Thank you, Michael, for this site.
It is really helpful to compare experiences.
I have not tried the products or sun screens with zinc oxide but will investigate which brands might be good. Since my skin is quite oily, I was happy to discover an oil free sunscreen by Jason - which has Titanium Dioxide - but I couldn’t find zinc oxide on it - could it be the same type of ingredient? Not tested yet though.
I have ordered Nystatin from Germany to be sent to me in the UK via www.parcemed.de - so will report back on how it works in the next weeks.
In case this helps others, here is what I have tried so far. This is not very scientific - just subjective.
Lamilsil - a UK brand against athlete’s foot - fungacide terbinafine hydrochloride 1 % - this worked in getting extremely inflamed skin calmed down. Used it for a week but then the effect seemed to lessen or stand still.
Clarity Superdrug Skin Rescue - (UK drugstore brand) for spots -with Salicyclic Acid. This is my favorite spot fighting cream as it does not dry the skin. Helps with oiliness, does not inflame SD.
Oxy on the Spot (UK brand, GlaxoKline - with Benzoyl Peroxide. A bit harsher than Clarity so I use it only on spots.
100% Tea tree oil - not bad but too harsh for longer use. Good with 100% 1:1 tea tree oil / apple cider vinegar combined on a cotton ball and brushed onto (non-inflamed) skin. But overkill for sensitive skin.
For eye brows only: 1:1 apple cider vinegar on cotton balls rubbed lightly over eyebrow areas. SD completely gone after doing this twice daily for 2 days. Too harsh for rest of face. No return of SD on eyebrows 3 weeks later - only used this method for one week but the effect has lasted.
Face washes:
I used to use Clinique Facial Soap mild, - fragrance free, unisex though marketed to women. I bought some for my brother who has the same condition and he liked it. It only takes 5 splashes of water to completely wash off - used at night for many years.
I am grateful to this and other forums because for a long time I did not understand this delicate dance between oily skin and dry, flaking skin - and the product dance that goes with this. My SD is better now - much calmer - barely visible - and I look forward to testing the Nystatin. Am grateful to the contributors here.
I am really happy about the conversation that we’re having here. For so long I was alone with my condition and I didn’t want to talk about it with friends or family. I just stayed in and hid when it got bad. I wish I had found this community sooner! It’s so nice to hear from other people fighting the fight - I think conversations like these would have kept be more hopeful when I struggled.
Good luck with the nystatin! I hope results will be good for you too, and I’m very anxious to hear from you, when you’re a couple of weeks into the treatment.
Titanium Dioxide is a bit different, but that’s actually the active ingredient in the stuff I used last summer.
The stuff I used was Ombrelle for Kids. It was very gentle, soothed the skin, but didn’t really absorb all that well (white coating was left).
What I felt it did though was help keep the skin from drying up from the sun while at the same time allowing me to keep my skin exposed to the sun for long periods of time (effectively killing any potential bacteria).
However, from all the stuff I read previously, Zinc Oxide stood out as actually being able to fight the SD directly.
This is actually one the active ingredients implemented in Sudocrem, which is commonly used for diaper rashes, eczema and other skin irritations. Here is a picture for reference.
Additionally thank you for all the other tips.
Look forward to any updates in terms of the Nystatin.
Hopefully your results are similar to Joakims.
In terms of the gut connection. Definetly something there.
Kind of gross, but I found the my faeces used to be somewhat sticky and often left a residue on the bottom of the toilet bowl.
Then in correlation to my L-Glutamine supplementation this went away. During the whole 8-9 past months in which my SD has been calm, I have not seen this issue.
When researching why this could happen, everything mostly pointed to undigested fat.
Thanks again for the all the information.
Hope you finally find a simple approach that works for you and take care.
Hope all is well with you. Thank you for taking the time to engage on here.
Agree with you 100% there. It was definitely hard not having anyone to really talk to about my skin.
It felt embarrassing and I really felt doomed since the common idea is that the condition is for life.
When things got bad, the easiest thing to do was simply hide away and keep searching the internet.
The endless supply of poor and incomplete information on this subject was quite a hurdle to get through.
Hopefully others can benefit from all the information that accumulates here.
Hi Kepi - and thanks, Michael for the Sudocream tip - will buy some today.
For the eyebrows, dunk a cotton ball in any apple cider vinegar and rub over eyebrows - and slightly over and under. From my experience, this lasts a bit. Sometimes, when the eyebrows seem to tingle, I do it again. No more than once every 10 days or so. But this is too harsh on the rest of the face for me.
I have discovered (subjectively, they seem to be good for my facial SD) 2 more products
for the inflamed red parts: a very cheap drugstore (Boots in the UK) branded ‘Boots Magnesium Sulphate’ Paste. It is for skin boils and infections and you just dab a very tiny bit, the size of a pin head, on the effected area overnight - stops the irritation and the flaking.
Another hopeful discovery is plain Listerine mouthwash. I rubbed my face with it last night and it did not sting like apple cider vinegar or tea tree oil or salt solution. Then put a mild oil-free moisturizer on (still not happy on the moisturizer front - any suggestions?) and the effect was very very good. Listerine contains not just anti-bacterial properties but also anti-fungal ones - so works on the oiliness of the skin as well. Will wait for the Nystatin and report back.
The Sudocream was best of the corners of the mouth when I had issues there. For larger areas it was quite difficult to wipe/clean off.
It would typically leave white residue on my face. Unless I washed it off with soap, but this would then bring back the SD quicker.
Haven’t heard of the Magnesium Sulphate paste stuff before. Might be interesting though.
The anti-fungal aspect of that is likely why it works well for the seborrheic dermatitis.
In terms of the Listerine, I’ve actually come across that approach as well.
However, I never attempted using it though. It seems like it’s the anti-fungal aspect at work here as well.
Look forward to hearing your update with the Nystatin.
Thanks again for updating and best of luck.
And JOAKIM, even though you show no signs of SD, do you still apply the Nystatin cream on a daily or semi-daily basis? Im just trying to understand if you applied it initially, healed your SD, and now your not applying it at all now?
Unfortuntenly it doesnt work on me but I have been using suplements for 1week (biotin 10mg/ MSM 8g / capryl acid 2tabs and probiotics (acidophilus)) and my seb derm slowly disappears. If i’ll have more time I’ll write more information about this (my english is poor so I need time to write sth:P).
Hi Adam,
yeah, I still apply it on a semi-daily basis. I don’t know that I’m cured, because I keep applying it. I will run out of my first tube soon, though, and I might just stay off and see what happens. If I relapse I guess I can always just go buy another tube and have it disappear again - unless the new, recurring SD would develop a resistance to nystatin!!! Hah, that’s my worst nightmare o.O
So basically, I don’t know - yet - what will happen if I stop using it. I think it would come back over time. Especially since I’m not doing anything else to keep it away anymore: No saltwater cures, no strict diet, no nothing. As far as I know, it’s an ubiquitous yeast that is the cause of SD, so I don’t think there is any getting around it. At some point or another I will have it back on my nose, and my immune system wont know what to do. That’s my guess at least.
Hey Maciej,
that’s concerning news, I think. I’m sad to hear it didn’t work for you. Did you end up buying it from Germany, or did you have your friend make it? I just want to make sure that we have been using the same thing
Sorry to hear that it didn’t work out for you. However, glad to hear the biotin combo is working.
When I gave a similar combo a try (zinc-l-cornisone, l-glutamine, msm, biotin), I had some strange reaction to the biotin (rashes and itchy skin all over).
Not sure if you have read over my most complete post, here.
The methods that finally helped me (at the bottom) seem to have worked for a few others as well (check the comments).
Thanks for taking the time to write, I understand it takes you time due to language barriers.
Look forward to any updates and hope things work out.
Hey there. I just wanted to do a little update on the nystatin. Last week I had my first flare-up since December. I think it was sparked by stress and probably also my bad habit of forgetting my daily appliance of the drug. Now, a week later, after paying more attention and never skipping a daily appliance it’s completely gone again. For a moment I was worried that the effect was wearing off, like others have experienced with other products. But I am still convinced that nystatin is very worth a shot, if you a still looking for a cure.
I’m still looking forward to responses from those of you, who posted that you bought it. How are you doing? Are you seeing some results?
Anyway, I wish you all the best in the search for your solution
Hey Joakim,
Thanks for the update. Hopefully some of the others manage to get good results as well. That should help in finding out if its applicable to everyone.
All the best.
Hi Joakim
Re: feedback on Nystatin. Thanks, Joakim, for the tip and for the photo of the product: Nystatin Lederle. Having ordered it (see earlier posting) I tried it for a week on the SD spots - chin, jawline, etc twice a day, morning and evening, and liked it very much.
It did not irritate the skin and I could use other products (moisturizer, blemish treatment) over it. The SD went after about 2-3 days, I continued using the cream for a week. The last evening, I just put moisturizer on without Nystatin and the SD returned in the morning so then I went cold turkey and did not put anything on these SD spots, except for using a mild soap. No moisturizer, no blemish treatment, no Nystatin. After that the SD went away completely after 2 days so I am keeping the Nystatin in case it returns. It has been over a week now without SD so that is great.
It worked well for me and there is a certain amount of relief that I have it on hand in case of an outbreak.
But it was the non-irritating qualities that I liked. Anyway, that was my experience. I had ordered a 50mg tube - so that could last me even with some light re-use for over a year.
It was a great tip so thanks very much.
Thanks for the detail. I used Ketaconozole for a while but I guess my skin got used to it becuase I had to use it daily.
Seems like the same thing happened with your Nystatin. I stopped using Ketaconozole because I didn’t want to use creams and wanted to use homeopathic / natural treatments like sea salt or apple cider vinegar that wouldn’t cause long term damage.
My question: is Nystatin bad to use long term like hydrocortisone or Ketaconozole? Will it thin out skin like these other products?
Read a lot here, nice to find you all. I think the answer is out there but the dermatologists won’t tell us. I bet we find it though. I tried the listerene protocol last year and killed my scalp sd for months…but fall came and so did sd…and I can’ t get a handle on it again. ( I put listerene on scalp, put shower cap on and left it several hours). As a female I have lots of hair these protocols screw up trying to get at my scalp. Do NOT trust presc. Strength Nizoral…it fried my hair texture (actual side effect). Any Nystatin for scalp treatment…oral?
Hi Vero,
sorry, I didn’t notice your reply until now! I am so happy to hear that it worked for you. It’s very nice to get some positive feedback, so we know it works for more people than me I’ve also been reaching out to people on Reddit, and just like you they have had positive results as well. So I’m more confident recommending it now!
I am happy to help. Hopefully you can keep it under control. My dermatologist said that I could use it indefinitely - unlike hydrocortisone, which you should only use for 2 weeks at a time - so if you do have outbreaks then I think it would be okay to apply it daily. That’s what I do at least. But I understand if you want to keep it at a minimum
All the best to you and your new, pretty face!
I don’t think the effect wore off in my case. I guess it was simply because I became too confident, thinking that maybe I was cured and that the SD wouldn’t come back if i stopped using nystatin. It did though But, like I said, after a week of using it properly again the SD disappeared and I have had zero problems since then. So so far I’ve only experiences that one outbreak since December when I started using it.
I’m still using it almost daily, so I really, really hope that it doesn’t cause long-term damage! But my dermatologist told me that I could use it daily and that I basically couldn’t use ‘too much’, so I don’t believe that the continued use is an issue. It even says so on the box from the pharmacy: “Can be used for a prolonged period of time against chronic rash in face”. Roughly translated In the note that comes with the nystatin it says that you can apply it two to three times daily. It also says that the effect should be visible in 6 days, and that you should use it for 8-10 days afterwards to be sure to be rid of the infection. It doesn’t really say if there is a maximum of recommended use. Only that you should do, as your doctor has told you. And in my case he said ‘go ahead’.
So I think it’s fine. In any case it is nothing like hydrocortisone. And it doesn’t feel rough on the skin like my ketoconazole-shampoo did. Like Vero said in the post above it feels non-irritating. That and the fact that my doctor and pharmacy both know that they are treating a chronic disease makes me say that you can use it long term.
Do you know where to get it if you decide to try it?
Thanks for checking in. Strange enough I’ve never actually tried the listerine myself. However, I have heard of others using it.
Definetly agree with you on the Nizoral. That stuff is intense. After just one single use I knew that it was overkill. It felt like I just nuked my skin and killed every single living organism on the surface. Hair felt like dry hay.
Is your seborrheic dermatitis strictly limited to the scalp?
I’ve also been reaching out to people on Reddit, and just like you they have had positive results as well. So I’m more confident recommending it now!