The secretion may be your bodies response in order to try to moisturize the membrane - which it may not have been doing very well - if there is no hydrophobic membrane to retain the secretions and water, it will ultimately hit the skin above it and possibly evaporate (or dry out the other). I would definitely suggest trying to paint lecithin onto your lips - and see if you make any progress. It is working for me currently.
Remember that this bilayer is needs to be non-polar, and therefore stops the transference and transportation of essentials fats, vitamins and minerals away from the lips.