I looked through many pages of this thread just last thursday night (05/02/13) trying to figure out how to get rid of the red, bumpy, itchy rash that magically appeared on my face. I'd had it happen multiple times before, and each flare up lasted for over a week.

After looking through this thread and at pictures, decided that my rash was more than likely SD. The area affected was (my scalp and eyebrows) the area around my mouth, chin, all of my left check and jawbone, and half of my right cheek. Red bumpy, itchy, sometimes even burning rash, with the bumps being so tiny you'd have to be up close to see it, or you'd have to feel it.

I stopped using any soap, toner, moisturizer that had the potential to be irritating. I ended up using Cerave non-soap cleanser and their moisturizer with a small amount of SA. Stopped the itching and burning, but didn't get rid of the rash.

What ended up clearing my SD in 3 days instead of 7-10 was calcarea carbonica. On another website, it said that children often show SD in the form of cradle cap. And on my sunday shopping trip at whole foods looking at hollistic medicines for headache, I saw "cradle cap", put 2 and 2 together, bought the little blue tube and figured I'd give it a shot.

Symptoms appeared thursday night. Friday, saturday and sunday saw no change. took the CC 3 times a day as directed starting Sunday evening (2 doses). It is Wednesday afternoon in my area, and I'm shocked and happy to say that except for some small, rough patches (and only rough, not bumpy, red, itchy or burning) underneath my chin, and along my jawline, it's all gone! Like I said I've broken out like this a few times and each time lasted 7-10 days and then went away. I could never pin point it to a product I was using, food I was eating, stress, weather... it seemed to just come on out of the blue, and nothing worked, not even HC cream. And while I do believe the Cerave cleanser and lotion helped with the burning and itches, I saw no changes in the redness and bumps the first 3 days I used it.

Hope this helps someone.

Does anyone who have this condition have blepharitis?

I was just wondering if anyone has tried doing a liver cleanse or even just drinking warm lemon water in the mornings? I'm willing to try anything to help with SD and acne. I don't want to use topical oregano oil my whole life as I've had aromatherapists tell me that it's too harsh on the skin and that I can develop sensitization over time.

I wanted to drop in and say that I have seen a significant reduction in flaking from using sulfur soap. The specific soap I use is called Coral KAVI. I bought it years ago for acne and thought I'd try it out again since I had an extra bar lying around. It contains both salicylic acid and sulfur, and I'm pretty sure it's the sulfur that's making the difference since I've tried salicylic acid products in the past to no avail.

I wash my face with the soap twice a day in lukewarm water and then apply my moisturizer (CeraVe lotion). I've been using it for one month and my results gradually improved the longer I used it.

Sorry for the lack of response. I have purposely let the seb derm go back into remission so I could try new things, especially since I wanted to go off the saw palmetto due to side effects and fear of damaging r liver/pancreas.

What helps to improve:

Pure (Japanese exfoliatior, apply on skin then just rub away.)

Dermadoctor BTBM Cleanser

CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser (mix this with small amount of BTBM as it has no SLS.)

Baking soda plus water paste (leave on 10 min, then wash off. Flakes disappear fast)

CeraVe PM Lotion (apply after cleanser)

Ozonated Coconut Oil (this wont break you out and it has oxygen to kill any fungal infection deep into the skin. Coconut oil is the only oil perfect for antifungals because it has less oleic acid, which malassezia thrives on...or so says online. Also very good at removing flakes due to oil cleansing method. Similar to Pure.)

saw palmetto works for me but again I'm getting off of it. I don't want to be taking a blood thinner all my life.

I wanted to drop in and tell everyone I found an odd way to end the "wet phase" of my SD.

By "wet phase" I simply mean tons of rashy looking redness, the weird "whiteheads" that aren't whiteheads and tons of secretion on my beard and eyebrow areas. When in a "dry phase" I get some small amounts of excess sebum and flakes if I dont religiously take care of my beard area but it looks like I simple have dry skin.

For the last 3 weeks I'd been in a "wet phase". It was the first one I'd had in 6 months at least. It was brought on by putting virgin coconut oil on my face. I proceeded to try nearly every cure out there to get it back to the overly dry skin look it has"normally".

I had some extra motivation because there is a gorgeous girl at work I'm really clicking with and I really wanted this stuff gone asap so I have all my normal confidence at my disposal. So last night in desperation I was praying and looking for anything I could find. In the midst of all this I was cleaning up my house and found a tube of Abreva from the previous winter. A light came on and I said to myself "this dries up Cold Sores for me instantly I wonder if it would work for SD."

24hrs later it is 99% GONE. The Abreva also made my skin and stubble beard feel softer than it has ever felt. Its literally smooth as a babies butt. I'm quite happy and am personally curious why on earth it works.

P.S. I took a second to look around and it turns out this works for a lot of other people. Many people say to use alcohol BEFORE the Abreva but I didn't and still got good results.

Seb Derm people.. I am a 40 year old female. I ONLY use water on my face and nothing else. I suppose I should have used a moisturizer all these years, but never have. I never get a pimple a year and don't really have wrinkles. However, last year I had a severe rash on my face. It looks like a constant sunburn that itches and burns and makes me look crazy. After 6 derms and over 1 year later I finally went to University of Michigan and had a biopsy on my face. Results Seb. Derm. Problem NOTHING is working. My face is sooo sensitive everything burns me. Tried Steroids and that is only supposed to be used temporarily. Then tried protopic, burns! Then I was given

ketaconozole shampoo for my hair and ointment for my face. Nothing! I haven't called the hospital back because from what I've read it is a over production of yeast and a fungus. All those skin diseases are fungus that come about from a low immune system. Could have been from stress, lack of sleep, poor diet, etc. However, I think I have leaky gut syndrome. After reading TONS of stuff on the internet I'm convinced that a high diet of sugar will lead to this. Everyone has yeast in their gut. Good and bad. When there is too much bad it over takes just like women who get yeast infections. The doctors treat topical. They don't have time to figure out what went wrong with your body and where and why. After reading and reading, I was going to go to a homeopath doctor because I'm convinced we have to get to the root cause. I purchased a book titled The Candida Diet on the internet. The person who wrote it is a doctor and was a researcher and what she says makes a ton of sense. Although some of it is over my head. The jist of it is this... She tells you to first do a clease consisting of NO sugar not even fruit due to sugar, veggies to clean your digestive out as much as possible. Then you start taking probiotics because you have to build your immune system back up, then you start taking anitfungals five different natural ones like candida clear, oil of oregano, coconut oil (its called something more complex) and grapefruit seed. You do this gradual because if you do it all at once you can experience candida die off when the bad bacteria die all at once they release toxins into your body and too many at once can make you sick. This is a 60 day program and I am CONVINCED this will clear seb derm. Believe me I haven't seen a photo yet of anyone that has it as bad as I do. Thinking back last year I started eating hot tamale and nerd candy EVERY night. Just a little bit but after a while my body needed the sugar and looking back I'm thinking my diet has everything to do with it. I don't think most people would consider me overweight by any means but I skip breakfast and lunch and eat dinner and that's it. I work a lot, I have a lot going on always, stress, etc. I'm purchasing a Nordic track on Monday, I've ordered the pills and I am determined to clear this up. I am a successful sales representative that meets customers every week and I look terrible! If anyone out there has tried this diet by Dr. Lisa Richards please let me know. Did it work? It just really makes sense to me that this is a diet and healthly life style issue. If anyone can help me temporarily please do! I tried oil of oregano straight extract on my face and almost went to ER. Burned the S ... out of my skin. turned brown and peeled. I guess I was supposed to dilute it. Diaper rash cream will help with swelling. Cloderm helps temporarily but it is a steroid I've been using for a year off and on and it does think your skin and cause wrinkles. You are NOT supposed to use this but I'm telling you my face looks terrible so I kept using it. I stopped a while ago and now I just suffer with it.

Any ideas?????????

Seb Derm people.. I am a 40 year old female. I ONLY use water on my face and nothing else. I suppose I should have used a moisturizer all these years, but never have. I never get a pimple a year and don't really have wrinkles. However, last year I had a severe rash on my face. It looks like a constant sunburn that itches and burns and makes me look crazy. After 6 derms and over 1 year later I finally went to University of Michigan and had a biopsy on my face. Results Seb. Derm. Problem NOTHING is working. My face is sooo sensitive everything burns me. Tried Steroids and that is only supposed to be used temporarily. Then tried protopic, burns! Then I was given

ketaconozole shampoo for my hair and ointment for my face. Nothing! I haven't called the hospital back because from what I've read it is a over production of yeast and a fungus. All those skin diseases are fungus that come about from a low immune system. Could have been from stress, lack of sleep, poor diet, etc. However, I think I have leaky gut syndrome. After reading TONS of stuff on the internet I'm convinced that a high diet of sugar will lead to this. Everyone has yeast in their gut. Good and bad. When there is too much bad it over takes just like women who get yeast infections. The doctors treat topical. They don't have time to figure out what went wrong with your body and where and why. After reading and reading, I was going to go to a homeopath doctor because I'm convinced we have to get to the root cause. I purchased a book titled The Candida Diet on the internet. The person who wrote it is a doctor and was a researcher and what she says makes a ton of sense. Although some of it is over my head. The jist of it is this... She tells you to first do a clease consisting of NO sugar not even fruit due to sugar, veggies to clean your digestive out as much as possible. Then you start taking probiotics because you have to build your immune system back up, then you start taking anitfungals five different natural ones like candida clear, oil of oregano, coconut oil (its called something more complex) and grapefruit seed. You do this gradual because if you do it all at once you can experience candida die off when the bad bacteria die all at once they release toxins into your body and too many at once can make you sick. This is a 60 day program and I am CONVINCED this will clear seb derm. Believe me I haven't seen a photo yet of anyone that has it as bad as I do. Thinking back last year I started eating hot tamale and nerd candy EVERY night. Just a little bit but after a while my body needed the sugar and looking back I'm thinking my diet has everything to do with it. I don't think most people would consider me overweight by any means but I skip breakfast and lunch and eat dinner and that's it. I work a lot, I have a lot going on always, stress, etc. I'm purchasing a Nordic track on Monday, I've ordered the pills and I am determined to clear this up. I am a successful sales representative that meets customers every week and I look terrible! If anyone out there has tried this diet by Dr. Lisa Richards please let me know. Did it work? It just really makes sense to me that this is a diet and healthly life style issue. If anyone can help me temporarily please do! I tried oil of oregano straight extract on my face and almost went to ER. Burned the S ... out of my skin. turned brown and peeled. I guess I was supposed to dilute it. Diaper rash cream will help with swelling. Cloderm helps temporarily but it is a steroid I've been using for a year off and on and it does think your skin and cause wrinkles. You are NOT supposed to use this but I'm telling you my face looks terrible so I kept using it. I stopped a while ago and now I just suffer with it.

Any ideas?????????

By any chance, were you on antibiotics right before you got the rash on your face?

I'm a male in my early 40's and have had SD since around the age of 14. Back then I'd use a clearasil concealer around the sides of my nose to try and hide the redness, which also extended to laugh lines on the sides of my face. And yep, being male I got stick for being 'vain'. That's how it started.

I went the doctor when I was 20, as it was spreading out around the t-bar of my face, which is the most common area. It was socially inhibiting. I tried the hydrocortisone creams and for x1 year they worked, then my skin became used to them and even a stronger dosage made zero impact. Doctors in the early 90's had no information to pass on, so, like most, I tried alternative routes - focusing on the candida aspect. I made changes to my diet (virtually all the things I loved to eat, were deemed wrong! Which was depressive news in itself), and that has led to a legacy of better eating habits, but...

It's still here, and in the past two years, its spread over my forehead, especially eyebrows. My skin around my mouth/chin is prone as well. I hate to be clean shaven as shaving appears to irritate it more, so I have a stubble, but if I grow a beard the condition really gets worse!

I've tried most creams/lotion & potions, inc Chinese herbal remedies (which I now feel ashamed of), and, personally, none of them did anything to rid me of this condition.

The ONE thing that always rids it COMPLETELY for me (yes folks completely!), is sunbathing or sunbeds.

Yes, absolutely, that comes with its own health implications, which I'm more than aware of, and it can be costly too if your on a low income like myself.

Usually, I have a session of 12 minutes, which immediately afterwards brings out the affected area even more!). around5-8 hours later, the redness evens out due to the tan and then later, the affected areas turn flaky and can be sloughed off. The next day, usually its fine, though there have been some times when I need one more session, if its a particularly red, sore area (usually forehead/eyebrows). And, I have a tan too, which makes me feel more confident too. Even better than sunbeds (and free) is sunbathing! I live in grey England, where even the summers appear to have disappeared... Yes, its not perfect, its a health hazard in itself, but, dammit, I've lived with this crap for a long time, yes, I do have fine lines from 'sun worship', but personally, rather some wrinkles than harsh angry itchy red skin. I find that one 12 minute session on the rays (every 3-4 days) together with sensible diet works for me. So much damn effort to look normal.

If anyone young is reading this, PLEASE, PLEASE try all other routes before choosing the one I follow, it already feels like I'm giving free publicity to sunbed use, which isn't my intention. It's just what works for me personally.

I was passing through this thread looking for something else but seeing as I've successfully treated my own SD for 11 years I thought I'd chime in. Dermacinz cream, or if you're American a ZNP soap bar or Dermazinc. All of them are zinc pyrithione based treatments. It is the only substance I know of that attacks most of the symptoms of SD. Use it was the caveman regimen, solved it for me.

ZNP bar is way to harsh. Dermadoctor's Born to be mild is a bit better but I'm having lucking with a colloidal silver bar called Heritage that has coconut oil and olive and its not as drying as the other two. I wish I could try tanning but I"m allergic to the sun

ive done the diet thing for 3 yrs and no improvement. Yes immune system has a lot to do with it and I guess my is suppressed and although I follow a no processed food diet with no sugar and dairy it probably helps a little but its not the cure all. I take oregano oil, nystatin anti fungal pills, probiotics and it still didnt solve my issues so dont bank on it entirely.

Quick follow-up to my post on the previous page. While the sulfur soap stopped my flaking, I still suffered from pustules and red marks that would appear in my beard after a few days of not shaving. I've discovered that using Head and Shoulders Intensive Care shampoo (with selenium sulfide) does a good job of keeping those painful blemishes away. So the Coral Kavi sulfur soap and selenium sulfide Head & Shoulders shampoo twice a day appear to be my knockout combo.

It's a huge relief to find products that actually work after almost a year of searching for a cure. I've tried pretty much every non-prescription remedy under the sun.

Yes, Selsun Blue works on malassezia, but have you tried Nizoral? Nizoral 1% is OTC and much better the than Selsun Blue.

Better yet is Hegor 150, a climbazole based shampoo.

Hello all. I have managed to control my SD about 99.9% last year. Last week I was in hospital due to pneumonia and finished 7 day antibiotic Medocef and today I'm back home on 5 day course of 2nd antibiotic Ciprinol. I am so scared of this antibiotics could worsen my SD and it will come back full strenth. Anyboy noticed worsening after antibiotics? Any advises?

Hi again folks,

I posted in this thread a few months ago to recommend Apple Cider Vinegar on the scalp in order to reduce any itching or flaking. I have seen great results with it. I think it works because the acidic nature of the vinegar creates an environment on the scalp that the SD-causing fungus can't survive in.

I also apply Fruit of the Earth 100% aloe vera gel to my face after I shave (which I follow with a moisturiser), because I've heard it's good for SD. I have hardly any "SD redness" now.

I've heard a good way of combatting the white flakes that appear on the face due to SD is to shave often. These flakes can appear because the SD gets into the beard/facial hair follicles. So by shaving once per day, this should hopefully keep the shaved areas clear of white flakes. I shave against the grain to get the closest shave possible.

After much research, I believe that SD is caused by too much bad bacteria in the gut, which lowers the immune system, making the body vulnerable to malessezia furfur (a microscopic fungus on the skin that is normally dormant) which then overgrows and causes the itching, flaking and redness. Which would indicate that SD won't disappear completely until it is treated internally by probiotics and supplements. Plenty of good research on Google about this.

I have my SD about 90% reduced now and ACV + aloe vera gel seems to be doing the trick.

I've also heard that there are certain foods that should be avoided if you have SD. Bread can cause a flare-up, if I remember right. I assume because bread has yeast in it. Anyway. I'll check back here occasionally, but this thread seems pretty dead. Good luck, folks!

Not sure but could such pimples be related to my SD?

See pictures:

The 14 day of antibiotics my SD appeared on nose sides and hairline after about half year of 99% easy control. Definetley provoked by the antibiotics which is probbly related to the death of "good" bacteria in the body. So now I'm 100% sure this is fungal desease coused by a fungi that all humans has on the skin (the reason why someone with SD cant infect other people) and the problem is due to the bacteria that controls those fungi is dead and Melassezia takes spread. I hope a long course of probiotics might be back some control of it.

Bottom line is and my advise to all is to take antibiotics for a lifesaving treatments only.

P.S. And when you need to take ABs don't forget to take vitamins of group B, because they are mainly produced by bacteria in the gut and you'll have deficiency if you don't supply them during AB intake.

I am new to this forum, and I have had seb derm since I was 11. The only place I have it is on the sides of my nose. It doesn't go to my cheeks, just on the nose part. And the thing is, I don't even have any flakiness or itchiness, it doesn't hurt it all. But it is RED. It is soo annoying that I have to put on concealer on the sides of my nose to make the skin of my nose the same color as the rest of my skin. Even in 5th grade, I had a classmate who asked me why the sides of my nose were red.

I have tried 2% zinc shampoo. It got rid of the redness a little bit, but it dried the skin around my nose (and I use the shampoo on my nose, not on my hair). Next time I will try using more moisturizer every time I use that shampoo. I have also tried those tar creams for psoriasis, but it didn't have any effect on my seb derm at all. I have also tried hydrocortisone creams, BUT they cause pimples on my nose!!! I also have mild/moderate acne on my forehead, and a few pimples on my cheeks (and whiteheads on my chin, which aren't too noticeable, but still noticeable). I don't put on any makeup whatsoever besides the concealer around my nose. I sometimes put on some concealer on acne, but only on occasion.

I don't know what to do! Should I try the 2% shampoo again, or perhaps order a 2% soap on amazon? (from companies such as dermzinc)? I have heard that some people used a "ZNP bar" before, but right now it is no longer released. I don't know what to do! Do I really have seb derm? There is absolutely NO flakiness, itchiness, or any kind of pain. Just the REDNESS! And there are NO blood vessels or anything. It's just simply red. And the redness NEVER goes away. It also NEVER gets better OR worse, it just stays the same, and had stayed the same ever since I was 11. I am almost 18 right now.

Hi Alex, I went down the same initial path that you are on. There are much more effective shampoos than what you are using. The Nizoral cream is fine though.

Now that you know what it is, you're ahead of the game, but I agree it's dismaying to see all the places the yeast colonized your skin. It gets worse before it gets better. My problems took 8 months of effective treatments, preceded by 5 months of ineffective treatment with Selsun Blue and Head and Shoulders.

The yeast malassezia uses your skin to create a biofilm in order to elude your immune system. The flakes result from the biofilm drying up and dying off, and the redness results from the first response of your immune system, which is redness, because the immune system is finally recognizing the yeast as a foreigner instead of yourself.

If you want to read medical articles about this, they're here, in my Review of OTC Treatments. Read the August 13, 2013 update/attachment first.

Im kinda new to this whole SD thing, and Im obviously not liking it. I discovered I had it because the topicals Ive been using for my acne for years suddenly started burning my face. I noticed scaling under my chin and some random flakes in my eyebrows.

My derm prescribed me ciclopirox olamine 0.77% cream. Ive only been using for about a week. So far it seems that its just causing more dry flaking skin than anything else, although most of the burning has subsided. Is this what its supposed to be doing? Anyone have any experience/success w/ this stuff?

Thanx

Butenafine Hydrochloride cream (Lotrimin Ultra -- not the AF kind) is OTC, and in my experience much more effective than CO. It's an off-label use of Lotrimin Ultra, but in 2012 the FDA issued a Guidance calling for clinical trials of this drug on seb derm, so a positive outcome for the research seems likely. The off-label aspect of Lotrimin Ultra is probably why your doc didn't tell you about it.

You need to use a shampoo and a cream, not just one or the other. You can mail order Nizoral 1% shampoo, which is 1% Ketoconazole, from any drug store, (it's not on the shelf of any drug store anymore but it is OTC and for sale online), or you can get a prescription for 2% Nizoral shampoo. Treatment takes a long time, and you'll see more flaking rather than less while it heals. It's lifetime condition though, and will recur unless you use effective treatments every day.

 

Hi goodz19, docs like to prescribe Ciclopirox Olamine (CO) because it reduces redness slightly. It never treated anything else for me. It's one of the useless things that doctors prescribe. I think docs were taken in by a single research article that shows CO is more effective than Ketoconazole, but the lab was testing the two products for only 30 minutes, That's sketchy. And Ketoconazole shampoo has been tested head to head with Stieprox shampoo (Ciclopirox Olamine 1.5%) -- the manufacturers own Product Monograph shows that ketoconazole shampoo is more effective. www.stiefel.ca/pdf/stieprox_shampoo_pm.pdf; See, page 10 of the Monograph. .

Butenafine Hydrochloride cream (Lotrimin Ultra -- not the AF kind) is OTC, and in my experience much more effective than CO. It's an off-label use of Lotrimin Ultra, but in 2012 the FDA issued a Guidance calling for clinical trials of this drug on seb derm, so a positive outcome for the research seems likely. The off-label aspect of Lotrimin Ultra is probably why your doc didn't tell you about it.

You need to use a shampoo and a cream, not just one or the other. You can mail order Nizoral 1% shampoo, which is 1% Ketoconazole, from any drug store, (it's not on the shelf of any drug store anymore but it is OTC and for sale online), or you can get a prescription for 2% Nizoral shampoo. Treatment takes a long time, and you'll see more flaking rather than less while it heals. It's lifetime condition though, and will recur unless you use effective treatments every day.

Thank you for the reply Tom. I see that you are very knowledgeable about the subject from your previous posts and your discussions on the roseacea forum.

Im not having any issues w/ my head at the moment where I would need a shampoo. Ive used regular old Head and Shoulders for regular dandruff for most of my life and it works w/ no issues.

The SD Ive been experiencing is only on my face. Its basically just red and burning, no flakes. However, now after using this product for the last week or so, Ive noticing all kinds of scaling and flaking. So from what Im reading from your post, this is actually a good sign that the area is healing?

All that said, thank you for the suggestion of the Lotrimin. I will give this cream a fair shot for a few weeks to see what the results are, and then move to the Lotrimin at your recommendation.

Interestingly, my derm first prescribed Ketoconazole as a foam called Ketodan. The probelm w/ that is that it was alcohol based which, in my opinion, is the worst thing for an already red burning itchy face. It just dried my skin out within a week and I couldnt use it anymore.

I have researched SD for a couple of years on and off now and have been a suffer for 5 years. After reading so much about this condition, peoples trials and experiments of trying to rid it, I feel very compelled to say this;

Be proud of who you are, a mirror is only a small reflection of you. So don't let SD get the better of you mentaly, remeber the fungus is a slave to you, not the other way arround. Keep smiling and remain possitive. 😉

I have come to the conclussion that in my case and other peoples, the cause is due to an inballance of good bacteria that make up the skins flora. I also belive that while one thing works with one person it may not work with another, this I put down to there being different types of bacteria that are out of ballance. It would be nice to think that there is a mirricle cure that will help all, and if there is such a thing then the person/company who descovers it will certainly be my best friend for life.

So what caused my SD? Having been pone to suffer sinus infections and after suffering food poisining, I had taken 4 courses of an anitibotic, (Amoxacillian) in a three year period, it was shortly after this that I had a really bad flare up on my face. Over the years it has moved and spread to cover my head, ears and random patches on my uper back and chest. One thing I have noticed with mine and being male, is where I grow hair it thrives and the skin is at its worse.

I have tried some thing including steriod creams that cleared it, then I saw some of the side effects of skin thining and decided I would rather have SD than the possibilties of the side effects. I no longer use any creams as I am a strong believer that this is not the path to take, even if it does apear to work. With this in mind I started to think about it completely differently and the following si why I have tried and the results witnessed.

Diet;

Cut out sugars, yeast products, (including bread) and introduced more live yoghurts in to my diet. After one month I did not experience one ounce of change. Then I started to read about antioxidants, my first thoughts was this is different, nothing ventured and nothing gained, right?

While many of the antioxident foods didn't work, there were two things that I did witness a noticable difference with. Red skined Apples and oddly, Spinach. At first I thought it can't be having an effect, but as I am very methodlical and as I changed one thing in my diet at a time it had to be so. I noticed that if I ate a red apple then the next day my skin had calmed down, not so sore looking. I experienced the same results with spinach. Unfortunatly I don't like apples or spinach and the thought of eating these every day was too much. Still, I will eat them when I have really bad flare ups. Maybe two apples a week and one serving of Spinach every two to three weeks. Why these two should have a noticable mild effect, I don't know? Maybe someone reading this may take it further and descover why.

I am still trying new foods that I have not eaten or tried before to see if anything changes, but have not noticed anything.

What else has an effect? As most of us now the sun works mirricals and with me it clears it completly, but come winter and its back again. Why should UV effect it? I do need to do some research of my own in this area, to understand why the bacteria seems to not like UV. I don't recomend sun or UV treatments because of the obvious, and I can understand and sympathise with the guy who posted earlier who has taken this route. I too have SD bad, so much so I shaved all my hair off and now keeps it very short, I don't try to disguise it anymore because wearing a hat creates a hot humid envioment that the yeast thrives in.

The thing that I find the most intresting in some of the information in forum posts with suffers of SD, are the snippets of peoples life style before developing SD. The woman who posted earlier who said she skipped breakfast, lunch and just ate dinners in the evening, this was my life style too before developing SD. I believe its this sort of information that is most important to understanding more about SD, what are the likly causes, what is the yeasts habits? We know it thrives in certain conditions, in sebaceous gland rich areas of the skin and likes Oleic Acid from the unsatuated and satuated fats that our skin releases. We know one thing it does not like, a well ballanced skin flora of bactiria. What bacterias exactly? It seems to me that there is not enough information out there to some of the important questions. I did read that laboritry teams are just starting to try and ID the thousands of different strains of bacteria that live in the skins flora. DNA is the method used for ID'ing them, and hopefully along the way of understanding which bacteria do what, will bring better understanding and prevention, as well as treatments for us that are less harmful and more dirrect in their working.

I know that sufferers of SD like me have desperate times where we feel so low that we are willing to try anything. I must stress, be strong and change one thing at a time, this way if something works you know what it is. Also learn about what your putting on your skin before doing so. There is every bit of chance it could do more damage than good. I am possitive that either a doctor will find a solution to the problem or we will beat them to it, in the mean time remeber your not alone, stay possitive and stay safe!

Darron

IMO the more shit you put on your skin the worse, seb derm is thought, and I agree, to be FUNGAL in nature. STOP using things that kill BACTERIA. A long course of antibiotics is what fucked up my skin. Now I'm hoping I can get it back to normal, somehow. All the beneficial bacteria has been killed, and I'm at a loss as to how to regain it. Hoping in time it will do so on its own. Does anyone feel that seb derm caused by antibiotics can or will reverse itself in time, or am I screwed for life now?

By the way, the life cycle of your "benefitial" bacteria are believed to be 3-10 days. So if you have been on a high dose, broad spectrum antibiotic like myself, for longer than 10 days, all the more recent research points to irreversible damage done to your gut/skin flora.

I'm now on somewhat of a mission to warn against the use of antibiotics, as doctors very rarely..VERY rarely inform you of the negative impacts they will have on you.

It should be considered mal-practice to prescribe antibiotics without an adjacent anti fungal (Powdered Nystatin, being probably the best choice) and a good probiotic (I'd recommend Dr Ohhira's and fermplus wholefood probiotic)

Rant.....

No, it is not irreversible, there are many things you can do to replenish your gut flora.

I find it so frustrating looking at this thread and seeing people going on and on about topical chemicals. These cannot solve the problem, plain and simple they're band aids. It stems from internal imbalances so treat it at the source