Like you, I’ve struggled with Demodex for years. I have tried everything from several different dermatologists. Finally, my current dermatologist put me on low-dose Acutane. It works wonderfully! I have been on this regimen for about two years and during my time with Acutane, I can honestly say that I do not have Demodex issues at all. However, Acutane itself causes some other problems for me, even at very very low doses. So, periodically I have to go off the Acutane. Whenever I am off the Acutane, the Demodex problem returns. So I am currently experimenting with different periods of taking low dose Acutane versus no Acutane at all. Right now I am doing four weeks of 10 mg Accutane twice a week followed by three weeks off. Hopefully I will eventually find the perfect balance, but for me anyway, Accutane was the only real answer for my issue. Oh, I do also wash my hair daily with tea tree shampoo, use tea tree conditioner, and tea tree body cream. All are by Paul Mitchell. They are not enough by themselves, but I do believe that they help make things better overall.

(@matikowskic, your mold theory is appealing to me. I have been exposed to mold in my life. And many years ago had surgery on my left lung- I had walking pneumonia that was resistant to the antibiotics. So- this is definitely something. All the information on the internet says immune-compromised and I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out how I could be. The medical community has been awful. Simply awful. Condescending, disrespectful. It only adds to my frustration and self worth. I am so sick of these F******!!!!! I feel like a rape victim getting re- victimized by the system. I cannot afford doctors, I paid the last dermatologist $215 for her to tell me “that’s a nice story”and that she can explain everything I pointed. She did take a skin test- but it was the wrong kind to test for demodex, they ended up calling me to come back in, but I declined because I can’t afford the results anyway. I need help. When you know….. YOU KNOW. I don’t know what to do, no one believes me. They just write it off and think I’m crazy. Meanwhile, i die a little more everyday I deal with this REAL condition. I can’t work, I don’t touch people, I do not want to be the reason anything like I’m dealing with happens to them. No one understands what I’m dealing with. I’m glad I found you guys. But I still have mites.