Just saw my Dem. Need advice on his advice. (I'm a little confused now)

[Guest guest]

Hello again group!

First let me apologize for this long message in advance. (Ha) At the

begining of each paragraph, I have attached a title to it, so anyone

can skip parts that are not of interest to them.

I- Medications/A change of:

I just had a visit with the Dr. last night. What an experience that

was. I was taking tetracycline 500mg twice a day, MetroCream (2-3

times daily), and Differen gel at night (I have a slight acne

problem). I told the doc that nothing seemed to be helping. At most,

all of these medications kept everything at bay for a while. It

basically has slowed its progression but not stopped it. He decided

to

give me a few new things. The first was to change my AB to minocen @

50mg twice a day (I think the nurse spelled this wrong. Maybe it's

minocin?). Then I asked him to switch me from the MetroCream to the

MetroLotion (was this a good idea?). He also wrote me a prescription

for Zyrtec. This is an antihistamine. I have a fair amount of

discomfort (itching, burning, swelling, redness, hot to the touch)

around my eyes; particularly in the outside corners of my eyes. He

said the Zyrtec should take care of it.

II- Cleansers and the Doc's suggestions:

Next we talked about cleansers. I told him that I was using cetaphil,

and just switched to the Zia gel. He told me to start washing with

some form of glycolic acid wash. I was floored! I told him that my

skin was EXTREMELY sensitive and I questioned this suggestion. He

said

that for a few days it might be irritating so only use it every other

day for a while. He said that this is great for rosacea and for the

acne. I've never heard of this brand before. It called NeoStrata.

Below I will list the ingredients. I didn't try it last night for

fear

of what I might look like today. But I'll give it a shot tonight. If

the group likes, I can post a continuous report of how the wash works

in the future (if someone is interested). He even said that this

would

be fine to use around my eyes. I'm really confused now. But in

reading

the ingredients, there is nothing that specifically says " glycolic

acid " . So if someone could take a look at the ingredients and tell me

what they think, that would be a big help.

III- Red spot/Collection of blood vessels (treatment of)

Finally, the last thing we talked about was a red spot (not a pimple

or a pustule or anything like that) that I have on the side of my

nose. It's been there for two years and never gets worse or better.

I've been asking another derm to take care of it but he always blew

it

off. This guy actually did something about it. It turns out to be a

collection of blood vessels that never go away. So he said we could

zap that with an electric needle. That was weird! The nurse came in

and grabbed this awful looking device with a huge needle on the end

of

it. I broke a sweat just looking at it. I thought what in the hell

have I got my self into now! But it was not that bad. I was bleeding

for a while, but this morning it looks about 30% better than it did

(aside from the scabs that formed). The doc said it might take 2-3

tries to completely remove it, but it was nice to actually see some

immediate results for a change. I think this might work for visible

veins as well. Ask your dem about it.

Anyway, if you've made it to the end of this message,

congratulations!

Ha! But any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

again, and good luck everyone!

Tim (tims@...)

Cleanser information:

Front of bottle:

NeoStrata

Polyhydroxy AHA

Facial Cleanser

Moisturizing, exfoliating cleanser with Vitamin B Complex

Back of bottle/Ingredients:

Water, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Gluconolactone,

Polyquaternium-10,

Propylene Glycol, Panthenol, olidinyl Urea, Methylparaben,

Propylparaben.