Hi Robert,

Not sure what you mean by "proven", but here's my experience: I knew
something was wrong with my skin, but could not get a diagnosis. I
had heard of demodex (researching on the Internet) and thought, okay,
possibly that's what I have, but I had no way of knowing. I live in
the SF Bay area and had been to several derms who I thought would be
good and could help me figure out what was wrong with my skin. One
thought I had Seb. Derm and prescribed cortisone (which I read up on
and decided not to use). Another thought I had acne and prescribed
oral and topical antibiotics, which I tried for 2 months, with no
improvement.

Finally I found a derm who looked and listened carefully. When she
was done examining and interviewing me and was about to start writing
an Rx for metrogel or something we'd start out with, she looked at me
one more time and asked could she take some scrapings of my skin. I
said, "Please do!" As she did, she started to expain about demodex
and I told her I had heard of that. Minutes later she was back and
told me that yes, she had much more than average (actually she said
more than she had ever seen!) on my skin and gave me an Rx for Rosac
to use 2x a day. It was quite harsh (very drying and irritating to
my skin) and I had a hard time using it 2 x a day. In the meantime I
also ordered ZZ cream, which takes about 10 days to come. When I got
it I started alternating with the ZZ cream. A month later she
switched me to Permethrin, which I used 1 x a week for a month. When
I went back, she checked and found no demodex. My skin has improved
significantly and I am quite certain that demodex was a big factor.

Demodex Solutions sells ZZ cream and so does theJamuShop.com (might
be a better deal as shipping is free). The Demodex Solutions website
also has a message board that you may or may not find helpful. Their
website seems hokey, but the cream actually seems to help (me). I
think I will keep using it for a few more months and see what happens
(this is how long most people say it takes to get complete clearing).

Hope this helps.

Gabriella


--- In rosacea-support@yahoogroups.com, "Robert Miller"
<rmiller32@...> wrote:
>
> Gabriella/Lee,
>
> Many thanks for your responses! I've been using the blu/red light
treatments
> at home for a few weeks. Previously, I had them in the Derm's
office along
> with laser treatments. They worked fine, but only for a very short
time,
> like one week. I finally reached the point where I had to strike
out on my
> own here. I've been taking Lysine for about a week, 1000mg 1x/day.
>
> I am just learning about Demodex mites. Is this proven or all
theoretical?
> Who makes the ZZ cream and where can I buy it?
>
> Robert
>
>
> On 1/3/09, gabri_gallo <gabri_gallo@...> wrote:
> >
> > Robert, what do you use to cleanse? How often? And how about
your
> > moisturizer?
> >
> > How long have you used the light? How about the Lysine?
> >
> > Any chance your derm would be willing to check for demodex (take
a skin
> > scraping and look at it under a microscope). Mine did and it made
a
> > big difference in P & P (I'd say at least 50% improvement, if not
> > 70%). I'm now taking oracea and treating 1-2 xdaily with ZZ
cream, as
> > I believe the remaining P & P could be still be demodex (not all
gone,
> > or being reinfected). Not sure, but this is what makes sense to
me at
> > right now.
> >
> > Good luck to you!
> >
> > Gabriella
> >
> > --- In rosacea-support@yahoogroups.com <rosacea-support%
40yahoogroups.com>,
> > "rmiller32a" <rmiller32@>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > My problem is pimples/pustules on my forehead. I've tried
Metrogel,
> > > antibiotics, creams, etc. I'm currently trying a combo of
blue/red
> > > light plus Lysine. I've been suffering with this condition
alone for
> > > the longest time, and I feel fortunate that I stumbled upon this
> > > support group. I'm hopeful that maybe some of you have been
able to
> > > cut through all the BS and gobbledygook on the Internet and
from well
> > > meaning physicians to offer up real solutions. I would
appreciate any
> > > help that you can offer.
> > >
> > > Robert
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>