You should be able to find flax seed oil in softgel capsules at a health food store or a vitamin store. I think I got mine at GNC.

So how is working out for everyone who is taking theese vitamins???
Has anyone seen any improvment??? I've been cheating quite a lot :P and I went on holiday and totally forgot my betacaroten and fishoil tabletts so I don't know yet...I will try a strict diet from now on...

Good luck to ya'll

hi I'm new but I've been taking an Omega 3-6-9 supplement and a multivitamin for 2 months and I must say that my arms are loooking really smooth though there is still some bumps and a bit of redness and scars but it looks way better!!! My face is still red (though not as much) and kinda bumpy, so I don't know exactly if its working or not but my arms look nice. I've also been trying to make better food choices. Anyways thought I'd give an update.

THNX

Clunk

Have just trawled through this lot .. fascinating stuff. I've been using Coconoil now for a few days and loving the smoothing effect it's having. However, I agree that there must be an internal reason for my KP. Anyway, lo and behold, I was lactose intolerant as a kid as well - projectile vomiting etc. Trouble is I wasn't diagnosed - they took my tonsils out instead (go figure). My niece who is now 4 started being sick the same as I used to and my Mum noticed and my sister had her diagnosed. She has now been switched to some lactose free milk stuff, and the sickness has all but stopped. My sister has switched my nephew (6 years old) to it as well and would you believe his excsema (sp?) has cleared up.

I think there's something to all this.

FLo- you may be on to something. I drink a ton of milk and feel like I eat healthy in general. There have been some posts regarding allergies to foods possibly causing this. One of my coworkers saw my arms and said she and her daughter had that before they were diagnosed with a gluten (wheat) intolerance. Gluten is in so many products! She said after 2 months of changing her diet, both of them were completely clear.

My nephew has celiac sprue (sp) which is an allergy to gluten and he has KP everywhere as well.

Maybe we should start a new post on this topic?

*** KP as a Symptom ***


I would like to clear up two things ahead of time:
One, I have posted this... um... post in a couple of other forums risking awkward redundancy... I did it not to convince anyone of my theory, but to encourage discussion.
Second, I am NOT a doctor or a nurse, nor have I had any training in any medical field. I am a curious consumer and KP-sufferer. I HAVE read up on all of the conditions I mention here, but only via some medical newsletters, websites, and sources of that nature; I can hardly be deemed "an expert."

Brief/tedious history: I have had KP my whole life. I get it from my mom's side of the family, along with allergies and some digestive and anxiety problems. Since I found this website a few months ago, I have been doing research off and on (along with many other posters, lol) on the possible internal causes of KP. So many connections between seeminginly automonous conditions have been found by different people. It's wonderful, but vexingly confusing, too... In addition to my KP, an aggravating but purely asthetic condition, I have been looking for a reason behind my chronic fatigue of 6 years (which is, I know for sure, partially stress-induced). Could the two issues be connected? I'm starting to suspect so...
Along with other members of this site, I have lately been under the impression that KP is caused by nutritional deficiences/imbalances. It seems that the vitamins and minerals most associated with this condition are vitmamins A and C, and the ever-connected calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D (but supplementation of these nutrients does not always do the trick!!). Even more complicated is what is specifically causing the nutrient imbalance.

1. Gaps in a poor diet. If you're not eating the right foods, your body isn't receiving the correct nutrients. Evidence: Some posters on here have mentioned that they have seen an improvement in their KP by improving their diet (more fruits and veggies, less bad fats, and all that). Also, some have mentioned that supplements, especially fish or flaxseed oil, and a balanced calcium/vitmain D supplement has helped.

2. Lack of sunlight. Sunlight produces a certain kind of vitamin D, which helps utilize calcium in the body. Evidence: A few people on this forum have posted how, after moving to a more Northern climate, their KP worsened - or simply started. The opposite is true for another poster who moved to New Zealand and began to receive a lot of sun.

3. Imbalance of hormones. From what I have read and doctors have told me, hormones help to regulate various processes in your body, as well as utilize some vitamins and minerals. Evidence: There have been a number of testemonies given on this forum hailing the clearing effects of a progesterone cream, or ingested bio-identical progesterone. In addition, many people see KP clear up as they become an adult, after leaving the hormonal period that is adolescenance. Finally, an even greater of amount of women on here have explained how severe their KP became upon becoming pregnant and beginning to lactate (when there is a greater need, and often a greater deficiency, or calcium, etc.) - both conditions controlled by an extreme amount of hormones.

4. Damage of the gut due to certain food allergies. The villi of the small intestines are in charge of bringing in nutrients from your food to the cells in your body. If the villi are damaged (often the result of an intolerance to certain foods - most notably gluten for Celiac Disease sufferers) the body does not get the nutrients it needs. Vitamins D and the minerals calcium and megnesium are, in what I have read, often the first listed among those nutrients unable to be brought into the body by the villi. Evidence: There are many people on this forum who have reported allergies. Damage to the villi by food intolerances can lead to allergies, just as they are caused by allergies. Dietary changes (often the cutting back or exclusion dairy and/or bread products) have been reported to have good results. I have also read that those suffering from Celiac Disease who began the gluten-free diet saw a change in their KP (if they had it) in 3 months time (as the villi heals).

So, there you go, my theory. I have been suspecting that I have Celiac disease for awhile now (which could explain just about everything), and am waiting to hear back from my immunologist about a blood test I just had done. I tried an elimination diet, in which I went off wheat and dairy for about two weeks, then incorporated dairy back into my diet, followed the next week by wheat. I noticed no real difference physically - certainly none in my KP. BUT it does take a long time for your body to "get over" the effects if gluten if one has an intolerance to it, so I may try going off gluten (and possibly dairy) for a couple of months to see if there in a change in my skin and/or my quality of life. I will let you know!

Peace to all!

Namaste,
GreenBean

To Dora and Rachel18 and anyone else interested in cleansing.
I too have kp and had it all my life. I've tried everything also and am constantly following these posts hoping to find similarities in symptoms and lifestyles. Anyhow. It seems that you are interested in cleansing(parasitic, colonic,liver, etc.). Well, have you heard of The Master Cleanser With Special Needs and Problems? By Stanley Burruoghs. It is the greatest most natural overall cleanse I've found. It is far supperior to any colonic one could do because colonics can be very dangerous. And, they only reach the colon or a small part of it. The Master Cleanse, aka the lemonade diet, is a total body cleansing that actually rids the cells in your body of waste and everything! And during the cleanse you must have eliminations, BM's, to rid the body of the waste that the cleanse has loosened. Like internal salt water bathing and drinking herbal laxative tea everyday during the diet. I did the cleanse for 10 days and lost 10 lbs of toxic waste. I felt better than I ever have in my life during those 10 days! As far as for the effects it had on my kp, it did get better. But everything else got better first. Everything else meaning from the inside out. I think it is a process over time. Our bodies are full of 10 - 50 lbs. of waste! Sigh... I never wanted to bring this up until I read about the cleansing experiences lately on here. Check it out. You can buy the book for about 6 dollars at your local book store.

Thanks, for the tip! Is this cleanse a lemonade cleanse? And did you continue to feel better even after it was over? Do you know how often you are suppose to do this? Is your KP gone now?

Sorry to bug you... I suppose the book itself can answer at least half of those questions, but I would like to hear more about your own experiences, as everyone is different.

I hear that lemons are really detoxifying, but I also hear a number of other claims about what is THE BEST cleanse or detoxification program. It's so hard to know... Darn it. Anway... Thanks! I may see if I can find that book. It's probably nestled in between two other cleansing books that claim to have THE BEST way to cleanse one's body inside... sigh.

The confusion never ends.

Peace!

Namaste,
GreenBean

I will look into the 'cleanse' thing - I've never heard of it.

As i re-read this thread another thought occurs to me. Approximately 14 years ago I switched my diet to follow Michel Montignac's theories. I did it for approximately five years. In the first 8 months of doing it I lost almost four stone (56lbs). Unfortunately I slipped off the wagon eventually and started stuffing the white flour and sugar again, and paid the price.

I've recently told my husband about this site (he was wondering what the oily slippery stuff was in the shower .. Coconoil .. so I told him I'd found this site). Anyway, he pointed out - and I never really had noticed it myself - UNTIL NOW - that when I was following that diet, my KP was practically non-existent. We dug some old photos out .. perfectly clear arms. Why did I never notice. I guess it was because it took months and months to happen.

Anyway, coincidentally I am back on the diet and will watch with interest. That, combined with Coconoil (which I'm loving) should have some interesting effects.

http://www.montignac.com/en/
In summary - it's a GI type diet, but based on the French way of eating, and once you wean yourself off of sugar and refined flours, it's really quite easy.

ps - the diet stopped my migraines and snoring as well .. bargain ! Why I ever started eating **** again is beyond me.

pps - strangely the diet does not encourage ingesting milk.

ppps - all these things I never correlated !

Green Bean-
My kp is not gone. But I have not continued to keep my body in this condition. So, please do not let this stop you from giving it a chance or at least checking out the book. You do the cleanse for at least 10 days. But you can do it for up to 40 for extreme cases. The diet consists of 2 tbsp of lemon or lime juice( organic). 2tbsp. genuine maple syrup. 1/10 tsp. cayenne pepper and 10 oz of spring or purified water. It becomes a refreshing drink. Lemons and limes are the richest source of minerals and vitamins of any food or foods known to man. There is so much more!
The lemon is a loosening and cleansing agent with many important building factors. The ability of the lemon and the maple syrup working together creates these desired results.
It's 49% potassium strengthens and energizes the heart, stimulates and builds the kidneys and adrenal glands.
It's oxygen builds vitality.
It's carbon acts as a motor stimulant.
It's hydrogen activates the sensory nervous system.
It's calcium strengthens and builds the lungs.
It's phosphorous knits the bones, stimulates and builds the brain for clearer thinking.
It's sodium encourages tissue building.
It's magnesium acts as a blood alkalizer.
It's iron builds the red corpuscles to rapidly correct the most common form of anemia.
It's chlorine cleanses the blood plasma.
It's silicone aids the thyroid for deeper breathing.
The natural iron, copper, calcium, carbon, and hydrogen found in the sweetening supplies more building and cleansing material. The cayenne pepper breaks up mucus and increases warmth by byilding the blood for and additional lift. Perfect combo for cleansing , eliminating, healing, and building. There is still so much more but I figured this is the basics of what this can do. Talk at ya later!
Krystalite

Awesome, Krystalite (love the name, by the way!). It's funny you should mention this... My mom just read in a very generic health magazine about the cleansing effects of lemons and maple syrup. She actually made lemonade using maple syrup as a sweetner - and it was DELICIOUS! I may just try this. I have been looking into doing a really simple (and inexpensive) cleanse in a couple months or so, and I may end up doing something like this. Anyway, thanks for the information!

Peace!

Namaste,
GreenBean

GreenBean~
Your welcome! Just remember to read all of the book before you do the cleanse so that you will know all of the details and how to properly begin and end the cleanse. If you do decide to do it and you have any questions, let me know. I will be more than happy to help . Good luck!

Krystalite
p.s. I like your name, too!

I am actually taking Flax Seed Oil and Vitamin A supplements, and it seems to be working!

Zmitchzz~
Hi! What is it that you have been doing besides the vitamins?

Krystalite

Oh really? That's great! How long have you been on these supplements, and to what extent is it working? Oh! And how much of each are you taking? Thanks!

I need to go to the library and to a bookstore soon anyway and will look there. Thanks!

Namaste,
Green Bean