Ever since two days ago i had been having dry lips. No matter how much i drink my lips are still dry. I don't know if i should visit a doctor. The weather here is humid and hot and the temperature is around 30 degrees. I'm drinking about 2 litres of water a day.
5 months ago i did a blood test and everything came out normal. I'm 21 years old. Could this be a symptom of diabetes or just the usual dehydration?
Thanks
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karlbezz
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karlbezz, recognise that you have health anxiety. It used to be called hypochondria but now they've given it a posh new name. Most people here have it to some degree. But how you get from chapped lips to diabetes I don't know. Most likely your lips got sun burnt in all the heat of summer. All you need is a lip balm or lip salve, comes in a small tin or like a lipstick dispenser, any pharmacist will be able to advise. You just put it on your lips a few times a day and it helps your lips heal and hydrate. It's invisible by the way.
Health anxiety occurs when we've been under a lot of stress and our nervous system starts to complain: it becomes super sensitive. In this state it exaggerates all our minor aches and pains, and invents some we never knew existed. So a strained chest muscle becomes angina and every headache must be a tumour. And chapped lips must be diabetes.
Just accept all these symptoms and the games jangled nerves play on us. Accept them for the moment without adding second fear to first fear. Give your sensitised nervous system a rest and time to recover without you constantly flooding it with fear hormones.
None of these fake symptoms are worth a single second's worry: they can do you no harm, you are in no danger. Just an over imaginitive nervous system playing mind games with you.
So believe what the blood tests say, get a second opinion if you must, but then face your anxiety instead of trying to avoid it. You can't cure yourself of an illness you don't have no matter how hard you try.
Accept all the fake symptoms and strange thoughts for the moment and eventually (not today, not tomorrow, but maybe in a few weeks) your nervous system will lose its sensitivity - and you can get on with your life.
yes although when you have certain symptoms it does make you think. don't know what i should do next. I bought some magnesium today just in case it's dehydration that's causing all this. Today i have nausea and tiredness in fact i'm resting.
You say you don't know what you should do next. I suggest begin the process of desensitising your nervous system by practicing acceptance (for the time being). As explained above.
You say the symptoms do make you think. If thinking leads you into mistaking chapped lips for diabetes then maybe stop thinking. Stop concentrating on your symptoms and start focussing on the cause - an over sensitised nervous symptom - and how to overcome it by the acceptance method. Chest pain that is diagnosed as non cardiac and accompanied by other anxiety symptoms is most likely to be muscular tension caused by anxiety.
It's natural to hope there's a quick fix method that will fix everything, maybe by popping a magnesium tablet. Everything back to normal in a trice. If you do find a quick fix solution please share it because nobody here has found one yet.
Hi! You received a tremendous reply from Jeff1943. So from your post, I assume you may live in a tropical area, with lots of daily sun, heat and high humidity. I do, as far as lips are concerned, my friends and I buy chapstick and sunscreen by the carton. In our pockets, in our cars, in our bathrooms and on our nightstands next to the beds. And the first thing usually said to someone entering a home is "Would you like something to drink?" We drink cold water or iced tea all day long. Sunscreen goes on our hands, arms and lips before we drive. (Lipstick or chapstick can go on later.) It's part of life here. Very conscious of sun chapping,sun burning, dehydration and heat exhaustion. Best wishes to you.
yes i live in a dry country. The humidity is 73% and temperatures are 30 degrees celcius or over. I was and still am a bit worried that my dehydration may be caused by diabetes and i bought some magnesium satchets from the pharmacy to see if that gets it better. Thanks for the message
But I explained I live in a very humid and wet/tropical area. Tried to assure you that dry lips are common even in a very humid part of the world. Please read my reply and Jeff1943. Chapstick and other sunscreen protection shud help. BUT Jeff1943 explained to you the root of why you are so worried about your health.
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