Visit to derm

[funkyjay]

Hi people!

Yesterday i went to see my derm for some advice and information about my use of UVB. Firstly he had a look under a special magnifying glass at the p on my face. The first thing he said was 'not a problem, thats fine, we'll get that cleared up'. It made me feel happy that he was positive and could help me clear the p on my face.

I showed him the patches of on my elbows and told him that this dosen't bother me at all. He prescribed me exorex lotion to clear it up, but said not to use it on my face, which i had been doing!

I told him that i had been using my UVB lamp to clear my facial p and he sounded very shocked! he said 'no no no, not to use UVB on face!'. Oh dear i thought, i had been UVB for quite a while now to clear up my face!! he told me not to worry but just not to continue using it.

He has given me Elocon (topical steroid) to use on my facial patches. I have just applied my first treatment and it feels ok not too much burning.

Will let you know how it goes.

Ollie

[Roger]

Ollie,

sounds like a good visit.

If I remember correctly, Elocon is a very strong steroid so might not want to use too much on your face.

Roger

[markjango]

Hi Ollie

Good luck.
I have used Elocon twice and both times was told specifically NOT to use it my face as it is a very strong steroid.  As I recall there was a warning to this effect on the packaging.  It shouldn't be used for more than a few weeks and then gradually stop using it.
Both times it cleared up my P with almost miraculous results.  Unfortunately both times I had a bad rebound effect.
The second time I used Elocon on patches all over my body and as it gets into your blood stream, I ended up overdosing and it caused the skin on my eyelids to peal off!!  Eeek.
Not trying to scare anyone - just go careful and take the advise from others on here as we usually know more about these products than the derms and GP's!!!
Again, good luck.  Mark.

[funkyjay]

Yeh i thought Elecon was pretty strong myself, but according to my derm it is intermediate in strength. He has suggested i use Elecon once daily for two weeks or until my p clears then use DoubleBase moisturiser for a month or until the p flares up again.

Im quite sceptical about using the steroid cream so i will take it easy and only apply it in thin layers for short periods of time. However this guy is a top dermatologist so surely he wouldn't prescribe treatment which is too harmful to patients.

I got the Elecon today and just 1 hour after my first application the redness and burning/itchyness has cleared. Its looking good! fingers crossed!  

Has anyone else had any success with Elecon or other topical steroid creams? I would be interested to hear how you got on.

Ollie

[Goldilocks]

Hi Ollie,

Glad to hear the visit went well and that your first reactions to the new med good.

I'm with a lot of the others on here, just be careful with the steriods, treat them with care and to be on the safe side, wean off.

Wishing you all the luck in the world with the p battle.

lol Val
*frg)* *frg)*

[Des]

Hi Ollie

Well, it's a positive point that your derm took the time to look at you properly - god knows that happens rarely enough

The reason he might not like UVB on your face, is that it can be harmful to your eyes (hence the dark goggles you have to wear when you go for hospital UVB treatment) - other than that Sunshine contains both UVA and UVB, and you get that on your face..... (OK, this summer, not very often )

I agree with the others on the Elocon, it's pretty strong stuff. Not the very strongest you can get, but strong all the same. I was also advised not to use it on the face, and not to use it for longre than two weeks.
Definitely only one application a day.

You can read up a bit on Elocon here:
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On this page, in more normal english , it says amongst others:

Only use Elocon on the face if your doctor tells you. If improvement does not occur within one week, tell your doctor.

So be careful, OK?

Take care, let us know how it goes

Des

[funkyjay]

thanks for your replies people   i have taken into condiseration what you have said des, roger markjango and goldilocks and i am going to continue using it on my face up until the end of the week. I just cant beleive how much of a difference it has made already. I know it is a fairly strong steroid, but it has made my skin alot better so im really happy  

mark, i read the leaflet that came with the tube of Elecon and it said not to use on the face for any longer than 5 days, unless directed by a pysician/derm, so i am going to take it as directed by my drem. hopefully it wont cause too many adverse reations!  :-/

before my visit to the derm my GP perscribed me some hyrdocortisone (spelling ) but i was too afraid to use it. i know this is less potent than the elocon so prehaps i could wean myself off of the elecon with this weaker steroid.

will keep you posted  

[markjango]

Good Luck again Ollie.

I think I had such a bad reaction with Elocon because my GP didnt bother to listen to what I was saying about the P covering more than 50% of my body!!!  It's no wonder I overdosed!!  You would have thought she would have realised when I was asking for a script every other day - luckily I pre-pay!!!
I have been given hydrocortisone too - and you should try weaning your skin off the elocon gently.  I agree with you about the results being almost immediate - I knew it had to be too good to be true so expected to have a rebound.
Giving my skin a rest now - just sunshine and loads of moisturiser.  Does anyone know of a good moisturiser which I can ask my GP to prescribe I wonder??
Hope it works for you - you have to try everything I think until you find the medication which works for you.
Mark.

[funkyjay]

Hey Mark! about the moisturiser. I have used lots and lots of different brands including Clinique, Simple, Ponds aswell as Aqueous cream. I have recently been using Nivea dry skin moisturiser for my face and it has been pretty effective, but i think my skin has built a sort of resistance to it now  :-/

When i saw the derm the other day he told me to use DoubleBase moisturiser, which i have got a tube of, but have not yet used it. So maybe try some of that.  

The Elocon has been really good. It has completely cleared my face in two days, and this is the third day and i havent had to put any on. If it flares up tomorow i will put some on, but i hope it holds out for a little while longer.  

[funkyjay]

Just to let you know my face is still clear on the forth day of not using the Elocon. I only applied twice and it cleared  

when you you talk about the rebound effect of these steroids, how long does it take to rebound ? is it immediate ?

thanks

Ollie