what happened? the same thing is happening to me on a lesser scale.
I started suffering these symptoms about 15 years ago. After a few months I found what was causing it for me, was a reaction to lactose in anything I ate or drank (including the tiny amounts in the coatings of many medications, including anti-histamines). Since then, I've tried to avoid all lactose. Unfortunately, occasionally I eat something without realising it has lactose in. In fact, I've had a reaction this week for the first time in absolutely ages. When this used to happen a lot, I would use hydrocortisone cream to relieve the symptoms (E45 made it worse). In between, I use a really good moisturiser - after trying many different ones, I found that products from Aesop work for me. They're not cheap, but they're about the only ones my skin can cope with.
My problem began Aug. 2012, it was my lips, seemed to be chapped. I had just bought a motorcycle and thought this to be the cause. Nothing really helped, even not riding for 2 weeks. One day I noticed a burning on the inside of my lips and I realized the motorcycle and wind had nothing to do with this. A pharmacist had thought maybe stomach acid. But my throat and mouth are normal, so why would stomach acid not bother them? Eventually the outside edge of my mouth became affected by this. Reddness, cracks down below the corners of my mouth, peeling flakes of skin and burning. I stopped into a pharmacy (March 2013) and the guy went straight to a treatment after hearing of and seeing my ailments. Gave me a bottle of pills call Candida (bacteria normalizer). I was seeing some hope. But now things are worse. My mouth gets better, then will flare up again. I've developed a red rash where my neck meets my shoulder, had this for a couple of weeks. There are some small cracks occasionally. Now my eyes (eyelids) are troubling me. It began at the outside corners. Now there is swelling, itching, flaking and small cracks up in there. About the same time my ears started something. At the point where the top of my ear meets my head, on the outside and the inside. This is driving me crazy. I have always taken vitamins, so I don't know how it could be a deficiency of whatever. I feel as if there is something going on internally that is causing this. Bacteria? I guess I'm gonna' have to beark down and give some Dr. some money. This has gone on too long. Last spring I noticed allergies for the first time in my life ( I am 60). Maybe it's an allergy.