u/IndependentOk9802

Basically, in general, I was never obsessed with my appearance in life. I never really wore makeup, and sometimes my face would get red, but it even looked kind of cute. Last February, I went through a very stressful period in my personal relationship, and I got a spot on my cheek. After that, my face started flushing often, then I started getting breakouts, and so on.

Honestly, after starting treatment for all of this, I became even more stressed. Doctors cannot properly figure out what I actually have — whether it’s rosacea or demodex, or just sensitive skin— and they never explain things clearly. When I look at my mother and see how good her skin is at her age, and when I see that none of my relatives have skin problems, I start getting really anxious.

For months now, I’ve been checking my face in the mirror a million times a day. Because of this stress, my face suddenly gets red and blotchy in a nervous way. I was told it could be a symptom of vegetative neurosis/anxiety.

Basically, I cry every day now, even though before all of this I was a very carefree person and my skin never bothered me. Now I cry every day and compare my skin to my relatives’ skin, even though my condition is not actually that severe. I think I just cannot accept the possibility that I might have skin problems, maybe even something chronic like rosacea.

Honestly, I don’t know what to do anymore. Because of this stress, I’ve become obsessed with examining my face. I notice every tiny hair, every little mark. I don’t want to leave the house anymore, I don’t want to go out in the sun, I just want to lie in bed and cry. I don’t know what’s happening to me, especially since nobody around me says that anything looks bad — actually, they say the opposite.

I’ve always had sensitive skin, but my cheeks would only get red when I drank alcohol or got very overheated, and it would go away quickly. Last year, after a very stressful period, I developed a patch-like redness on one cheek, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. Then during the summer, especially in August, my face started getting red almost every evening. Eventually my skin became rough like sandpaper, and I noticed tiny white fuzzy-looking particles around the hair follicles. My skin also became much more sensitive to everything, and I developed very small bump-like pimples on my cheeks.

So I started using Soolantra on my own. For the first few days it actually seemed to soften my skin and work really well, and I was happy about it. But on the fifth day, I woke up with terrible itching, redness, and blotchy patches on my cheeks. Today is the seventh day, and my face has never been this red before. The reason I thought it might be Demodex is because I also had itchy eyes for a while and some eyelash shedding.

I’ve also heard about the “die-off” reaction, but I don’t know if this is die-off or an allergic reaction, and I’m scared I might be damaging my skin even more. I’m going crazy already — I’m exhausted from crying.

My skin has never been this irritated before. Please advise me on what I should do. Should I give my skin a break for a few days? The white particle-like flakes I had on my face seem to have decreased a little.

In your opinion, could what I have be rosacea irritated or triggered by Demodex mites? I'm 25 yers old female.