I was wondering if anybody else suffers from breakouts on the face?
At the moment I have a large cold sore right in the middle of my bottom lip, two large areas of raw skin at the left side of my mouth and today I noticed that my right cheek is breaking out in a red rash. I have had this before, especially when I am run down but never this bad. I am using loads of concealer to try and disguise these ugly breakouts but it is taking weeks to heal.
Does anybody else suffer with breakouts and if so what do you use for them. I have tried antiseptic ointments and Sudocreme but nothing is working. I am so embarrassed, especially with the lesions around my mouth.
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jillydabrat
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Yes! I currently have two cold sores on my bottom lip and just beneath the lip. I know it happened because I wasn't sleeping enough. They always happen when I'm not sleeping, if I'm stressed, or if I'm about to get sick. I don't have good luck putting make-up over it because it just looks more crusty. I've heard Lysine helps but I've never tried it. I guess because I only get cold sores maybe twice a year I can't bother taking a medication every day for that. They are embarrassing.
It's an amino acid. My co-worker swore by it and said that she would start taking it as soon as she could feel the tingling of a cold sore coming on and it would prevent it from growing. Unfortunately, I don't always get the tingling sensation... sometimes it literally rears its ugly head overnight. And if I remember correctly we used Lysine for cats that had herpes infections in their eyes.
HI Jilly, me again! Yes, keep getting them and inside my mouth...blame the pills am on (Anagrelide for the high platelets), but been encouraged to take Taurine, which is an amino acid, so rather interesting to read your correspondence....love and best wishes and hope everything heals soon, Tinkerbell xx
Hiya thinks my lovely. Seems like we all share this horrible side effect. I am definitely going to get to the bottom of this finally as it’s a blooming nuisance. I can’t take amino acids because I have to have calcium supplements and the two do not go together. I have ordered a lip balm though so let’s see how that works. Take care lovely lady xx
Oooh, you do have a time...things on face, always seem worse, too, don't they. Trying not to get 'down', but doesn't always work, does it....thinking so much about you and hope lip balm is soothing and actually helps.....love Tinkerbell
Not sure whether you are on hydoxy, but the mouth ulcers are a common side effect. My doc's office told me it is due to immune system compromise from the HU. The only thing that helped me was a gel from PerioSciences call AO Provantage. Helped the mouth ulcers heal more quickly. Not sure about the rash on the face, but I would be suspicious of further signs of HU toxicity. Not that this is necessarily relevant, but HU can predispose you to skin cancer - so I would not take any skin anomalies for granted. Could also be just a minor infection, reaction to something your skin does not like and the rash could be completely unrelated to your meds. Hope It gets cleared up soon.
Hi hunter, yep on hydroxy which I have blamed for the cold sores but the sores on the outside of my mouth I am not to sure about.
I have had a few episodes of the rash on my cheek. It is always one side of the other, never both at the same time. The rash is worrying because I have tested positive twice for ANA before so I am a bit nervous that it might be lupus. Shortly after I got married I developed vasculitis which affected my right leg which is when I was found positive for ANA. For those of you who do not know what vasculitis is, it’s when the blood vessels leak into the skin. My leg looked like someone had drawn a map on my leg with bright red pen.
My consultant told me to photograph the rash and bring the photo next visit. My cheek is covered in minuscule spots which I have to keep my fingers off because if I start to burst them I get infections - again down to low immune system. So bizarre really.
Clubdino told me about lysine which I had to look up. It is an amino acid taken to prevent coldsores but when I read about the tablets they advise not to take with calcium tablets which I have to take every day. I did order the lysine lip balm though so I could apply it topically. Will let everybody know if it works.
Beware of cold sores! They can be a highly infectious and dangerous condition. They are the result of the herpes virus we all carry and can be activated by being run down due to stress, poor diet etc. The virus can spread to the eyes or the brain and can causer damage to both!! I got my first experience of one many years before my MPN, and ended up in hospital but luckily only suffered damage to the cornea of my left eye. I had several “flare ups” requiring immediate medical attention. My advice is to seek your doctors advice and get the correct medicines to treat it correctly and avoid touching the sore to avoid spreading it.
When I went onto Ruxolitinib three years ago I was also prescribed Aciclovir daily to suppress the herpes virus and this seems to have worked for me. It’s an antiviral and seems to be the received wisdom at the clinic I attend.
Yes I had similar but not exactly same advice. Consultant spotted I was in early stage of a cold sore - I hadn't had one before so wasn't alert- had a swab taken which showed herpes virus so asked GP to prescribe Aciclovir tablets. He also said to get them immediately if cold sores came back. GP wasn't enthusiastic about that, which was awkward, even though knew I'm immune compromised and told me to keep new tube of Aciclovir cream in house and use at first tingle. I've done that and it has actually done the trick thankfully. I'm very unenthusiastic about hugging and kissing on social occasions as a result, which brings us back to the problem of often looking well but really not- the socially silent, cellularly active conundrum.
Interesting. I am MF, 70 years old, 3 years diagnosed, just on EPO shots at present. Teenage years apart, I've always had dry skin on my face and scalp. But now I'm back to that classic greasy patch across the middle of my face, with little zits popping up here and there, especially around my nose. I'm washing my face and cleansing several times a day. I wonder if this is due to the condition or the medication?
I can’t call the spots on my cheeks typical acne, they are tiny fluid filled spots. If I scratch one or squeeze one you can guarantee I will get a sore there. It’s the only way I realise how suppressed my immune system is when a tiny spot can get so easily infected. Can I just say that if you clean your face to many times a day you will promote oily skin. I go through a cleansing routine in the morning and night.
Hi yes I’ve had problems with very thick dried skin areas on my face for years. I’ve tried unsuccessfully every potion and ointment known to man. Some would help for a few weeks but then my skin would react to the new product. If your on hydroxy be very careful of any sores or ulcers that don’t heal up, I had one on my right cheek that I put up with for over a year and used to use a bit of the wife’s concealer to cover it up. It turned out to be a squamous cell carcinoma, after it was biopsied it went into overdrive and within 6 weeks was 2cmx2cm in size. I hopefully have had it successfully removed just before last Xmas and fingers crossed it won’t reappear. My advise is if anyone has any lesions or sores on their face then go to the docs as soon as, I am now under 3 monthly checkups at hospital with the dermatologist, the ointment I use for any suspicious areas on my skin ( face and back of hands ) is efudix which is a chemo cream that burns the area of skin away over about 2 weeks eventually healing and leaving healthy skin behind if in doubt about any thing go get it checked out
Hubby ET/PV (aspirin & venesections only) gets coldsores less now he's on l-lysine but gets why I call lesions on his forehead. He says they don't itch but he it looks like they must as he's caught them so they bleed. They look unsightly & cover his whole forehead in red splodges. He's not one to take lotions & potions - I've filled him with as much as I can but he hates creams so unless I actually apply anything to his head it doesn't get sorted, I haven't noticed anything in particular that helps, they did disappear but are a back. It's not something we've discussed with heamo team as they always say everything is not related to his condition. I can imagine how it would feel if I had them myself.
Poor man. I get so embarrassed at the lesions on my face. I do try and cover them with concealer and make up but in the heat I sweat it off. I am coming up to 58 and feel I am a teenager again with my skin. Do tell your Haemo and put your foot down if they fob you off. Good luck x
I use Boots cold Sore Lotion. It contains lots of effective stuff and has never failed me. Steer clear of anything that spreads such as creams. Due to them being so contagious, creams will spread them as far as you spread the cream. Every time I think about it I put another dab onto the 'offending area'! Their supplies often run out but I tend to phone around until I find a store with stock. I have even had them send from 40 miles away to a local store at no cost to myself.
Please give it a go. It's the best. I have suffered them for years. All the best. x
I used to get adult spots on my face for years. I was also taking multivitamins which I bought at the supermarket. Then one day I asked myself do I really need these vitamins and I stopped taking them as an experiment. And all my spots disappeared!! Now I buy better quality vitamins pills and never a multivitamin and I do not get spots and my skin is clear and I just wash it with soap in the evening and a little dab of organic type face cream to stop my skin feeling tight. I am also careful to avoid processed foods, dairy, gluten and sugar. My toiletry products are near organic and I try to use them as little as possible. Is it really necessary to use a body spray, even a deodorant can often be avoided. I am ETJAK2+, 63 years old on HU+aspirin.
Do you exercise? Maybe your general health could be improved. I go for a walk every morning in the local park and I walk barefoot when it is warm enough. I also do yoga, lift weights and go on my exercise bike. Not saying you should lift weights and get an exercise bike but do something that you enjoy.
I saw my haematologist yesterday and I showed her two pictures on my phone of the lesions on my face. The pictures showed the fluid filled bumps and the infection that occurs when they burst. Sounds awful doesn’t it. Anyway she prescribed some Fusidic Acid 2% cream to be applied 3 or 4 times a day. If this didn’t work she also gave me a prescription for a course of antibiotics. She did ask if I suffered with cold sores, which I couldn’t say I did even though I had just got over one a couple of weeks ago.
I did try using a weak solution of Dettol on my sores twice a day. This worked because it was killing the bacteria on my face that my immune system couldn’t fight but the cost up using it was extremely dry skin.
Anyway, started the cream yesterday so keeping fingers crossed that it works. Will let you know.
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