Main topic - Oozing Yellow Crusts

General
1

When I was a teenager, I started getting sties. I thought it was from playing video games. My eyes would swell up a little, a whitehead would rise on the eyelid or underneath the eyelid. It would break, crust over in yellow goo, harden, and then gradually shrink and flake off after 3-4 days.

A few months after this started, I pierced my ear by myself. I basically took an earring and stuck it into my ear. This piercing became very swollen, hot and it continued to weep sebum out of the back of my ear for many weeks. Finally I got tired of crust dripping down the back of my ear so i took the thing out and let it heal over. After this, one day I got my hair dyed. I felt a weird tingle between my eyes. Later that day, a large inflammed patch arose in the center of my head and continued to weep no matter how much I tried to wipe it or dry it. It built this golden, yellow crystal mountain on my face. It was humiliating, but I figured it was an ugly zit that would go away in time.

That was 1996.

It is now 2015. Iā€™ve been on 20 different antibiotics including leprosy medicine prescribed by Mayo Clinic. Iā€™ve been to both Mayo Clinics, Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and a slew of other derm doctors, eye doctors and other doctors.

20 years later and at least $20,000 later, I have made no progress. I basically get impetigo and styes at least 2-3 times each month. Its so bad in the eyes that my swelling and outbreaks are triggered by focusing on a cell phone for a few seconds. I cannot read a printed book. Cannot look at small items like legos when playing with my kids. Cannot make prolonged eye contact with people.

Basically, it is impetigo and, basically, it is not impetigo. Impetigo is something 5 year olds get around their lips and nose. You give them bactroban and teach them good hygene- it goes away in a week or two.

No antibiotic can kill what we have. The only time I was in remission was a period of about six months when I lived in Italy. This is perhaps because of the flora in the water there. Perhaps because I was not around computers as much. I donā€™t know- this will always remain a mystery. At the time of that remission, I was using bactroban (Bacitracin) topically 24 hours a day. Washing with Dial anti bacterial face wash.

More or less, my emotional and spiritual life is completely crushed. It is hard to face the world when you have orange or yellow goo leaking out of your face. But what helps me is finding that there are other people out there who have this curse. It doesnā€™t really have a name. It stumps the best doctors in our nation.

This is a beautiful website because it focuses precisely on this rare, unnamed disease. I am currently seeing a homeopath who labels it bullous impetigo, and I am trying an array of treatments to try to battle it.

If you have something like this, know you are not alone.

1 Like
2

Sorry to hear your story. But at the same time you mention interesting things.

I my case, I think I also had eyelid problems in the beginning.

The piercing problem by itself sounds to me like a bacterial infection or an allergic reaction. The dye problem sounds like an allergic reaction, possibly combined with a bacterial infection.

Also interesting is the remission in Italy, which suggests that the living environment may have impact on it, although it could be due to bactroban.

Would it be possible to list medication that you have tried?
Have the doctors done any tests other than a visual inspection? Such as blood tests, skin scrapings, skin biopsy, or bacterial culture swabs (if so, from which locations)?

3

What works for me when it comes to eye lid problems is this:

  • Donā€™t touch your eyes with your hands. If it is a bacterial or demodex problem, then that may cause it to spread from your hands to the eyelids, or from one eye to the other. If you use contact lenses and therefor need to touch your eyelids, then wash your hands before touching it. (Also make sure the soap is washed off your hands, otherwise it may irritate the eyelids.) Also note that if it is a bacterial problem and you clean your hands, then touch the washtap/valve, you may get bacteria back on your hands.
    If you need to touch your eyes, maybe because an eyelash is irritating, then use a cotton swab. (Use it only once per time that you swab.)
  • Wash your eyelids on daily basis, but not more than that, otherwise your eyelids may dry up and get harder. (Wash your hands before washing your eye lids.) Not sure if you should use a mild or normal septic. Also you could use a different septic for your eyelids than for your face.

Not sure if it really works for this problem, but you could also try omega 3 supplementation, which supports eye lipid secretion.

4

Iā€™ve used the following antibioitcs:

  • Augmentin
  • Dapsone (A leprosy medicine!)
  • Rifampin
  • Dicloxacilin
  • Cephalexin
  • Valtrex
  • Doxycycline
  • Minocycline
  • Ciproflaxin
  • Zithromax
  • Erythromycin Opthamalic eye ointment
  • Mupirocin topical
  • Bacitracin (Bactroban) topical
  • Parenteral steroids
  • Clindamycin
  • Bepreve (Anti-allergy eye drops)

Here are some regular OTC things that have had no effect or made symptoms worse:

  • Aspirin (makes it worse)
  • Statins for cholesterol (make it worse)
  • Benadryl
  • Triple-Antibiotic cream
  • Grapefruit seed extract (makes it worse)
    apple cider vinegar topically and internally (makes it worse)
  • Omega 3 fish pills
  • Seabuckthorn seed oil blend (Omega 6 & 9s) This has made the sores a little less intense.

Tests and surgeries

  • Removed nasal polyps
  • removed gallbladder
  • three different allergy tests.
  • Full blood work dozens of times. test for lupus, sjogrens, and other autoimmune disorders.

Over the years, Iā€™ve developed very strict hygiene. Nothing works. I promise you, Iā€™m not crazy but imagine sitting on the couch and looking at about twenty text messages on a cell phone. You donā€™t touch your eyelid at all. Well, just ā€˜lookingā€™ at a cell phone causes my eyelids to swell and sties form. Happens if I try to read a book also.

5

Iā€™m using Soolantra, it seems to go well, but still too early to make hard conclusions. Two other people with The Disease reported that they have success with it, and mention that they are clean. I havenā€™t seen other users yet, when it comes to The Disease.

If you have easy access to it, then maybe it is worth trying. Or wait till there are more users reports from it and then decide?

6

I have started ā€˜the regimenā€™ from acne.org
Iā€™ve actually never used benzol peroxide before. My face looks like its been sunburned and Iā€™m still having some outbreaks, but actually Iā€™m seeing some improvement. I know this is just masking the problem, especially since it wonā€™t fix my eyes. I hope Sollantra works for you. Donā€™t know if you take it internally or not, but I would probably have to take it internally to deal with the outbreaks on my eyelids.

7

I have used benzol peroxide in the past, age 15 maybe, for regular acne. But maybe it works. keep us posted.

Soolantra is a topical cream containing ivermectin, and is currently being released in the western world, so it is not available everywhere yet. Ivermectin is also available in oral form (stromectol), but is less safe in terms of possible side effects.

In my case Soolantra, seem to have cleaned my eyelids, even though I donā€™t use it on or near the eyes. (I do use it on the eyebrows). I didnā€™t really have blepharitis (eye lid problem) often (most often in the beginning of The Disease), but since my topical treatment (Soolantra and metronidazole cream), the eyelids also seem to be reduced in thickness, even though I didnā€™t really had visible blepharitis.

Blepharitis can have multiple causes, and the blepharitis that I have/had comes in multiple forms:

  1. Anterior blepharitis (a problem, causes visible swollen eye lids):
  2. A pustule on the eye lash follicle, followed by oozing and yellow crusting, but it is not the cylindrical dandruff type that you often see eyelid wide in other blepharitis patients.
  3. A pustule on the eye lash follicle without oozing/crusting. These usually cause the complete eyelid to become swollen.
  4. A very small pustule at distance, but near the eye lash, that often causes the eyelid to become swollen. This pustules often look like a bite mark.
  5. Posterior blepharitis (not really problem for me):
  6. inspissated glands, which caused the eyelid to be a bit thicker and a bit more red/irregular, but not really visible for others and not really noticable for myself other than maybe dry-er eyes. This is what Soolantra seemed to have reduced in my case.
  7. very small translucent bullae, I still see these, but not really a problem.

Some example photos:

1.1, photo from myself:

1.2, photo from myself, not really swollen yet:

1.2.JPG875Ɨ354 202 KB

But it can result in this:
(photo from HealthMD)

1.3,

2.1
from Managing Blepharitis: Tried-and-True and New Approaches - American Academy of Ophthalmology

2.2
from Blepharitis - Wikipedia

Internal_hordeolum.jpg2272Ɨ1704 986 KB

In my blepharitis, I think that demodex is playing a role because I did a eye lash pull out in situation 1.2, followed by microscopy. The first pull out was accidentally next to the pustules instead of right on top of it, which showed no abnormalities at the hair root under the microscope. But the second pull out was right on top of the pustule and clearly showed about 5 demodex mites, which I belief is not coincidence.

I do have to note that it still too early for me to make hard conclusions about Soolantra, and I try not to be too optimistic. (I still get new lesions.)

8

Thank you. That is all very good info. Those pictures are exactly what is happening to me on my eyelids. That is useful to know that its helping the blepharitis even though youā€™re obviouslly not putting the stuff all over your eyelids. Probably I will use benzol until I can get to a dermatologist and try the Soolantra. I have to do something. Literally, Iā€™m about to quit my career and spiral down into madness. I think youā€™ve probably been there as have many of us suffering with this unnamed disease.

9

In the beginning The Disease was blepharitis in my case, but somehow it reduced and went to my face instead some time ago with occasional blepharitis.

If Soolantra had cleaned it further at the eyes, then there may be two possibilities: 1) Soolantra (and/or topical metronidazole?) is killing demodex at the face and therefor, less new mites are able to reach the eyes or 2) Soolantra cream is mixed up a bit with sebum on the outer skin, making it reach the eyelids via sebum.

During blepharitis periods, I did try to use tea tree oil on the eyelids using a 50/50 mixture with macadamia oil applied using a cotton swab with eyes open. (There are also closed eye approaches.) (You have to watch out when doing this approach, because tea tree oil is a skin irritant that can heavily sting the eyes.) This treatment may dry the normal skin outside the eye lids away from the eye.
I havenā€™t used it for a long period, and I canā€™t tell whether it works.

Hereā€™s more info about it:
http://optometrytimes.modernmedicine.com/optometrytimes/content/tags/blephex/different-approach-treating-demodex-blepharitis?page=full

I applied the tea tree oil mixture using this method:

Iā€™m not sure if this all is something that has been discovered recently, but looking at video publication dates etc and the launch of new treatments/products/studies for blepharitis, they all seem to be very recent (started from about 2012).
Veterinary medicine already knew that demodex could cause skin problem on pets (dogs), ophthalmology seems to have recognized that demodex may cause problems, and now dermatology very slowly seems to start to recognize it.
(This doesnā€™t mean that demodex is our problem, but I suspect it could be, and I hope it is, otherwise it may be harder to treat.)

Btw, something else I thought about, after reading your start post here, was that I also have to look in the possibility whether the materials used in the treatment of dental caries may cause problems. (I did had a treatment around the period where I was aware of the first noticeable symptoms.)

I understand what you are going through. Keep holding on. Slowly, we get to learn more and more about the problem.

10

I am so grateful for you sharing this information with me. Iā€™ve been
seeing a naturopath in Las Vegas who is very good. At the same time, I
am going to the mainstream doctors as well. Trying not to go broke
through the whole process. But skin is getting so bad Iā€™m on the verge
of quitting my job. Trying to hold on.

Iā€™ve done the benzol
perorixide thing for a week, but Iā€™m still getting outbreaks. I think
Iā€™m going to quit it and really focus on trying Soolantra. Iā€™m at the
same time treating issues with my gut which may be leaking nutrients,
etc. out through my pores and exacerbating the skin issue.

I started learning about the dental fillings issues a few months ago, but
have learned a lot more since then just from talking to people. People
who I am very close to have had theirs removed. One personā€™s mother kept
showing an ongoing infection in her bloodwork for many years. They
could never figure out what it was. Only by chance, when they had to
remove a filling, did the infection go away. Thus, they determined- hey,
the mercury was leaking into her system.

Also, hereā€™s something to consider. At my naturopath, they tested my amalgams to see how much mercury they give off. Of course its not good if any mercury is being
released, but most of mine were low or average. I had one that was very
high. More interesting than that is the fact they make you chew gum for
five minutes before testing the levels. So, something clicked and I
asked the guy, ā€œThis means every time I chew gum, Iā€™m releasing mercury
into my mouth and face?ā€ The answer is yes. And I, like many people,
chew gum all the time.

Just some things to consider on your own quest.
About your blepharitis- did your swelling and outbreaks occur at random on
the eyelids when you first started experiencing itā€¦ or did you notice
it was caused by ā€˜usingā€™ your eyes a lot- such as playing video games,
watching tv, etc?

Also, were you a contact lens wearer at the time?

11

In my case, I donā€™t use chewing gum. But I canā€™t rule out a possible relation with dental filling. This problem also makes it hard to go to the dentist (had an appointment once, while an oozing lesions also started that day).

My blepharitis started in 2012, as far as I recall, at random locations on the eyelids, in which the eyelids slowly swells up over the day. Not as quick as you mention in the example with cell phones and books. I canā€™t map it to a certain activity or eye usage. But I did use my contacts lenses more often in that period, but not sure if there is a relation with it. But I do was less hygienic in that period, I didnā€™t wash my hands before touching my eyes etc.
I do work a lot behind the computer, and played a lot of video video games since this and last month (since maybe years of absence), but havenā€™t noticed an increase in my eyes.

12

I think Soolantra is the only option left for me. If I donā€™t show improvement with that, I will need to go on a medical leave at work until I can get better. I donā€™t know how anyone manages to live their life or hold down a job with their faces leaking like this. I donā€™t know how Iā€™ve endured it for 20 years. But Iā€™ve reached my emotional and spiritual capacity for handling it anymore.

One problem on the internet is that people cling to labels. They call it impetigo or rosacea, when its not really trully either one. Itā€™s hard to find people who post pictures or describe their symptoms. So, I have to research it as impetigo or rosacea, but I see a lot of people treat these things with apple cider vinegar topically and orally. I tried this for a few days and my skin exploded into a war. the big problem is never knowing if you have to endure that for 2-3 weeks to get better or if its just making matters worse.

Have you ever tried anything homeopathic and seen positive results?

13

Personally, Iā€™m to skeptical about homeopathy to even consider it to try.

But I did try other non-homeopathy topical treatments, such as ZZ-cream, sulphur, tea tree oil, bleach baths, sea buckthorn oil, neem oil, topical permethrin, topical crotamiton, face washes, water + washing mitt only, not washing at all, moisturizers, fusidic acid cream. I used some of these too short to make good conclusions. Some possibly gave breakouts, such as zz-cream/sulphur, washing mitts. Tea tree oil give me some irritated spots in the mouth corners, although there are people that report to have minor to good results with it, although not every skin is able to handle it. This also depends on concentration and the combined additional additives to reduce the concentration. (Donā€™t use a 100% solution, because that may be a heavy skin irritant.)

As you say, what makes it extra difficult is that it is unclear whether a worsening may be a sign of healing, or whether it is a bad reaction. It may be a sign of healing when the worsening is caused by dying mites that cause bacteria to be released or cause the immune system to heavily respond on the mite cells. But it may be bad when it caused by a response on the topical itself.

About Soolantra, those that report good results with it (two success stories so far), were also using metronidazole:

  • User Firstman used: Soolantra with metronidazole, probably in oral form (waiting for confirmation on this).
  • A user from Germany used Soolantra + Stromectol (oral ivermectin) + oral metronidazole.

Note that both oral ivermectin and oral metronidazole are able to cause serious side effects in some cases:

14

Iā€™m starting to call the yellow goo ā€˜lymphatic fluid.ā€™ Because I believe thatā€™s what it is. If you research lymphatic fluid ear piercings, this is what pours out of your ears when you have an infected piercing. Since I had this experience with my first and only piercing, my body is basically telling me it doesnā€™t like cheap metals. So I have to really evaluate having my dental amalgams removed as a possible culprit. I only wish I had records from 20 years ago. Donā€™t know for sure which came first- the amalgams or the curse of yellow goo?

What are your thoughts on lymphatic fluid?

15

I have Googled before for what the yellow crusts in impetigo are, but couldnā€™t find a clear answer. But as you say, maybe it is ā€œlymphatic fluidā€. But it may not necessarily be the metals that cause the problem, it could also be the penetration of the skin that could cause opportunistic bacteria, such as staph, to cause a secondary bacterial infection, which can present itself as impetigo and cellulitis.

Btw, I have mentioned before that in my cause, the problems were around a period in which I went to a new dentist, which performed some dental filling. (Although, since a lot of things changed for me in that period, the chance that it is unrelated to the problem, is large in my case.) But these fillings are white, probably composites fillings instead of amalgam. I donā€™t have metal colored fillings.
In your case, I donā€™t know whether it is a difficult or risk-full operation to change from amalgam to something else, but I sounds like a relative heavy intervention, and it could easily be not the solution to the problem. So if it is an easy operation, without much risks, and it will create a better oral health, and it is financially possible, than I would say, why not.

16

Ok, Iā€™ve reached somewhat of a turning point in my battle. For a week, I stopped using any soap whatsoever. I just washed my face with water, and then applied aveeno eczema collodial oatmeal lotion. You know what? the skin around my nose and forehead became absolutely flawless. No whiteheads. 100% flawless. This lasted about a week, and then the whiteheads and crusting returned mostly around the beard area- which is rare for me. So, I went back to tea tree and jojoba. Almost immediately, a war of whiteheads and yellow crusts broke out on my face.

Iā€™ve come to this conclusion. These ā€˜impetigo-likeā€™ outbreaks are 100% related to demodex die off. If I donā€™t apply any kind of soap or tea tree or anything that kills them, they live in peace and my body is not spurting out lymphatic fluid to heal over the bacteria let off by their dead bodies. Iā€™m pretty sold on this idea, as Iā€™ve never fully known whether our condition was impetigo, mrsa, eczema, allergies, etc.

Now that I know this, I am going to begin focusing all my efforts on treating it as demodex. TSO, I know you are taking Soolantra and would love to hear how it is helping or failing you at this point in time. I have tracked down an opthomologist in California who actually is educated and treats for demodex. This is the place http://visionsource-advancedeye.com/
This is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tm-GTTMydE

For the first time in my life, I see a possible light at the end of this very long tunnel.

17

About not using soap:

I have noticed this (an improvement) too (about 2 years ago), in a period in which I tried to use no soap on the face, and just washed the face mildly with water. I maybe only washed the face with soap after shaving, which I maybe did once every few days. But the face does become more oily and outer skin seem to stack up, making the skin less smooth and a bit flaky (but not dry flakes, more oily flakes). This could be a perfect environment for demodex: oily skin without the use of soaps. But in poor countries (and ancient times), this is probably pretty normal, and these donā€™t have very bad skin either. So Iā€™m not sure whether the use of soaps is good for the skin. Soap basically reduces surface tension when combined with water, making it easier to flush off things (sebum, dirt etc) from the skin. Although sebum also keeps the skin moisturized, smooth and strong, but it also feeds demodex.

In this period, I didnā€™t really know about demodex. Shortly after this, I learned about demodex, and because I still had new lesions, I tried different approaches.
But I find it hard to make conclusions about this period. Why was there an improvement? Maybe it was accidentally caused by something else (for example the time of year?), maybe it was just temporary before a worsening? Some ideas/hypotheses (not sure whether these are true of false):

  • By not washing and touching the face, you 1) avoid spreading bacteria from your hands (or maybe even bacteria in the soap, because soap doesnā€™t kill bacteria, it just flushes them away) or 2) avoid spreading bacteria or demodex on your face to other parts of the face.
  • By not washing the face, your skin stays moisturized/protected and the skin doesnā€™t crack as easily, making it harder for bacteria such as staph to survive and penetrate the outer skin.
  • By not washing the face, the skin PH stays more healthy. Skin PH is an important factor in protecting the skin against opportunistic bacteria, such as staph. PH should be below 7 (about 5) and thus should be slightly acidic, while soaps often increase skin PH (which is bad).
  • By not washing the face, the environment for demodex becomes better, causing less mites to die off, which maybe improves the face temporary, but at the same time increase them in population.

The possibility of a demodex die off phase makes it extra difficult to test these hypotheses.

About tea tree oil:
Note that tea tree oil is also a skin irritant. So a worsening by using tea tree oil may be caused by demodex dying off, but also by tea tree oil irritating, or drying the skin.

In my case, I tried ā€œtea tree oilā€ on the face globally with this product for just a few days: http://www.drorganic.co.uk/product-info.asp?Auto_ID=202 , which basically doesnā€™t contain tea tree oil, but terpinen-4-ol, the most active ingredient of tea tree oil (note that tea tree oil also contains other active ingredients, although less active). I got some irritated mouth corners from it, which I think is called angular cheilitis, something I never really had before. Strange is that people are actually using tea tree oil to combat angular cheilitis, while I got it from using it (the t4o cream). But I used it very shortly, just a few days, so I canā€™t really tell what it did for the yellow crusting lesions.

About my Soolantra experience:
Iā€™m currently on day 40.
I started using Soolantra on a peak outbreak (or maybe one week after a peek) caused by the withdrawal of topical steroids. (Which I temporary used because I wanted to have a clean face on an important event, and used it for about 2 months.) This makes it difficult to compare it, because the peak outbreak by topical steroid would improve anyway back to a normal baseline (even without Soolantra). The previous time, I used it, it took about 1 month to get back to baseline, in which the first 2 weeks were the hardest. This time, the peak outbreak was about 4 days after withdrawal, with lots of bumps and itch all over the face.

I donā€™t know the dates exactly anymore, but roughly something like this:

  1. beginning of June: started with topical steroids in the face globally. (used it a bit before but more only locally on the lesions), because I wanted to be clean because of an event.
  2. 7 August: stopped using topical steroid
  3. 10-15 August: peak outbreak because of the topical steroid withdrawal (TSW). Lots of itch, bumps, followed by crusts. A lot worse than my previous withdrawal, in which I got a lot of white headed acne, but without all the bumps and crusts. Fortunately this time it was during holiday season, so I could easily stay home with some food backed up.
  4. about 15 August? : started using XFCream (topical 3% metronidazole)
  5. 18 August: start with Soolantra
  6. few days after 18 August: couldnā€™t detect demodex mites anymore by skin microscope. Reduction in itch. (Note that any improvement in this period may also be simply because of a reduction in topical steroid withdrawal symptoms.)
  7. about 27-31 August: skin was back to the baseline before the use of topical steroids, or maybe even better. Considering the large breakout and comparing the less severe previous TSW breakout, I recovered quicker this time than expected.
  8. Maybe a further improvement in the days, week after.
  9. But I havenā€™t seen any clear improvements since the last number of weeks, but I still get new lesions, although I does seem to be better than before the TSW baseline.
  10. Stopped using XFCream since about 2 weeks ago, but continued Soolantra. A donā€™t see a clear difference, with/without XFCream.

The conclusions I make about it at the moment about Soolantra:

  • I think Soolantra has made my eyelids healthier, even though I donā€™t apply it directly on the eyes. Although I didnā€™t had much blepharitis lately, my eyelids seems to be smoother and better colored just a few days after the start of Soolantra, and feel more moistured.
  • I think Soolantra has reduced the itch on my face. I had a lot of itch during TSW, but minor itch (very localized and sporadic during the day) before TSW (baseline). But now with Soolantra, I even have less itch on the face.
  • After using Soolantra, I havenā€™t really seen any lesions anymore at my most affected location: the right side, below the eye, horizontally at the nose level. Also, I hardly get any new lesions anymore at the area above the lip and below the nose, the mustache area.
  • My skin has improved (the oozing yellow crusts improved), but because of the TSW peak, it would improve anyway. But it did improve quicker than expected. My skin seems to be better than before baseline, but itā€™s difficult to contribute this to Soolantra, especially because I donā€™t see any clear further improvements. (Or it may be going too slow to clearly notice.) If Soolantra was the cause of the quick improvement, then why doesnā€™t it improve further? At the moment, my skin is good (compared to baseline), but further clear improvement seems to be stuck for some weeks. Making be question whether Soolantra is really doing something to the yellow crusting problem, or whether some other factor is (also?) causing it to be below baseline. The most affected area is currently the chin, and lower left of the face. The other areas are pretty good, although I do get bumps over there without yellow crusting.

About opthomologist:

[quote]I have tracked down an opthomologist in California who actually is educated and treats for demodex. This is the place http://visionsource-advancedeye.com/1
This is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tm-GTTMydE2[/quote]
Not sure if in your case the problem at the eyelids it worse than the rest of the face. (In my case the face it a lot worse than problems at the eyelids, although in the beginning I did had more eyelids problems.)
But Iā€™m not sure if opthomologists can and will easily prescribe Soolantra, compared to dermatologists, because Soolantra is used for the treatment of rosacea and because Soolantra shouldnā€™t be applied on the eyes (according to the manual). Although ocular rosacea also exists.

Also note that the success stories (Success stories) that used Soolantra (topical ivermectin), also used oral metronidazole. And one also used oral ivermectin.
Also note that some mites may be resistant to certain anti-parasite medication. For example, in this study:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14576651
(full text)
This patient was unresponsive to oral ivermectin and other anti mite medication, but quickly recovered on oral metronidazole. (Note that both oral ivercmectin and oral metronidazole are able to cause serious side effects.)

18

Hey,

This is basically what I am dealing with. I noticed these same exact bumps on the lining of my eyelid and in the past about three times ive woken up with a swollen eye.

My main problem is the itchy oozing bumps under my skin thoughā€¦ Im 25 years old, male, and have been dealing with this issue for about 2 years now. I have seen many dermatologists with great credentials, and all say my condition is a mystery. I have tried an antibiotic (forgot the name) for ā€˜impetigoā€™ that did not work, Lyclear premethrin cream for demodex (did not work - although im not ruling out the demodex claim due to other users), and steroid creams (which did reduce the bumps but it doesnā€™t take care of the problem only covers it up).

After reading the steady health forum and this one and waking up with these annoying huge lesions on my face I called in work today for a sick day and headed down to the GP. I asked for Soolantra, Metronidazole, and ivermectin pills. We spoke together about it and I was told to try the Soolantra and Metronidazole, but to ask a dermatologist about taking ivermectin pills as they are known to cause liver damage and I would probably need liver check ups.

So I am now going to try 3 x 400mg Metronidazole pills a day for 2 weeks and the Soolantra I will pick up tomorrow as the pharmacy need to order it in.

I will report later in the week on how this works for me. Fingers crossed!

19

Welcome on this forum :slight_smile:

In my case permethrin cream didnā€™t seem to do much, I still saw demodex under a skin microscope. Also, permathrin made my facial muscles around the eyes tremble, probably due to its toxicity. It is treatment against scabies mites, but doesnā€™t seem to be very effective against demodex mites.

Note that if you stopped with steroid creams very recently (maybe within 3 weeks), than you may experience a breakout because of the withdrawal of it. So if you see an improvement in this situation, then it may partially be contributed by a recovery of the steroid withdrawal symptoms.

But the treatment you currently have (topical ivermectin + oral metronidazole), seem to be a good choice, the two success-story users also used it (one also took oral ivermectin with it). I myself am using only topical ivermectin (maybe also have to include oral metronidazole, but since my skin isnā€™t bad since the use of it, Iā€™ll see how it works out).

20

Welcome, good to have you on board and I hope weā€™ll see improvement in you over the next few weeks. We all benefit from each otherā€™s progress of course.

Regarding the eyelids, which is possibly blepharitis caused by demodex mites. There is an expensive product called Cliradex that you can research on Amazon.

Hereā€™s an opthalmologist who actually is aware of demodex in the eyelids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tm-GTTMydE