Wow...so much has gone on the last few weeks that I am not sure where to begin.  Sis continued to have very irritated skin (dry, red) even with the B vitamins; which I DO believe are helping.  Come to find out, her pH is WAY off.  On the pH scale of 1-14 (1 is very acidic and 14 is very alkaline), her pH was a 14!  OM!  No wonder her skin looked horrible and seemed to react to everything, but not in the typical manner that denotes food allergies or intolerances. 

 3 weeks later:
Her pH has come down to 8.0 (should be around 6.5) and her digestion is improving...and slowly but surely her skin is improving.  In case you don't realize it, if your body isn't digesting things well, you aren't getting the necessary nutrients from your food and you are not getting rid of the waste and toxins efficiently.  She has a compromised liver, and has all her life.  Lucky her...The Lord is healing her, there is no doubt.  Sometimes the healing process can be cruel, and make us question why.  This too will only make us stronger and deepen our faith in Him.

She is on several vitamin supplements over and above her daily multivitamin.  With a compromised liver, inefficient digestive system, and a skin condition, her body doesn't react at all like "normal" people.  I say normal in quotation marks, because even so called healthy people have some similar issues.  Its just not as visible as someone with skin conditions.  I have a very unique situation with Sis - I am able to see first hand how much our environment, stress (good and bad) and what we put in our body affects us.  If it weren't for her going through this, there are many things I wouldn't see.  For that I am thankful.  This has improved my health, my family's health and I hope I am able to help others improve their health.  Back to Sis's supplements - she is on extra Vitamin C, Vitamin B, and Vitamin E.  C & E are major antioxidants and is utilized by so many cells in our body.   Where she does eat a healthy, varied diet, she doesn't consume enough of the food these vitamins are found in to give her the amounts her body needs.  Vitamin B's are SO critical and are lacking in our diet in the quantities that we need.  Vitamin C and B are also water soluble - meaning our body doesn't actually store them.

Another thing I discovered this week, is the pH of our skin is actually around 5.5.  Very acidic.  This is necessary for healthy skin and bad bacteria doesn't survive at that pH while the good bacteria does.  Soaps on the market are all alkaline in varying degrees.  Some are around 7.5 while the majority of soaps we use daily are 9.0 - 11.  Ever wash dishes and end up with dry hands?  Or have you noticed that certain bath soaps dry your skin out?  That is due to the alkaline pH.  It strips the oils from our skin, damaging the top layer (the acid mantle).  The acid mantle of normal people adjusts itself and will return to the proper pH in about 3 hours.  I have noticed that soaps that are supposed to be good for your skin - like homemade soaps, will dry her skin out.  Yet, when I use the same soap, my skin gets very soft and supple.  Even homemade soaps are alkaline.  From what I have read, for them to be a bar soap, they have to be alkaline.  They do have better ingredients and are a much better soap to use.  For Sis, bath soaps are not that easy...her body reacts the opposite way.  From what I have read and observed with my daughter, damaged skin doesn't repair and return to the proper pH as easily.  In fact, her skin at times has looked very irritated after her bath.  When I checked the pH of her liquid bath soap, I discovered that it is as alkaline as our bar soap.  An alkaline soap mixed with hard water that has a pH around 7, and damaged skin just doesn't mix well. 

For about a week we were using a cream called Psorzema Creme.  Her skin was healing so nice!  We saw major improvements in the skin on her elbows until we ran out - just as our weather turned very cold!  We are waiting for the cream to come in...in the mean time, we are doing all we can to keep her skin happy.  That can be a quite a challenge.  I did order the Psorzema Body Wash as well, and can't wait til it arrives.  I contacted the company and found out that both the cream and body wash have a pH of 5.5.  YAY!!!

With the excitement of Thanksgiving and her cousins coming up, this will truly be a test of this wash and cream.  I am very hopeful that it will provide some external help with any possible flare ups she may have.