being on doxy for such a long time i am wondering if it is making things worse.

Edited by tracy521, 25 October 2012 - 12:40 PM.

[Aballarina]

Well I use minocycline and theres
A possibility you got immune to the antibiotic? I use to be on doxy years ago for mild acne and I think after 6 or 7 months it wasn't as
Effective. I read the best antibiotic for this is tetracycline. Yes metrogel seems
To help but yes my skin was oily as heck too! I was putting some mineral powder makeup on top cuz I'm a manager of a restaurant and sadly I didn't get time of for it. Just try n baby your skin during your time off! I also found I washed my face with Luke warm
Almost cold water helped a lot too. You could ask your doc about spironolactone. (for acne and
Oily skin) cuz thays what I started using and my oil went down a lot in a few weeks!

But yes, isn't this disease horrible! I read everywhere it can be a continuing struggle, which kind of scares me. But I think I will continue the acv because it helps tone your skin as well. Btw I use it 2 times a day and I dilute it 40percent water 60percent acv

[tracy521]

Well I use minocycline and theres
A possibility you got immune to the antibiotic? I use to be on doxy years ago for mild acne and I think after 6 or 7 months it wasn't as
Effective. I read the best antibiotic for this is tetracycline. Yes metrogel seems
To help but yes my skin was oily as heck too! I was putting some mineral powder makeup on top cuz I'm a manager of a restaurant and sadly I didn't get time of for it. Just try n baby your skin during your time off! I also found I washed my face with Luke warm
Almost cold water helped a lot too. You could ask your doc about spironolactone. (for acne and
Oily skin) cuz thays what I started using and my oil went down a lot in a few weeks!

But yes, isn't this disease horrible! I read everywhere it can be a continuing struggle, which kind of scares me. But I think I will continue the acv because it helps tone your skin as well. Btw I use it 2 times a day and I dilute it 40percent water 60percent acv

that is true i have been on doxy a really long time. i was on 200mg for about 1 year and then 50mg for over 6 months so i wonder if it even is doing anything at this point. i will call the derm on monday if this isnt any better to see if they can switch my antibiotic. i have been given the script to spiro a few months ago but decided against it because my face got a lot better. before this ordeal i was just getting some blackheads but my face was pretty much clear. i think its only so oily right now because its dry as well if that makes any sense. yeah i hope this goes away in the next few weeks because i cant take my face being like this for much longer. it is awful and even worse than acne itself which is something i never thought i would say.

[Aballarina]

Yeah I hear you. I've had this since beginning of september and i can't take it anymore either lol. I think you should deffinetely try another antibiotic because its loosing effectiveness. And yea my
Skin was pretty nice too same as yours before this ordeal. I will post some pics so you can get idea of progress. And I use spiro now because after this ordeal I dont want to put any more topical lotions on after for acne. An yes it's worse then acne, and there isn't a lot of information about it around

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p314/B4BYD4WL/61242648-36F2-4AF2-B60A-B0F2133165D6-628-000000CD0EDF348B.jpg that's when it was at its worst with makeup on. As of yesterday looks like http://i131.photobuc...0CD3158B0B5.jpg

[tracy521]

yeah this is just so darn awful - ugh!! your face looks a lot better from the first picture so it does look like its healing which is a good thing. have you figured out which caused it for you? yeah the hardest part is just going out and seeing people now. i want to hide until this goes away but i know its not possible. i got the cutest halloween costume to wear to go out tomorrow but dont know if i am going to go out or not. my self esteem is totally shot thats for sure. i am thinking about getting patch tested soon because i need to know what i am allergic to so that i can wash my face again someday. i am gonna call my derm on monday and ask about the antibiotic. thanks so much for replying to me. i am glad i can talk to somebody about this.

[Aballarina]

Yeahhhh me too I got a cute witch and cute cop costumes.. And I have to dress up for work! Ugh lol. It's okay yes it's healing no new ones for a few days now. Honestly this rash takes a while to fully get rid of., and some
Sites do say it is chronic, but i talked to my derm and she said not likely as long as you don't use that same irritant again. But yeah I clunk the cream on and although it is quite hideous, not wearing makeup will heal it faster. I hope yours doesn't last as long as Mine! Seeing people and they all say "what happened to your face?!" really doesn't make you feel any better. Ps. I also read zinc supplements help and certain other pills from the health food store I haven't tried yet , but deffinetely something to keep in mind if yours is stubborn like mine!

And yes I did-- I used proactive sulfur mask as a spot treatment for months and I guess I got contact dermatitis from it., so my doct

**family doctor prescribed me a really strong steroid cream. And although it did go away over night, months later after seeing the rash randomly come back and using my cream I got this!

[tracy521]

thats cool! you will look cute in your costumes! i think i will probably go out because there is a bar down the street for me called jekyll & hydes that is halloween year round so they only have black lights on when you go in there so its very dark -ha!!! thank goodness for that. i havent been wearing any makeup which sucks but if it heals this faster then i am ok with that. hmm you know i was using bare minerals blemish therapy which is a sulfur treatment too so i wonder if that made it all this that much worse but yeah my doctor said not to use anything on it so i will stick to that. my face is just so itchy - ahh!! i did an oatmeal mask because i read it was suppossed to calm the skin. we shall see, i have read about zinc and i have some too so i will try that next. thanks for the info on the steroid cream. i have heard that it will get rid of it but make it come back so i will stay away from it.

[Aballarina]

Yeah my skin was so damn itchy in the beginning to! Its not itchy anymore but I just want it to be over yeah sulfur did it for me, but I was also tanning which I later found out on pro actives website is a no no.. Which they should clearly print on the bottle lol. Does yours look similar to mine?

[tracy521]

yeah it looks similar to yours but i would say a lot more red. i went out for a few hours today and its even worse now. i cant figure it out since i have only been washing with water.i was all ready to go out tonight and i think i am going to stay home now. i have been crying for the last hour. ugh!! i guess a trip back to the derm is in order but not sure what they can do at this point.

Edited by tracy521, 27 October 2012 - 04:17 PM.

[Aballarina]

You know what I was in your same shoes.. It was pretty red the first week my steriod cream was wearing off.. And my boss never gives me time off so it was a nightmare and most people don't understand because they think it's just a rash but it sucks. Don't worry it WIL get better. I cried so often too as If we didn't have skin problems before huh. Just try n get the metrogel because it goes on white n fades a lot so it kind of masks the redness did you end up with lots of white heads to? Just make sure you don't accidently pop them because that can make them "spread" I think I had scratched my forehead ones or something that's how I got a bunc on my forehead lol. But trust me it will go away and ya I avvoid different lighting cause I don't want it to be even worse looking. Try tetracycline! I'm sure it will work for you

[a.p.]

My mom gets the same thing from certain brands of makeup. She went to the doctor and was prescribed some type of gel. I forgot the name of it but I will post it on here tomorrow. I'm out of town at the moment.

[Aballarina]

And mostly it takes time.. I think during
The first 3 weeks of it I Barely saw my bf and I was always in a bad mood because of it. Derm will prolly give you different antibiotics n some creams. I layer my cream when I'm at home:) I found they kind of.. Peel off after a couple weeks of that! Sounds gross but underneath r no bumps lol

[LibbyLiz]

Hey guys, this is my first post, and I'm actually someone who just has normal acne not the redness, but I do know a lot of people who have used topical steroids on their acne and ended up with 'Steroid Induced Eczema' also called Red Skin Syndrome. Not sure if this sheds light for some of you on the redness?
Libby

Forgot to say that if you search on the net there are many articles on steroid induced eczema/rosacea.

[tracy521]

You know what I was in your same shoes.. It was pretty red the first week my steriod cream was wearing off.. And my boss never gives me time off so it was a nightmare and most people don't understand because they think it's just a rash but it sucks. Don't worry it WIL get better. I cried so often too as If we didn't have skin problems before huh. Just try n get the metrogel because it goes on white n fades a lot so it kind of masks the redness did you end up with lots of white heads to? Just make sure you don't accidently pop them because that can make them "spread" I think I had scratched my forehead ones or something that's how I got a bunc on my forehead lol. But trust me it will go away and ya I avvoid different lighting cause I don't want it to be even
worse looking. Try tetracycline! I'm sure it will work for you

thank you so much for the kind words and for making me feel better. yeah i have been crying so much its ridiculous. i try to hold it in and then i just cry even more. ugh! i meant to tell you i got some desonide cream to use from my derm so i have been using that for the past 2 days and things are looking better. she did say not to use it any longer than 4-5 days at the most though so i will make sure to only use it for a bit. yes i have so many white heads and that is what is so gross. it looks nasty and i think you are right about spreading them because i tried to pop some around my nose cuz i thought they were maybe just regular old whiteheads but they werent and now i have more there now. lesson learned on that one. ugh!

And mostly it takes time.. I think during
The first 3 weeks of it I Barely saw my bf and I was always in a bad mood because of it. Derm will prolly give you different antibiotics n some creams. I layer my cream when I'm at home:) I found they kind of.. Peel off after a couple weeks of that! Sounds gross but underneath r no bumps lol

yes i cannot wait till these peel off. they are so nasty! so when they peel off was the area really red underneath or is the skin normal? that is what i am most worried about and then when this is gone i dont know what type of cleanser to use again to wash my face. i am thinking about doing the patch testing just so i know what i am allergic to. i know at this point its salicylic acid but not sure what else but i guess whatever is in hair dye as well.

[Aballarina]

Pretty much when they peel off its normal underneath. For me, I'd say it looked almost like a lil red but after about two weeks the skin looks back to normal so no it doesn't scar I have some left on my forehead and a couple on my face so it's a pretty long rash but don't worry it will get better. Yeah I cried a lot too over it cuz it feels like its never going away. What kind of cream is that??

And when I go home I'll give you the name of the cleanser I use! I will continue to use it for maybe a month after just to make sure.. It's an all natural one made from plant oils n extracts so there's no sls in it! Sodium lauyrl sulfate is supposedly known for either causing or worsening perioral dermaitis. So try n get something without it

[tracy521]

thank you so much! your posts are helping me feel better! i am going back to the derm because i got a lot of spot around my nose last night and i am afraid its spreading. ugh! i was so upset and angry when i looked in the mirror last night i wanted to punch something! this is totally screwing up my life! yes please give me the name of your cleanser when you get time. i need to be able to wash my face again because now i am getting blackheads on top of this crap.
oh and the cream is a steroid cream but a very mild one. its just a step above hydrocortisone cream. i didnt want to use it but got desperate because some of the areas are so very red and angry looking. i am looking into going to a holistic doctor for allergy testing and different things but not sure if they are the real deal ya know? i just feel like my derm just keeps throwing stuff at me without making sure that everything else is ok. i think they should at least do bloodwork to make sure nothing else is going on. how is your skin today?

[tracy521]

i went back to the derm today and they think that some of this is now a fungal thing as well and they want me to use nizoral for my face and they are upping my doxy back to 200mg a day as well as using clindamycin too. i personally think that they dont know what it is and are just throwing various prescriptions at me while things keep getting worse. so i made an appointment with a doctor that focuses more on the holistic side of things and will go from there. they are going to do some food and chemical testing on me as well as take some blood work and check for the fungal infection among other things. i figure it cant hurt at this point. i think its just odd that i have requested blood work 3 times and everybody keeps ignoring me!

Edited by tracy521, 30 October 2012 - 11:08 AM.