Problems with Aquaphor on lips?

[PrincessLeah]

Ok, so I've been having problems with my lips. Randomly throughout the day (independent of what I'm doing), my lips look blotchy red and white, kind of slough off, and cracks at the corners, blah blah blah.  Not much I can do.  They also get little red bumps over the surface and ooze a clear liquid (usually not blood).  They also get little zits around the edges (almost like whiteheads, but they seem to clear up much faster than zits).

My immunologist said to use Aquaphor on my lips to try and calm them down.  However, I've noticed that when I use Aquaphor (ESPECIALLY at night), when I wake up, I've got a crust all around the edges of my lips.  I peel it off, and it's a yellowish, clear crust (hardened, not gooey), and it hurts like heck.  When I pull it off my lips, it usually causes the spot under it to ooze more clear fluid.

Not sure if anyone has experienced this with Aquaphor and tested as allergic to it.  I've been using a vitamin E stick wiith beeswax (which works ok; about 40% improvement in my lips), but it's a pain, since I have to keep waking up to put it on, or my lips really get irritated and dry.

I'm going to try and stop using the Aquaphor.  I don't know if it's the oil-based stuff that's causing me grief, but it's definitely been difficult to wake up and peel your mouth off.

As for the sores on the corners of my mouth, I've noticed that sometimes, the Evoxac works TOO well -- I start drooling, and when I drool, it seeps out of the corners of my mouth and causes me pain and sores.  With the Aquaphor, the crust forms even worse where that happens.

[Epson]

Get yourself a drool bucket!

[Julie]

Hi Leah,

I've had trouble with my lips for years.  And...since I started wearing dentures, the adhesive makes them slough skin even more.  It's so embarrassing when I'm out in public and they are caked and dried with dead yellow skin.  It's very noticeable.  I am constantly using a kleenex to get all the dried skin off of them and I almost always have to go through a fast food place for a drink on my way home to get some moisture back in me.  (Stores are very drying due to their air conditioning.)

I get the little pimples that you mention from time to time too.  They do seem to heal over in a day or two as long as I leave them alone.

I have not ever used Aquaphor, but I did want to mention that anything with beeswax in it makes the corners crack even more. (for me)  I would like to wear lipstick but I've purchased soooo many, used them once and had to toss them.  The ingredients in them are cause irritation every time.  If I decide I am going to wear lipstick for a special occassion, I know that I can expect them to crack within a few days following.

I really haven't found anything that prevents the drying yet.  I use regular Vaseline during the days, but when i apply it at bedtime, I wake in the mornings with that dried on too.

So...I'm not much help here, but just wanted to mostly bring to your attention the beeswax issue. This could be making your lips worse.  

I look forward to reading more posts to see what others suggest and do for relief.

Take care
Julie

[DragonflyC]

Leah, I had something similar happen in high school.  I now think it was related to Sjogren's, but at the time I didn't know anything about that.  My doctor gave me some anti-viral pills, thinking it might be an out-of-control cold sore, and that made a HUGE difference.  Any chance you might be experiencing something like that?  The bumps you're seeing, the yellowish/clear crust, and the extensive dryness on your lips that won't go away all sound like what happened to me.

[Patze]

Epson, a drool bucket?  My goodness my sharp toothed night seeking friend!  You're silly!

Hi PL, have you tried any  product without petroleum in it?  I know that it bothers me a lot so I use just about anything without it as an ingredient.  It's a bit more expensive, but I don't get the sunburned looking thing going on anymore (they still hurt, but don't peel anymore).

Good luck with your lips and I hope that you find something that works for you.

Take care of yourself -

Patze

[Autoimmunity]

I don't have the same problem that you have, but I do have dry, cracked, peely lips and I use mentholatum, just a thin layer.  It does seem to help and keeps them from feeling dried out as I can't stand that feeling.   Although I will say I am the office freak as I always have to have my jar of mentholatum and bottle of hand lotion nearby.

[PrincessLeah]

I've tried products with petroleum and some without, and the same with beeswax.  So I'm not sure what's causing the problem.

The pain/stinging/bumps actually didn't start happening until immediately after the lip biopsy (negative, by the way -- "No significant inflammatory foci noted").  Also, since my lip was puffy for 3 weeks, I couldn't close them completely at night, and that contributed to my drooling.  (Not complaining about the drooling, since it was nice to have some saliva from the Evoxac, even though it isn't quite right.)  That contributed to my mouth sores at the corners.  Now, I wake myself up in a panic if I start drooling.  My Dad was checking up on me one night and saw me do it.

I have asked around, and I've been told a couple of things:

1.   It's related to a viral infection that is flaring up because I'm under stress.  (Well, duh.)

2.   It's related to a viral infection, and it's coming up because I have Sjogren's.  (Ummm, ok.)


3.  My saliva is irritating my lips and they're dry.  (I haven't licked my lips for 3 months.  Trust me.  If I'm waking up in a panic from drooling, I am obviously hyper-aware of what's going on with my lips, and at this point, I've conditioned myself not to lick them.)

I try to eat everything now without touching them.

It isn't cold sores (which I've never had in my life.)  It's almost like patches of little red bumps.  I atually had one doctor tell me that it was sheer concidence that these popped up after the biopsy.

Something else interesting:  the day this all started (March , I had my nose/throat scoped by my ENT (who gave me Nasonex and antibiotics.  The Nasonex was for allergic rhinitis, and the antibiotics were for a possible infection, but I think he gave them to me just to give them to me, as so many doctors do).  When he scoped my nose, he used a topical anesthetic (Lidocaine.)  That's the day my symptoms started.  Within a few hours of this whole ordeal, I went from healthy (completely asymptomatic) to dry nose/mouth/eyes, and onward from there.  When I had the biopsy done, the ENT used Lidocaine anesthetic.  I came to find out later that my aunt is deathly allergic to Lidocaine.  Docs still haven't bothered testing me for any drug allergies at this point.  *sigh*

PL

[DragonflyC]

If they think it might be related to a virus, can they try you on an anti-viral?  There are a lot of good ones out there. 

I now think that my problem was NOT related to cold sores (though I do sometimes get them), but that I had a virus that went out of control b/c I was developing Sjogren's and that's why the pills ended up working.  It was definitely a dryness-gone-crazy problem, but I think that a virus then kicked in because my lips had become vulnerable.  The meds definitely helped me when nothing else did, so they might be worth a try.