I am having a major rosacea flare up to the point where it looks like there are boils on my face They're so bad I can't even cover them with makeup.

I know it's not just a detox, as it happens when I'm eating the old normal way if I get too much of one thing too. But never this bad.

I think I may have to cut out dairy, soup and hot drinks, spinach (my staple food) and maybe even bacon and cold cuts, and possibly coke zero...WAH....that makes me so sad as some of these things are what makes this plan bearable for me.

I absolutely HATE fat on meat (except bacon), it makes me vomit, so don't want to eat that.

I know there are things left to eat but they're not as tasty. I like eggs with cheese and veggies, without the cheese, not so much .

Any tips or suggestions? Has this happened to anyone?

Well darn...so sorry the rosacea has gotten worse. The more common skin triggers after grains are ... dairy big time, it is cross-reactive with gluten. Maybe eliminate one the other has more impact? (that's a WAG ).
The two I would think of eliminating next after dairy are Nuts and Coconuts, at least before spinach and bacon. Or maybe it is just a detox type reaction? and you havent restarted LC for that long? ...rosacea, eczema and psoriasis seem to take a while to heal. But start with dairy...Do you eat any dairy beside a hard cheese? Sometimes a hard, aged cheese is OK but milk, yogurt, sour cream, etc. isn't. Skin reactions are so weird...just when you think you have it figured out...something else happens.

Try eliminating dairy first. I doubt it is all the foods you listed.

Thanks Janet. My skin is normally super clear eating nuts and coconut as I have eaten large amounts of that before as it is a big part of my Naturoapth's insulin reducing diet.

I am wondering if I should go back to that diet (it made my skin look awesome) - he allows no bacon or processed foods and would die if I told him I've been drinking Coke Zero ! Or coffee for that matter .

I have not eaten gluten in years (celiac).

I don't even want to see people as I'm rather self-conscious about my face which is not a good thing, makeup can't perform miracles!

I will try taking out the dairy....I eat cheese (softer is better as it doesn't bind me up so much), I LOVE HWC and I also like sour cream. I will say though that if I eliminate most dairy (maybe have coffee only with butter and coconut oil) that I am guessing that I will lose weight more quickly.

I'll keep the bacon and spinach in for the moment . I hope I can at least have mayo!!!

And I just made a cheeseburger pie (yum) which is so dairy laden that I will freeze it and only have small bits down the road, not too close to one another....darn!!!

Good thing I'm not doing any big Christmas festivities - just one small dinner on Christmas Eve with 3 or 4 other people.

P.S I have read online that oregano oil taken internally can be good so I'm going to start that!

Yup, you're right, "don't panic yet" !

Out of all the foods, dairy is the one I want to eliminate the least

Thank you both for being there for support!!!

P.S one thing I have noticed is if I have any unsweetened syrup at Starbuck's etc. my face goes quite red immediately so I know it's not great.

BTW, other than stevia what natural sweeteners do you folks use?

Your naturopath was probably on the right path--how much carb was allowed on that diet? I'll bet it was organic, whole REAL foods, so at worst all you really needed to do--possibly-was dial down the carbs.

One of the reasons I think that low carb has earned such a bad reputation is that a lot of people who do low carb think it's OK to eat unlimited quantities of processed fake foods and artificial sweeteners. Keep in mind that when Atkins was doing his work in the 1960's and 1970's, there was not the abundance of processed foods we have now, and the only artificial sweetener that was readily available was saccharine (which, IMHO, tasted terrible!).

Low carb isn't about diet sodas, bacon, and cold cuts. People do better on junk food low carb simply because it's an improvement over SAD junk food, but it's not optimal. Low carb, at it's heart, is about reducing the carbs in your diet, and when you do it with healthful whole, real food choices you give your body what it needs instead of a bunch of things it does not.

I would go back to your naturopath's diet since that was working for you, dial back the carbs if it is still higher in carbs (since your naturopath was "insulin reducing" I'm going to guess it was already fairly low carb), up the natural, real fats as necessary. I bet you will see your skin clear up PDQ.

I agree, and my skin will probably clear up. My naturopath isn't really into reducing most veggies (other than eliminating root veggies), but he is into eliminating:

chocolate and chocolate flavored anything , coffee, caffeinated tea, anything artificial, legumes, fruit, grains, root veggies, yogurt, bacon and cold cuts.

He does like whey protein shakes (however for me, without blueberries or strawberries, I don't really like them), he also recommends lean protein and lots of veggies for most meals, and he says to eat up to 2 avocados a day and lots of eggs. He's also big into nuts (except peanuts as they contain mold) and seeds and coconut oil.

He does not allow diet or sugar free anything! And he's not big on milled flax meal, almond meal, or coconut flower as he says they are too readily digestible .

I do seem to have a tough time losing on this plan now, although in 2006 it worked (and back then I could eat berries, pears, apples, peaches and yogurt).

I only ever got to 175 on that plan though, and only lasted there for 48 hours before jumping back to 177, despite eating to his plan 100% for probably 2 years. I look pretty good at that weight (I'm big boned and have a lot of lean muscle mass) and was wearing a size 10, so it wasn't too bad. Even now I can wear my size 12 jeans but they will fit better when I lose 5-7 lbs.

Coca-Cola Zero's nutritional information reads 0 Calories, 0g Fat, 70mg Sodium, 0g Total Carbs, 0g Protein. Ingredients: Carbonated water, caramel color, phosphoric acid, aspartame, potassium benzonate, natural flavors, potassium citrate, acesulfame potassium, caffeine.

Aspartame Look up the side effects like High blood pressure cystic acne etc. I had to give it up.

I totally agree, it's the Coke
Pure acid
Only one use for that stuff, to burn the corrosion off of car battery terminals.

I agree, sucralose does the same thing to me, but I also feel like the HWC is bothering my face too. I will lay off the coke zero.

I have never drank pop in my life but I started liking this and thought I'd use it until I lost some of the weight. Guess not!!!

I make my own cream cheese. Why? Because I LOVE it.. but the kind you 'buy' has gluten in it in the form of casein. It is the ONLY thing now (beyond the horrid 'injected with gluten..but called 'broth' gluten filled chicken breasts that are frozen) that brings on my facial rosacea. Sorry to say, but if you are eating store bought soft cheese that has casein in it.. that'll react like you ate bread.

Casein is milk protein, usually from cows (and humans), not gluten, and all milk contains it. I am very cognizant of it as I am celiac and NEVER eat gluten.

How do you make your own cream cheese? I have never done that.

I have never heard of chicken breasts injected with gluten, they do have to disclose that now so I'd love to know which ones they are.

If I had to guess, I would blame the whey and casein in the dairy, along with the poisons in the Coke Zero.

Try getting rid of the whey shakes, and cheese. Give it a week. You might be able to keep the butter and the HWC, as they have little to no protein in them.

Thanks MickiSue. I'm open to whatever it is however I have been tested by EnteroLab for dairy issues and I have eaten dairy all my life with little trouble. When I did my Naturopath's diet I had a whey protein shake every day and sometimes twice and my skin was amazing (I did have some but not much HWC). I'm not eating shakes now and haven't been as I really only like them with some berries in them and I'm not doing berries.

I know HWC has less lactose but I feel like it's when that jumped up that my face got bad.

I will be experimenting and taking some Oregano Oil as I read that it can help with flare ups!

When I get whiteheads or patch breakouts on my cheeks (face) I find applying coconut oil clears it up. This also works for AK's (sun damaged skin) over time -- like a very mild form of bloodroot or Efudex®. It's also very effective for Winter's dry/windburned skin. Another very effective treatment is, believe it or not, apply toothpaste. Allow to dry then rinse well. The baking soda & peroxide is the one I use. Works as well or better than the 10% Benzoyl Peroxide creams. I also scrub and ex-foliate rough or dry skin with the inside skin of an eaten avocado's hull. You can also buy pure avocado oil at most high-end markets. I have a bottle in my fridge.