I have perioral dermatitis what can I do to treat this besides going
to a doctor to be prescribed a steroid cream.

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 03 Jul 2006 20:01 PDT

I am not a physician but I do happen to know about this ailment
because someone in my family went through it. I am not offering you
medical advice but it is my personal experience that steroidal creams
will only exacerbate the problem. If you want to clear it up see your
dermatologist and try to get him or her to prescribe you about 14 days
of tetracycline. Get off ALL the creams and just take the pills as
prescribed - that should do the trick. Come back here after you see
the results and let me claim the fee because I'm confident this is the
solution.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

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Clarification of Question by darstar1-ga on 10 Jul 2006 19:02 PDT

Before I had trouble with perioral dermatitis, I had acne, and my
dermatologist perscribed birth control pills, and a steroid cream. 
Only after being on the birth control did I have the dermatitis.  I
have been off the pills for over two years now, and now I have a
one-month old son.  I don't remember if tetracyline, or doxycyline, or
erythromycin are in birth control pills? I do remember taking these
also perscribed for my skin.  I avoid many foods, and chemicals
believed to cause this condition.  It always gets better when I avoid
something for a while, and then something else seems to trigger it
again.

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 16 Jul 2006 15:45 PDT

The drug tetracyline is an antibiotic. It is not found in birth control pills.

It does not seem like a steroid cream would be a good idea:

"Generally, steroid creams should not be used to treat perioral
dermatitis. Your physician may chose to treat these lesions with other
topical medications, such as metronidazole, erythromycin, benzoyl
peroxide, tacrolimus, or pimecrolimus. In more severe cases, oral
antibiotics (such as tetracycline, doxycycline, minocycline, or
erythromycin) may be required."

Source: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001455.htm