Hi all,

I've only added a post once before, but I follow this group
e-mail religiously. Since Aurelia's and others' treatment
posts on Ivermectin have been so helpful for me, I thought I'd add my
own. Sorry it is so long, but hopefully it will be helpful to some.

I first wanted to start by thanking Dr. Nase and Aurelia. Dr. Nase
for all of your efforts and in this case, particularly your posts
about the possible involvement of Demodex as a secondary symptom of
Rosacea. And Aurelia for your posts relating to your Ivomec
trials. You both gave me the will (and hope) to give Ivermectin a
try.

Also Dr. Nase, after reading my post below, I was hoping that you
might answer the following questions I have concerning Ivermectin:

1. What are your thoughts about the odd (or fairly strong) side
effects I had from the Stromectol?
2. From any of the studies that you've seen, does it make sense
that I have experienced relief from the burning sensations I was
experiencing prior to the course of treatment? I thought I had read
in one of your previous posts that this might not be the case.
3. From any of the studies that you've seen, would I expect a
relapse in any of the benefits that I've seen as long as I
continue
with a 1 day dose of 12mg Stromectol every 6 months?



Here's my post:


Course of Treatment

I took Stromectol (Ivermectin) based on Dr. Nase's recommendation
for
severe infestation as a once daily dose of 12mg (I am @ 165 lbs) for
14 days. After reading somewhere that Demodex have a life cycle of
@ 15 days, I decided to follow this up with 2 weeks of a single 12mg
dose once a week so that I would have 4 weeks of treatment similar to
the moderate infestation recommendation. After the first two weeks,
I had such positive results that I wanted to make sure I killed off
any potential hatchlings. I just took the last dose today at 4 weeks.


Symptoms Prior to Treatment

Originally I had fairly severe Rosacea, with persistent flushing,
P&P's, several large patches of visible blood vessels, and almost
constant burning sensations. After 3 years of treatment (finding
and following Dr. Nase's recommendations after the first year),
including a year of Mino, low dose Accutane, IPL treatment, minor
diet caution, and regular use of Noritate and soothing cosmetics
(Topix Replenix products), I had really turned my problem around. I
flushed only occasionally, and rarely had a problem with P&P (and
only then minor), but still had almost daily problems with fairly
severe burning sensations.

In addition to Rosacea, I have had recurrent blepharitis since I was
@ 12, and since I was in my late 20's, seb derm on my scalp,
flaky
patches on my face, and what looks like mild KP on my upper legs,
stomach and arms where I would occasionally experience an outbreak of
P&P also. I also have often felt itchy (or better yet crawly) from
head to toe for the last several years, although not really on my
face. I just assumed it was some sort of allergic reaction that was
becoming more persistent as I grew older. All of this and reading
additional info on the internet made me think that Demodex might be
part of my problem.


Side Effects During Treatment

1. About 5 to 6 hours after my first dose of Stromectol, I felt
itchy/crawly like I had never experienced before. This lasted for a
full day and occurred again around my 5th daily dose.
2. After my first dose of Stromectol, I experienced quite a bit
of sleeplessness each night, waking up @ 3am each morning without
being able to get back to sleep. This occurred until 3-4 days after
my initial 14 day treatment ended and then started again once I took
my single dose on the 3rd week for 3-4 days also. I expect it will
occur again tonight as I took my 4th week's dose today.
3. I experienced some gastric distress (cramping, diarrhea even
some mucous - SORRY) each day following a dose. It was much more
severe with the 14 days of daily dosage.
4. I also experienced severe muscle cramping while on the 14
days of daily dosage. I normally run/jog for 25-30 minutes a day.
While taking the Stromectol, my legs would cramp up so bad I could
barely finish my run. I've never experienced this before.
5. I experienced extreme drying of my skin during the initial 14
day treatment, and had to bump up my water intake to 12, 12oz glasses
of water per day from my normal 8-10.
6. By day 3 of the initial treatment, I started experiencing the
most severe P&P outbreak I have had since treatment with Accutane and
IPL. My skin also looked flaky and splotchy. It quickly went away
and occurred again at day 5 or 6 or so. Again it was bad, but
quickly disappeared. Luckily Aurelia's posts had me prepared for
this "worsening of symptoms" before getting better.


After Treatment

I hate to sound overly excited or positive, but the results I have
experienced with Stromectol are really amazing, and they continue to
improve each day. The near constant burning sensations I have had
are all but gone. I've only really had two mild episodes of
burning
in the last 2 weeks, and these were both right after my once a week
dose of Stromectol. I still flush occasionally (the Stromectol
treatment has not changed this), but do not necessarily burn while
flushing now. My skin feels smoother, softer and more moisturized.
The skin on my face which always felt thin and dry and looked flaky,
now looks and feels great. The KP like problem on my arms, legs and
stomach have all but disappeared as has the seb derm on my scalp.
The pores on my face (and on my arms, legs and stomach where I had
the KP like problems) have shrunk dramatically. And most of all, for
a lack of a better way to explain it, the skin on my body from head
to toe, which always used to feel like a strange, constantly
irritating and foreign outer cover, now feels normal (or really I
mostly don't feel or notice it at all anymore).

Overall, I'm thrilled with the results, and hope that none of my
prior symptoms relapse if I continue with a 12mg dose of Stromectol
every 6 months.

I know we all react differently as I have had bad reactions or no
benefit from things that seem to help others, and I've seen
others'
postings where Ivermectin didn't seem to help them. But I
really do
hope that this posting (and Ivermectin) might help others.

Good luck,
Dan