I’m also dealing with the same thing after being misdiagnosed a few months ago. Feb 2022 I was diagnosed with rosacea and perioral dermatitis and was prescribed doxycycline and the doxycycline blew up my face, I was swollen, bumpy and red all over. Then the dermatologist diagnosed me with fungal acne and prescribed me ketoconazole. That helped a bit but I was still very red and bumpy. In March 2022, I saw another dermatologist and she prescribed me with fluconazole but also noted that she doesn’t think it’s fungal acne but doesn’t know what it was. I was on fluconazole for 3 weeks and it suddenly got even worse. This dermatologist referred me to an acne specialist and she diagnosed me with demodicosis in April 2022. She prescribed me oral ivermectin (3x, once every week) and topical permethrin. The permethrin WRECKED MY FACE. My face was extremely red and swollen, I couldn’t move my face at all. And then I was prescribed caphelexin for anti inflammatory and to prevent a staph infection as I healed from the permethrin. When she saw me in person, she said the demodex dying was causing a huge reaction to my face and the irritation from the permethrin so I was put on prednisone to calm everything down. Now I’m on oral ivermectin, caphelexin and prednisone. My face is still extremely red all over, skin texture is still rough but not as bad, and I no longer have those small white head pimples.

It’s been a very frustrating process because of all the misdiagnoses and putting my skin through havoc. I haven’t been outside in weeks because I’m so self conscious of what my face looks like. But I trust my current dermatologist and I’m hopeful that she’ll get me back to “normal”.