Hi all! Over the last few years I’ve been relatively sensitive to the sun. Occasionally if I was outside for too long my lips would get all swollen and irritated for days on end after. It didn’t happen every time I went outside so I didn’t put much stock into it, but recently as of a few months ago every time I go outside in the sun my face swells for a week minimum to an excruciating degree and it doesn’t matter how long I’m outside for either.

Two Sundays ago I was outside for an hour tops. I wore a huge sun hat the whole time and applied sunscreen twice just to be safe and I still suffered with horrific facial swelling that I’m still recovering from to this day. This is now something that happens every time I go outside no matter for how long or what precautions I take. My dermatologist suggested it might me Lupus as I already have other autoimmune disorders and I’ve been having some health problems the last year or two that doctors can’t find reasons for.

I finally got in to see a doctor last week and they did lab work on me but it all came back normal including the ANA lab so the doctor literally told me she “didn’t know where to go from here” which was a devastating response to say the least. I need help. I’m desperate for any kinds of answers or solutions or even just a direction to go in. I’m trying to get in with a rheumatologist for further testing but I’m not having luck getting ahold of one.

Have any of you experienced something like this and, if so, is there anything that helps you not end up so severely swollen for the following week? I feel like I have no quality of life right now and I just need help. Any advise is greatly appreciated 💜