progress

[Guest guest]

The first thing I want to say is that I seldom have time to read everything here, so I am behind on the science. I am so glad that my feeble efforts at scientific investigation are moot, which is why I have stopped maintaining (paying for) the online resources I had posted when we were still in our "dark ages."

What I do maintain is the resources that don't cost me money, namely, the critterfiles library, which is outdated but still has some good stuff, and the memorials I mentioned in an earlier post tonight.

My focus now is to continue with what is working for me:

After the bioactive chitinase I drizzled over my body after a shower caused the exit of thousands of squares of gelatinous material (was that the bio-film, do you think?) within about 15 minutes of applying the chitinase, my critters have been biting more--and more meanly--than ever. That includes more shedding everywhere. I still have to wear long sleeves and rubber boots at home to prevent reinfection from sheds, HOWEVER, thanks to the benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid combo I'm using on my skin (DermaPet shampoo, formerly Dermabenss, about 59.99 / gallon) my bites are smaller and smaller, and when I use my lice comb, I get less and less off my scalp. So it is working!

I have not yet succeeded in becoming unattractive to the critters, and there are several things I have read here that I either have already ordered or plan to order as I have the bucks.

Also, after I dropped my Pink Oil/benzalchonium chloride/herbal insect repellent from my regimen, I got, for the first time, what Bill calls Twizzlers (good name). Also, I was getting bitten horribly throughout the day (smaller, due to the BP shampoo, as mentioned above, but more and meaner bites). I restarted the Pink Oil mixture and the reinfection dropped to nearly nothing. The mixture is good for about 10 hours, then I have to shower and start over. Also, the twizzlers went away. What helped with them was applying the Clobetasol Propionate (prescription steroid gel) to the spots. On a good day, when I apply that gel, whatever was biting me comes out. It doesn't always work, but fortunately whatever was causing these feelings was close enough to the surface, not as deep as I thought, because after that--no more twizzling.

I still take the seabuckthorn berry oil internally at least a dropperful daily. I also take (and have for several months) 340 mg of oregano oil daily, and have just started taking about the same amount of Interfase Plus, a chitinase that is often prescribed (though I don't know the science behind it) for autism, according to the website where it is sold.

The seabuckthorn berry oil helps prevent lesions and once I have them, to reduce the inflammation in them, and help them heal. The BP is slower, but only requires one application and the lesions are on their way to gone, whereas I have to reapply the SBT berry oil.

It is turkey season, and I am a hunter, and I have lucked up on a lease that has blinds on every food plot, portable cloth blinds that zip up and keep things out. So I can turkey hunt again, in a comfortable chair, rather than sitting against trees on the ground where everything in the world got on me. This past weekend I called in a bird for the woman who invited me onto this lease, her first bird, and it was such a pleasure to be outdoors, but protected, and able to enjoy my sport without fear of being swarmed. Of course I wore bug juice anyway! Then, when she got her bird, we both put on disposable gloves and put the whole bird in a giant ziploc bag with ice so it didn't infect my car. We took it to the club lodge, where her husband and a friend of mine, who is a hunting guide, got to see it and hear her story, and the friend gutted it and then put it back into the ziploc without questioning my use of it (he knows I have morg).

After turkey season, I've scheduled a purge, starting with my garage, where we track things in. It goes back to the old story about sweeping the front stoop first, otherwise cleaning inside is kind of pointless. Then I will clean the other areas where we come into the house and start inside. I've read some terrific advice here about cleaning ductwork and I've always known that I had to do something about the expansion joints and gaps under molding. I'll finish off by yanking the carpets and putting down smooth flooring. I despise cold tiles, so I will probably do the radiant (under tile) heat thing. Actually I'm not crazy about tiles anyway, so I may go with what I love, which is sheet vinyl. It is the least maintenance (to me) in the short run, though it must be replaced more often than tile.

Have any of you posted a comprehensive list all in one place of what all to do to a house?

Thank you, all of you, for what you have taught me and shared of yourselves here.

love,katie