My situation

[JS]

Hello everyone. What I'm about to write may get a little depressing, but I really need advise or at least an outlet for my situation. I appreciate anyone who will go through this long read and give me a thorough opinion, Walter especially.

I have been battling with acne since the age of 15, I am now 24 years old. My doctor visits have never lead to anything other than false hope and frustration. My condition has always went from terrible to improving and seeming to be coming to an end, then right back to terrible. Things like tetracycline and minocycline have always brought only initial improvements and have always worn off in their effects a few months later.

It was January of last year when I first came across the idea of demodex's link to skin problems. The Sea-Buckthorn soaps were what I found and ordered before finding DemodexSolutions. The Sea-Buckthorn soap improved me a lot, in fact almost to the point where the problem seemed to be ending and people close to me would mention how healthy-looking I was becoming and that I must've been doing something right. That turned around though, a time came when that soap was not keeping me clear like it had gotten me, and I pulled out a month's supply of stored ZZ and XMFL that Walter had sent me back in February or March 2004. In the midst of using these I consulted with Walter in email then put in an order for 4 months worth of the creams and some soaps and shampoos also. As I write this I have been using the DS products for 7 weeks.

I saw a doctor a doctor 10 days ago, and I was mostly hoping to get a bloodtest and to look into possible thyroid condition. The doctor was not willing to do any blood work at that time and insisted it had to be another seperate appointment. After all the discussion with her about what I've tried in the past and what hasn't worked or only worked very short-term, she wrote me a prescription for tetracycline and a benzoil-peroxide topical. She wants me to try different things with her and return for monthly appointments. I left the building knowing I had no faith in these products or this doctor, and knowing that I did still have some faith invested in the DS products.

My parents know of my battles, and also know of my opinion that mites are troubling my skin. They would hope and want for me to have found my own solution, but also will often reffer to it as another website preying on people's despirations. After a pretty bad breakout within the first couple weeks of DS treatment I thought most of the bad was over and I had only the better to look forward to, but I was wrong. My face is terrible at this momment, and I feel like I just don't want to exist anymore. Last night after calling in sick to work because I simply couldn't bring myself to face the world, I was laying on my bed crying my eyes out with my mother telling me I should listen to the Doctor and let her use trial and error with medications for my skin untill she finds something that works. I try to explain to her that I've invested in 4 months of DS treatment, and need to give it due time to give real results. She feels I've been trying it long enough and need to put my faith in the Doctor. I'm under a lot of pressure now to put away the DS creams and start with what the doctor wants me to take orally and put on my face topically. I can't help the way I feel just as I couldn't help calling into work last night because of being so digusted with my face. Whether the DS creams take good effect soon or I turn to the doctor's orders out of despiration, I feel like something has to make it turn to the better pretty soon or I am going to give up all togther, give up on my hopes for clear skin and give up on hopes for a happy life. I simply can't take it anymore. I invested $500 in my DS products and I'm soon to be half way through all the cream treatments I bought, still no sign of the breakouts being done with so I just don't know anymore. My family is really pressuring me now so I don't know what I can do as far as using the doctor prescriptions while still using the DS treatment as directed. DS treatment needs to be applied nightly before bed and so does what the doctor wants me to use topically.

My face is now all welted up in pussy parts and huge cysts and whiteheads. My face is already scarred permanently and whats happening on my face now is sure to bring more scars that'll be there forever. I want more than anything for something to solve my problem, and though some might say I'm emotionally disturbed for not wanting to face public and wanting to hide away, I know 100% that the root cause of it all is my skin. I become a very happy person when something gives hope and makes me feel like the last of the beakouts are fading away on my skin and into the past, but when will these DS creams get to that point? I'm miserable, I can't be at my best for the people I love and I can't face the world.

[Thomas]

You're right that was depressing.

I think you shouldn't let anyone pressure you into anything. If you want to get some bloodwork you should demand that your doctor do it. If you want to continue using the ds products then continue using them. It's very common for the skin to get worse before it gets better.

Try not to let your skin get you too down. Keep yourself busy with other things.

[JS]

I know it was depressing, sorry. I'm not always so sad though, don't think I'm badly depressed overall every day because I'm not. It really is a direct cause of my skin condition. At times when the feelings my skin creates isn't there or I can forget about it, I'm a very positive person with talents and brightness to share. When my face gets this bad I just can't overcome it because it pains me physically and emotionally and I can see people's eye contact with me being distracted to look at disturbing parts of my face.

[JS]

I'm thinking I should comprimise with those who think I need to spend some more time at the doctor's office. Maybe Walter can advise me. I know I can't replace the ZZ evening treatment with something like retin-A that the Dr wants me to use, and I don't know if I could make retin-A a daytime application and ZZ at night. Maybe I could go with the Doc's oral prescription while I run the full course of all the DS creams I bought.

One thing I'm sure of is that I don't want to see the doctor again just for her to look at my face from a few feet away and play trial and error with things she knows might or might not work, many of which I've already tried before. Tetracycline, Minocyline, Dicloxacillin, topical retin-A, Tazorac, and Clindamycin... I've experienced these enough already to know they never have and never will end my problem. I could go down the list just as easily as this doctor can with no medical training, so I don't believe doctors to have any real knowledge about these skin problems. Maybe I should stipulate that if I go back for another dr visit that I want the focus to be on my blood because no one's ever looked into the possibility of me having a bad deficiency or medical condition.

[JS]

I should also add that after this Doctor was told that I was unresponsive beyond short-term with tetra-minocycline etc with my other doctors, she deemed me to be a candidate for accutane treatment and was ready to get the ball rolling on that avenue.

I immediately told her that accutane scares the hell out of me and that I want nothing to do with it, and in fact have a goal to get off of all the antibiotics because I believe them to have hurt my immune system to only make skin worse in the long run for me.

[Marla]

Hi, JS:

From what I gather from your posts, you are combining treatments from multiple sources.

I would like to tell you what to do, but I do not want to contradict the specialists who oversee your skin care.

I look forward to hearing from you after another month with treating only with DS products. A regular routine with these products alone is essential to healing.

You will get better. I did, and I had thirty or more years of both D. folliculorum and D. brevis to evict from my pores. Not easy, but it can be done with these products. I have seen this for myself through the microscope. I tested daily for weeks and weeks. The decline in population of the mites and their offspring corresponded directly to improvement in the health of my skin.

Persistence and continuous treatment pays off. Your confidence will return when your troubled skin reaches it's best. This could take weeks, or months, and it will happen. Eleven months out of your lifetime goes quickly -- that's approximately how long it takes. During that time, the troubles decline in stages.

Furthermore, I have faced many people who glanced at the troubles on my face and made subtle comments about certain doctors who treated their family for acne -- and maybe I might want to try them.

Your face is what it is. Take it out of your room and use it. Speaking of your room, why not buy yourself a new latex pillow with a washable zip cover?

And while I'm editing the original post, it comes to mind that people who know I use DS products are skeptical, which adds to the fright. But they don't have acne.

[JS]

Thank you.

At this point I'm not combining treatments from multiple sources except the antibiotics I'm taking in hopes of them keeping the alergic reactions to a minimum. Walter stated that antibiotics while the DS creams are causing breakouts won't hamper results and might keep the breakouts in control. Of course, they don't seem to help me at all anymore and it's more of a despiration move to keep taking them, hoping that I won't look unsightly for all the months I'm treating with DS. Since I've started on DS, it's been all aracid-removing soap, DS shampoo, ZZ, and XMFL.

All together I started with 5 months worth of treatment. The plan was that this was enough product to be able to make a judgement as to whether it's curing my condition or not after finishing the 5 months worth. I'm being asked for a target date as to when I'll be done giving DS creams their due trial, and I'm saying that I need to finish all the product I bought. If by the end of the 5 months worth the breakouts haven't started coming in much smaller waves, I can't see myself placing a $600 order to make 11 months worth in all. As sad as it may sound, after my doctor visits and blood work that I'm insisting on having and my bills, I won't be able to afford it.

[dsuser]

As you have probably read, many if not most people will experience more break outs when first using DS. For some this can last days or weeks while others could continue to see breakouts 6 months or more.

I have suffered with acne since the age of 11 years, I am now 37 years old. Over 25 years of visiting doctors and trying just about every prescription ( although I refused accutane..dangerous stuff) and over the counter medication Demodex Solutions was the only thing that has "cured" my problem.

It took me about 3.5 months for the break outs to finally let up after starting DS. At first I had more breakouts on the face but I noticed I started to break out over my entire back, chest and stomache area. The mites were migrating obviously and the only thing that helped was to apply the cream to these areas as well. With in a week I found these areas to finally come under control. I also experinced break outs to my head area ( scalp). At the time DS didn't have a shampoo so I found a shampoo that contained Colloidal Sulfur which really helped. Now that DS has a shampoo i would suggest others who also suffer break outs to the scalp use this.

What's imporant to understand is that ever one is different. Don't give up and keep on the creams and soaps for as long as it takes. Take this advise from someone who has suffered far longer than you and has the years of scarring to show for it. I could only dream about being 24 years old all over again and having Demodex Soultions available to me.

Have faith, I'm confident months down the road you will be glad you did.

God Bless

[Marla]

JS, the products work.

Personally, I experienced the following milestones:

1) 4 months: no major breakouts;
2) 7 months: no major breakouts, and skin tone and texture improving, itch almost gone;
3) 11 months: no breakouts, no itch, could face public without makeup.
4) 13 months: relapse due to lax application of product, and accidental exposure to Demodex carriers that had contact with cats -- which I am allergic to. I battled the breakouts with ZZ and XFML. Within days, my skin had almost healed. I have a couple of red spots, and one small healing bump remaining.

Some people find that small doses of an antihistamine helps with the inflammatory aspects. You might also find it helpful.

Be brave and persistent. It is easy to be dissuaded by skeptics. At the same time, it is easy to understand why a person would be skeptical.

Yet so many of us on this forum can say that the products work. I have yet to see a post from someone who says that these products don't work. There are plenty of panic and despair posts, and plenty of people whose expectations were unreasonable; but they come back and say that the treatment works.

Use small quantities of product massaged into your skin all over your face, around your hairline, around your ears and inside the outer ear folds, outside the ear folds, the back of your neck, and your upper back and shoulders. Treat your eyebrows and just inside your nostrils. Very little product does the job. Use little product applied thoroughly at least twice each day.

You will hear this over and over again on the forum: Do not touch your face, do not scratch, do not pick throughout the day. (And night.)

Spot treating to save product will not work. You will only succeed in chasing the problem around.

[JS]

13 months: relapse due to lax application of product, and accidental exposure to Demodex carriers that had contact with cats --

I love my cat, and there's no way with the financial crisis my family is in with serious medical bills that I'll be able to afford buying DS products indefinately. I'm going to have to look into the use of cheap sulfer and camphor applications.(any suggestions?) Hopefully the day will soon come when DS's business success is such that they can make prices more affordable.

[kara]

Hi JS,
I think you should buy microscope and see mites yourself. If you see them, then Demodex solutions is the only thing which will help. Don't waste your time on doctors and listen to anybody.

I was treated first time succesfully in Russia where dermotologists are aware of demodex mites. All these prescribed treatments by US doctors don't kill mites and they make skin even worse.

I know how depressing it is to have acne but you have to suffer only may be another month and I am positive you will start seeing improvements.

Take vacation and see at home if you can

My regime is to use ZZ both morning and evening and soap in the evening. I am using products for second month and have seen an improvement.

If your skin is oily I recommend using only ZZ because it dries out skin.
My skin is less oily then it used to be.

You can battle acne, it is not something uncurable, the key to find right treatment and you have found one just have patience

[Walter]

Hello JS

Antibiotics are not a cure in most acne cases, acne are infections caused by bacteria, taking antibiotics
will help you as long as you take them, after that he problem just reoccurs, logical right?
in some cases there can be a bacteria which normally doesn't belong on your facial skin be responsible
for acne but in those cases the antibiotics should work for as long you don't get re-infected so what happens?
there needs to be something else involved and there is a big possibility it are demodex mites.
Those mites are surfacing your skin and back in again, taking bacteria with them which belong
on the surface of your skin, not inside, they carry there host specific bacteria inside of them
and when they die and decompose those bacteria are delivered in you hair follicles and sebaceous glands,
creating infections, demodex brevis has two sharp needles on his head, damaging the sebaceous glands etc.
Sea-Buckthorn soap is probable a very good soap, nothing against it, but to eliminate demodex mites it is not strong enough,
there is only one way, a product which you can use continuously, is safe to use but strong enough to kill the mites,
a soap alone can never do this, not ours not an other, the action time from soap is much to short,
(even our soap works a much longer time because the TCC (trichlorocarbonyl aniline) it contains)
so to many mites are able to go back inside the skin and breed again, soap can be a help, but not a treatment.
Why do yet get breakouts now using the treatment?
the ZZ ointment as well the fumanling cream work also good against bacteria so why?
simply because you are killing the mites, they decompose in your skin delivering there bacteria,
and probable, the decomposing mite body's also are a good trying ground for other kind of bacteria.
What maybe can help you with this breakouts is taking oral antibiotics together with the treatment,
some customers reported good results doing this till the most mites are gone, do you remember which
antibiotic helped you the most? maybe you can try.
If you do a treatment like this you need to believe in it, otherwise there will be always people who
convince you that you are doing the wrong thing, that this mites are normal..... and whatever,
every time you stop the treatment for some day's the mites are able to breed again and all was for nothing.
Most of the failures are because people stop to soon, that is the biggest mistake.
The first thing the professor who invented the ZZ ointment told me was exactly this,
You will be able to heal a lot of people if..................if..................
you can convince them not to quit.............................
So, make up your mind, give yourself at least 3 months more or quit now and try something else.
don't listen to other people, just do what you thing is right to do.
Also don't use to much, if you both 4 months of treatment you should be able to go a long way with them,
it is really not necessary to use a lot, just a tiny bit everywhere but if possible continuously.

Walter

[JS]

Speaking of your room, why not buy yourself a new latex pillow with a washable zip cover?

The ones that are for dust mites you mean? Are those helpful with demodex?

[Marla]

Speaking of your room, why not buy yourself a new latex pillow with a washable zip cover?

The ones that are for dust mites you mean? Are those helpful with demodex?

Yes, JS, the ones for dust mites. And you, with a cat! need to put your face on a clean surface until you are in a situation where you can replace your pillow. Maybe use a clean towel over your pillow. Dry your pillow in the dryer every day for a couple of weeks, then back off a little and give yourself a break. Throw in your blanket as well, but check the blanket first to make sure your feline friend is elsewhere.

Can you wash your cat? Wash your cat?

[JS]

No, my cat won't go for a bath.