Hi Marci,

I think we are all extremely tired, frustrated and exhausted. You
say 'I really don't feel like devoting any more of my life to trying
to fix my skin'. But unless you do, you will catapult yourself to the
bleakest lowest hell hole you've ever experienced. You don't want to
go there because when you do, it will rob you of your life, your
family, your friends and anything else that is dear to you. I've been
there. You must not give up, ever, if you want some quality of life
back.

Many of us post our successes and our failures and we continue to
fight on because we have no choice if we want to get our lives back
and so we learn from each other and take comfort that maybe some of
the things suggested by others may actually help us.

You have every right to have days where it all gets too much and you
just want to give up. It is pointless and dangerous to compare each
others rosacea but one thing that has put things in perspective for
me, is that there are many on this forum that not only have to deal
with rosacea, but must also suffer the incomprehensible burden of
having to also fight a life theartning illness. They are brave,
amazing, miraculous people and as exhausted and scared as they all
are, they never give up because they have faith and as long as
there is hope, there is life.

You must never compare yourself because whatever you feel is real and
I didn't mention the above to take anything away from your suffering
but more to give you the courage to carry on even when you feel that
it would be so much easier to give up. Give up and you lose
everything and everyone.

Give yourself permission to have bad days, it's ok but never lose the
will to find the treatments that will give you a better quality of
life. We all have felt at some stage that we just didn't want to deal
with this anymore, refused to spend one more penny, visit one more
doc or derm, board one more plane, have 1 more IPL but what then? I
want my life back and if I go broke in the process, I'll just start
again.

As B so succinctly put it, many of us have IPL treatments and need
to travel hundreds of miles placing ourselves under incredible
financial burdens because life is precious and if we give up and let
rosacea rob us of this, then there is no purpose to our life. So we
do what we need to because it's about survival. I can't afford my IPL
treatments or the travel expenses or my skincare products or my
supplements or my medications, but each month I need to find a way
because I don't want to die.

Yes people do get rosacea under control, never cured but certainly
under control. I am one of them. I have done EVERYTHING in my power
to fight rosacea, even though at times it beats me down. I am
exhausted, angry, empty, sometimes cynical but most of all, always
hopeful. I don't give up so easy. At one point I actually thought I
was going to die.

Dr Nase's book inspired me to keep fighting and his regular posts
keep that flame of hope alight inside of me, that one day soon, all
of us will have access to better treatments, docs and derms with
better knowledge and understanding, psych's, psychologists,
counsellors etc who listen to our individual stories and sufferings
and help us accordingly and lastly a cure.

My first post was message #65140. I hope in reading it you will find
a glimmer of hope in my story, that might just inspire you too to
keep fighting, keep researching, keep trying different treatments so
that one day you will look back and feel proud that you didn't let
rosacea beat you.

Although my life is far from normal, far from the active, funfilled,
rewarding, exciting life I led pre rosacea, I never let go of the
dream that if I keep plugging away, no matter how tired I feel, I'll
make it. I have reversed my rosacea Marci, so have faith that you
will too. I was continuously told by every single of the 30 odd
doctors that I saw, that 'I was the worst case they'd ever seen'. I
can't tell you how many times my heart broke each time I heard this.

But in spite of this, I'm now looking better than ever.

You will find what works for you Marci and vent anytime you need to
because holding it inside only makes us feel like we are alone in
this and you are definitely not. You will get better.

Mermaid




--- In rosacea-support@yahoogroups.com, "madrikh39" <madrikh@m...>
wrote:
>
>
> For some reason, reading the posts today has left me feeling very
> discouraged. I wish I were simply a middle aged woman who suddenly
> has skin problems, but instead, I am a middle aged woman who has
> battled acne and seb derm since the age of 14. To tell you the
> truth, I'm tired. I really don't feel like devoting any more of my
> life to trying to fix my skin. Now, as it turns out, I'd probably
> be a lot better off if I'd done a little less "fixing" these last
25
> years.
> I know there aren't any easy answers for any of this, I guess I'm
> just venting a little.
> Do people ever get this condition under control? Maybe those who
> have don't post here (other than Dr Nase).
> If you have any words of encouragement for me, I'd love to hear 'em.
> Thanks,
> Marci