does crying play a role in the worsening of rosacea?

June 16, 2002

Has anyone ever found their rosacea to worsen after a large bout of

crying ?? I have found that every time i cry, not only does my nose

become all red and eyes swollen (which obviously happenst to most

people), but the next day, my rosacea is invariably worse than before

and tends to stay that way.

i remember in march, i only had some come and go redness on my inner

cheeks, and after a big cry, i started experiencing nose flushes as

well as ear flushing from then on. i would get daily nose flushes

before bed for at least a week after. later,i found that while

dancing at a club ,i came out feeling hot and sweaty, and the

horizontal area across my nose bridge as well as my cheeks were

flushed,whereas before only the cheeks woudl be flushed. it looked

quite weird. like ihad been punched int he top of the nose or

something.

does anyoen knwo (especially marjorie!) if crying releases certain

chemicals or particles (for instance,those immunoparticles dr. nase

speaks of?)i mean rosacean or not,we've all experienced that heavy

feeling in our noses before the tears start pouring down and the nose

starts running. so it seems like obviously something is being

released inside our bodies when we cry. or perhaps when i cried, the

blood flowed into a portion of my face that it normally doesnt flow

to and starts " liking " (For lack of a better word) that area and

starts to flow there more easily in the future?

also, after several bouts of crying and then the following nose

flushes for a week, i began to have a slighlty pink patch on my nose

that seems to spread. i dont know if it can be attributed to

inflammation or the weakening of blood vessels there. or both. its

really very strange. last time i cried i think it even made my

blepharitis worse for a week! my eyes felt much more dry than ever

before, and i had increased headaches (and even forehead flushes) for

a week following.

hmmm. ....anyoen else ever noticed a correlation between crying and

the progression of rosacea?

what stinks the most is now i cant even cry when im feeling depressed

about this disease! how ironic.

June 17, 2002

I don't have any information or comment one way or the other,

iblanki, but I'll be on the lookout if I run across anything tear-

worthy with respect to rosacea. I've heard theories about tears and

positive effects on emotional health, but I don't know if they've

been proven. Personally and professionally, I tend to focus on the

reasons behind the recurrent crying than the negative effects of

crying itself.

What " immunoparticles " does Dr. Nase talk about? I've been generously

loaned a copy of his book, so if you reference the section I can look

it up directly.

Marjorie

Marjorie Lazoff, MD

> Has anyone ever found their rosacea to worsen after a large bout of

> crying ?? I have found that every time i cry, not only does my nose

> become all red and eyes swollen (which obviously happenst to most

> people), but the next day, my rosacea is invariably worse than

before

> and tends to stay that way.

>

> i remember in march, i only had some come and go redness on my

inner

> cheeks, and after a big cry, i started experiencing nose flushes as

> well as ear flushing from then on. i would get daily nose flushes

> before bed for at least a week after. later,i found that while

> dancing at a club ,i came out feeling hot and sweaty, and the

> horizontal area across my nose bridge as well as my cheeks were

> flushed,whereas before only the cheeks woudl be flushed. it looked

> quite weird. like ihad been punched int he top of the nose or

> something.

>

> does anyoen knwo (especially marjorie!) if crying releases certain

> chemicals or particles (for instance,those immunoparticles dr. nase

> speaks of?)i mean rosacean or not,we've all experienced that heavy

> feeling in our noses before the tears start pouring down and the

nose

> starts running. so it seems like obviously something is being

> released inside our bodies when we cry. or perhaps when i cried,

the

> blood flowed into a portion of my face that it normally doesnt flow

> to and starts " liking " (For lack of a better word) that area and

> starts to flow there more easily in the future?

>

> also, after several bouts of crying and then the following nose

> flushes for a week, i began to have a slighlty pink patch on my

nose

> that seems to spread. i dont know if it can be attributed to

> inflammation or the weakening of blood vessels there. or both. its

> really very strange. last time i cried i think it even made my

> blepharitis worse for a week! my eyes felt much more dry than ever

> before, and i had increased headaches (and even forehead flushes)

for

> a week following.

>

> hmmm. ....anyoen else ever noticed a correlation between crying and

> the progression of rosacea?

>

> what stinks the most is now i cant even cry when im feeling

depressed

> about this disease! how ironic.

June 17, 2002

>>>>What " immunoparticles " does Dr. Nase talk about? I've been

generously

loaned a copy of his book, so if you reference the section I can look

it up directly.,<<<<<<

on pages 93 and 94,dr. nase mentions immune particles such as

cytokines , which are released whenever the blood vessels are dilated

he doenst mention crying but since crying involves the dilation of a

great number of vessels in the face i was thinking that even more of

these harmful particles cna " leak " through our weak capillaries

causing more inflammation when we cry.

June 17, 2002

You're interrelating several confusing things.

Cytokines are not immune particles -- they are substances released by

a cell that, among many other things, have the potential of impacting

on the immune system, usually by encouraging or inhibiting certain

aspects (such as the inflammatory aspects of the immune system). To

put it in perspective, cytokines are one of the body's ways of

modulating (controlling) normal physiologic mechanisms, they go well

beyond the immune system, and certainly well beyond their theorized

impact on rosacea, if any.

[some theorize that abnormal cytokine production or amount may be

important in the pathophysiology of disease, and I suspect that was

Dr. Nase's theory at the time of his writing. But to my knowledge

studies performed to date have not supported that theory. A few weeks

ago we discussed one study funded by the NRS regarding (if I can

recall correctly) TNF with respect to sunlight. I recall that neither

I nor Dr. Pilfer thought it was likely to be of specific benefit to

rosaceans, though perhaps others see connections we did not.]

And it's the other way around: cytokines may dilate blood vessels.

Finally, tears travel in ducts that do not dilate or constrict

(unlike arterial blood vessels which have a middle layer of smooth

muscle).

Convince yourself that the above is consistent with what Dr. Nase

said. He uses different words and has his own emphasis, but I believe

it is essentially the same.

Marjorie

Marjorie Lazoff, MD

> >>>>What " immunoparticles " does Dr. Nase talk about? I've been

> generously

> loaned a copy of his book, so if you reference the section I can

look

> it up directly.,<<<<<<

>

> on pages 93 and 94,dr. nase mentions immune particles such as

> cytokines , which are released whenever the blood vessels are

dilated

>

> he doenst mention crying but since crying involves the dilation of

a

> great number of vessels in the face i was thinking that even more

of

> these harmful particles cna " leak " through our weak capillaries

> causing more inflammation when we cry.

June 17, 2002

Forgive me for being a little off-topic here, but how do Cytokine production

and/or vasodilating immune substances play into Dermatographism and/or Mast

Cell disorders? I had an appointment with my Primary care today to discuss

the fact that my symptoms have been going berserk, and I have chest pains,

and can barely breath most of the time lately.. When I told him I had some

temporary relief with Cimetidine, he broke a tongue depressor in half, and

used a sharp edge to draw a tic-tac-toe board into my forearm. Where he

drew the lines became very elevated (and looked like scars) and a LARGE area

around them developed a bright red rash (including areas up to probably two