Hi, I’m new!
Hello, everyone!
First I must appologize for any potential spelling errors, Eng. is
not my native language.Thank you.
For the past 6 years or so, I had this mild red rash on the sides on
the nose.I though it was SD,but I’m not sure anymore. I found a
cream in the medicine cabinet, Hydrocortisone 1%, that worked like a
charm. But here is the problem:
I must use it once every week, if I dont , my skin burns and itches
wanting the dose of the steroid. I think my skin is addicted to the
cream. Has anyone had experience with long-term use of
Hydrocortisone?
My rash affect, the areas around my nose, typical for Seb.Derm., but
it is not scaly. It flakes almost never. I’ve tried to cut down the
steroids, but my formerly treated areas break out with pimples. Is
the Seborrheic skin always flaky? Now I’m doubting SD, I think it is
steroid addicted skin(steroid rosacea). Is SD inherited? Please,
help me out with this one. Much appreciated.
Ice.
March 13th, 2005 at 3:42 am
Hi there, Welcome.
I have had the same kinda rash (by the sounds of it anyway) on my
nose for the past 7 years or so. The doc says its Seb derm. I was
using 1% mild hydrocortisone on that every day for a few years.
gradually it had spread around all my nose, my chin and bits
elsewhere and i used more potent Elocon steroid for a few years
twice a day as well. I would say its the steroid thats caused mine,
no flakes, just an oily very red rash that doesnt seem to let up.
Ive been off that for a few months trying other creams like protopic
which did nothing, and elidel which i am trying now and that doesnt
seem to be helping either. I also use a cortisone nose spray twice
a day which works wonders (called nasonex), stops all the sneezing i
used to have and the itching as well. The doc said its most likely
dust mites and other stuff i inhale thats making it worse and making
me itch which is what that relieves. If i could get rid of the
redness i would be winning but nothing seems to so far for me and it
is still definetly spreading. Alcahol, sugar, bread makes mine
worse among other things.
- Dustine
March 13th, 2005 at 11:35 pm
stop using it now! well not now very slowly and try not to rub it on
new parts of your face. I had an experiance with that shit that
destroyed a year of my life. Just ween yourself away it and then throw
it away. That stuff is fine if you have an ocation and you need a quick
fix but you will become dependant on it and when its taken away your
face will get worse. I had sebb derm on the sides of my nose and
hydrocortizone progresed it to my cheeks eye lids forehead and hair
line. I loved what it did at first an thought it was a miricle so i
overused it not having anyone to tell me it would eventualy make my
life worse. Ive since slowly recoverd and switched to elidel. It works
for now but i will never use steroids again. All i can say is ween of
dont stop abruptly and once off try not to use it often.
On Wednesday, June 2, 2004, at 08:35 PM, ice_penov wrote:
March 14th, 2005 at 10:07 am
Yeah, Albert I agree. I just wish someone warned me about this
earlier. I mean this thing is OTC! Damn. Now I know that it has done
damage to my skin. The damage is exactly on the formerly treated
areas. These areas are shiny and a bit wrinkled(a beggining stage of
skin atrophy). My skin became very sensitive. Well, i’ve decided to
go cold turkey on the steroid cream. It has been two weeks from the
withdrawal, I am using nothing else except pure water, and the last
few days my skin improved greatly(i think this is due to the fact
that i am not irritating my skin with washes and soaps). In the
beggining of the withdrawal my skin broke out with little pimples,
but now they are almost gone. How long do you think this steroid
withdrawal is gonna last? I hope the skin returnes to its normal.
Then I can tell whether I have SD of I have just abusing
this "WONDER" cream to treat a rash for nearly 10 years. DAMN!
I did stopt it abruptly becouse i think that weaning off will just
prolonge the agony.Thanx.
March 14th, 2005 at 8:16 pm
Hi,
Steroid crems does not belong on the face. It is in my opinion a very
poor way to treat seborrheic dermatitis. It does NOTHING to address
the sebum component. I think that dermatologists who use steroid
creams for seb derm should go back to school. They are stuck in the
70s.
If you want to get rid of your seb derm, I think that a low dose
accutane regimen would do that. But the problem is this is not very
common, and you have to see a dermatologist and ask him to help you
out.
Other than that, the DRL from Cutanix (for oily skin version) or a
pure aloe vera gel (I use a 98 % aloe vera gel) is the best I have
found. The aloe gel works better than the Cutanix.
You might also try the Acne Oil Control Gel from Linda Sy on
alternate nights. www.lindasy.com She recommends it for seb derm.
Perfecting ones diet so that you eat a paleolitic diet I think will
help, but it is demanding and can be stressful if you dont have the
right motivation.
They do say that sunlight is helpful for seb derm, but I have not
been able to verify that consistently. Sometimes it is helpful, other
times not.
For your sneezing and allergy, you could try 10 mg antihistamines
daily. Zyrtec or Clarityn. There are few side effects, you can take
it till the day you die. It wont help your seb derm much though.
Best wishes,
Mads L Holvik,
Norway
March 22nd, 2005 at 7:25 pm
Hey Ice,
Yes, it is recommended that you only use hydrocortisone very rarely.
After having done an immense amount of research when I first found
out I had SD I came across information that explained that an
extensive use of hydrocortisone can thin the skin and the skin can
become addicted to it.
When I found that out I stopped using it and used another
formula/recipe instead.
The usual recommendation of using hydrocortisone is only when you
have to - once and awhile - to get the flare up under control and
then once it’s under control go back to your usual treatment.
I’m not sure if SD is inherited but my father also has SD and
obviously I do too. So maybe it does have the potential of being
inherited.
To my knowledge the skin is flaky during flare ups until you get it
under control. SD is often called "facial dandruff" when it is
located on the face. I suffer from SD on my face (around my nose, my
ears, the corners of my mouth, and on my scalp).
I don’t use hydrocortisone to control it except on rare occsaions
because it is a steriod the skin can become addicted to it and like
I said it can thin the skin.
I use dandruff shampoo, aloe vera gel, and cocoa butter to control
my SD. I wrote an article for others on what I do to control my SD
awhile ago so that they can possibly benefit from it:
It may or may not work for you depending on your SD.
Strangely enough what works for someone else doesn’t always work for
another person.
Or if you haven’t went to this group you may want to join it where
they use Apple Cider Vinegar with Mother to control it along with an
SD friendly diet.
I think what you have to do is join that group… speak of your
experience and then use a link to join at another group managed by
the same individual to get the Apple Cider Vinegar with Mother
recipe.
Hope that helps!
Tams