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Random Swelling of Lip

I woke up from an afternoon nap with a kind of blistering on the center of my top lip. It frightened me because all i could think was OH GOD, I HAVE HERPES!!! I began feverishly googling anything I could think of to get some help with what it could be and how to get it to go away. Everything led to herpes. i have had 1 sexual partner, and that was nearly two years ago. I tried calling him to see if there was anything he never told me, but to no avail.

Left on my own i started thinking back: before bed the night before i ate some pistachios, strawberries, and a glass of red wine. For breakfast i had a strip of bacon, a handful of tater tots, and a slice of Ezekiel bread. As a snack i had some Lays Artisan Tostitos (roasted garlic and black pepper). None of these things are outside of my regular/extended diet, and I have no known allergies.

Meanwhile, I slathered toothpaste on the sighting (i do this with anything appearing on my face) and let some time go by; wiped it off and the thing seemed to be oozing clear watery stuff...less than a droplet. I slathered on more toothpaste. Roughly 30mins go by and i wiped it off. My lips were feeling a bit dry so i put on lip gloss and that helped. i wiped it off and slathered on more toothpaste. This time i let the toothpaste sit for about an hour...until i could feel the burn! All of this was within 6 hours.

When i wiped it off this time the blistering was gone and a small lump was left. I could feel the weight of it. I think i must have burned my lip skin with the last round of toothpase, since the thing was clearly open as watery oozing was present. The toothpaste burned the skin. I can see a bitty scab and my lip feels very tight. Before i went to sleep i ate a few more pistachios. Then a banana and a glass of carrot juice. As i was chomping away at the banana i literally felt the lump grow. The center of my lip was now bulbous. I decided to just head to bed and see what it would be like in the morning...

It's morning! The lump has gone down, but my lip is still tight and it's pretty much still there (between the size of a pea and a lima bean). Now it just looks like I have a swollen lip...like i was punched in it or something. I touched it and it's not really hard, but it seems like it's developing a little more definition in the way of hardness. It's not going to be embarrassing to be in public because anyone might just assume that I got hit in the lip, but it's definitely not something that i want to live with, perse.

Any thoughts on what this might be???
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Avatar universal
I'm back again...My troubles began with a sore throat. It happened out of the blue. The sore throat became more and more prominent but within hours took a backseat to fever. I was feeling cold, dizziness when sitting up, shivers, and the feeling was so unknown and untreatable (i.e. food, water, fresh air, reclining) I thought I would die. These two primary symptoms (sore throat/off equilibrium) persisted for the next 2 days asking with night sweats, fever up and down (above 98.8°), eye socket soreness, and muscle ache off and on. On day two I woke up with a sore spot on my upper lip. The small spot started to "bubble" up. My fever was gone, but my throat was still sore with yellowish highlights. Within about four hours of starting my day the sore throat had diminished tremendously, but the lip issue was growing larger. It's more like a large "fat lip" at this junction, however I can't ignore the small blistery type bumps on the lump. It's happening within the center of my lip, nor around the perimeter. This is the second time within 8 months that I've had this blistery thing in my lip. The last time it happened in the middle of the day, without warning as I had just awakened from an afternoon nap. It went away within 3-4 days, but didn't follow the normal signs of herpes. This time the 'lump' seems to have covered more lip area and us spreading across the middle, but also appears in the same space as the last occurrence. I can't help but think, is this herpes!? And if so, what was all the fever and sore throat that preceded it about this time and why we're there no signs the first time? Please help... Things to consider: 1). Both times I'd eaten Pistachio nuts. The first time within hours, the second time within days. 2). The second time I worked a super intense, labor intensive work schedule the day preceding the onset of site throat and fever. I attributed the aching muscles to that because it was very physical. 3). The second time at least 6hrs of my work day had lapsed before I ate anything, which was just a hot dog and a Gatorade, afterwhich I ate nothing until roughly 1pm the next day (the day of the fever and sore throat). 4). Still no sex. I got the chance to ask the guy this time, he vows he's NEVER had a cold sore/fever blister nor anything in his mouth, ever!

UPDATE:
(day four of my troubles, day two of the lip bump): slight sore throat was there in the morning but completely gone by late afternoon. I could feel it's dry everytime I swallow. No more fever, nothing. The small blisters on my lip are gone. Left behind is what looks like a carpet burn and a very large lump, like I lost a fight. I did apply toothpaste this time too, but not as much. No bleeding or oozing, no pain or anything at first, just the feeling of a swollen, carpet-burned lip. Later in the evening as I prepared for bed slight oozing and needle-point bleeding began from beneath burn. I scrapped the burn off and the protective healing fluids began to rush out and seal the wound back. It wasn't dropping, but I could soak it up with a napkin, which I did. If it is herpes all I can say is it's not following any of the traditional signs I'm reading about, yet nothing else out there sounds like this. Is there nobody else having symptoms like this? They've been completely random and flighty to identify with, I know, but anything well help.
Helpful - 0
563773 tn?1374246539
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello,
This random swelling of lips can be due to an allergic reaction causing angioedema and it is less likely to be herpes given your history of no recent sexual exposure.  An allergic reaction can occur suddenly, even in a person with no previous history of allergy.This swelling of the lip and cheeks is called angioedema.It is the rapid swelling (edema) of the dermis, subcutaneous tissue, mucosa and submucosal tissues.Symptoms include swelling of any body part which appears suddenly and comes and goes.

Diagnosis is by clinical examination and complete blood tests,electrolytes and renal function tests. Treatment is by antihistaminics and steroids.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.




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