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Thu Apr 26, 2007 11:06 am  |
Hi all!
So, after months and months of complaining about my flaky skin on this forum, I went to an esthetician who then referred me on to a physician's assistant she recommends her clients to. She said it looked like I have a case of dermatitis and didn't want to do treatments (I was hoping for a facial!) until it was addressed.
Fast forward to this morning. I went and saw this PA who looked at my skin for about thirty seconds and said it looked like seborrheic dermatitis to her, too. She recommended I wash my face with a dandruff shampoo (?!) and then use these creams she gave me. I told her I wasn't comfortable using dandruff shampoo on my face and would rather skip that part. She was fine with that.
She sent me home with samples of Naftin (an anti-fungal) and Elidel (an anti-inflammatory). I am supposed to use the Naftin daily for two weeks and the Elidel indefinitely. She also gave me a moisturizer called CeraVe to use, though I think I'll stick with my Osea creams for this, especially since the ingredients look nightmarish.
I'm thinking I'll try the Naftin and maybe the Elidel, but I wonder if anyone has experience with these. This is the first time in many, many years that I have been to a conventional doctor for my skin and used a topical prescription cream. Has anyone had any success with treatments like this? Should I expect my skin to be more inflamed initially?
Thank you!
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Enjoying thirty! Trying to manage dermatitis... |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 5:45 pm |
Okay, I'm going to reply to myself.
I was in a hurry when I posted earlier and didn't do much of a search on these creams here. Honestly, I didn't expect to find anything. What I did find was that a few people have mentioned Elidel here and didn't seem to be in love with it. So,  m. I think I might just increase my cod liver oil and probiotics dosage to help with the inflammation.
I'm still going to try the Naftin since I don't know how else to get an anti-fungal affect without irritating the crap out of my skin with something like tea tree oil (if that would even work). I take it not a lot of people here have had to do a topical anti-fungal on their face for something like dermatitis. |
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Enjoying thirty! Trying to manage dermatitis... |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:54 pm |
Hi Shawna -- I haven't tried that specific antifungal, but I have used one in the past and did not find that it irritated my skin. Ihave met some people that loved elidel, but I haven't had much luck with steroids and things in treating mine.
Mine seems to have gone away, so hopefully your will too. |
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mid 20's, dry in winter, combo in summer, acne prone, dehydrated, rarrrr! |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:16 pm |
Shawna,
My PCP recently prescribed an antifungal for my dermatitis, as well, to tide me over until I could get a derm appt. My face was REALLY red and inflamed. The derm, however, said the antifungal was too harsh, and prescribed Desonex instead. That helped, but when I learned about the rebound effect with steroids, I quickly weaned myself off. At least Elidel is not a steroid, but there are some scary articles out there connecting it to cancer.
According to your signature, you love Osea products...may I ask why? Could it be possible that you are having an ingredient reaction? The reason I suggest this...reluctantly, I started using Cetaphil on dr's orders. It really worked better than any "clean" product I had. As soon as my skin got back to normal, I gave my Cetaphil away.  |
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Nadine, age 50, live in VA; half-Asian, slight yellow tone; sensitive, dry/combo skin |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:32 pm |
I have SD and my skin is extremely reactive. I need to use the blandest products possible. I just have a derm visit on Monday and was told to use elidel for my contact dermatitis from HA serum. My face is all better in 3 days
I already have elidel for my SD but I only use it occasionally. It worked great for my contact dermatitis. I was told to use it twice a day until the dry patches goes away. Btw, elidel is linked to cancer only when used in huge amount for infants.
I love cerave cleanser. I get dermatitis from sulfates in cleansers (like cetaphil and aquanil). A lot of people love cerave lotion/creamthe lotion on MUA. I like La Roche Posay toleriane cream and just started using Eucerin cream since my skin is extremely dry. Loving the Eucerin cream so far (keeping fingers crossed)
My derm never prescribed any antifungal for me. I do have rx shampoo for the SD on my scalp.
I also get dermatitis from fragrance, vit c serum, physical exfoliants. You just have to keep track of the products that gives you problem.
Good luck! |
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~~ super-sensitive, dry, dermatitis prone, rosacea/northern calif ~~ |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:49 pm |
| Another great prescription product that is not a steroid is Mimyx. I use it alone any time for dryness -- especially if I've over done it with a product. When my eczema is really bad the only thing that helps - and trust me I've tried it all -- is Mimyx mixed with a little steroid. hth |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:52 pm |
Hi, mtview! Wow, you really DO have sensitive skin! 
| mtview wrote: |
| Btw, elidel is linked to cancer only when used in huge amount for infants. |
That's good to know! My sister also had good results with elidel. Sorry, Shawna, false alarm!  |
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Nadine, age 50, live in VA; half-Asian, slight yellow tone; sensitive, dry/combo skin |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:09 pm |
Well, I love Osea because so far I experience the least amount of flaking with them. It's weird. I just get really mild flushness/redness and dryness on the tops of my cheeks. That's probably the 'excema' part of my skin woes.
The dermatitis part just seems to be this persistent dry, flaky skin. Every night when I wash my face, I pat it dry, and then proceed to gently rub all of the dead/dry skin off. It just balls right up, as if I was using IE2MM, but without any product! It's actually really annoying.
The esthetician said it's because with dermatitis, the skin keeps pushing up, but doesn't properly exfoliate.
Nadjazz, is cetaphil really that great? So many people seem to rave about it. I just don't understand what it's got over all of the other cleansers out there.
Mtview, do you get symptoms other than dry patches? It seems like I constantly have flaking skin and then sometimes 'flare-up' with dry/red patches. Is this similar to yours?
Waffle, did your dermatitis go away *because* of the anti-fungal?
I wonder how exactly they differentiate between excema and dermatitis. Both seem to have redness, dry patches, and flaking. Maybe excema has less flaking?
The derm told me to mix the Elidel with the Naftin, but I wonder if I should do them separately just in case one of them irritates my skin. I am full of wonder.  |
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Enjoying thirty! Trying to manage dermatitis... |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:32 pm |
to be honest I don't know what cleared up my
SD -- honestly it seemed to coincide with a month round of antibiotics -- which doesn't really make sense -- but who knows.
where is your flaky skin? is it all over? SD is usually just on the oilier regions of the face and scalp, like around the nose and eyebrows. mine was really bad around the nose. my mother was suspicious that I had a secret cocaine habit. |
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mid 20's, dry in winter, combo in summer, acne prone, dehydrated, rarrrr! |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:37 pm |
Ahahah... of course a secret cocaine habit would be much more debilitating, though probably more fun than SD. 
I get the flakies all over my face, though it is most obvious around the nose, between the eyebrows, hairline, etc. When I rub my face after washing, flakes come up from every bit of my skin. |
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Enjoying thirty! Trying to manage dermatitis... |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:45 pm |
Shawna,
I really don't care for Cetaphil, because it has SLS. I suppose the propylene glycol was soothing the skin, which is what I needed at the time. But, you'll never get a "rave" from me for Cetaphil.
From what mtview says above, the Cerave cleanser seems like a better choice.
Oh, now that waffle has mentioned it, I forgot...at followup visit to 2nd derm because first guy was on vacation, he put me on doxycycline for two months, along with Klaron lotion. I can't wait to finish the course of treatment (just two more weeks), but that also seemed to help. I stopped using the Klaron because it was too drying. |
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Nadine, age 50, live in VA; half-Asian, slight yellow tone; sensitive, dry/combo skin |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 9:07 pm |
| nadjazz wrote: |
| Hi, mtview! Wow, you really DO have sensitive skin! |
And it totally sucks!  I love trying new products and constantly giving myself contact dermatitis. When will I ever learn?!
| nadjazz wrote: |
| mtview wrote: |
| Btw, elidel is linked to cancer only when used in huge amount for infants. |
That's good to know! My sister also had good results with elidel. Sorry, Shawna, false alarm! |
There is a warning on elidel that not to use on children under 2 years old. I was a little worried myself that is why I normally use cortaid for a week vs elidel. Didn't realize elidel works much faster. |
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~~ super-sensitive, dry, dermatitis prone, rosacea/northern calif ~~ |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 9:21 pm |
| Also, where in my routine do I put the prescription creams? Before or after my Osea moisturizer? |
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Enjoying thirty! Trying to manage dermatitis... |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 9:23 pm |
| Shawna wrote: |
Mtview, do you get symptoms other than dry patches? It seems like I constantly have flaking skin and then sometimes 'flare-up' with dry/red patches. Is this similar to yours?
The derm told me to mix the Elidel with the Naftin, but I wonder if I should do them separately just in case one of them irritates my skin. I am full of wonder. |
Hi Shawna,
My SD started off as flakes around the nose constantly. Then I started to get the dandruff in eyebrows, between eyebrows, around the hairline and the lovely bumps on scalp.
The flakes around nose disappeared on its own. The area between my eyebrow is usually red and flaky. I can peel off some skin from that area everyday. My eyebrows are ok. I just have to do a mirror check before leaving the house. Don't want to scare people with big flakes of dandruff.
When I get contact dermatitis, my skin feels like sandpaper. You can also see scaly patches all over the face. The patches are usually either red or brown in color. It takes anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks for the patches to peel and fall off. Skin feels incredibly tight no matter how many layers of moisturizer you put on.
Before this week, I can rub the dead skin off in little balls as well. I would think I got all the flakes off but within a few minutes you can see all the flakes again. Sound familiar?
Aquaphor used to help me but now I am likely eucerin. Hope I don't break out from it! I want to slowly incorporate retinoid back into my routine but it always makes my skin extra dry. Don't know if it is worth it...dilemma... |
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~~ super-sensitive, dry, dermatitis prone, rosacea/northern calif ~~ |
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 10:31 pm |
| mtview wrote: |
Skin feels incredibly tight no matter how many layers of moisturizer you put on.
Before this week, I can rub the dead skin off in little balls as well. I would think I got all the flakes off but within a few minutes you can see all the flakes again. Sound familiar?
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Oh my god!!
I have never heard anyone else describe this about their skin! This is far too familiar, and it's why ultimately manual exfoliation doesn't really work for me. I've always thought I was alone on this and people would just look at me funny when I tried to explain it. It's kind of pathetic, but I'm a little comforted to know that someone else understands what this is like! |
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Enjoying thirty! Trying to manage dermatitis... |
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Fri Apr 27, 2007 10:48 am |
Okay, so I used the anti-fungal cream on my face last night *after* my Osea moisturizer. Hopefully this was correct.
So far today I think I notice slightly more flaking than usual, but that's it. I'm curious to see how this goes. I hope it works! |
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Enjoying thirty! Trying to manage dermatitis... |
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Fri Apr 27, 2007 12:40 pm |
Shawna,
I always put my prescription topicals on clean skin, then followed it with my moisturizer ( in my case, it was either emu oil or petroleum jelly ).
I would think that moisturizer first would inhibit efficacy of the prescription items. |
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Nadine, age 50, live in VA; half-Asian, slight yellow tone; sensitive, dry/combo skin |
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Fri Apr 27, 2007 1:43 pm |
| Shawna wrote: |
Oh my god!!
I have never heard anyone else describe this about their skin! This is far too familiar, and it's why ultimately manual exfoliation doesn't really work for me. I've always thought I was alone on this and people would just look at me funny when I tried to explain it. It's kind of pathetic, but I'm a little comforted to know that someone else understands what this is like! |
I haven't had the dead skin balling up this week. I am afraid once I started retinoid again it will be flake city.
I also apply any medication/treatment product before the moisturizer. |
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~~ super-sensitive, dry, dermatitis prone, rosacea/northern calif ~~ |
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Fri Apr 27, 2007 1:48 pm |
| vonstella wrote: |
I refuse to use steriods to treat my excema, the side effects freak me out wayyyyy too much.
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If the eczema is bad enough, only steriod will help. My sister's eczema got really bad when she was pregnant. The dr put her on strong steriod cream and even oral medication.
Elidel does not contain steroid so I am ok about using that on my face when I have to... |
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~~ super-sensitive, dry, dermatitis prone, rosacea/northern calif ~~ |
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Fri Apr 27, 2007 1:54 pm |
| mtview wrote: |
| vonstella wrote: |
I refuse to use steriods to treat my excema, the side effects freak me out wayyyyy too much.
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If the eczema is bad enough, only steriod will help. My sister's eczema got really bad when she was pregnant. The dr put her on strong steriod cream and even oral medication.
Elidel does not contain steroid so I am ok about using that on my face when I have to... |
I guess thats true in some cases. I have really thin skin to begin with so Im wary of using something that will thin it further. |
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27~Texas~Oily~ fair~ breakout prone~ easily congested~Cysts caused by emotional stress~ Using Ayurvedic skin care and philosophy~ Dry brushing body and face~ On strict less is more routine~ We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars~ Oscar Wilde |
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Fri Apr 27, 2007 10:38 pm |
Thanks, ladies. I'll put the treatment creams on before my moisturizer.
Since the anti-fungal is kind of a thick cream, is there a chance I won't even want to use a moisturizer afterwards? Or would skipping my usual nighttime moisturizer be a bad idea? |
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Enjoying thirty! Trying to manage dermatitis... |
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Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:29 am |
If the prescription product is emollient, I wouldn't bother with the moisturizer. Or, you could apply moisturizer to areas not covered by the rx product.
I only applied my oils over the Klaron because it was so drying to my skin. |
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Nadine, age 50, live in VA; half-Asian, slight yellow tone; sensitive, dry/combo skin |
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Sat Apr 28, 2007 11:03 pm |
| Thanks, Nadine. I'm going to try that out and see how it goes. |
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Enjoying thirty! Trying to manage dermatitis... |
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Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:25 am |
Warning, long!
Shawna,
I'm just getting over a bad case of contact dermatitis that started last Oct so I really feel for your situation. It started with itchy red bumps along the jawline and at its worst, I had a swollen rash all around my mouth and chin with a lesser rash along the outside of my eyes.
The doctor prescribed Noritate w/ 0.5% cortisone. The rash improved within a week but came back as soon as I stopped the meds. To make a long story short, I cut out all cleansers, creams and treatment products to just Aquaphor and botanical oils for moisturising and washed with LRP Toleriance cleanser in the pm. Through trial and error I discovered the main culprits were the squalene in my Toleriane fluid and my mmmu. The LRP cleanser is also suspect so that probably prolonged the agony.
When my skin was really rashy I did use Protopic (instead of the hc) which is in the same class as Elidel. They're both non-steroidal and are meant for long-term use, if the patient is willing , and it did help. I think when our skin's been so traumatized, we need to give it time to heal and if cortisone/Elidel/Protopic will help then so be it.
After 6 months, I'm pretty much back to normal. I've still got some dryness and minor flaking on my cheeks and around my mouth but I'm starting to use my Clarisonic again daily and that's helping. Buffered retin-a 2x/wk is back in my routine and now that summer's coming, I'm working on adding in a chemical sunscreen since I'm wary of mineral makeup. I'm still using Noritate daily but hoping to eliminate it soon.
HTH. I just wanted to let you know that things can get better and give the meds time to work.  Good luck! |
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