Acne Rosacea. No more?

Those of you that know me personally will know that for my 40th birthday I was given acne rosacea. Literally. I’ve had better gifts.

Overnight I started developing angry red spots that wouldn’t go anywhere no matter what I threw at them. My targeted areas seemed to be the sides of my face from my cheekbones down and rather irritatingly along the base of my hairline on my neck. If you have/have had any kind of rosacea and acne you have my utmost sympathy. It’s sore, frustrating, embarrassing and from what I hear – more and more common in women 35+. Stress? Hormones? Diet? No-one really knows what causes it but it’s a problem that is not going anywhere anytime soon.

I finally decided to stop acting like a twenty something – or even worse, a teenager, when it came to my body and am trying now to respect it for the age it is and refuel the tank in a more appropriate manner!

Since Christmas I have made quite a few changes to my routine and diet and am starting to see results so thought I would share what is currently working for me.

Firstly I stopped taking all prescribed medications. Oxytetracycline was prescribed to me about 5 months ago and I did initially have a little success with it but after hearing about and experiencing some of the side effects I decided they weren’t for me. If you are on them I would urge you to read the fine print and talk not to your GP, but to friends who have taken them.
I also made a concerted effort to stop eating rubbish. It’s a work in progress but I’m getting there. For me this means sugar and anything synthetically white. So I eat spuds (obviously!), but have massively cut down on pasta and rice and have cut white bread out altogether. I eat seeded multi-grain now and cannot imagine otherwise. It’s really hard when you have four children to just eat what they eat, but I can’t do it anymore.
Water. I always drank it but sporadically. Now I have a constant pint of cold tap water to hand. No fizzy drinks. No drinks containing sweetener. Cutting these out I KNOW has made a huge difference.
Milk. I try to only drink milk in tea. No cereal, no glasses of milk – and that has definitely helped also. I don’t like soy/goats/monkey/lamb’s milk so that is it for me.
Supplements. I’ve always taken supplements and have posted about them previously here. Now I am taking them seriously. Folic acid and iron for health reasons – and I am back on these. The Murad regime worked brilliantly for me last time and then they ran out and I moved on to something else. No more. These work. I’m sleeping better, getting up easier and these are partly the reason. I highly recommend.
Wine. I love red wine. It is the only alcohol I drink. But now I only indulge at weekends – and then it’s a good wine. I can tell from one sip if a red wine is going to affect my skin or not. If I sense it is, I don’t drink it. Previously I would think ‘Sod it, it’ll be fine’. It won’t be fine. I’ll wake up looking like a spotty teenager.
I changed my skincare routine. I chop and change everything all the time. No more. If I am sent products for testing they go in a queue and if I know they are unsuitable for me they go to reliable therapist friends with the suitable skintype who can give me feedback.

The upshot of this is that my skin has improved remarkably. It’s no miracle fix but it’s much better. As an added bonus I have not experienced any symptoms of previously diagnosed IBS in months. And I have so far lost 8lbs. I’m not sure from where exactly but that’s what the scales say so who am I to argue..?!?
And I am NOT trying to diet. Far from it.

I’m just growing up. Finally…

Next up: The skincare that has helped me the most.