HI Canucklehead12,

Excited to see that you are keeping a log! Sorry you are suffering from seb derm. I've had seb derm in my eyebrows (strange I know!) for years and it can be such a pain.

Must say your skin looks very healthy generally though!

Good luck on your journey. Looking forward to updates.

Thanks for your support JLopez! Your log has been great to follow as well, keep it up!Do you just get flakes in your eyebrows, or do you get red flare ups as well?

Day 3
So far so good, I haven't had much of a flare up of folliculitis since I started. Face is looking decent! Usually this goes in waves and I'm not holding much hope for this to last. I've noticed the oiliness has already started to subside andI have less of a sheen at the end of the day. My skin is getting a little rough to the touch as well, especially on my nose and forehead.

As I'm only using honey at night for right now, the flaky seb derm on my chin, cheeks and mustache is starting to come back. This is expected though. I don't think it's very visible to anyone but me and I could making it out worse than it is.I'm not even really cleansing with the honey, just patting it on my face and leaving it for 20-30 minutes.I've started to use a beard trimmer to reduce irritation too.....I hope the ladies like a little scruff =D

Day 9

The seb derm on my face is getting extremely thick and itchy around my mouth! I also have this sensation of "wetness" which I do believe is the yeast proliferating and interacting with my skin.

After some extensive research on the web and rosacea forums, I've come to realize that using "only water" may not be the best for my condition. Yes it does reduce irritation and it's great not to rely on products, but it also allows the yeast to take over. I've probably had seb derm ever since I took Accutane, I just didn't realize it and was masking it with moisturizers and antibacterial washes (there seems to be a bacterial component to my sebhoric dermatitis).

It's quite possible that the malessezia yeast is causing all of my problems in the first place; pustules forming from the accumulation of dead skin, chelitis from the overgrowth of yeast around my mouth, urticaria (hives) from blockage of pores.

I'm proud and grateful that I dropped all topicals, it truly showed me what was going on. I'm going to revamp my regimen using a mix of anti-fungals that have shown to be effective (via Tom Busby androsaceagroup.org/The_Rosacea_Forum/) and will post back when I figure out my daily regimen. Hopefully tackling the yeast will help with all of my other conditions as well.

Cheers,

Day 11 kinda?

I'm still only using manuka honey at night right now. I've actually been too busy at work and have been getting home pretty late, so I've been leaving the honey on my face for the whole night! It's been 3 nights in a row that I've done this. I'm a pretty static sleeper and just put a towel over my pillow.

Face looks quite good actually. There is still the seb derm biofilm on my chin and mustache area, but it has dissolved the slightest amount. My complexion looks to be evening out a tad as well. I still am getting recurring folliculitis on my chin though.

I don't play on always sleeping with honey on my face, as this is just ridiculous and not feasible, but for the time being this is what I'm doing!

When i had severe seb derm on my scalp/forehead, my doctor pushed a ketaconazole shampoo on me. I didn't like it, and it wasn't effective. I used orange blossom honey(the thin, regular honey, no manuka.) I left it in my hair for 2 hrs at a time for two weeks. It healed up completely and hasn't come back. I found orange blossom honey(in season)to be the most effective. Other honeys that weren't raw didn't have as many healing properties.

Thanks for the tip fightingagainstacne, do you think orange blossom honey would be more effective than Manuka? I'm using active 16+ or 250MGO and it did help clear most of the seb derm on my cheeks. The chin and mustache area is the hardest to get rid of though.

Day 14

I think it's been 5-6 days of me leaving the honey mask overnight. It has helped the seb derm slightly and my folliculitis seems to be a bit more calm. This could also just be the calm before the storm as it is prone to flare up anytime. I'm hopeful that the honey is creating an inhospitable environment for whatever is causing my folliculitis.

My new regimen consists of:

• Honey mask for the whole night
• Lotrimin Ultra in the morning, followed by cerave pm

I am trying the Lotrimin Ultra after numerous reports of it clearing seb dem induced by malassezia yeast on the rosacea forums. I will try this for a few weeks and we'll see! I'm also trying to reduce my stress the best I can. I've come to realize that taking the train to and from work has caused some anxiety for me, whether it be the close quarters or some type of claustrophobia (the trains are packed!). So I'm going to start driving into work....it's actually going to cost the same and may be even quicker.

Here's a pic of day 14, cheers!

Day 4 of using Lotrimin Ultra in the morning

I'm still applying honey at night and leaving it overnight. Washing with water in the morning and then applying Lotrimin Ultra + Cerave pm. Pustules have definitely decreased in frequency and my skin feels quite healthy. I'm still being cautiously optimistic though, as a setback could come at any moment!! It does seem to indicate that I need some sort of leave on product to treat either the yeast, or the bacteria that is causing everything.

Sorry for the blurry photo. You can slightly see the flakes from the seb derm in this one, as it was taken right after my morning shower. The flakes have been decreasing with the lotrimin ultra use.

Your skin is looking so great!!!

Thanks danieg444, how's everything with you going?

Day 6 of overnight honey + Lotrimin Ultra

Face is still pretty calm, I've gotten maybe 2-3 small whitehead like pimples in the past 2 days. No clumps of larger pustules as of yet!! It's probably been one of the best weeks I've had since ditching the BP. It's great to get some of my self confidence back.

I still have a decent white film around my mouth from the seb derm, especially noticeable after a shower.The flakes seem to be subsiding slightly. I forgot to mention I add 1 drop of 100% tea tree oil to my honey masks, as I found that it helped reduce the flakiness.

I'm not sure when I'll stop with the overnight honey, but i guess there are worse things you can put on your face! I'll be experimenting with xylitol andpiroctone olamine (nivea shave balm) mixed into my moisturizer on Sunday. Both have been documented to prevent malassezia biofilms.

Cheers!

Aw I'm so glad things are working out!!! its about time, right? lol. You have great patience...me not so much lol.

My skin is pretty damn awful lol. Its been actually really painful. I called the doc explaining how I couldn't even sleep from the throbbing. However they didn't seem very moved by it. This was it today. On my birthday -___-

Aw I'm so glad things are working out!!! its about time, right? lol. You have great patience...me not so much lol.

My skin is pretty damn awful lol. Its been actually really painful. I called the doc explaining how I couldn't even sleep from the throbbing. However they didn't seem very moved by it. This was it today. On my birthday -___-

Happy belated birthday!!! Keep your head up, you'll get through it all. Are you taking any of the antibiotics or anything?? Those look so similar to mine when I first stopped BP.

I still don't know if it's the anti-bacterial component of manuka honey, or the anti-fungal component of lotrimin that is helping. But I guess time will tell when I stop the overnight masks. I've noticed that my pustules always pop up in the exact same area too.

Day 11 of Lotrimin Ultra

Pustules are still fairly subdued, it's been a good couple of weeks! I want to wait till the 14 day mark to be sure, but it does seem like I'm dealing with a fungal issue. I've only gotten 3-4 small whitehead like pimples in the last couple of days. I'm still doing overnight manuka honey masks, and washing off with water in the morning. Every time I apply Lotrimin Ultra I get a tingling / fizzing sensation around the worst seb derm areas.

My stress levels are way down as well. I haven't been OCD about my face in a week, which is a nice change! Hopefully it continues.

The last couple of days I've combined 10% nivea balm (for piroctone olamine), 2% xylitol, 10% aloe vera and 78% cerave pm for my daily moisturizer, but it doesn't really feel that great on my skin. I'm going to switch back to just cerave pm with 2% xylitol.

I'm going to switch to a climbazole based shampoo soon, as I feel like the honey just isn't effective enough. I've used honey only for the past 3-4 months and it hasn't been able to penetrate the seb derm around my mustache or chin.

Picture was taken in a hotel, lighting is pretty dim. Cheers!

Day 18 of Lotrimin Ultra

The last few days haven't been that great. I've had some bigger pustules crop up on my right side of my chin only. The right side has always been the worst....very weird. The left side of my chin is relatively pustule free though! There seems to be a slight cycle to the pustule flare ups, roughly 2-3 weeks from what I've documented. Hopefully this doesn't have to do with demodex which have a life cycle of 14-21 days. I always get a sensation of "wetness" around my mouth right before a big pustule outbreak.

Anyways, I'm alternating between using honey mask overnight and washing my face with E45. I also use Lotrimin in the morning and night with cerave pm. I've used the climbazole E45 shampoo twice on my face and it's not too bad! The flakiness on my mouth area and eyebrows are only really visible to me now, and still prominent when I get out of the shower.

I've totally ditched the honey!

It's been almost 2 weeks since I've used the E45 dandruff shampoo (active ingredient: Climbazole) on my face, and it has been working pretty great! My skin is smoother than it has ever been. Even compared to before when I was using Cerave foaming cleanser. The mild acne on my cheeks and forehead are going away slowly. I might actually have some form of versicolor on my cheeks that I have mistaken for acne scaring / redness. The sebum plugs around my nose and cheeks have been dissipating as well, and this truly indicates to me that i'm dealing with a fungal issue.

I've found the folliculitis around my mouth to be subdued too since my last breakout. It's been a decent 3-4 weeks other than the breakout 5 days ago. The gunky film from the seb derm is still present when I step out of the shower, but it is slowly dissolving. I still have the feeling of "wetness" from time to time around the corners of my mouth......no idea what's causing this...it is very very annoying.

Current Regimen:

• Nightime: Wash face with E45 dandruff shampoo (leave on for 5 minutes before washing), moisturize with Cerave PM pre-mixed with 30% TTO
• Morning: Wash face with water, apply nizoral 2% cream, moisturize with Cerave PM

I just switched to using nizoral cream from Lotrimin Ultra to avoid any fungal resistance. I use the 30% TTO to treat any demodex condition as I am experiencing eyebrow loss. My eyebrows are thick though, so the thinning isn't that bad yet.

Cheers,

3 weeks of using dandruff shampoo (active ingredient climbazole)

Just a quick update as I near the end of week 3 of using the dandruff shampoo as my nightly cleanser; My face has never been this clear. Even compared to the benzoyl peroxide and Cerave cleanser I used in the past. My skin is smooth to touch, folliculitis is almost completely non existent and the mild acne on my cheeks is slowly fading. There is no doubt now that fungus was the cause, or the main culprit of my skin conditions!

Here's a picture of this morning right after I got out of bed. Anyone who was dealing with similar acne as my own, I encourage you to try a fungal wash at least for a week or two to see if it is also caused by malassezia yeast. I am so glad I tried this rather than take the antibiotics prescribed by my GP!

I'm still using the regimen posted in my previous post.

Cheers,

5 hours ago, Chloe123 said:

What shampoo are you using? I remember a few months ago using nizoral anti-dandruff shampoo on my forehead because i had these weird bumps and it cleared it up in 3 days. However, now these bumps are back and im having no success with the nizoral shampoo. I got prescribed differin and have been using that now :/ Maybe the shampoo lost its effectiveness?

 

Your skin is looking amazing btw!

Thanks! I know there's still a ton left for my skin to heal up, but it seems to be going in the right direction now. The shampoo is E45 dandruff shampoo (UK shampoo), specifically for the active ingredient climbazole. I had to buy it off of ebay. You could also shoot for Bioderma Node P, which has salyclic acid and panthenol on top of climbazole.

I chose this shampoo after many people on the rosacea forums posted positive results of climbazole for their seb derm. Climbazole is apparently way more effective against malassezia yeast than nizoral or any other OTC anti-fungal. It wouldn't hurt to try it if you were having results with Nizoral. The E45 is very very mild as well, almost like Cerave hydrating cleanser.

I've found ketoconazole (nizoral) cream to be barely effective compared to climbazole or Lotrimin Ultra for my seb derm.

Cheers,

Nothing really to report, it's been about 6 weeks since I've used the anti-fungal shampoo.

My face continues to heal and the seb derm is slowly slowly reducing, leaving healthy skin behind. The acne and redness on my cheeks is continuing to fade as well. My skin has never felt this smooth. I still get a few pustules here and there along my chin, but it is wayyyy more manageable than before.

Cheers,

Hey, hope your condition is healing well. Do you have any updates maybe with a picture?
I am eager to try this since I am at wits end but I feel it will irritate the skin causing more pustules since my skin is sensitive. Currently doing water only for the past few months, pustules dry up in the shower but slowly and steadily increasing.

Wow, I think I have been suffering the same issues. I have seen your posts on the Rosacea forums. I was placed on accutane. Which is supposed to starve the yeast by cutting off the sebum production. I wish I would have found this before I started the accutane. My derm thinks that the acne is completely separate from the seb derm. I always thought they were related, due to the fact that once I started getting the seb derm around my nose, I also started getting the acne. I also have this feeling of wetness. My problem area is about my mustache next to my nose on my right side. All of my breakouts are on this side. It always feels like something is on my face or something is tickling my skin.

On 1/10/2016, 931, bleh445 said:

Hey, hope your condition is healing well. Do you have any updates maybe with a picture?
I am eager to try this since I am at wits end but I feel it will irritate the skin causing more pustules since my skin is sensitive. Currently doing water only for the past few months, pustules dry up in the shower but slowly but steadily increasing.

Hi Bleh, for some reason I'm having issues posting a pic. I'll keep trying tonight to see if I can upload it. I've gotten a few pustules on the right side of my chin the past few days but nothing major. For some reason the right side is always the worst. The left side of my chin has been virtually clear the past 3 weeks. I don't get many around my mustache area or my cheeks anymore which is nice!

7 hours ago, Jones4545 said:

Wow, I think I have been suffering the same issues. I have seen your posts on the Rosacea forums. I was placed on accutane. Which is supposed to starve the yeast by cutting off the sebum production. I wish I would have found this before I started the accutane. My derm thinks that the acne is completely separate from the seb derm. I always thought they were related, due to the fact that once I started getting the seb derm around my nose, I also started getting the acne. I also have this feeling of wetness. My problem area is about my mustache next to my nose on my right side. All of my breakouts are on this side. It always feels like something is on my face or something is tickling my skin.

Hi Jones, do you only get pustule like folliculitis as well? I was on a course of Accutane about 5-6 years ago and my folliculitis began after I finished the 6 months. It did wonders for the majority of my acne though, but may have contributed to the seb derm I am dealing with now.

Wow ok the sensation of wetness you experience is identical to what I have. I always have this sensation on the right side of my chin, which also corresponds to where the pustules are the worst. Definitely a correlation there. I'm not sure if it's the skin trying to heal, or the malassezia yeast is interacting with the skin somehow. Very strange!!

Definitely keep me posted on the Accutane. I think you mentioned you'll be on a lower dose? My skin is extremely oily as well, but I'm not sure I want to resort to that again. My skin has been looking fairly good these past few months. I still haven't completely eliminated the pustules as of yet =/

Cheers,

12 hours ago, Canucklehead12 said:

Hi Bleh, for some reason I'm having issues posting a pic. I'll keep trying tonight to see if I can upload it. I've gotten a few pustules on the right side of my chin the past few days but nothing major. For some reason the right side is always the worst. The left side of my chin has been virtually clear the past 3 weeks. I don't get many around my mustache area or my cheeks anymore which is nice!

Hi Jones, do you only get pustule like folliculitis as well? I was on a course of Accutane about 5-6 years ago and my folliculitis began after I finished the 6 months. It did wonders for the majority of my acne though, but may have contributed to the seb derm I am dealing with now.

Wow ok the sensation of wetness you experience is identical to what I have. I always have this sensation on the right side of my chin, which also corresponds to where the pustules are the worst. Definitely a correlation there. I'm not sure if it's the skin trying to heal, or the malassezia yeast is interacting with the skin somehow. Very strange!!

Definitely keep me posted on the Accutane. I think you mentioned you'll be on a lower dose? My skin is extremely oily as well, but I'm not sure I want to resort to that again. My skin has been looking fairly good these past few months. I still haven't completely eliminated the pustules as of yet =/

Cheers,

I started getting normal pimples around where the seb derm was about a year ago and the doctor put me on cyndamiacin that helped for a while and then the acne just started getting more frequent and I started worrying about it. WHen it started If I got a pustule it and the scar could be gone for a couple of weeks before I got another one, not its like I will get one and before the mark is even gone from the last one the new one has popped up. I'm not sure if it is folliculitus, but I get this very small pimples that you get, but the ones that bother me more are the big cyst pustules. Those leave a pretty heavy mark.

I agree it is very strange that we both feel that same wetness feeling. I started feeling it after I got a really big pustule there about 3 months ago, and even tho the mark is gone I still feel the same wetness, to the point where I check just to make sure nothing is on my face. It is right where my problem area is, the right side of my nose.

Taken today, after dinner.

Guys I've been fighting with the same thing for the past 14 years and unfortunately I wasn't able to find a cure.
I can state that antibiotics does not work long term, naturals ways and diet also do not work. I am thinking about starting low dose accutane. Anyone tried accutane again?

Additional similarities:
- I also have this "wetness" sensation on my chin, maybe this is just oily skin no idea. My best bet would be it is caused by hormones

On 3/15/2016 at 4:55 AM, donpizdol said:

Guys I've been fighting with the same thing for the past 14 years and unfortunately I wasn't able to find a cure.
I can state that antibiotics does not work long term, naturals ways and diet also do not work. I am thinking about starting low dose accutane. Anyone tried accutane again?

Additional similarities:
- I also have this "wetness" sensation on my chin, maybe this is just oily skin no idea. My best bet would be it is caused by hormones

Mine was fungal related, and I've had some pretty good clearance these past few months. I was also able to control this with benzoyl peroxide previously.

Accutane was what started the pustules for me in the first place