About the cea Diet, etc.

[Guest guest]

Brady & group --

We all recognize that there are things -- spicy foods,

heat, exercise, alcohol, etc. -- that will cause

anyone (with or without rosacea) to flush. These

irritants can cause additional damage to the blood

vessels on a rosacean's face because of an apparent

inability to recover efficiently from the flush. I

realize this is a highly simplified explanation.

However, big lists of " triggers " are pretty useless to

the group as a whole.

For example, one of the things that will make me flush

and breakout is raw tomatoes. Does that mean tomatoes

are a rosacea " trigger " ?

No. They're a food to which some people are allergic

with some regularity. It means I should avoid tomatoes

and take an antihistimine when I'm reacting to them.

(One big clue is that I frequently have a reaction

that involves more than my facial skin.)

I fear that complicated diets only confuse and

overwhelm new group members looking for answers.

Even if the diet eliminates one of the foods to which

the person is allergic, they're bound by a rigorous

eating plan and may not know which food is problematic

for them -- subsequently, when they become frustrated

by all the " food rules " they'll return to eating some

of everything, never knowing which food was

problematic.

The NRS identifies the role histamine plays in some

rosacea cases, but never actually says " allergy " . This

is simple politics, the NRS is raising money for

rosacea, not allergies.

And yet, I'm convinced (and I'm no doctor) that a

really good percentage of the people participating in

the group are allergic to something and have been

misdiagnosed.

You, Herbler, and Mark B. have all made good and

interesting contributions to the group. However, I

really feel people need to be more introspective and

figure out their own food issues -- involving an

allergist or naturopath if needed.

Derms need to be counseled that subacute allergies can

show up on the skin and look like rosacea - but (no

suprise here) won't respond to the traditional rosacea

treatment protocol. I can't figure out why they don't

recognize this with any frequency. And, yes, from

everything I've read, skin responses can show up days

after exposure to the allergen... admittedly making

tracking difficult.

There's a good percentage of members in the group who

haven't responded to traditional treatment. And

there's a fair amount reporting hot, painful skin,

swollen eyes, swollen lips, hives, and other obvious

(and fairly dangerous) signs of allergic reaction.

Topicals aren't going to be much help to these folks,

and laser treatments may make an allergic situation

much worse, and certainly won't make an allergy go

away.

Most importantly, we need to not mislead people into

thinking that there's a complicated, specialized diet

that will be a quick cure. If it were that simple, we

wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?

Suzi

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