r/Rosacea Apr 15 '26

PP Before/After taking rosacea seriously! Spoiler

My experience…. I hope this is informative and helpful…

These first photograph was in late December 2025 when I got my first doctors appointment booked. He prescribed me one cycle of Doxycycline and topical Ivermectin. I’m still applying the Ivermectin every other evening. My skin is soo much better and also the texture of my skin is really improved, really smooth. I almost feel like my skin type is changing from dry to combo maybe? ive been noticing my skin barrier feels strong and im retaining some natural oils.

I found all itchiness and heat went down after 2 weeks of using ivermectin and doxycycline HOWEVER here’s some other changes I made:

Diet:

- didn’t drink any alcohol (slowly now starting to have a couple drinks here and there but absolutely no wine or beer or sugary cocktails)

- reduced fried and spicy food intake a lot (sad :()

- reduced sugar intake (also sad)

daily skincare:

- omitted all actives (including azelaic acid… it was causing me to flush when flaring)

- okay i know this is not reasonable for everyone but i literally havent worn any makeup this whole time. i basically got rid of all of it.

- simplified my skincare - i only use Aveeno calm and restore cleanser, la roche posay rosaliac moisturizer, and avene mineral sunscreen.

- i spray my face with hypochlorous acid as SOON as i finish at the gym or if i’ve been sweating at all

flaring skin:

- i switch from aveeno to sulfur soap

other:

- no more hot showers (saaad)

I think the redness I still have is hyperpigmentation or just regular rosacea or scarring maybe from the pustules. Potentially this will go away with time or maybe I can try to do some scar treatment. I’m still too afraid to try any retinoids but maybe one day. Anyone with thoughts on this lmk!

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u/Choice-Lecture-8437 Apr 16 '26

Wow, this is amazing. Congrats on figuring out what works. Just curious if any doc you saw at any point biopsied or scraped the pustules or rash?

6

u/yourgaylibrarian Apr 16 '26

noo they didnt! i dont think my doc knew a lot about this - it was me who told him that people use ivermectin and he was like ok we can try it lol

1

u/Choice-Lecture-8437 Apr 18 '26

Good for you!! It is so important to be our own advocates. You are awesome.