Burning, tight lips

[Grace&Violets]

A little less than a week ago, my lips started tingling a bit. The next day, they looked sunburned, red, felt really tight, and burned. (I haven't been in the sun). I have been searching online, and the only thing I've come up with is either a cold sore type thing or an allergy. I've never had either, so I'm leaning more toward the allergy theory. The only thing is, I haven't really had anything new...food, lip stuff, environmental...anything. They just feel weird. Different from any chapped lips I've ever had. They don't even look chapped, just a bit redder than normal. When I move my lips, they almost feel like plastic or something. Like when you cake on too much Chapstick, but they don't have anything on them. (Trying to give as much detail as possible).

 

What I've tried: bag balm, 5 different types of lip balms, tea tree lip balm, honey (just gooped it on), coconut oil, and now Herpecin, just in case. Also, I take a cod liver oil capsule every day. I've also been trying to drink kefir, in case it might help.

 

If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear.

[ArmyOfFive4God]

Windburn, maybe? The symptoms are similar to sunburn. I like to use mentholateum on mine when they get bad.

[sassenach]

I dont know what to tell you graceandviolets... it makes me wonder if you suffered a venomous spider bite, or have ingested arsenic .. it sounds nerve related to me. I believe arsenic can numb the lips. If you are having a difference in memory, motor, sensations otherwise, putting sentences together, you might want to call your ER, any spreading of the numbness as well.

 

Other than that, it could be a chemical in a food product grown and canned in a foreign country, Like campbells soup is done up in China and they put weird stuff in and call it some new scientific name so they can get away with it often enough ( yes that is documented). did you go somewhere else for Thanksgiving meal and visit? They might have put something different than you are used to in the food they provided for the meal and snacks.

 

Now that I have probably sufficiently skeered you probably, I will say I do certainly hope you are ok...

the other thing is maybe you have a cold wind blowing where you are and your lips are maybe more sensitive this winter to it?

Other environmental hazards might be excessive smog, smoke from the fires in Southern California??

 

 

[JCK88]

It doesn't have to be anything new that causes an allergic reaction--and as a person who has many allergies, I believe that is what happened to you. For years, I ate whole wheat bread, drank my home-canned grape juice, and enjoyed fried chicken cooked in corn oil. Then one day something happened and not only did my lips look like the way yours sound, I was also sick, throwing up, and feeling like my whole body was swelling inside.

 

Anyway, after tests, I found out that I was indeed allergic to ALL of those things I had been happily eating for years.

 

Something in one of the lip balms could also have made this worse. That also has happened to me.

 

Another cause of horribly dry and cracked lips along with swelling is a lack of B-12 vitamin.

 

Mainly, you need to think about what you ate just before the swelling happened. If you were not eating but just got out of bed or off the couch from a nap, you could be allergic to dust mites or even the furniture stuffing or your mattress.

 

Anyway, I'd see the doc on this one while the lips are still bad. In case this is a vitamin deficiency or an allergy, you can address this easily and it would be good for you to know because each time you have an allergic reaction it will be worse than the last time and you could develop a severe allergy that could close off your airways.

[Grace&Violets]

AoF4G- I had thought of windburn, but I really haven't been outside. It has been windy, though.

 

Arby- I'm in NoColorado, so not a lot of venomous spiders. Black widows (very few) and I think that's it. I don't think we have those in our house. How does one ingest arsenic? I'm not sure where I would have gotten that. Thanksgiving dinner was free-range turkey and I made pretty much the rest, except the stuffing. There is only one thing I did ingest that was different than normal. I like to drink kombucha tea, GT's bottled kind, and around the time this happened, I accidentally swallowed a baby scoby that was in the bottle. It grossed me out, but I was driving and couldn't spit it out, so I swallowed. That was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I'm trying to piece together the timeline of when this happened and when I drank that. It was around the same time.

 

Judy, is it normal to get allergies in your late-30s? I've never really had any before...except one time, years ago I drank a Snapple (either mango or papaya, can't remember) and my whole body turned bright red, like when you take niacin. Maybe there was a lot of niacin in that bottle. Oh, and I can't eat the tropical fruit cocktail because it makes my tongue itch. Other than that, no allergies. I've been taking EmergenC's that have B12 in them, just about every day or other day. I'll double up on those for the next few days to see if they help. My lips aren't really swollen, just red, tight and tingly/burning.

 

My lips are still just as bad as they were a few days ago. I may have to go see a dr, just for my sanity.

[sassenach]

 

It was just a weird thought when I read your post on this numb lips thing. Sorry, and if you have no other affects dont worry about it. Arsenic has historically been used to poison people, using added to food someone eats.

Apple seeds are one example of having arsenic levels, and I believe alot of fruit seeds have some in them.

 

It sounds more and more like the other posters are correct. Allergies. I did a bit of research and want to do more about food allergies myself because of my moms and my history with my Intestinal problems and other symptoms that are easily thought to be from something else entirely.

 

When folks here who are experienced in food allergies talk about their health concerns, I realize that these things are far more prevalent than I certainly thought and I think our family doctors need to get better informed and screen folks more often, including those who exibit some common mental health things and rheumatalogical disorders... I am going to look into this now, myself, and learn as much as I can and try and categorize things as clearly as I can and then talk to my doctor.

 

I think its worth studying up on and hope you can get to the bottom of this!

 

 

[JCK88]

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Yes Grace, it is normal to get allergies suddenly as an adult. That's when I got mine! I was in my 30's and had never been allergic to anything.

 

By the way, mango is something that many people are allergic to. It could be that. In my case, it turned out I was allergic to grapes and oranges. Best bet is to get the skin and the blood tests and find out. Flushing is another symptom of food allergy if the allergy is severe. It is not likely to be niacin in fruit that causes this! Mango is in the same family as poison ivy, by the way.

 

 

 

Found this on mango allergy: http://www.mango-fruit.com/mango_allergy/mango_allergy.html

A Skin Prick Test can Diagnose a Mango Allergy

 

A mango allergy is considered to be an emerging allergy. That means that although a mango allergy is not yet among the top big eight allergies, as consumption has been increasing so has the number of individuals reporting a mango allergy. The big eight allergens are wheat, peanut, seafood, milk, soya, egg, tree nuts, and fish.

 

Mangos do not belong to any fruit family, but rather to the Anacardiaceae family,which includes cashew and pistachio nuts, sweet pepper, sumac, poison oak, poison ivy, hog plum and Jamaican plum. While in Western countries mangos are most often eaten raw, in countries such as India, Thailand, and Malaysia, mangos are frequently used in cooked dishes with lentils or vegetables. Mango is also used as a meat tenderizer and in recipes for squash, pickles and chutney. A mango allergy has been reported by individuals in India, the Philippines, the East and West Indies, Japan, Argentina and the United States.

 

A mango allergy is experienced by those who have ingested or touched the mango fruit, the sap on the mango tree, the mango seed, or have come into contact with mango pollen. Adverse reactions that have occurred include facial erythema, periorbital oedema, rhinoconjuctivitus, angioedema, dyspnoea, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, cough, rhinitis, asthma, anaphylaxis, swelling of lips, face and tongue, oral allergy syndrome, itchiness of the eyes or mouth and contact dermatitis. Contact dermatitis is thought to be caused by exposure to urushiol, a chemical present in the bark, stems, leaves, tree latex and skin of the mango. The same chemical is also in cashews and poison ivy and causes a similar reaction.

 

While cross-reactions to mangos and other substances do exist, hardly any occur between mangos, cashews and pistachios. Mangos do contain panallergins however, which means individuals who have an mango allergy also have an allergy to another substance. For instance, there are cross-reactions between a mango allergy and allergies to celery, carrots, birch pollen and mugwort pollen. Ten to fifteen percent of those people allergic to birch pollen are also allergic to mango, carrot, banana, litchi, pear and apple.

 

Another interesting fact is that people who have allergies to latex can also have allergies to mango, banana, passion fruit, kiwi, peach, melon, pineapple chestnut, avocado, tomato and papaya. More people have reported a cross-reaction making them allergic to mango and latex than have reported an allergy to just the mango.

 

A diagnosis of a mango allergy can be obtained from skin prick tests using mango pulp or mango juice. People are also more aware of eating a mango and then developing an allergic reaction because mangos are more often eaten alone than included in a dish with other ingredients. Treatment is avoiding eating mangos, which is pretty easy because you will rarely come into contact with mangos in other food dishes. The only real possibilities are in meat tenderizers and some Oriental recipes.

[homesteaders6]

Grace, the very same thing started happening to me in my mid 30's (I'm 43 now). I got so sick, I thought I had aids or something, and wouldn't go to the doctor! One of the symptoms I had were the swelling lips, and tingling around them. The palms of my hands would itch like crazy sometimes, and I had stomach problems. Finally I went to the doctor, but I couldn't afford the tests, so they just said "allergies". But what kind?? Turns out, it was alot of things! Some environmental, but alot of it was food. Although I DID kiss my DD's hamster once during that time, and ended up looking like QuaziModo!!!

 

 

I have slowly come to find out that I can't eat white sugar, it affects me alot of ways, including pain in the muscles of my arms, congestion, lips swelling and tingling, stomach problems, etc., Also, wheat (or white flour, I'm trying now to see if there's a difference). Chocolate is bad, too , which is really hard to deal with. Peanuts and milk, too, although milk just bothers my stomach.

 

The funny thing is, it seems to be the foods I like and crave the most that do me the most harm!

 

A few years ago, I DID get rid of ALL my allergy symptoms by following a yeast free diet, but I just can't live on that forever. So I still struggle, but I've found that just losing the white sugar has helped hugely! We use honey, maple syrup, and molasses now.

 

And my symptoms aren't always instant - most times what I ate the day before will show up when I wake up, with my lips funky, and that "hangover" feeling. I feel tired alot, too, and itch ALL OVER if I don't take my off brand Clariton every day.

 

I don't know if that will help any, or if it's just TMI!

[KatMom]

Do they "Really" make Campbell's Soup in China????

[urbanforager]

Okay, this might sound weird, but you mentioned drinking kefir...do you also drink kombucha?

 

 

When I started drinking kombucha a couple of years ago, I didn't drink enough water with it for the first few weeks. I had symptoms very, very much like yours -- swollen, tingling lips. Of course I had other ickiness too, that being swelling under the eyes, and my whole face ITCHED. I cranked up on the water, and the whole nasty business went away in a day or so. I found out that the reason for the swelling and itching was that my body was trying to rid itself of toxins, and with more water coming in, it could do so more effectively. Dehydration was the problem!

[Tx_Woman]

Trisha.......this site might be helpful to you - i have the same problems you have. I'm being seen by an integrative med doc who has me on a yeast-free diet also, among many other things. I'm learning how to cook and make great food without all the "garbage". Interesting thread.......

 

www.knowthecause.com

 

[blestmomof4]

 

Tx Woman

I have been to see Doug Kaufman in Plano(author of Know the Cause) and have one of his books. He also is sometimes on tv so you might check the website for times/channels.

 

He recommended the Seagate Olive Leaf spray that I use and I DO NOT have migraines or sinus headaches anymore. It has been GREAT!!!

 

blessings,

bb

[Tx_Woman]

Oh yes, I watch him on Angel network. I just love him......the doc i'm seeing is one he's had on his show. I have that spray too....good stuff. I am glad to know i'm not the only crazy health-nut on here!