I have always had very sensitive skin and my regimine is tedious and boring. As far as bug control goes though I use only avon's original scent Skin So Soft. I know many people have tried it and do not have success but it works wonders for me. I cannot use any of the regular insect repellents. They either make me ill or make my skin break out. The SSS works for me and does not irritate my skin. I also think that the layer of oil helps keep other irritating plant 'stuff' and chemicals from getting next to my skin as well. What does irritate me about it is the oily mess. I cannot come in from out of doors and sit down on my dining room or living room chairs. If I rest my arms on a table or desk I leave an oily mark. So I trade one problem for another because I live and breath outdoors - I just cannot stay inside for any lenth of time. But back to the plus side again - I have pretty good looking skin for my age :-). I think all those years of oiling up before I go outside might have something to do with it.

My wife has a bad peanut allergy and says some legumes are similar. She says she can"t eat English peas either. But she has no problem with green beans and loves 2 or 3 types of what we know as butter beans (one is speckled that you can find in any store). The other is a very dark red or black bean that has been passed around and nobody knows it's variety. Anybody else share these effects? I want to try some different types of beans but I'd like to avoid extra doctor's bills.

Our Megan used to get all itchy this time of year. She would end up on corticosteroids, which made her nervous and she would pant and just not settle and relax. I hated seeing her like that. A few years ago I took her to a holistic vet. He put her on a predigested dog food and some supplements. One supplement was licorice, one was an auto-immune remedy that was actually made for people. I started her on this treatment at least a month before her seasonal allergy time. It turned out that she became sensitive to that darned dog food with the predigested proteins - just after I bought a second bag of it. She would vomit after eating it. If I remember right, we had to take her in to our own vet to get her looked at for vomiting. So OUR vet says, why not do an allergy blood test? This is the same vet who was giving her prednisone every August and September! He knew we had pet health insurance and would have done anything to help her feel better. So he ran the allergy test and it came back saying she was allergic to beets, potatoes, carrots, and wheat. The way the holistic doctor explained it to us was that if she is allergic to food, that is a year-round thing. If she is not reacting year-round, it is because her immune system was not overwhelmed and was coping with that level of irritation. When you added her seasonal inhalant allergies in August and September, she was then overwhelmed, and the result was skin irritation - which seems to be the most common way that allergies of all types are seen in dogs. So, every summer we would get very diligent about her food allergies, starting in about June. That way, by August she would not be having reactions to her food and would better handle the inhalant allergies that started then. After starting this routine, we were able to control her allergies and keep her comfortable with a Benadryl pill once or twice a day.

I haven't tried Miele sensitive.. but when a detergent says Sensitve..to me it means the Scents used are more tolorated by more people, it may still have a strong scent but its a scent that either less people have reactions too..or perhaps the scent is from real essential oils instead of a chemical. Chemical Scents are the #1 cause of detergent allergies/sensitivities. Yet some people that have these issues still want a scent..so some manufactures chose scents *less* likely to cause a reaction. This of course is IMHO. I