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MedHelp Member's Question

Angiodema?? (swollen tongue, lips)

by momtocole§milo, Jan 08, 2007 12:00AM
Hi, I'm new here. Just about 2 months ago I began developing strange allergic reactions. They have occurred on my feet, hands, back of knee, upper thigh, lip and now tongue. I have gone to the doctor before and they said it was contact dermatitis. I have not figured out what I'm allergic to yet and am still waiting for a call back from the allergy department. Last night, I woke up at about 3am with a swollen tongue. It really freaked me out. I took 2 Benadryls and thankfully it went down almost back to normal within a couple of hours. When it happened on my lip, it swelled to the size of a grape and the Benadryl took FOREVER to kick in.



Anyway, I went to the doctor this morning and she said swelling like this (tongue, lips) is called angiodema. She said if I continue to expose myself to this allergen (whatever it may be) the next stage could be anaphylaxis.



I'm really scared. I have 2 little kids and I'm terrified of something happening. I can't avoid the allergen if I don't know what it is.:(



Please help.



Thanks,

Becky
Member Comments (22)

by Felix'sMum, Jan 13, 2007 12:00AM
To: momtocole
Poor you! My son is anaphylactic (eggs, milk & every nut on the planet) and he has regular blood tests and skin ***** tests to assess his current level of reaction to his known allergens and assess possible further allergy to new substances. The new substances are introduced one at a time and include allergens known to be linked to his existing ones (like sesame seeds, lupin flour, latex etc). I find it amazing that your doctor accepts you are having a serious allergic reaction and warns you anaphylaxis could be next but does nothing to help you establish what is causing the oedema in your mouth & elsewhere! She should refer you to an allergy specialist for further testing; any reaction as severe as yours, especially involving swelling of the tongue, should be taken extremely seriously. In the meantime, while you undergo testing, you should be given an Epi-Pen (that's what we call it in the UK, it's an auto-injector of adrenaline/epinephrine you carry with you at all times and will save your life if administered before/during anaphylaxis.I think you call it Anapen in the USA).



For your doctor do anything less would be negligent in my opinion. Had your tongue continued to swell, you might well have choked...see your doctor again as a matter of urgency and insist on testing to help you establish what you're allergic to and get an Anapen prescription IMMEDIATELY. Allergies are unpredictable and the next attack could well be very serious indeed. Good luck.

by artery, Jan 31, 2007 12:00AM
To: antibiotics
Hi,

I have tons of allergies, but, the only thing that ever caused the swollen lip thing with me was antibiotics.  Penicillan and cephalexin can cause that, even delayed.  It takes months sometimes to get it out of your system.  

by Jay4, Feb 21, 2007 12:00AM
I'm 28 years old. I've been having allergic reactions since my freshmen year highschool. I have learned alot. The swelling of the upper and lower lip, tongue, hands, feet, eyes, fingers, and rashes that can appear anywhere on your body I believe are caused by stress, nerves, anytype of flu syptom, weather change, not enough sleep, to much sleep, hangovers, anxioty, and muscle pain. The swelling is uncontrolable when started. I miss work due to the reactions. I've lost jobs due to the reations. I've been to the best specialist around my area. I've tried perscriptive steriods, and every allergy medicine there is. When ever I swell up it seems like I have to let it run it's course before I can put ice on it. Therefore I miss more work. I can't have that anymore. If there are any questions, or if anyone knows how to control or stop this angiodema, please reply to my comment.

Thank You
Jay

by Jay4, Feb 21, 2007 12:00AM
I'm 28 years old. I've been having allergic reactions since my freshmen year highschool. I have learned alot. The swelling of the upper and lower lip, tongue, hands, feet, eyes, fingers, and rashes that can appear anywhere on your body I believe are caused by stress, nerves, anytype of flu syptom, weather change, not enough sleep, to much sleep, hangovers, anxioty, and muscle pain. The swelling is uncontrolable when started. I miss work due to the reactions. I've lost jobs due to the reations. I've been to the best specialist around my area. I've tried perscriptive steriods, and every allergy medicine there is. When ever I swell up it seems like I have to let it run it's course before I can put ice on it. Therefore I miss more work. I can't have that anymore. If there are any questions, or if anyone knows how to control or stop this angiodema, please reply to my comment.

Thank You
Jay

by laura1977, Feb 24, 2007 12:00AM
To: jay
I can't tell you what you have, but I can tell you my problems.  For about 10 to 11 years I have this problem of bumps showing up on my skin.  They are warm to the touch, and are raised.  They usually go away over night.  Once in awhile half of my lip will swell 3 to 4 times norm size.  My knees swell.  I have even had these knots on the bottom of my foot.  One of the strange ones is that my finger tip will swell.  About one month ago I had surgery, and it made my body go into over drive.  One day I had about 100 bumps.  Went to the doc.  He gave me predizone.  Didn't really help.  Also they tell me to take claritin daily...doesn't help.  Once or twice my complete hands will swell.  Funny thing is that when I was pregnant with both kids, I had not one problem the whole nine months.  They did return though afterwards.

by Oregon Mom, Mar 07, 2007 12:00AM
The only thing that completely stops an angioedema attack for me is a shot with an epipen. Benedryl doesn't touch it, Allegra slows it down and Zyrtec had been preventing it until I came down with the flu last week and my resistance to such things was lowered. My upper lip is swollen today; I've taken a megadose of Allegra (360 mg) which may have slowed down the swelling (hard to know for sure). I'm weighing whether or not to go the epipen route and will decide later today depending on how much worse it gets.
My angioedema doesn't seem to have a specific cause although I suspect stress has something to do with it. I've had food allergies in the past but after keeping track of my diet and activities there doesn't seem to be a link.
The best my allergist can come up with is to treat the symptoms as they occur. I'm seeing a naturopath for some other things and will discuss this with her at my next appointment.

by midwest99, Jun 29, 2007 10:14PM
To: everyone
I've been suffering from angiodema for the past 3 years. It mainly affects my lips and tongue and usually occurs in the middle of the night. I've been on many different medications- zyrtec, allegra, doxepin, zantac, atarax. The doxepin when taken in higer doses makes me drowsy. Currently my reactions have become more severe- lasting for 2 days. I've been to 2 allergists who can't find out what the problem is Last year I was diagnosed with histoplasmosis, which is a fungal