Hello Brady,
I wanted to offer some explanation as to why I've not been active on this forum. First of all it's the structure of a forum. Personally, I have a challenge navigating them. For me & how my brain works I just haven't done well with seeing/understanding how to navigate forums so I've not engaged in them very much. Unlike Reddit which I've recently joined for the reselling community posts I've never noticed RRDI to send you a thread that you've posted on directly to you like Reddit does, so I will click on the heading & see what was just written & then I'll respond, otherwise I don't go on to reddit & search etc.,. I don't understand how to navigate Reddit much either and it's not a priority. Visually too much going on. I am not on social media/FB much at all especially since my husband left our marriage unexpectedly a few years ago, but when we were together & I was dealing with a lot of other health issues & my parents health issues & focusing on him & his music career. I've had a lot of health issues & life losses that have eclipsed rosacea so that it fell to the bottom of the list.
For me I've found that my acne rosacea is triggered by allergies & sensitivities that are odd so they wouldn't be easily caught. I had to eliminate these sources as much as possible, some of which are not always possible for example shopping in stores pre-pandemic my face would break out as I'm reactive to formaldehyde resin which is sprayed on a ton of items found in my fav TJ Maxx, Marshalls & Homegoods (especially) stores. I'd go out that day with a perfectly clear face & shop for several hours & end up with 4-6 rosacea pimples by the end of the night. A friend of mine joked that we should record it.
Wearing a surgical mask makes my face break out, yes the surgical ones, because they have some sort of chemical on them. Titanium dioxide, coco-betaine & prior even foods triggered it. I have to wash my face twice a day with Honest brand face cleanser as it is free of coco-betaine which is the main cleansing ingredient in all hand soaps, shampoos & cleansers. I use Dessert Essence Free (something) shampoo & conditioner because it is free of coco-betaine & I found two hand pump cleansers free of that ingredient as well. I use a handful of other skincare products (too many to list) including Renee' Rouleau's line which is fabulous, she has a acne spot treatment which will eliminate the red rosacea bumps overnight. I use titanium dioxide free makeup as well.
Another odd thing is I can use this amazing lotions, creams on my face & it helps my face but if I put it on my neck it'll break out in hives so I'm still trying to discern which ingredient I'm allergic to now, it's coming down to aloe vera & rosemary as well as blue tansy. My body chemistry is constantly changing with some health issues leaving while others enter in, including new sensitivities that give me pseudo allergic reactions even affect my heart rhythm etc., and traditional doctors do not want to hear this type of thing so I just stay away from the docs, work with a great integrative nutritionist & my own research & live a life of continuous evolving experimentation.
I have my own website beingwellwithmichelle.com that I've not posted on in about 2 years nevermind engage on. I may get back to it this year but I"m not sure. I look at the photos of me on there & they were from 2012 or so & I don't recognize that sweet innocent 40 something. I had high hopes for my life/wellness coaching practice working with other high achieving women with chronic health challenges but due to the marriage ending & all that went with that I had to focus on my mindbodywellness & not on helping others.
So many things going on in my life just trying to survive & put myself & my self-care first has been my priority & now with the pandemic things are even more disjointed. I spent over 35 years trying to figure out my health challenges rosacea being the most obvious to others & the one that first came around age 20 when I got Lyme disease then disappeared & returned 20 plus years later & I'm 51 now & still am learning how it expresses itself in my body. For now I've got it under control which is nice. I take a mindbodyspirit approach combining a bunch of philosophies & a metaphysical approach to wellness too.
I hear these people with COVID-19 speak about "long haul" symptoms & that's been the story of my life since I got mono at age 15 but doctors looked at me like I was crazy. I've had 3/4's of the symptoms people have talked about COVID causing in all systems. I had Lyme disease as well yet it wasn't properly diagnosed. I got on doxycycline for the rosacea outbreak at age 20 & within a few months my neurological symptoms left. I had tested positive ANA factor, RH factor & had signs of infection but back in the late 80's no one was putting it all together with Lyme as they do now.
To be honest, I had to take a giant step back & just try to live & do & be instead of constantly focusing on what is wrong with me & that included stepping away from the rosacea forum among many others.
I started reselling clothes online & that has been a nice distraction from illness & dysfunction. I want to still help others including sharing my experiences with rosacea but I'm not sure exactly what that's going to look like. It seems each year when I think I'm going to get off of SSDI & work again another life or health tragedy strikes & I'm just at that point of trying to live under the radar. I'm literally alone in my condo daily & haven't seen anyone in a year except for a handful of people at a distance, grocery shopping, dropping off things to my Dad etc., I've not even been able to see my Mom due to her being in a nursing home facility. I got sick last year with a respiratory virus that I've still not fully recovered from & that was last Dec-this April. So I got a head start on the quarantine.
So I apologize for not being more active here or anywhere actually, but to be honest there have been so many other things going on that I've just not wanted to focus on illness & issues whenever I don't have to. I hope you can understand.
