Tingling lips...

[the_vulture]

 Yes, that's just ONE of the amazing new symptoms I've been introduced to after my very first rapid allergic reaction!  

I was burning a stick of incense (cinnamon) when, about a third of the way through, my eyes, skin and sinuses started feeling intensely irritated.  I rapidly put out the remainder of the stick, opened windows and doors, and put the kitchen fan on full bore, but still wound up feeling very unwell.  

I might have written off being exceptionally lightheaded to not having eaten that morning, but the tingling lips was the thing that really had me worried - THAT ain't normal! I wasn't too happy with the sore nasal passages and the pressure above my eyes, either. 

It went away after some time, but then RETURNED when I took a drink of water from a cup that had been sitting near the burning incencse (oops), this time with a tingling tongue tip. Yerg! 

I confirmed with a call to a nurse at NHS Direct that this was very likely an allergic reaction and not some sort of toxic effect (phew!) 

After scrubbing my kitchen counter (where I had burned the incense), washing my face, changing shirt, removing the offending incence to the bin, and downing an antihistamine tablet, I'm feeling much better, but DAMN that was unnerving! 

The weird thing is that I've used sticks from that package of incense before without any ill effect. I must've picked a badly mixed one.