Amazing! I know this probably sounds ridiculous but I really didn't expect a response. Don't ask me why, I'm just not practised in this sort of thing I guess and a little cautious. Thank you so much.

Yes I'll get back to you for sure. Take a while to get some of those lined up. The grass fed lamb is probably the hardest call. How to be sure that's what I'm getting! I already buy from the better retail outlets but now I need to be more specific for a while.

In the UK I'm sure I'll get a few odd comments on this question. Maybe what I buy is grassfed but it's never mentioned in all the information supplied. Is it more regular in the US for shoppers to be requesting "grass fed"? I hope this doesn't sound picky but I shall assume that I should only eat lamb in the meat department.

I already do the olive oil daily. I use it on most meals as a dressing with the grey salt and whatever herbs/spices I fancy. I use lemon and limes almost every day. Thanks for the calculation on qty on water. Very helpful.

I have been using MSM 500mg+Vit C 100mg(combination - powder in vegetable cellulose capsules) daily for some time. 1 with breakfast and 1 with eve meal. Also Rutin (Rice flour - pure rutin 250mg (powder in veg.cell.caps) 1 eve. Folic Acid 400 micrograms ( I think that's what that little greek type y indicates) The folic acid tablets are from a "High Street" outlet and contain - Dicalcium Phosphate: Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose: Vegetable Stearic acid: Folic Acid: Colloidal Silicon Dioxide: Vegetable Magnesium Stearate.

At the moment I have reluctantly turned to "Elocon ointment" (mometasone furoate) which I dread using and realising it's potency only use when desperate. Despite the years of this problem I have only used the Elocon since February this year. The intolerable itching has eased with this ointment over the last 48 or so hours and the next stage is the cracking/splitting bleeding. Again the hydrocortisone cream speeds this.

I have tried in the past to abstain from this measure but the skin becomes so open and bleeding that there's real risk of infection so that I have to keep them in gloves almost all the time. (I found cyclists fingerless gloves excellent. Soft lightweight leather and I tuck cotton hankies in the palms to act as bandages.)

I have 3 teenage kids a hubby and do a fair bit of food preparation daily not to mention all the clearing up and keeping house. Manual workers hands and the punishment is telling! I try to protect them as best I can. I also resort occasionaly to a 1% hydrocortisone cream.

Generally I use the most gentle creams on my hands. I use masses of the stuff. Applying throughout the day every day. Even without a bad flare-up. I use products that do not use the regular ingredients in most "mainstream" lotions/creams. Stick to natural ingredients as much as possible.

The one I'm using the most at the moment that was recommended and seems soothing and helpful contains Coconut oil: Ceteareth Alcohol: Amygdalum: Aqua: Organic Soya: Triticum Vulgare:MSM:Condire: e o Citrus aurantifolia: Malum acetum Acidophilus. The label is cracking (like my hands) so some of those spellings may be wrong. Sorry about the length of this. It was just to give you a bit more background.

Appreciate your support. This has been a long time and I can't seem to sort it out. The usual problem with the GP I'm afraid. It's just the prescription for steroids. I am also aware that there are many offers of miracle cures that don't work either and cost a lot. Been there too. Christine

Thanks for your quick reply, dear! :-)

I suggested lamb because 99% of it is 100% grass fed. We here in the States are more sensitive to issues of feeding because so much of our cattle is fattened with corn before market, not to mention customarily fed the most ghastly stuff. We're not only poisoned by the byproducts of the pesticides and worse horrors in the feed that remain in the meat, but the fatty acid balance in the meat is thrown off to a significant extent.

For example, I developed a most curious rash on my back and torso which slowly grew and persisted for MONTHS. Started as a habitual little itchiness, and when I finally took a good look I saw what appeared to be 1/2-to-1-inch welts rising. Not like hives, but slightly scaly. I was covered with them. Mystified me no end, till one morning I got a bright idea. I set aside the very good organically-fed beef I'd been eating and substituted my butcher's regular old lamb for it. It was the fatty acid make-up (CLA, conjugated linoleic acid, particularly) which 'disappeared' the rash in 48 hours. There's a lesson I won't forget!

England, Scotland and Ireland in nearly every situation take far greater loving care of their cattle. So: If you get Angus beef, or lamb of any kind, you're all set. This time I won't need you to do anything which might provoke odd looks from the butcher, but I make no guarantee for the future.... :-)

There may be a simple reason for your skin condition: the cleansers you use. If you must use caustic chemicals in clearing up, always wear heavy rubber gloves for those tasks. For the washing up, and laundry, I use products from a company called Bio-Kleen in Vancouver, Washington. Not that I expect you to order soap from the other side of the world (LOL), but these products work better than conventional detergents, and cost about the same.

Here are the ingredients of the Hand Dishwashing Liquid for your comparison: Coconut surfactant, conditioner and degreaser from coconut, orange peel extract, grapefruit seed and pulp extract, aloe & vitamin E, linear sulfonate, filtered spring water. Their website is www.bi-o-kleen.com, for your reference in comparing products you might get hold of.

Another woman wrote in a few months ago complaining of devastatingly dry skin that nothing ever helped. It turned out she only needed to change her body soap to an olive-oil soap, and suddenly all was well. So, never discount the importance of topical preparations. Also, remember that we don't mind 'digestive avoids' in our soaps and shampoos, such as aloe vera gel for type O. They're fine as long as we're not eating them. ;-)

And one last note: I wondered if you'd used hydrocortisone, because one of our regular correspondents who has battled multiple chemical sensitivities and had a particular battle with burning in her hands learned (in a years-long research process) that cortisone preparations actually perpetuate the problem. They must be "detoxified" by the skin, along with the rest of the jobs it's trying to do every day. So, a word in your ear.

So pleased to hear from you again, and looking forward to your "report!" :-D

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Hi Mom, Your incomprehension of the problem of being equal and singular vs a collective had me thinking a bit. I do NOT think 'equality' to be self-evident nor is it real. This idea in fact imposes severe restrictions on what it means to be 'human'. The word 'human' has undergone some profound changes since Ben Franklin's day .... The Declaration of Independence. It is somewhat similar to the word 'grass' which nobody uses as 'the green-plants that make up a lawn'. Old Ben declared independence, but had black-slaves at the time. Inconsistent, only if you think of 'blacks' as human ... and equal. Obviously Ben didn't! '... all men are created equal' so says the US constitution and most think it is a quote from the Christian bible - it isn't! I agree that all men are created ... it is just this equal part that I strongly disagree with. There are a few ways to refute the concept of 'equal': eg. How can anyone be unique and equal at the same time?; Is a Rembrant 'equal to' a Da Vinci; ; 'equal to' a Picasso; 'equal to' a Renoir; etc, etc. If we find it silly to compare paintings this way, then why is it not also silly to compare humans (the greatest picture) this way? This difficulty arises from our concept of what is 'human' or should I say 'what alive' means. If we use the analogy of a car. Our 'understanding' of a car shifts remarkably if we consider a car that is parked to one in-motion. In a very similar fashion, we talk of 'human' as if inert ... 'parked', and not alive. This all leads to some very different views. If we identify the 'human' as being only a physical 'thing' then the world is 'our' world - ie. created-imagined by us. We 'project' value onto it! The world is made up of not singularities (as I pointed-out) but isolates. Jean-Paul Sartre wrote about being an island. In opposing such a view T. Merton wrote a famous book 'No Man is an Island'. The word 'human' vastly changes when you talk of alive-humans. We have at onetime this physical nature and also this aliveness. It is very close to energy and unlike a static being tends to mix and blend. It is much more concerned with being 'one' than being seperate. There is a large gulf between being independent and being interdependent. BUT WHOEVER HEARD OF A DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE? There is room for both ... because independence is fraught with newness, while interdependece tends to be slow-to-change. Although newness/change is never automatically better (and rarely is), the tension makes us responsible. Re. the difference between US and Canadian societies is not so much a singular vs a collective mentality, but a willingness to accomodate our alive-human trait of being a onness. So in the US, is the use of the term 'American' not a term of unity (among a very diverse bunch)? Take care, (hope this helps, but I suspect only-muddies-the-water) John

Hello, dear! I may have lost the thread here... but perhaps what was missing from whatever I said before was, 'equal before the law?' That is certainly a salient feature of 'created equal' as it is meant in foundational American documents. Some reading in the Federalist Papers will show that was the intent. Constitutional Note for the Day! love, Mom. :-D

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Hi Mom, Quite often the over-population of intestinal-'critters' is caused by a too low acid level ... often these are candida or H. Pylori. They both naturally find a home in our gut, but with a wee bit of bad food choices, they grow excessively and leak outside this containment to other areas - causing havock! Besides having a great dose of Polyvite, a good supply of stomach acid keeps these in-check.

You may wish to check out http://www.vitaminlady.com/Articles/digestion.asp for this information. She refers to Peter's work and suggest ways to increase stomach acid. Type-A's (like Jim) are especially prone to this difficulty. Fixing stomach acid levels is a very inexpensive way to go!

Great suggestion, John!! Jim, listen up! :-) You might try something as simple as one HCL tablet with food. You can take up to three, then back off the dosage if you feel any burning in your stomach. Well worth a try.

thanks again, son! :-D

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Not a question, just another big thankyou. Will get on and soothe my immune system now. warm regards from down unda. marni

Bless you, marni! I'm looking forward to hearing how you do! :-D

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