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Anyone else dealing with Demodex Mites? What helps?
Four years ago, with no history of any skin issues, I developed overnight red, pustules and papules on my eyebrows. Over the four years, I’ve gone to three dermatology groups known to be selected by other healthcare professionals, and have seen a total of seven practitioners. They have said it’s rosacea, seborrheic dermatitis, or actinic keratosis. I’ve been prescribed expensive new topicals, two different antibiotic courses, etc. Each visit I hear, “Well, you can try this.”
I’m an RN, and I know my body. I keep telling each dermatologist that I believe it could be an infestation or overpopulation of demodex; demodex reproduce at night on your skin (they live in hair follicles) and most evenings my eyebrows begin to itch about the time it’s getting dark. With needle-tipped tweezers, I can pull white cyndrically-shaped mucous-type material attached to a hair follicle. None of the practitioners have followed guidance from an article on the NIH website for ensuring there is a skin scraping or other method to obtain a demodex count. None has acknowledged the damaging effects on self image that abound in the literature for rosacea, with which demodex is associated. This post is in no way to disparage dermatologists in general, but I clearly don’t fit the mold of the repetitive frequently seen five minute visits to which they may be accustomed. Has anyone experienced an overpopulation of demodex? How was it diagnosed and treated? Thank you.
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Yes. I have the exact same problem. Are you still dealing with you Demodicosis? Has anything helped you get rid of them ?
I’ve seen several dermatologists who tell me to stop itching/picking at the folliculitis. Also been told I have sebhorric dermatitis, dishydrotic eczema, bacterial folliculitis…..none of the topical creams work and I’ve been referred to a couple psychiatrists for delusional parasitosis.
The mental anguish this has caused me has wrecked my life. I’m so embarrassed by my skin and I’m loosing my hair. And then to be shrugged off but the doctors or they think I’m crazy if I ask about Demodex mites.
I don’t know what else to do, I feel like I have tried absolutely everything.
Is anyone in here having success with any sort of treatment or products?
I have looked into Ungex products - and Aussie line. It’s quite expensive. Has anyone tried this ?
oh lord I am so glad I found all of you folks. I have been to 3 dermatologists, my PC and a PA and they ALL refused to do any kind of scraping, testing or even looking at cells under a scope and told me it was some kind of mental illness! These people have been gaslighting me like their lives depend on it. I have this insane itching and red, inflamed, bumps all over my scalp, back of my neck and eye lashes. It started suddenly right after a traumatic hysterectomy that badly bruised my spinal column, I was totally bed ridden for 6 weeks. Yes, I have psoriasis and am on a TNF blocker. More later. I am so grateful for all of you. Kris IA
Checking back in to say - Find a doctor that knows that the only thing that will clear it is ivermectin. And it won’t be overnight- patience is needed especially if you’re like me and have a bad infestation because of years of misdiagnosis and wrong meds. A minimum of 2-3 weeks and you’ll see improvement. Mine was so bad it was painful!! It was never itchy until the very end when the wounds were healing just like any normal scab itches. I think the itching is a misconception/misinformed symptom. My infestation didn’t look like the typical Demodex UNTIL it was going away!
Thank you so much for this— it has given me hope in this very dark time. As it seems like it’s been for many, I too was misdiagnosed 7 times until my partner and I figured it out for ourselves and presented to the ophthalmologist with highly magnified pictures of my eyes showing them what they should have been able to see with their powerful optical tools. In that time however, they had already spread onto my scalp and into my nostrils. I was sent home being advised to use Cliradex which, while easing my symptoms to a small degree, caused extreme irritation. I demanded a referral to dermatology ( and maybe due to the fact that they’d neglected to diagnose me so many times) and was amazed to get one. I asked for skin scrapings ( which I didn’t get, of course), but was given oral ivermectin with instructions to take the first dose, followed by another the next week. Now, I’m not a scientist, but the math did not add up and I asked if two weeks was enough. You can put your money down on the fact that clearly it is not. Again, I returned to optometry after the medication and was given a clean bill of health, although I insisted that I just didn’t feel like that was the end given my returning symptoms . Needless to say, my partner and I presented photographic evidence again which clearly showed collarettes. Deflated and devastated, we decided to forge our own path— because, why not? The doctors have not been on my side from day one, even though the event that triggered this entire thing was an eye injury I suffered during a run-of- the-mill exam to update my eyeglass prescription!! I went into that appointment a whole person, never having suffered with any eye ailment, infection, stye, etc in my life, and I came out with this debilitating disease. I asked for another round of oral ivermectin and the doctor had the nerve to insinuate that we have to consider that maybe this isn’t demodex after all. WHAAAAAA??? ANOTHER optometrist just confirmed that I do indeed still show evidence of it— although I don’t need a doctor to tell me that anymore. I am living the nightmare: burning, stinging, biting, crawling, stabbing pain in my eyeballs. I have ordered oral and topical ivermectin through a reputable pharmacy online and took my second dose yesterday. I will begin topical on Wednesday or Thursday depending on the die-off symptoms ( they can be pretty intense, so I’ve got to pace myself), and will continue with two more oral doses for a total of four, and continue topical once a week. This has been known to be the magic bullet: the combination of the two, with possibly metronidazole added to the mix. I have no guidance but for the immense amount of reading that I’ve done, which honestly has helped me more than any medical professional. Reading your reply was fortification. A minimum of 3 weeks is clearly written in every medical paper I have seen on refractory cases. Ivermectin seems to be working for me, I just needed to keep going— just like *I* told the doctors.