Re: I will not flush, I will not flush, I will not flush!

April 18, 2002

Alena, I hope all went well with your dog's surgery today.

Thanks for your suggestion of Medscape's medical resources as a

source of info regarding nitric oxide and rosacea. I'm very familiar

with it. Medscape presents itself as a physician resource but it's

actually designed and marketed for non-professionals. Most Web-savvy

physicians dismiss it outright, but I think it's one of the more

accurate and readable non-professional medical references out there.

For physicians, though, their journals and conventions are too second-

tier for professional use.

I ran a quick search, and didn't find anything. Did you have a

particular article in mind?

Marjorie

Marjorie Lazoff, MD

> I will be stressed out today, as one of my dogs is having a surgery

that

> requires general anesthesia. I know the stress level will keep

rising until

> I hear from the clinic that she woke up. I am drinking cold water

by gallons

> and try to stay calm.

>

> An email friend of mine, who lives in Alberta, told me that she,

too,

> suffers from rosacea. I wondered how she survives the brutal

winters there

> (they still have a foot of snow) as she is a forest technologist

and is

> exposed to the elements a lot. She said that in winter, her face

get really

> dry and sore, and cracks to the point it bleeds. When she is

desperate for

> relief, she uses Bag Balm. It's originally for cows' udders but it's

> medicated and a lot of people use it on feet or hands (especially

> gardeners). I use it myself on my dry heels. I looked at the

ingredients

> last night and it's loaded with petrolatum and lanolin (that's

pretty much

> what it is). She says it heals her. I am not sure if I would dare

to put it

> on my face.

>

> Somebody said recently that she or he tries to avoid petrolatum. I

had to

> smile because in winter, I don't go anywhere without a chapstick

(or better

> yet, two, just in case). If a chapstick doesn't list petrolatum

among the

> ingredients, I don't buy it. I found out that p. helps my lips best.

>

> Alena

April 19, 2002

on 4/19/02 6:39 AM, Alena Coufalova at alena@... wrote:

> My day went fine and I did not flush. I called the clinic when they were

> just finishing up and I was told that everything was going fine, so I could

> breathe out.

Hi Alena (and all),

I'm not trying to be a smart aleck (!) but I think shallow breathing or

unconsciously holding your breath can cause a flush! It's happened to me.

Have you ever noticed this? Recently I was crouched on the floor reading the

newspaper and suddenly felt the strangest sensation crawling (literally)

over my face...I looked in the mirror and my face was red! I know that I had

been either holding my breath or breathing very shallowly because of my

pose. Then a few days later, I was doing the same thing (forgot about the

flushing thing) and felt a flush coming on.....I immediately sat up, and

started deep breathing. It stopped the flush cold. Anyway in times of stress

we all tend to breathe shallowly so I wonder if this is part of your

flushing in the recent past? In yoga classes I've taken over the years, they

always mention how most people in general breathe much too shallowly. In one

class I learned an " alternate nostril " breathing technique and find I can

stop a headache cold with it. Reading your post has made me think I should

start yoga again!

>In fact, this entire week I am feeling better, and my face is

> doing much better. Almost no flushing, and if any, the intensity is much

> weaker. Since Saturday, I am using the HerbaCort, though I am still

> planning to see if I can find a moisturizer for daily use (meaning to be

> applied in the a.m.), and hopefully I will be able to use sunblock without

> getting irritated.

I could not recall who posted about Herbacort. I ordered some from the

Canadian company after reading your post (could not find here in ca, in any

store) It was $17 something, $23 with tax. I am in search of a product that

will soothe and be a heavier moisturizer than my two tried and true

products. My skin has been extremely irritated and very dry, though finally

this morning it looks pretty good. Last night I put a small dab of

Neutragena Hand Cream on both cheeks which seemed to helped with some of the

persistent dry flakes. It's odd because it is only my face. I very rarely

put body lotion on, unless I just like the smell! So thanks for telling us

about it and I'll let the group know how it is.

> I still don't know what it was that caused the burning.

It's a slippery slope isn't it?! those ingredients did not look great

though...

>It did go away when

> I stopped using Nutraderm (so , it looks you were right on with the

> warning!) and switched to HerbaCort (I am sure the salicylic acid helped). I

> went back to my cabbage routine in the evening (I was so freaked out by the

> burning that I quit even cabbage for a few days) because I felt that there

> was " landscape " happening on one side of my nose. In general, I feel that it

> works wonders on my nose and cleans my pores better than Biore strips. But

> we will see, too soon to tell.

>

> Now, I looked at Metrogel and I noticed that it has two parabens (don't

> have it here so I can't be more specific). It seemed to me that those where

> the same parabens that are in Nutraderm, I will compare them and post here.

> Can somebody who has Metrocream please let me know what are the ingredients?

> Thanks!

Someone (matija maybe?) fairly recently posted the links for all three

metro's and their respective ingredients. I mistakenly deleted it from my

mailbox, but if you have a few moments to search it's somewhere in the

archives of the last few weeks...

> Wishing everyone a good face day,

> Alena

Bye for now,

April 19, 2002