Rosacea May Be Caused by Immune Response, Not Bacteria

This is part of my exciting research about rosacea. I'm also practicing a new skill I learned today in regards to social media. I'm posting this to my blog directly from the Medline site, just by clicking the SHARE feature and then selecting Blogger!
Rosacea May Be Caused by Immune Response, Not Bacteria

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Goodbye Minocycline

Due to intolerable side effects, I have stopped taking my dermatologist prescribed daily dosage of the antibiotic, minocycline.

I began my own research and am currently self-medicating. I am not a doctor and I realize I don’t know what I’m doing; however, no one knows my body better than I do. Also, I am extremely dissatisfied with mainstream medicine’s treatment (or lack thereof) of rosacea. Taking antibiotics long-term and treating the symptoms but not the cause is not an option for me, especially when the only thing they will prescribe ruins my life. Also, I have seen two dermatologists and neither were willing to work with me or be flexible at all in their recommendation that I take these antibiotics, despite the side effects I endured.

SO, here I am. One suggestion is that people with rosacea may have a lysine deficiency. I took Biochemistry last semester, and actually knew what this meant! L-Lysine is an essential amino acid, meaning it is critical to the human body, especially for tissue development, and it cannot be produced by the body so it must be obtained through the food we eat or through supplements. I began taking 1,000 MG/day of lysine a week ago, and I could see the effects within a few days. (Added benefit: I bought a bottle of 100 500 MG pills at Target for about $2.50). The redness and postules on my cheeks are almost gone. It took almost a month on antibiotics before I noticed my skin was looking better. However, my eyelids continue to be puffy…some days worse than others. But I’m not even convinced this is necessarily rosacea, but perhaps an allergy or sensitivity to something. I am also going to work on converting to all natural products in terms of detergents, shower gel, shampoo, etc.

Also, rosacea has something to do with inflammation (that’s actually why they prescribe the antibiotics, because of the anti-inflammatory effects). And, certain foods have inflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects. Who would have thought! As a result, I am working on eliminating virtually all red meat from my diet, and greatly reducing the amount of dairy I consume. This means I am working towards a fruit and vegetable based diet, with the exception of fatty fish, with have omega three fatty acids, like salmon and halibut.

I realize that this is a situation that will require ongoing attention—I do not in any way think that taking a supplement is going to cure all my problems. However, I feel extremely empowered and relieved, after being given no options by dermatologists, and spending lots of money on topical and oral antibiotics, that I’m finally getting information that puts me more in control. I believe that environmental factors like foods and other things we come in contact with have a huge impact on our bodies, and these are the things that doctors never tell you. Apparently, they can make a lot more money just prescribing drugs like antibiotics.

Yeast Infection in a Bottle

There is a red butterfly flaring across my cheeks. The dermatologists are booked a month out, so I let it go for a week, then I go to Urgent Care. It burns and flares. I expect them to give me some sort of cream. Instead, the Medical Assistant brings in four different doctors and a nurse to gawk at my face.

“Sorry, hope you don’t mind,” he says. “It’s just that we don’t get to see stuff like this very often. It’s a good learning experience for us.”

I feel like a freakshow. Finally he informs me I might have lupus, an auto-immune disorder where the body attacks its own tissues. He has my blood drawn, instructs me to pee in a cup, and gives me firm directions to follow up with my primary doctor for the test results.

My test results are negative for lupus. “It’s probably rosacea,” my primary doctor says. “I’ll get you in to see a dermatologist right away.

“You have rosacea,” the dermatologist proclaims, almost instantly after meeting me for the first time.

Isn’t there some test they should perform, or something to validate this diagnosis, I wonder. Plus, it seems suspiciously coincidental that this alleged skin condition has appeared out of nowhere, immediately after experiencing the most stressful time in my life, in which my mom almost died from a stroke and spent four months in the hospital. So I ask the dermatologist what causes rosacea.

“Nothing causes it. It just happens. Especially to people with fair skin.”

I have since researched this on the web, and found no legitimate causes for rosacea, but still this answer is unsatisfactory to me. Even more unsatisfactory is the recommended treatment: topical and oral antibiotics. Long term. That’s it. It’s the anti-inflammatory component of the antibiotics that seem to help with rosacea symptoms, the small red bumps I get on my cheeks and nose, the swelling and redness in my eyelids. Yes, you heard me. Despite all the hype about our overuse of antibiotics, and the resulting increasing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics, this is the only treatment for rosacea: go on antibiotics, forever. Fun. Especially for women, who know about the consequences of using antibiotics long term…aside from reducing the effectiveness of birth control pills…you get to have…yeast infections! Shortly after I started taking these antibiotics, I experienced my first yeast infection. I was horrified. Soon after that, I stopped taking the antibiotics and went to see another dermatologist, convinced that this dermatologist would give me a different treatment option. He didn’t. And he was even more abrupt and impersonal than the first one. So, for several years, I took the antibiotics off and on….staying off the antibiotics until my rosacea symptoms reappeared….going back on the antibiotics long enough for my rosacea symptoms to disappear and my next yeast infection to surface.

The last time I went back to the dermatologist, she made no attempt to hide her impatience.

“You might as well quit expecting a miracle to happen and just start taking the medicine,” she told me. It was so blunt and impersonal that I laughed out loud. She had no interest in my personal circumstances, like stress factors in my life, or the terrible side effects of these medications.

She did follow it up, then, with, “I mean, I’m sorry to be so direct, but you might as well face the facts. You need to stay on the maximum dosage for at least a year. Then I can help you taper it off to a more minimal dosage. This isn’t something to mess around with. Especially when your eyes start to be affected.”

So now, in addition to 100 mg twice daily of minocycline (AKA yeast infection in a bottle), due to the yeast infection issue, once per month tablet of fluconazole. Plus a topical gel antibiotic, which, as the pharmacist said to me last time I filled the prescription, “You don’t want to take this long-term, because it will permanently thin the top layer of your skin.”

As I read all the warning signs about taking these medications long term…permanent yellowing or graying of your teeth and gums…is dangerous to a fetus…toxic to children under 8…extreme sensitivity to sun….discontinue immediately if you feel short of breath or light headed…and the list goes on…I’m still experiencing the discomfort of my most recent yeast infection, I’m beginning to wonder if the risks outweigh the benefits. I wish for doctors and medical professionals who treat more holistically…the whole person rather than just the symptoms, doctors who give options other than medications or surgery.