Exfoliative Cheilitis Big Improvement

Hi everyone,

i've been cruising around on this forum for quite awhile now but this is the first time i'm posting. eh so... i think its been like at least 6 months now since my lips f***ed up and i have to say there has been quite an improvement, its not cured but it is definitely better than before. my crusts weren't exactly yellow but more like a brownish colour, right now i don't have huge crusts but my lips are constantly dry if i don't use lip balm and i exfoliate VERY gently with a toothbrush because it gets flaky often but it's not red and raw so i know i'm not peeling off the good skin. everything is manageable right now except my lips have turned quite discoloured and brownish which makes me look like a dead person. I'm not sure what exactly helped but i'll just list everything i used.

Methods:
doctor 1 was like wtf is wrong with u and he prescribed me:
- loratadine tablets (doctor thought it was an allergy, didn't notice any difference)
- hydrocortisone 1% lotion (lotions probs more gentle than cream, it slightly helped but i was too scared to use it for too long because hydrocortisone thins the skin and after a while nothing changed)

Home remedies after the doctor kinda failed me:
- nail scissors (i didn't use anything and just snipped off the hanging bits, not exactly a remedy but really useful so you don't end up peeling off your crusts instead)
- lemon and manukau honey applied on for 1 hour, i added more honey than lemon so it stung less (this probably helped the most at the start to stop the crusts from forming but after a while it stopped helping and it stung like f***ing crazy) - this is when my crusts stopped forming in huge flakes.
- milk on for 1 hour (eh soothing but no)
- burts bees pomegranate lip balm - i didn't apply any lip balm before because i was afraid i'd react to anything but this was really moisturising and gentle, i'm still using it now

doctor 2 who actually knew what he was doing:
- cetirizine hydrochloride tablets - similar to the loratadine tablets, both antihistamines (don't exactly know if it did anything, doctor did blood test and confirmed i was allergic to dust mites and a few other things so i got these special pillow cases and mattress covers that were dust mite proof)
- Kenalof in orabase for mouth ulcers (i think this helped but i hated the feeling on my lips so only used it when i went to sleep)
- he also told me to avoid citrus foods and spicy (why i stopped the lemon and honey)
- i was kinda confused cuz he said the allergies caused it and then he suddenly said i had a stomach problem, he was also chinese and had this terrible accent so i don't have the full idea of what was wrong with my stomach...)
- to help the stomach problem or what not he told me to eat one spooful of manukau honey UMF15+ everyday and before swallowing and swishing it around your mouth, i also applied this topically (i found this helped quite a lot)

so personally i found the lemon and honey (as a first step), 'Kenalof in orabase' and manukau honey both topically and consuming the most useful.

I'm definitely not cured yet but its controllable right now. Honestly this has been such a nightmare and looking back i've actually thought about suicide so many times which i knew was not going to happen but felt more like a escape just thinking about it. it sucks cuz highschool is a judging piece of shit but i feel llike i've kind of accepted that fact that i've got this problem. it pisses me off so bad when you're talking to someone and their eyes just keep flipping down LIKE CAN U f***ING NOT but then again i think about if i were them i'd probably do the same thing. so stay strong guys, find some good friends who won't judge you and don't think about your lips 24/7. hopefully this helps u if not then don't bash me. :p


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