Aa
Okay, so I have a possibly non-MS question...
I've managed to injure my mouth three times in the last three months. Twice it was the dog, jumping up and running into my lip with his open mouth. Once I bit my tongue when I sneezed.
All three times my face really swelled up - to the point where it looked like I was having an allergic reaction to something. The last time, when I bit my tongue, I was concerned that I would not be able to breathe through my mouth.
This seems a little weird. I've never had this sort of extreme reaction to injury in my face. Is this just circulation issues, or thin blood, or what? I can't find anything on this.
All three times my face really swelled up - to the point where it looked like I was having an allergic reaction to something. The last time, when I bit my tongue, I was concerned that I would not be able to breathe through my mouth.
This seems a little weird. I've never had this sort of extreme reaction to injury in my face. Is this just circulation issues, or thin blood, or what? I can't find anything on this.
Wow, that's amazing... and weird, too! Thanks!
I'll go get an epi-pen right away. Every household should have one in the medicine cabinet anyway - after all, you never know when somebody might have an allergy to bee stings.
Heh... I do have a picture, somewhere, of my lip the morning after the dog ran into it. I look like somebody who opted out of lip enlargement surgery halfway through - the bottom lip is huge, and the top one is normal. Very funny!
I'll go get an epi-pen right away. Every household should have one in the medicine cabinet anyway - after all, you never know when somebody might have an allergy to bee stings.
Heh... I do have a picture, somewhere, of my lip the morning after the dog ran into it. I look like somebody who opted out of lip enlargement surgery halfway through - the bottom lip is huge, and the top one is normal. Very funny!
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I am a person who has dermagraphia. If you traumatize my skin by scratching it (you don't have to break the skin) I get a huge hive along the scratch surrounding by read flare. It lasts 30 minutes or so. You can actually write readable words on my back.
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That's what my daughter gets, too. The allergist said it was not a big concern, so we haven't ever worried about it (and it does go away after about 30 minutes or so), but I haven't ever "met" anyone else that has that.
:)
Jen, just to reiterate, I do think you should see a dr. about this--Quix knows more and the recommendation to see an immunologist is a good one, but please see someone. Having swelling in your face/mouth like that is really serious.
Stephanie
I am a person who has dermagraphia. If you traumatize my skin by scratching it (you don't have to break the skin) I get a huge hive along the scratch surrounding by read flare. It lasts 30 minutes or so. You can actually write readable words on my back.
***************
That's what my daughter gets, too. The allergist said it was not a big concern, so we haven't ever worried about it (and it does go away after about 30 minutes or so), but I haven't ever "met" anyone else that has that.
:)
Jen, just to reiterate, I do think you should see a dr. about this--Quix knows more and the recommendation to see an immunologist is a good one, but please see someone. Having swelling in your face/mouth like that is really serious.
Stephanie
Whups, sorry! Shouldn't have mentioned allergic reactions, as it's throwing people off track.
Every time I get the weird swelling, it's always because of a minor facial injury. I don't think there's any allergic reaction involved. I know that some swelling is typical with an injury, but this amount is unusual.
I have to wonder if it's a circulation problem, or perhaps a problem with my blood being too thin...
Every time I get the weird swelling, it's always because of a minor facial injury. I don't think there's any allergic reaction involved. I know that some swelling is typical with an injury, but this amount is unusual.
I have to wonder if it's a circulation problem, or perhaps a problem with my blood being too thin...
Talk to an allergist. I don't pretend to have a clue about this, but I do remember when my second daughter was a toddler she used to get hives to lots of things, including "pressure" hives. She bumped her head and got a hive (not a bruise) where she bumped it that would last for a few hours. If she bit her own arm, she got teeth shaped hives there...
The allergist said this isn't uncommon. He said a lot of women get hives around their bra straps for the same reason.
However, the amount of swelling you're describing sounds really severe. The next time it happens, I'd go straight to the doctor's office to get them to witness it. (Or take pictures and bring them in asap.) If you're really concerned about breathing, go straight to the ER.
Stephanie
The allergist said this isn't uncommon. He said a lot of women get hives around their bra straps for the same reason.
However, the amount of swelling you're describing sounds really severe. The next time it happens, I'd go straight to the doctor's office to get them to witness it. (Or take pictures and bring them in asap.) If you're really concerned about breathing, go straight to the ER.
Stephanie
It sounds as though histamine is being released as would happen in an allergic reaction. the dog encounters make sense allergy -wise . The biting your own tongue is weird. You might consider a call into your PCP for an Epi-pen if this continues..hope not.
take care,
Ren
take care,
Ren
I wish I knew! From injury to when the swelling goes down, about sixteen hours. This last time I bit my tongue at work, went home, and about three hours later is when I really started to notice the swelling. It's just crazy. If it's going to do this every time, I have to be really careful what I do to my mouth.
Jens, that is really weird. What in the world is going on with you? I've never heard of so much swelling. How long before the swelling goes down?
I have problems mostly with my toothbrush scraping my gums and I don't even feel it until I look in the mirror and see a "little" swelling.
This is strange. I wonder if anyone else has this going on. Whatever you do, protect your mouth.
Julie
I have problems mostly with my toothbrush scraping my gums and I don't even feel it until I look in the mirror and see a "little" swelling.
This is strange. I wonder if anyone else has this going on. Whatever you do, protect your mouth.
Julie
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One, try to get a picture of the swelling when it occurs and journal the type and severity of injury.
Get seen by an immunologist. Now Allergists and Immunologists study the same Fellowship. But the Immunologists are the ones that really delve into abnormalities of the immune system beyond allergies.
Three (okay, so I can't count) if you EVER feel that with a little more swelling your airway might be in trouble, it's 911 and an AMBULANCE ride to the ER. The mouth and airway have a lot of capacity for swelling - called angioedema.
I am wondering if you are having trauma-induced angioedema and should have an Epi-Pen for emergencies. This all sounds pretty serious to me and I was an Immunlogy/Allergy Fellow at UCLA after my pediatric training. I didn't finish, but I learned a lot.
Example, there is an entity known as "Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis". Basically, these people start to exercise and sometimes fall out with throats swelled shut or in cardiac arrest. It ain't a good thing. During my fellowship on of the other fellows found three of these people (who were still alive). He did months and months of studies and questioning of them and then a big meta-analysis. He eventually came to the one commonality that each of them had eaten celery within 2 hours of their event. I know, weird.
After getting approval from the Ethics Committee and the people, one by one he fed them celery, waited an hour monitoring them in the ICU with an anesthesiologist there, and then put them on a treadmill. And they proceeded to have anaphylaxis. I never found out what they did for the people - probably took them off celery and gave them Epi-Pens and made them exercise with a partner.
I am a person who has dermagraphia. If you traumatize my skin by scratching it (you don't have to break the skin) I get a huge hive along the scratch surrounding by read flare. It lasts 30 minutes or so. You can actually write readable words on my back.
I'm hypothesizing something like this - only more sinister - going on in and around your mouth. Go see an immunologist.
Quix