Blepharitis, rosacea, hypothyroid, food allergies, ideas?

I have been exfloliating and using Seabuckthorn Oil topically (on my face) for several months with no improvement. I have recently begun mixing a 5% tea tree oil shampoo (I'm Australian, after all), but I don't have very high hopes. Hot compresses and massages were a no go.

I have probably had low thyroid function for at least four years. I feel much better since I started taking an iodine supplement (Lugol's Solution!) and my hair has improved a little (only been two months). Fixing my sleeping pattern also decreased my sensitivity to hot and cold and makes my nails grow faster.

I also have developed some food allergies over the last four years. Actually, a cross reaction to pollen called Oral Allergy Syndrome that only occurs when certain fruits or vegetables are fresh (not cooked or processed), and is generally limited to symptoms of the gastrointestinal tract. It's fairly mild, but every year I have to add another fruit or two to the list of stuff I can't eat, which is worrying.

I was wondering if anyone here has had any success in reducing any of these symptoms? I am particularly interested in H. Pylori infection, since a couple of members seem to be knowledgable about this bacteria and it may account for several of my symptoms. Because my symptoms aren't serious, it's difficult to find a doctor who will investigate.

Thank you

Mastic gum(Jarrow brand)....Manuka honey...Monolaurin( a combo product with that can be seen here http://hono.stores.yahoo.net/babiode56.html )...possibly olive leaf extract(as also in that product), also known as D-Lenolate...a product called Carnosoothe...etc etc.

A lot of that can be seen by going to forums related to this subject.

As for food allergies(I have them btw..if they can be called "allergies")..Dr. Murray has a good article on that: http://www.doctormurray.com/conditions/Food_Allergy.asp

There's also Tanalbit or similar products: http://www.intensivenutrition.com/Tanalbit.htm

Take a look at the rest of the slides here:

http://www.onjoph.com/english/demodex-body.html

Demodex folliculorum in chronic blepharitis A. Jünemann

Department of Ophthalmology, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (Chairman: Prof. Dr. G.O.H. Naumann) Schwabachanlage 6, D-91054 Erlangen, Germany

  “Background and Purpose. The mite demodex folliculorum (Class Arachnida, Order Acarina), first described by Berger in 1841, can be found in the hair follicles of the eyelashes and of the contigous facial skin. The shorter species Demodex brevis inhabits meibomian and other sebaceous glands. The live cycle of the mite is 14 ? days. The about 300µm long adult mite lives 5 to 6 days in the follicle of the eyelash or hair, can migrate on to the skin during night time (negative phototrop) by moving 1cm per hour. The classic clinical appearance are "sleeves", 1mm long cylindrical cuffs around the base of the eyelashes. The association of demodex with diseases like blepharitis, lid hyperemia, meibomitis, chalazion or rosacea is controversal discussed. Also the vector capacity of demodex for bacterial infections remains unclear. The incidence of demodex is age related. It was found up to 20 years in about 25%, up to 50 years in about 30%, up to 80 years in about 50% and in all aged 90 or older. In healthy persons, one can find one or more Demodex in every tenth eyelash. This index rise with increasing age. In blepharitis or other external eye diseases, demodex is found in about every sixth eyelash. Therapy of chronic blepharitis in association with demodex may include antibiotics, steroids, Quecksilber 2% or Lindan. Massage of lidmargins is essential because local treatment is of no effect as long as the mite remains deep in the pilosebaceous complex.”

creep

Thank dog you were here to make that clear.

Btw the guy has blepharitis, rosacea, cystic acne and hair loss. Sounds like a problem that is a problem.

Jacob, I have to admit that I now believe you to be 12 years old. I'm sorry that you are losing your hair so young, but this does explain your behaviour.

creep

Go tell dad that you want to go out to play instead of playing on the computer all the time.

But back to this guy’s problem. Seems he is suffering from every disease that demodex has ever been thought to play a role in. It’s funny how the cause of all these afflictions is still unknown and demodex (the cause of mange in other animals) is still considered to be harmless in humans.

Why the controversy? You would think that in this day and age that we could determine the cause of disease with a little more certainty. What do they spend all the research time and money on? Oh that’s right, it’s spent on proving some drug that was developed for some other disease may help hair loss without harming anyone to much. No one really cares what causes hair loss, or rosacea, or acne, or blepharitis, etc.

creep

Re: Blepharitis, rosacea, hypothyroid, food allergies, ideas?

Thank you

Guy ,here is what i had experienced : I went to the doc who diagnosed me with rosacea and because i had some other symptoms they took some blood and did some other test to check for H.Pylori but it came back negative. So for me H.Pylori was not the cause of my rosacea...

About demodex...

After some time without luck with the docs meds i decided to listen to Dex (`` Demodex is causing rosacea``) so i started to use tea tree oil in some cream base 2 times a day. After a few weeks rosacea gone ,bye bye ,ciao .... To maintain my face spot free i need to use the concotion once a week ,like maintanace.

So you could try topical TTO first maybe its going to work for you too .And its freaking cheap.

Mites are not considered "harmless" in humans when they get out of control. You even admitted you were diagnosed with MANGE. I and the others here do not have that.

If you don't think they've researched this...LOL! Drug companies go after anything that makes them money. There are already drugs out there for these mites. Lets see..they just don't want to try it for hairloss because then they put themselves out of business..or whatever nonsense you're going to say.

Hounty..I'd like to know what this "cream base" was

his was using SBT oul with no luck?

BTB..good point. I forgot to mention earlier that a lot of skin problems ARE caused by digestive problems..food allergies..etc.

Re: Blepharitis, rosacea, hypothyroid, food allergies, ideas?

--- After some time without luck with the docs meds i decided to listen to Dex (`` Demodex is causing rosacea``) so i started to use tea tree oil in some cream base 2 times a day. After a few weeks rosacea gone ,bye bye ,ciao .... To maintain my face spot free i need to use the concotion once a week ,like maintanace.

So you could try topical TTO first maybe its going to work for you too .And its freaking cheap.

I might have to try straight TTO(cheers hounty), iv been using a mix of SBT/TTO 75%/25% for my face as well not really helping yet.

"If you don't think they've researched this...LOL! "

Put you money where your mouth is Jacob.

Let's see all this research.

Hey guys, I remember some time ago when a guy going by 6996 was posting. He brought in scalpskinlady to answer some questions.

Anyway he was talking to somebody else about mixing tto and sbt oil and found out that it's not a good idea to mix them together. Can't remember why, but you may want to consider this.

For the record: if it was found to be true that rosacea, acne, hair loss, folliculitis, blepharitis were all found to be caused by mites and that the natural therapies we have now could take care of these problems, how would a drug company make any money?

If their research showed demodex to be the cause then they would hand over the market to those who have been making anti-mite agents all along and then guess what. If you knew that your problems were caused by mites, would you let your children get infested? No, and in a couple of generations the whole hair loss, skin problem industry could come crashing down.

Now, coherently argue against that.

creep

Then they observe what happens when the parasites are removed (by whatever methods necessary and they quantify both parasite numbers and treatment efficacy). This is a study of what happened when you get rid of parasites, not a study where you give someone an off-label drug and then take pictures of their hair. There is a difference, but I don't expect some one like you to understand that.

creep

Ok creep..let's see those studies then on anything YOU'RE talking about. On SBO...TTO...etc.

I have posted some studies already, but no one here was able to read Russian. As for tto killing demodex there is a number of studies, here are two that I found with my first search:

• Clinical treatment of ocular demodecosis by lid scrub with tea tree oil., Cornea. 2007 Feb;26(2):136-43. Conclusions: Demodex potentially causes ocular surface inflammation, meibomian gland dysfunction, and lash abnormalities. Lid scrub with TTO can effectively eradicate ocular Demodex and result in subjective and objective improvements. This preliminary positive result warrants future prospective investigation of Demodex pathogenicity.

• In vitro and in vivo killing of ocular Demodex by tea tree oil. [full text], Br J Ophthalmol. 2005 Nov;89(11):1468-73 Conclusions: Demodex is resistant to a wide range of antiseptic solutions. Weekly lid scrub with 50% TTO and daily lid scrub with tea tree shampoo is effective in eradicating ocular Demodex.

I’m away to the mountains for a while so I won’t be able to keep up with the witty banter (sarcasm) for a while.

Please, post the prospective studies you find and I’ll comment when I get back.

creep

Nioxin did study this, and they could easily have come out with something that "killed" the mites.

Yeah..the mountains. Take your time trying to come up with something else.

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Jacob- Thanks very much for your recommendations. I've read good things about Manuka honey for bacterial infection and I found some in the cupboard which is good. I also read your previous post where you mentioned Mastic gum which I ordered, though some studies on that were contradictory (I'm already taking one of everything anyway... :-) ).

Bio Defender and Tanalbit sound very good too, although I will have to start reading about these before I make a decision. I didn't realise that bacterial infection was such a big deal. It's good to know there are forums out there that discuss this.

Regarding food allergies, the Dr Murray link you posted has very practical information on elimination diets if anyone else wants to check it out.

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creep- Thanks for the info. Several treatments (and symptoms) for bacterial and fungal infection overlap with treatments for demodicosis, so unfortunately this argument could continue for the foreseeable future. I have read good things about zinc pyrithione which I know that you use. Interestingly zinc pyrithione may be effective in treating Staphyllococcus auries which is associated with some forms of blepharitis.

I have been trying Seabuckthorn oil topically for several months and I haven't seen any improvement in that time. Tea tree oil is reputedly effective in similar applications, however my main reason for continuing it is that it may also be a gentler alternative to benzoyl peroxide in the treatment of acne.

I haven't actually been using Seabuckthorn oil and Tea tree oil at the same time. I am only doing the TTO lid scrub (and face wash) at the moment, though it is too early to expect results.

Have you seen any references to lichenification and demodicosis in humans?

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Hounty- That's good info to know. Self-diagnosing can be dangerous (and expensive!). Fortunately most of the treatments I have tried are typically the ones suggested by doctors, or otherwise have been fairly cheap. This bacterial angle is new to me so I have a lot of research to do before I make any decisions. Staphyllococcus auries and Helicobacter pylori can be tested with varying degrees of accuracy in the blood, so I guess I don't have much of an excuse not try another doctor (and the former infection is potentially dangerous). That said, I may have to take a lot of potentially ineffective antibiotics to treat these particular infections.

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cpio_- I'm definitely going to continue the Tea tree oil scrub because if nothing else it is a possible and extremely cheap treatment for acne.

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BobTheBuilder- I wouldn't say that I suffer too much from these conditions, but it would be nice to be completely healthy for a change! I don't want to wind up looking like Keith Richards by the time I am 25! If you have blepharitis perhaps this link could be useful for you: http://www.ophthalmic.hyperguides.com/default.asp?section=/tutorials/corneal/blepharitis/tutorial.asp

You can login using the details: Username: wb032579 Password: vision

I found these on the webiste: http://www.bugmenot.com/

Those forums on this subject ARE very helpful.....