Worsening Rosacea during ketosis

LowCarbInScotland

I've had my rosacea well under control for 10 years using steroid cream. However, as of about a month into eating a ketogenic diet, it's flared up worse than I've ever experienced with many painful blisters.

All the references I've found towards rosacea and ketosis have implied marked improvements, I seem to be a bit of an exception.

I've suffered with it for a month, hoping it would get better, writing it off as the result of my body flushing toxins, but it has not improved. I'm guessing it may be related to the change in bacteria in my body, so I've started adding in fermented foods.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and has found a solution.

wabmester

I haven't heard of blisters associated with rosacea. Could it be something else, like a food allergy?

You could try intermittent fasting. If it clears up, it's not the ketones (fasting is VERY ketogenic).

LowCarbInScotland

Hi @wabmester it's definitely rosacea, small pustules/blisters or painful bumps are a common occurrence with rosacea.

I've actually been experimenting with IF over the last two weeks to see how it affects my blood glucose and unfortunately it definitely didn't help my rosacea. But I appreciate the suggestion. I'm lucky, I've never had food allergies and I'm not eating anything different than was part of my diet pre-Keto, I'm just eating less off it and barely any carbs.

Sunny_Bunny_

Could it be aggravated by dehydration? Many skin conditions will have major flare ups simply due to dehydration.
My dad has Agent Orange and gets an aweful rash. He had a particularly bad flare up in the beginning of winter that wasn't responding to his prescription creams and moisturizers. He also had issues with low sodium, dehydration and low blood pressure going on that the doctors were not making any progress with. I had him start taking sodium tablets and 500mg magnesium citrate and the rash responsed within a day. The severe itching was gone and a few more days it wasn't even pink anymore. It's never really gone, but it's better now than it ever has been and he's not using the prescriptions for it anymore.
The sodium and magnesium and drinking more water helped his overall hydration.
Taking more magnesium glycinate or citrate (up to digestive tolerance) may at least give some relief. I'm taking 750mg a day and haven't had a digestive response at all which suggests that I could and probably should be taking more.

LowCarbInScotland

Thanks @Sunny_Bunny_ winter weather combined with this woe may just have been the perfect storm for my rosacea. I did have a period of excessive dryness the first week of January and it may simply still be fighting to heal. And I've continued slathering on moisturiser, but that doesn't help with any internal issues, so I'll definitely try the magnesium.

KnitOrMiss

PaleoInScotland wrote: »

Thanks @Sunny_Bunny_ winter weather combined with this woe may just have been the perfect storm for my rosacea. I did have a period of excessive dryness the first week of January and it may simply still be fighting to heal. And I've continued slathering on moisturiser, but that doesn't help with any internal issues, so I'll definitely try the magnesium.

Be sure to give coconut oil a try (or MCT oil) as a moisturizer as long as you're not allergic to coconut. It is a miracle moisturizer. I saw a meme on FB that cracked me up. "I had 100 problems, and coconut oil cured 99 of them." @PaleoInScotland

EDITED TO ADD: It has anti-microbal and I believe anti-bacterial properties naturally in the CO and MCT....

Sarahb29

Keep us updated on your progress. I have rosacea as well but am one of the lucky ones (I guess) that don't have blisters. I just turn BEET red lol. Winter months are tough on my skin so I have to drink lots of water and lather on lotion. I've been using gold bond, some sort of ultra strength lotion and put it on before bed and again in the AM. I don't take any medication for it, I cover mine with makeup as best as I can.

Is your skin just really super dry along with the blisters?

LowCarbInScotland

Thanks @KnitOrMiss I'll look into that. I don't have allergies to eating coconut, but my skin is super sensitive and gets inflamed easily, so I'll just do a test patch to see how I react.

@Sarahb29 my skin did get dry and flaky about 6 weeks ago, but that severe dryness has long since cleared up, but the bad rosacea did appear shortly thereafter, so it may be to blame. I very rarely get the painful bumps, my steroid cream has always done the trick, this is quite miserable. I feel like a teenager with acne again. Ordered some magnesium citrate today. Hopefully this all clears up soon, I'll keep you posted.