My lips are, for lack of a better word, enraged. They are swollen, dry and very uncomfortable. They reacted to something I ate over the weekend - it’s not the first time but it’s never been this bad! The first time this happened was after I ate a blueberry muffin and I got a dry rash around my mouth. Mum thought was blueberries, but it couldn’t have been, I ate them without concern before.
The second time it was a spice mix used on sausages at a Macedonian Club - the next day my lips felt dry and swollen. They were fine after a day.
This time, they refuse to be sated by the vaseline - I wake up with very sore lips and they’re dry and swollen. It’s Wednesday and they began this treachery on Sunday morning. I had eaten pasta made with a special sauce and I’m willing to bet it contains some sort of flavouring or herb that my body just does not like.
When I woke up on Sunday, my lips looked like I’d had some really bad collagen but it’s calmed down since then.
What parts of your body have forsaken you?
Your drugstore (chemist?) can sell you some hydrocortisone cream to keep down the discomfort. Please consider that some allergies “develop” rather than being something you have always been allergic to.
This is where I tell you to go see your doctor. In the meantime, keep a diary of everything you eat. Has there been a change in the laundry detergent used for your bedsheets? Did you switch brands of makeup? Anything else your lips might have come into contact with? (I’m being subtle and discreet, here.)
I have to go overseas to Indonesia on Saturday and I’ve been told not to take any medications with me - I’m travelling on my own and meeting the parents at the hotel, so I don’t want to take anything that I will have to declare. Meanwhile, I will go see a doctor about it.
Thanks for the tips AskNott!
The same thing has happened to me. It covered my whole face.
It’s awful. I’ll just wake up one day with my face totally puffy, usually both eyes swollen and my lips just the way you describe them… and then the swelling in one eye will go down, but my lips and cheeks, as well as the other eye stay all puffy. I look like Quasimodo after a botched plastic surgery.
I’ve never been able to figure out the cause- the first time, it was worst around my eye and I assumed it was due to my new eyeshadow. The second time, it was my whole face and I hadn’t worn any makeup or used anything but my usual soap, water, and acne wash and hadn’t changed detergent or anything.
The worst part was that nobody around here has any tact or sense of their own business, so when I had to go to work, I had customers and random friendly visitors over the whole course of the thing who would look at me and go, “yeurgh! what happened to your FACE?” (I should have looked confused and hurt and said, “what do you mean? This is just my face!” but I went the boring route and just said it was an allergic reaction.)
It usually goes away on its own. just keep lots of chapstick with you (and when your lips are really bad, apply it with your finger or soften it between your hands first. I’ve had too many instances of applying brand-new lip balm only to have it tear the skin on my lips because it wasn’t soft enough.) and don’t touch it too much. I found that it helped to just lay a cold wet cloth over my face because, especially around my eyes, my skin felt hot like it was sunburnt. I don’t know if it helped at all to heal faster, but it did provide some comfort.
My left ear has currently forsaken me. I have an eczema patch that routinely offends me for no good reason. I blame horseradish this week. Last week I think I blamed vodka. Next week it’ll be something else!
My ankles forsake (forsook? forsooked?) me some years ago, when they decided to let go and have a ligament-tear party. It’s been a seemingly endless cycle of sorto-of-healing-whoops,accident-back-to-square-one ever since then. I hate my ankles.