Hey guys,

I'm a 29 year old male who does not smoke, or drink. I have been tested for everything and I am completely healthy, and very hygenic.

After taking a dose of doxycycline last December (2013); this lip issue reared it's ugly head. Any of you suffering from it know what I mean when I say ugly. I would say about 1-2 1/2 weeks after the doxycycline treatment, I had chapped lips, no big deal.

The lower lip is just fine, no issue there. The upper lip, however, was very dry and seemed to get drier by the minute. The carmex didn't work, the chap stick didn't work, the vaseline seemed to make it even more dry, and sticky. Then started the burning, itching, and subsequent peeling. I'm talking chunks of skin. Picture an artic lake frozen over and giant chunks of ice floating, this is how my upper lip looked (and how it looks each time this happens). This condition has ONLY affected my upper lip; my lower lip is, and has been normal and responds to all of the lip care products as it should. So, seeing that nothing was helping, I saw a derm.

The derm examined, and said "No problem, just allergies! discontinue use of lip care products!". I thought to myself, "which one?". He said use nothing but vaseline and prescribed Prednisone and Hydrocortisone ointment. The regimen worked, of course. I thought "YES! it's over!!!"; nope. As soon as I stopped the regimen (treatment ended) the condition returned. I thought it might be dry air in the winter, so I got a whole-home humidifier. Nothing. Now it's summer and I'm still dealing with this terrible condition.

The derm continued to tell me it was allergies. However, if it has to do with allergies, why is my lower lip unaffected by this condition? Angry, frustrated, sad, all describe my feeling right now. I need to figure this out and in a hurry.

I have now been dealing with this for 8 months. Now I am trying a mixture of vaseline, coconut oil and Extra-Virgin olive oil. It's not doing much, but it takes the sting away, and it doesn't make it worse. The doctors have been great at billing me, but very unsuccessful at healing me. Does anyone know HOW to track down a specialist for this sort of thing?! Hydrocortisone offers sweet relief, but it also has many long term side effects, so I do not want to use this, or any steroid ointment anymore. Especially on my lips! I cannot smile, I can't eat at a human pace, and this is really making me avoid people. Not because it looks terrible, because when I smile, my lip cracks and the cycle starts from the top. I have had my upper lip at the point where I could smile and eat, but only for a short time. I have not been able to rid myself of this ailment, only try to control it. Like someone else said, get the skin wet, and it seems to just come off; keep the skin dry and it gets tight and painful and eventually peels anyways.

I have been to the derm 5-6 times now. I have another appointment tomorrow. (I gave up for a while.)

What I have tried.

-Vaseline only
-Nothing at all
-Prednisone and Hydrocortisone
-Doxycycline
-I believe one of the first things was nystatin ointment also

Currently trying (daily):
-Vitamin D (4000)-B12 (1000)
-vaseline, olive oil, Coconut Oil


A photo of my lip today.
//www.curezone.org/ig/i.asp?i=71979

It really doesn't look all that bad, but it's quite painful and I cannot smile or open my mouth to eat.

Anyone who has any suggestions, PLEASE do share them. Only my upper lip is affected and the symptoms are constant. My lip is really on fire today, so much that I considered calling in to work. This may be due to my vaseline, coconut oil, olive oil concoction. My lip has also been excreting puss, as it always does when I try to use vaseline. I really hope to find a cure for this soon. No one should have to live life without being able to smile.