my upper lip is slightly swollen

[bioflame]

Upper lip slightly swollen --- What does that mean? No pain --- yet. I believe i may have gum disease or maybe something else?
Cant go to dentist. no insurance and husband has been laid off for 4 months from Boeing.
Im scared.
I am from AZ, and I buy MX antibiotics for emergencies. I have some 500 mg ampicillin. I just took one.

 

[David]

Hi bioflame. Sorry to hear about your lip (and your husbands job!). Swellings of the lip in general tend to be caused by infection, an irritant, an allergy or trauma. Apart from trauma, the most common I see tend to be from an irritant (i.e something new that someone has eaten/tasted or passed their lips). Severe forms of some types of gum disease COULD irritate the lip and cause the feeling of a swollen lip (but not actually a swollen lip). Your gums would probably be quiet sore before you noticed the lip part though. There is no harm in taking some anti-inflammatory tablets (as long as your not allergic to them and do not exceed the recommended dose) for a short period of time. Best advice would be to see a dentist or doctor though.
Hope that helps.

 

[bioflame]

David, thank you so much for your reply. It's still a mystery. Im thinking of taking Benedryl, I do have allergies - bit they are small time. oh my gosh, could it be Thrush? i use an inhaler and Spiriva for COPD.
I took an aspirin tonight...swelling went down
I do notice some sesitivity on my upper gums..oh my I have no Health Ins..

 

[Gordon]

No, thrush doesn't cause swelling.

 

[bioflame]

ThANK YOU david and Gordon. Im still puzzled.
oh my - i had a thought..I had Merry Maids here last Friday...what if they use somethng Im allergifc to???
Ive never been allergic to anything.

 

[2scaredforwords]

Hi there.
Just read about your swollen lip. I have to agree that it could be an allergy. I recently went throught the same thing. I was eating french toast woth nutmeg and a couple hours later my upper lip was swollen. It was an allergy to the nutmeg.
I have never been allerfic to nutmeg before but allergies can develop over the years. I took some benedryl but had to get a script for steroids as well because i had no time to wait for the swelling to go down as i had to go to work. Hope this helps

 

[bioflame]

Thank you for your post. It did help alot
I hope you are better!