  The limits imposed on diffusive shock acceleration by upstream ion-neutral
Alfven wave damping, and by ionisation and Coulomb losses of low energy
particles, are calculated. Analytic solutions are given for the steady upstream
wave excitation problem with ion-neutral damping and the resulting escaping
upstream flux calculated. The time dependent problem is discussed and numerical
solutions presented. Finally the significance of these results for possible
observational tests of shock acceleration in supernova remnants is discussed.
