65 replies to this topic

[tracy521]

wow, itsnoteasybeinggreen, that is a very interesting story. i bet it is the salicylic acid then. i will have to make sure i am not using anything with that in it. i am using nizoral on my face since that is what the derm gave me and then i wear no makeup and am not using any moisturizer anymore at all. i use fluoride free toothpaste but will have the check the ingredients. i also use carmex but thats it right now. that is crazy how you had such issues as well. i have been doing that with products now too and i have no issues on my arm with anything so not sure if it would be safe to try certain things now on my face or not. i think what bothers me the most is acne with the dermatitis. how is your skin now?

Thanks for your story! Dermatitis can be such a hassle.

You know what I did once my dermattis was gone Tracy? I went to the body shop and bought the tea tree collection. I didn't want to use any harsh chemicals anymore but I found this collection really cleaned my skin! So I deffinetely recommend going there and picking some out, instead of trying all the acne fighting ones. I can't wait to be off the antibiotics! Hopefully we will never experience this again lol

thats a great idea and i will have to check them out. i just cant wait to get patch tested to see what all i am allergic to. my luck it will be many different things but at least at the end they will give me a list of products that i can use and i will know what is safe. i really like my benzaclin so i am torn about going back to it because its the only thing that helps keep my acne at bay really especially around my cycle but i know its not good to always be using it.

[Aballarina]

Im not sure of dermatitis is a cause from an allergen. I think doctors all have different opinions. I read its either an allergent or your skin is simply too sensitive and over time you can develop perioral dermatits. Either way this is super annoying lol. I think I took for granted the days I could just wash my face and use whatever i wanted. It scares me how they say it's chronic as. Don't want it to clme back, but I think my derm said that's only if you use the same products again.

[tracy521]

i hear what you are saying and that makes sense. for me i do think it was an allergic reaction from that cleanser and then something else tipped it off and turned the perioral dermatitis into contact dermatitis and then now its back to perioral dermatitis. the reason why i want to do the patch testing (the derm suggested it too) is to make sure what i am using now is not causing it to stick around and there is no other way to find that out . they test for 72 different type of chemicals so i think it will be good to have a list of what i need to avoid in the future. i would love to go back to my hylunia cleanser. its very gentle and organic and has like 6 ingredients in it so hopefully one day i can use it again.

[Aballarina]

Ohh I get it! I thought u meant a diff kind of allergy test! Ya untreated contact dermatitis turns into perioral I think. Atlesst well be clear for the holidays! Do your bumps look different then acne bumps? At first when I got it mildly , I couldn't quite tell the difference. It's only because I ended up with like over a few hundred little bumps that I knew it was unusual for me and their pattern. Hopefully someone in the future can learn from us!

[tracy521]

no worries at all and i think the reason it turned into contact dermatitis is from the hair dye but i dont know for sure until i get the patch testing since they test for the ppd in hair dye. i could be wrong about the dye but i came home and then i got a bad rash all over my face so it had to be that right? i sure hope i am clear by the holidays. its so stressful! the bumps around my mouth i know are the perioral dermatitis cuz they have that whitehead looking thing in the middle but the ones around my face i think are just acne because they are just red but then again its hard to tell. i had probably 50 or more bumps on my face at one time but now i only have a few really red active ones and then a bunch of tiny ones that are healing or at least look like they are healing. i am just wondering if that this point if the nizoral is helping or hurting me. the derm said to use it for a few more weeks or least till i get patch testing done but it really really dries out my skin which makes it flake and peel. i know it cant be too good for it which is why i want to moisturize so darn bad. ahhh!!

Edited by tracy521, 15 November 2012 - 02:40 PM.

[Aballarina]

Hey Tracy, just wondering how your face Progress is coming along hope all Is good!

[tracy521]

Hey Tracy, just wondering how your face Progress is coming along hope all Is good!

hello. good to hear from you. things are ok i got 2 cysts last week so that really bummed me out and i got a few new bumps around my mouth. ahh i just want this gone already its really driving me nuts and i think my hubby is sick of me complaining but this really has killed my self esteem. the patch testing starts tomorrow and i am not looking forward to it. how are you doing? how is your skin?

[Aballarina]

Awe
My skins ok I have a few bumps as well although I am no sure if they are pimples or perioral dermatitis :s. hopefully all this will be over soon! It's so disheartening when we feel almost done and then more pop up...

[tracy521]

Awe
My skins ok I have a few bumps as well although I am no sure if they are pimples or perioral dermatitis :s. hopefully all this will be over soon! It's so disheartening when we feel almost done and then more pop up...

i so hear ya there. i feel like its either sun or alcohol are triggers for me which is pretty crappy because i like to go out and have some drinks and i feel like it relieves stress ya know? i guess no alcohol for me for a few weeks. yeah i want this gone already so i can go back to using my acne meds so that i can stop breaking out. its so odd to be getting cysts like this with taking 200mg of doxy everyday. that normally doesnt happen when i am on a high dosage of doxy. i feel like another one is brewing too so i might have to go back to the derm and have them give me a different antibiotic for now for this acne. i can barely deal with the dermatitis but to be getting cysts on top of it just makes me so much more upset. i am convinced now that its the nizoral causing it. before this whole thing started i was clear for a while and only got a cyst every 3-4 months. i guess we just gotta stay positive and hope this all ends soon. its like a bad nightmare though i will tell you that. thanks for listening i really helps to have somebody to talk to that understands.

Edited by tracy521, 26 November 2012 - 12:08 PM.

[Aballarina]

Yeah! I have one pimple now but I have a few small scars from what happened after. Those bumps that where on my forehead?? My derm told me wasn't dermatitis she didn't know what it is!! But i used my apple cidar and now their gone. But because when they dried out I picked some off there's a mark hopefully they will disappear soon as well. I lowered my dosage of antibiotics to one pill every second day. (from when I started I took two pills a day). Just to make sure the dermatitis doesn't come back. Maybe it is the nix oral? And that's so weird doxy is doing that.. Try tetracycline or minocycline! I'm on mino and I haven't had any side effects. Seems to work for acne
And dermatitis. Also I had freshly done piercings (microdermals on my sternum) and that totally helped them heal! It could be the antibiotic isn't working as well cuz it's been a while on it. I know tetracycline is the best treatment for dermatitus too. But mine went pretty fast with minocycline so give it a shot! and fill your spiro prescription! It's much safer to be on spiro long term than antibiotics. I didn't even notice an initial breakout because of the damn dermatitis lol.

And that's exactly how I described it! A bad nightmare!

[tracy521]

you know i think the bumps on my forehead were a fungal thing and the rest of my face had the dermatitis because the nizoral cleared up the forehead super fast and its been fine since. the wash did help clear up my face i just think now its causing acne even though i read online thats an anti-adrogen or something like that. i was on mino years ago and it stained my teeth really bad and had to spend $850 to get them whitened because they got so bad so i wont do that again but i never tried tetracycline. i think i was always nervous about the spiro because my blood pressure runs lower normally and also the initial breakout scares the crap out of me but i guess if i can be on antibiotics for a bit till they kick in then that would be ok. we shall see though i am going to get my food allergy test results on thursday and will find out the results of patch teting on friday and go from there. i would love to be able to get off all meds soon enough and try to figure out a way to balance my hormones naturally but not sure if anything will ever really work. ahhh!!!
so your on spiro now? any side effects at all? dont worry the redness from the dermatitis will fade too!!

[Aballarina]

Yes I've been on for a couple months. My initial breakout was a few minor bumps here and there nothing major. But I was also o antibiotics. Let me know what your results are! I'm curious. And yeah isn't that' weird how we both got all these different
Bumps? I feel like the effects of dermatitus are much much worse then doctors lead on lol. They deffinetely lead to other problems as well. The lil pin prick red marks r just on my forehead now do hopefully they'll go.

[tracy521]

i agree its like the derms downplay it and act like its not a big deal. when my face was covered the one derm said that it wasnt that big of a deal because at least i didnt have cancer. i wanted to smack him!!

[Aballarina]

Hey Tracy how have you been doing? Any updates? My dermatitis is all gone and my derm Is putting me on accutane starting today she said it'll also help the dermatitis? But I'm not sure. I still have some awesome scars on my forehead haha from that recent outbreak. Did you get rid of your dermatitis too??

[tracy521]

hey good to hear from you. so you are done with the spiro then? my dermatitis is gone at least that is why my derm says but now i keep getting cystic acne. i have had 6 cysts in the last 2 weeks (besides regular acne) which is the most i ever had at one time in my life. i went back to the derm to get 4 of them injected and the derm told me to stop the doxy and gave me zithromax to take 3 days a week for 8 weeks and then that is it. she doesnt want me to do antibiotics ever again and i am fine with that. so i got my food allergy results back and am highly allergic to all dairy, wheat, gluten, malt, barley, rye, beef, eggs, pineapple and garlic. processing all that info has been overwhelming and trying to find things i am able to eat is a chore but i am determined to try it out for a month or two to see if it helps my acne. my holistic doctor has me taking enzyme pills at each meal and then will retest me again in 6 months. i just got a celiac test as well as candida too so just awaiting the results. i pray that my diet can help clear me but if not its spiro then the tane. i have been in a bad place the last few weeks so i am just trying to keep it all together. i told my mom if i didnt get red marks or scars i wouldnt care so much about the acne ya know? so when do you start accutane? are you nervous at all? what dosage will you be on? keep me updated and pm me whenever you want. take care and good luck to you! thanks for checking in on me

[Aballarina]

Yeah lucky us one problem after another huh! I'm taking my first pill in about 20 min! Just made some lovely Mac n cheese to take it with yea I talked it over with the dream and since I've had acne since 14 and really not much improvements ( I'm turning 22 on Sunday) and tried diff topicals and pills she thinks this is the best idea. I'll be only 40 mg a day for 6 months. Kinda scared but soooo done with all this. Since I've been on antibiotics till now hopefully my ib won't be do bad. I also don't want to stay on spiro because I don't want to take it for years and who knows what'll look like after. She also mentioned it helps peri oral dermatitis. I had the ib from spiro nothing too major so well see. And yeah I'm a bit nervous! And yea my forehead has lots of marks let me know how it all works for you and what you decide on! That sucks your allergic to so much maybe it'll clear you up and you can look for ulternstives? And me too with the bad place! My gp wasn't sure what those bumps where and had said they coud be warts! So m pretty relieved to hear its acne. Maybe well both end up on accutane!

[tracy521]

yeah tell me about it. sometimes i feel so cursed ya know? it sucks so bad thats for sure. so how did it go with your first dose? you feel ok? i know what you mean about being scared. i had the script for it back in 2005 or 2006 and i decided not to take it because i read too many bad things but you know what my hubby and his brother both took it back in the day and they are fine so i think if i do get offered it again i will probably take it but everybody says to try spiro first. so you didnt like the spiro or it didnt work for you? i know that you are suppossed to give it like 3 months or something. that is good that the accutane will help the dermatitis too. good deal!! my derm is convinced my acne is hormonal so i think she would make me try the spiro first then the accutane. i cant be on any hormonal birth control so i would have to get the copper iud first before i could even attempt to get accutane. its all such an ordeal but i am so happy for you and i know that everything will work out. keep me updated even if you just send me a pm or something every week. i hear ya there its so hard to be positive when you see acne taking over your face and then the scarring and red marks on top of it just makes it almost unbearable. take care and just know that its going to get better now that you are on the accutane!!

Edited by tracy521, 07 December 2012 - 10:06 AM.

[Aballarina]

Yeah I had spiro for 3 months and I was suffering the ib and when I went to my derm Wednesday, I thought she was gonna give me stuff for whatever had been on my forehead! Lol. But she offered me accutane as I'd tried so many things for years and still had it. I figured if I'm gonna suffer an ib, might as well be done with the whole thing! I don't wanna rely on spiro cause maybe when I want kids it'll all come back. And I have oily skin so my derm thinks accutane will help. You know I try not to read the horror stories anymore because it'll psych you out lol. I asked my derm about the moremserious side effects and she told me its mostly people that have it in their history. And I'm tired of dealing with these dang acne! Lol and my first dose went fine no problems! definitely give it a go if spiro dont work for you. I am on ortho tri cylin for years but I still break out and it's always in clusterssss especially on my cheeks I'm not too worried for the ib from accutane cuz I just had it for spro n both the pharmacist and my derm said its about the sane. Except I've been on spiro for 3 months and still getting it!!!! Accutane is supposed to ony be 2 weeks I will for sure keep you updated!

[tracy521]

hello again! ok i was wondering how long you were on the spiro and yeah i agree if 3 months into it and you are still breaking out then its definiltey not working. my derm keeps saying my acne is hormomal but i dont know only because i get it all the time now not just before my period but i guess she said its because its on the lower part of my face. i am getting cysts in odd places though that i dont normally ever break out in like 2 around my nose and one on my chin. i have scarring on my chin so i dont normally ever get breakouts there anymore so this is all very odd. then again using that nizoral shampoo on my face for 2 months and not being able to exfoliate couldnt have been good for it either. so we shall see i really dont want to go the spiro route because its really just a band aid for the problem and then what happens when i go off it ya know? my derm said they would only keep me on it for a year which to me is a waste because who wants to have good skin for a year if it works then go back to crappy skin again ya know? my skin is oily too so i would love the accutane just to cut down on that let alone the cystic acne. i usually blot my face numerous times throughout the day which is annoying especially after not using really any moisturizer. hey i was on ortho for years too and it made my skin so much worse. i never realized it was the birth control doing it until i stopped taking it and cleared up for 2 years only to have the acne return. not sure why it came back though. i hate birth control but really wish i could be on it now just to get the accutane. the thought of an iud freaks me out for some reason. i read way too much stuff on the internet that i scare myself out of so many things. i agree i wouldnt worry too much about the accutane and i think since you are on 40mg a day that you probably wont even get the bad side effects. my hubby was eventually pulled off of it when he was younger i guess because his bloodwork came back high for his liver but i think he had at least 5 months in and his skin is still great to this day. he will be 39 and when he does get a breakout its very short and goes away quickly. he even squeezes all his zits and her barely ever gets red marks let alone scars so i think this is going to work reallly well for you. the only side effect he got was chapped lips that would sometimes bleed that is it. lol the ib from spiro and accutane scares the crap out of me but if i start the spiro soon then i will still be on my antibiotics so hopefully it will help with that. this diet just needs to kick in and start clearing my skin already -ha ha!!

[Aballarina]

Yeah that's why I quit spiro it's a bandaid. I'm not too worried, but on that note I was on antibiotics the whole time on spiro and I still got a crappy ib lol. That's why I'd rather go thru accutane it's more of a "cure". And if it helps with our dermatitis I feel great lol the way I look at it is.. On spiro ill still need acne meds which will irritate my dermatitis. If i go thru accutane , chances are slim that I'll need them again. That's jut how in looking at it. I tried dieting last year with green tea and all egg whites spinach Etc. it was so hard cause I manage a breakfast restaurant lol. But it didn't help me and I couldn't resist I only did it for 5-6 months. Accutane is supposed. To be great fit oily skin which Is why I'm pretty happy. I'd go on a birth control if I where you just because the time spiro will take to work you'll almost be done accutane lol. But that's just my two cents. I'm fed up with covering uglys as I call them up lol. I'll let you know how my course is going since we have similar situations except I get more big red swollen bumps then cysts. I'm 22 & I don't really have any medical problems. My derm said if you've suffered for many years clearly your not going to out gro acne... And I know it'll get worse since I can't use my damn acne meds! I tried putting my old Acne prescribed cream (clindoxyl) on a few bumps last week and I got a few lol bumps which I knew would turn into dermatitis! So can't use topicals no more what about you? Have you tried your old acne meds?