Ok, soooo....Ive handled tomato plants for the last 8 years with no problem other than my hands turning green from them...Cilantro I have growing but only seedlings and I havent been lugging them around. I HAVE been touching and doing lots of cutting down of tree limbs that I can get with a pair of pruners and carrying them to put them into a pile. Ive been carrying around fertilizer and miracle grow garden soil bags...You know, now that I think of it they say you should use gardening gloves when touching miracle grow, and me being the "die-hard" gardener that thinks "Gloves?!, I dont need no stinkin' gloves!" and then working barehanded all day long and taking a shower hours later after coming in...Hmmm....I wonder if its the miracle grow.... It bites because now my doctor wants me to take steroids and they make me MORE itchy and act like im on speed. Im really dreading taking them... To make matters even worse is she found a lump in my neck that she wants to "wait a couple weeks to see if it goes away and if it doesnt, I need to get it worked up" So now im worried... BLAH!!!!! -cass

I'm just another major mosquito magnet, so I'm constantly looking for ways to avoid getting bitten. Ironically, they don't even land on my husband. After Bite is ammonia with a bit of oil added to help keep the skin from getting dry. I refill my After Bite stick with fresh ammonia when it runs out. When I can't find the stick, I just splash on some ammonia. I have learned to make my own repellant from a mix of herbal essential oils, a base oil, some water, and some Vodka to help it to dry quickly. I'm happy to say it works very well and it has a very pleasant herbal fragrance. Avon's Skin-So-Soft lotion is great too, especially against the no-seeums I encountered in Florida. I can't get refills for the repellant lantern that was on the market for a couple of years. That was great, I used to just carry it around the garden to keep the bugs away. It had a small fan inside that pushed the repellant smell about 15 feet in all directions. It kept my open porch free of mosquitos even after dark. But another company has come out with a lantern that uses an insert in the top, instead of the liquid the first one used. It is probably very effective too, but since my porch is now screened in I don't need one. I really don't like using the canned sprays at home, but at camp it is a very different story. We camp on a river, the bugs are ferocious. That's when I go for the deep woods formula! Forget about the "it's a bad year because of all the rain etc." story, because if mosquitoes like you, EVERY year is a bad year. Try your local health food stores for some herbal repellants, and always have some ammonia at home and After Bite in your purse or pocket. Mary

I've had problems as well and made two visits to my dermatologist in November and December last year. I've stayed away from skin care products (face & body) containing fragrance for many years. My doctor told me to switch to fragrance free laundry detergent and dryer sheets----something I had not done before. She gave me a steroid shot, a perscription and samples of a new antihistamine called Xyzal. Also wrote a perscription for Zyrtec in case my insurance would not cover Xyzal (Zyrtec is now OTC). For daily skin care she recommended Cerave' cleansing and moisturizing lotions (also comes in a cream) AND I'm washing my colored hair in Head & Shoulders. I'm doing much better. I'll probably switch back to Claritin this June and see if that works OK. Mayo Clinic's info says that Xyzal, Zyrtec and Claritin (just in that order) are best for those of us with skin problems. NOTE: Cerave' does a great job cleansing my face---great job removing makeup. I get it at CVS and Rite Aid stores where I live. Check Cerave's web site for other retail stores.

You're welcome, Tesse. Yikes! It sounds as though you have a pronounced case of blepharitis and how awful that the specialists seem afraid of stepping across perceived boundaries. The condition comes under BOTH specialties, but more so under ophthalmology. The meibomian glands at the lid margins contribute to the quality and existance of the proper tear film of the eye. When the tear film is compromised, all sorts of unpleasant things can ensue. Can you go to your primary care doctor and have her/him direct you to a doctor that will serve you better with this infection? You may need some prescription medication. (If I recall correctly, tetracycline an its analogs can help with making the oils of the meibomian glands less viscous or prone to clogging). There are online support and information groups that focus on these eye conditions. Remove the menopause connection from your thinking for the moment as I don't believe it is helpful (and may only muddy the waters or confuse and distract). The forums or support groups for blepharitis, dry eye and so on have an international membership and some have medical practitioners as members. Of course, you only want evidenced based, science-based forums as that is what is appropriate for your situation. You need to have this condition properly addressed and should not have to muddle through this alone, treating yourself and guessing. Be polite, respectful and persistent. While its not benificial to continue with a doctor who is clueless or misdirected, you also need to give the professional a chance to review how their prescribed regimen is working or not working. Of course, they might not "see" much pathology if, out of sheer discomfort youv'e had to resort to treating yourself with eyelid washes and so on. Who can blame you? It might be a good idea to keep an organized, concise journal. That will help you; and you might find it helpful to offer a synopsis of it at your next doctor's appointment. I feel for you Tesse. I've experienced some eye irritation misery and sometimes it took repeated office visits to a number of practitioners to get the proper help. Somewhere there has to be a fat handful of excellent eye docs in Belgium who can readily address your situation. Search for forums in your country or internationally. You can look on PubMed for publications about blepharitis -- note the authors and affiliated institutions. Belgium is a sophisticated country. It's not like you're at the North Pole (not that there's anything wrong with that -- Saint Nick is at the North Pole). Keep us posted on your progress. I wish you comfort soon.