Benzo withdrawal or Daily face moisturizer withdrawal?

I have a question for those who have already healed or who are further into their healing. I just recently quit using face moisturizer and all of a sudden my face was really red and dry, but it didn't used to be like that before I started using face moisturizer.

 

At the same time, I'm going through benzo withdrawal still even at almost 19 months. But the reason I quit using the face moisturizer was because I was getting a little bit of a break out and I didn't know if it was because my face had too much moisture or lotion. And now I'm wondering if all of this is benzo related.

 

Can you get face moisturizer withdrawal? Is that perhaps what's making my face really dry and red when I don't use it? Or is it probably benzo withdrawal ? I hope I'm not going through another kind of withdrawal at the same time when I don't use it. There's all kinds of varied results on the internet about whether or not to use face moisturizer and how many times a day to do it.

I use Olay for sensitive skin body wash as a face wash and it doesn't bother me.  Maybe you need to use a moisturizer made for sensitive skin?

I'm not really sure, I've been using Cetaphil face moisturizer and it's for sensitive skin. It works pretty good, but I think it makes my face overly moisturized and then I get breakouts. Whenever I use Cetaphil once a day like I'm supposed to then my face starts getting really oily. And then I started getting a couple breakouts around my nose so I quit using it.

 

I never used to have any kind of issues with oil or breakouts or anything like that, not even dry skin. So I'm thinking that maybe ever since I started using moisturizer like the dermatologist thought was a good idea, that now I'm getting dry skin whenever I quit using it like withdrawal.

 

Half my life I lived at the beach and went swimming in the ocean and chlorine pools And Shaved my face and everything else without any kind of lotion and did fine. I never had any issues when I was homeless or in jail Or any other times without using Sensitive skin lotions or special soap. It seems like all of these problems started whenever I went to the dermatologist and took their advice.

 

So I don't know whether it was bad advice from the dermatologist or if this is benzo withdrawal related.

Are you dehydrated?  Maybe it's from getting older.  Try a different moisturizer.  Our skin changes with age.

It's possible, my lips were also chapped. I will try drinking lots of water today and not using as much face lotion , to prevent any Breakout.

I use Chapstick for my dry lips.  It's been on the market for decades and is the best.  They even make Strawberry flavor, etc.  Can be had at any drug or grocery store.

Well I was going to have a joke with you about substance abuse/addiction, and physical dependance of a facial product, -but I wont..

More the point you asked about excessive oil/lipid production or discharge, and this is something I went through for about 6-10 months around my valium jump time.. I probs didnt mention it much because at the same time one of my ears was pouring out liquid wax like a tap.. Also I tied it in pretty neatly (inc. prior exp.) with my lyrica use and discontinuation..

Perhaps?? It is your body having a bit of a homeostasis shake up and/or sensitive to product..??

Nothing surprises me much anymore around here..

 

Could be seborrheic dermatitis, which relates to what Cantfly said - excess sebum production, leading to inflammation of the skin. Not easy to treat. I've had a problem with it since quitting benzos, though never before benzos. My doctor finally diagnosed it after I told him what I thought it was. We're on our own, buddies.

Could be seborrheic dermatitis, which relates to what Cantfly said - excess sebum production, leading to inflammation of the skin. Not easy to treat. I've had a problem with it since quitting benzos, though never before benzos. My doctor finally diagnosed it after I told him what I thought it was. We're on our own, buddies.

 

Yep.

Well that's no good. I will explain how I got into this predicament in the first place. It's quite complicated.

 

When I was using benzos, I started getting really red spots on my face and they would burn. One day I tried some cooling cortisone and it seemed to do the trick and get rid of it, but only if I put it on right after a shower. So I continued for a couple of years. It was a bad idea because I got addicted to that just like the benzos, dependent, whatever you want to call it.

 

So fast forward to about a half a year ago, I went to the dermatologist. She prescribed me Elidel so that it would suppress my immune system so that my withdrawal from the cortisone would not be so bad. So a couple months later, I went through Elidel withdrawal instead. It was really bad and it burned and it was really red.

 

So fast forward some more and I decided to get some soothing hydration moisturizer and she recommended I get Cetaphil so I did. I've been using it every day for a couple months now. But I was getting breakouts here and there and I never used to and my face was getting really greasy from it so I decided to quit using the lotion.

 

So whenever I quit using my Cetaphil moisturizer my face got really red and started burning, and it started to get chapped above my lip. So then I decided okay well I guess I need some instead of not having any moisturizer, so I decided to hydrate my skin again.

 

Which leaves me in this predicament that I'm in now, burning and itching face and it doesn't know what to do and I keep confusing it with lotion. So either I need it or I don't, but the dermatologist wouldn't be able to tell me anything because I've only seen her for a total of about 5 minutes. Somehow I feel like I'm in the same predicament as benzos only with a dermatologist instead of a psychiatrist. Maybe I don't need anything at all just like with the benzos. I wish this hell would be over with.

Which leaves me in this predicament that I'm in now, burning and itching face and it doesn't know what to do and I keep confusing it with lotion. So either I need it or I don't, but the dermatologist wouldn't be able to tell me anything because I've only seen her for a total of about 5 minutes. Somehow I feel like I'm in the same predicament as benzos only with a dermatologist instead of a psychiatrist. Maybe I don't need anything at all just like with the benzos. I wish this hell would be over with.

 

Find a different dermatologist and get a diagnosis. If the doctor is not sure, ask if it could be seborrheic dermatitis. There are treatments. They aren't cures, but they might calm it down and keep it under control. I never had this problem before benzos, or even during benzos. It started during withdrawal and continues to this day. I think it's caused by stress, or more precisely, by anxiety, by feeling stressed all the time.

Funny you mention cetaphil... I have extremely sensitive skin. Always have. Cetaphil was my go to. Then I started getting red spots on my face and was told to switch to a sensitive lotion? I told my derm I already use that and she was baffled. Now I just use argan oil on my skin. My skin ended up pretty bad over time using the cetaphil.

 

When I stopped using the cetaphil my entire body felt very dry like I needed moisture really bad. Scaly, red and chapped skin.

Interesting, so maybe Cetaphil is to blame. I mean sure I could have dermatitis but that would just be a diagnosis from a doctor and I don't really trust them because how would they know? I know that might sound dumb to say because they are trained, but what I mean is if I've been using Cetaphil everyday and I quit using it and my skin gets red and scaly, how would they know if it's Cetaphil or dermatitis? It's not like they're medical literature trained them on what happens when you quit using Cetaphil.

 

It's kind of like with benzo withdrawal, if you quit using benzos and a year later you're having issues, a psychiatrist might say it's an anxiety issue. When really it's benzo withdrawal. That's why doctors are not reliable sometimes.

 

So I'm trying to figure out how I can quit using it without any issues. Maybe I will have to taper it.

I understand how you feel completely. My dr was  very confused on what mine was. I just started using the dove sensitive bar and the argan oil and my face isn’t as bad. Still feels very dried out but feels like it’s getting better over time.

 

I do blame cetaphil for it though. I YouTubed other people’s experiences with cetaphil and it was mixed reviews but a couple with similar stories. I’m sure it’s because of WD and just being sensitive to certain things but it’s still frustrating lol

I can't imagine that it's even possible to have w/d from a facial moisturizer.  If you just switch to a different one, then maybe your skin will be alright.

Yeah, you can have withdrawal from anything just about. Whether it's nicotine or caffeine or even chapstick, try putting on ChapStick for a couple weeks all day and then not using it and your lips will peel. I used to use chapstick all the time until I started noticing the trend. If you don't put it on all day everyday then your lips will start peeling and getting all dry so it's better just to keep them hydrated instead.

 

And I never used to have dry skin on my face until I started using lotions so obviously when I don't have lotion my face is in withdrawal. Maybe we shouldn't use the term withdrawal for everything, technically our body is just used to it.

 

As for the Argan Oil, I didn't know you could put oil on your face. Wouldn't that make it break out? I've heard you're only supposed to put vitamins and hydration in your face and nothing else, little did I know Cetaphil was a lot more than just hydration.

Argan and sweet almond are supposed to be non comedogenic. Which everyone’s skin is different but I went through all those sensitive moisturizers before I switched. I even sleep with a humidifier next to me and it’s helped too.

 

It took me a year to try all those moisturizers to give them a chance and I finally got fed up and looked into other things.  The oil isn’t perfect I still get tiny breakouts but that’s from my hormones. My face feels hydrated now.

Well that's good to know, I'm glad it works. I'm pretty sure that the non-stop heat in my home has a lot to do with it and that's why it was getting dry. I'm considering tapering the Cetaphil lotion to every other day and let my face get used to that and then do every 3 days and then quit using it while drinking lots of water and going outside more. Hopefully I won't need anything after that. If I do I think I will go the natural route instead of lotion.

JiT, maybe just stop washing your face with soap.  Use water only.  I never heard of anyone needing to taper from face lotion.  You're the first.  Maybe there is something to it though. 

You have a good point, you know what it could be? Some people say that they still have cortisone withdrawal even a year later and that their skin is red and has pus and peeling and all kinds of nasty stuff going on. It's been about a half a year since I quit using it on my face so maybe I'm still having sensitivity and dryness and burning from that and the lotion is just covering it up.

My skin was really bad the first three years after withdrawal. My face had little bumps all over it, which I’m not sure were actually acne at all. It was also very, very dry. I think it started to get better last year but before that there wasn’t much I probably could have done but waited. My symptoms were so bad that I couldn’t get to the store, and because of my financial situation was not able to order online so had to ask my mom to pick up crummy options from Trader Joe’s, or was even forced to resort to using body lotion on my face at times. These were not the reasons for my severe skin problems at the time, however. I’m sure they didn’t help matters but the skin issues I was having were absolutely w/d related.

 

I wish I had more money for a better skin routine, but right now all I use are: La Roche-Posay Hydrarting Gentle Cleanser (awesome) and La Roche Posay Lipikar Lotion (for face and body), along with Neutrogena Age Sheild oil-free 100 spf face sunscreen. I was using a different moisturizer from La Roche Posay that was for face only, which I liked better I think, but Target has been out of it the last three times I’ve been there. Fortunately this one is comparable, though not quite as good.

 

I mention these because I’ve tried to find very gentle face cleansers and good moisturizers for years and these are the best I’ve found. They cost a little more than Cetaphil etc., but are still affordable and are worth the few extra dollars in my opinion. They also come in large sizes and last a long time. I wish I could afford high-end, but this is the best I can do for now. Sometimes I use Dickenson’s Witch Hazel toner (with cotton rounds.) The Neutrogena sunscreen actually adds a lot of moisture I need.

 

I doubt that face cleanser or moisturizer would send you into a wave, it’s much more likely it would have something to do with diet, stress, something else you’re taking/took recently, or the unpredictable and nonlinear aspect(s) of the withdrawal itself.

 

It has been 4 1/2 years since I discontinued. I think that it will take another year before I start to feel like I can consider myself significantly better in a way that I’m comfortably approaching normalcy in terms of physical health and energy levels, with a general and more persistent overall lessening of symptoms. One year ago I started to feel much calmer, the symptoms lessened substantially, and also my skin started to get better. But I have still had waves and prolonged stress has slowed things down for me.

 

Providing I have less stress from here for about a year, I think things will feel a lot more hopeful. It may not take you this long. I believe these drugs gave me the cancer I got during the course of my use of them. I no longer have it, but as a result at the time in 2016 I needed to have chemo the first 6mo. of acute w/d. I also was administered steroids at that time for nausea, and went on olanzapine and Wellbutrin because of how hard that combination of factors was. I discontinued those two drugs right after chemo I think.

 

I also relapsed on alcohol a year or so after, and had a history of alcohol abuse and trying different psych meds off and on since age 16, along with a personal history of loss, unresolved grief and trauma/unresolved trauma. It takes the time it takes.

Sorry to hear that, that's horrible. Benzo induced cancer oh, I believe it. I guess there's no way of actually knowing for sure but I don't doubt it one bit. And I don't doubt that the benzo withdrawal is causing the face issues either, because of the extreme stress and blood flow problems yeah, it's kind of like if you get really mad and worked up, your face will get greasy. I guess it has to do with pressure underneath your skin pores.

 

Or imagine sitting there and piercing your lips closed and putting all the pressure you can on your face, with all the blood flow going to it. That's kind of how benzo withdrawal is, and I'm sure it's not good for your skin. I'm sure it takes its toll.

 

As for lotions, I was having the same problem with regular lotion and it was burning my face so then I used cortisone. Only to find out cortisone has bad withdrawal and side effects. So then I went to my dermatologist and she gave me Elidel which is a immunosuppressant. And then I quit taking that because I heard it can give you organ failure.

 

So fast forward a little bit and my face was really burning so I used Cetaphil because I didn't have any good lotion and it was expensive, it was like $11 for a little bottle with a squirt top. I also got the cleanser which is worthless so I went back to regular bar soap. I also got some of the SPF 30 lotion and moisturizer but I don't like it so I basically wasted thirty bucks on Cetaphil products.

 

My dermatologist prescribed the Elidel for dermatitis and cortisone withdrawal so I'm thinking maybe I will go back to that because it's free through Medicaid. She said just to use a little bit and continue to use it as long as I need. So I think it was better than Cetaphil and same thing happened when I quit using that as the set of Phil. I never had any organ problems so I think I'm going back to it.

A lot of us in withdrawal and recovery feel constant stress, or anxiety,

and this causes the skin to secrete excess sebum, which is the waxy substance

that protects our skin and keeps it hydrated. You may notice this as a greasy face

and scalp, or excess ear wax.

The excess sebum is food for a yeast called malassezia, which lives on everyone's

skin and usually does not cause problems. But with excess sebum, and possibly

a suppressed immune response, the overgrowth of malassezia can cause an

inflammation of the skin, which is dermatitis. This kind of dermatitis is

called seborrheic, since it is caused by the excess sebum.

 

Symptoms of Seborrheic Dermatitis

 

I can't say whether this is what's causing your problem.  But it does often cause

problems during withdrawal/recovery, so it's worth posting this information here.

That looks like it could also be a possibility, lots of redness and scaly dryness. My dermatologist did say that I had dermatitis and that's why she gave me the Elidel. It helped.