talkrosacea

I have had rosacea since I was 25. I haven’t had it treated as I didn’t take it too seriously and the thought of taking antibiotics for a long period of time scared me. Also, my face was never very bad just a bit of redness and few spots from time to time. I'm 43 now and gave birth 2 years ago and that’s when my rosacea nightmare started. Just when I gave birth my face got very red and very, very spotty. After two months my eyes turned red. Optician did all tests that took about half an hour and said that my eye was bit dry, probably because of lack of sleep. But after a couple of weeks my eye got very red and sensitive to light, painful as well. Suddenly I was treated for blepharitis for over a year. Yes, blepharitis! Apparently, you may develop it when your rosacea is very bad and not treated. I didn’t know that. I was breastfeeding for two years so didn’t want to take any antibiotics during that period. And I tried to control blepharitis with good cleaning of the eye lid, eye drops and unfortunately steroids at the beginning. My skin was so sensitive that I couldn’t even go to the garden to hang up washed clothes. Today I still take antibiotics and I’m so terrified that my problem will come back again. I got very anxious and stopped leaving the house. I was fighting with myself whenever I was taking my son out. He deserves the best and I want to be able to take him anywhere he wants, not thinking about my ugly skin.

I have had this condition for most of my adult life. For me it is not a permanent thing, but something that flares up in social settings. When I was a teenager it started when I went out with friends – I could have one drink and red blotches would appear all over me, or it would even flare up when I was just talking to people. My flare ups would be on my neck and face, getting worse if anyone pointed it out to me.

It is not something I let get in my way. Normally I just ignore it unless anybody asks why my neck or face is red. I have never been to the doctor with this condition because I think they have more to do than treat conditions that you can control yourself, but I do know that some foods and alcohol can make it worse, so most of the time I avoid these things unless I am in settings where nobody will ask why I am all blotchy.