Hi! I had EC for roughly 2-3 months before I realized what was going on and did research on the internet to figure out what it was. Then I decided to go cold turkey from lip balms and everything else for that matter. No lotion or body oil or soap. Au natural! (I do use a natural shampoo and toothpaste.) It has taken about 2 months to get to where I am now. I have to admit that my lips did not ever look quite as bad as yours :( I feel so bad for you... They were pretty horrible though. I do believe that the longer you have this, the longer it will take to recover.
You are helping so many people with your website. Keep it up, brother.