Hyperhydrosis

Hi

my husban suffers from hyperhydrosis. His story is much the same as yours, he always had it, but it got worse as he got older.

He was 24 when we began dating. He didn't tell me about it for the first 6 months because he found it embarrassing. When he told me he said it was a huge relief because he had been working so hard to hide it.

My husban at that point was changing his shirts about three times a day, only would wear certain color shirts which wouldn't show so much and usually dressed in layers so his undershirt could gather the sweat without it showing on the outside shirt. The condition was greatly affecting his life.

A year or so later, he saw an ad of a cosmetic firm in the city who were doing a study on the condition. He signed up. He was then diagnosed with hyperhydrosis officially. As part of the study they did botox injections. They worked amazingly! Cured the problem completely. Like you said though, it only lasts for about 6 - 9 months, then he has to get it done again.

It is now 2 1/2 years later and he still has the botox every 6 - 9 months. He is so very happy that he doesn't have to live with the problem anymore.

We were very lucky, we have a good health insurance policy and because he was offically diagnosed with the condition of hyperhydrosis the insurance company pays for the botox 100%. I don't know if you have medical insurance, but it could be worth checking out.

You said that the doctors have linked your hyperhydrosis with anxiety, but from the sounds of it, you are like my husban and he didn't not have any anxiety problems what so ever. This condition is a condition in itself and does not require anxiety to cause it. If you have hyperhydrosis, taking anti depressents will do nothing. If your doctor doesn't know anything about this condition, maybe you need a second opinion.

Yep same story as mine, with the clothes and all.
Thanks for the suggestion, however I do think that this is a condition in itself, I also think that anxiety can trigger and worsen the condition.

:cry: hi I suffer from hyperhydrosis and it not only is uncomfortable but very embarrasing...It is awful for a social life hoping the person your out with does not want to hold your hand...Affraid that if they do they will not want to again because of the excessive sweaty palms...My armpit have always been sweaty and now that im getting older the sweat will actually run down my arm I can usually tell when it's about to do that so I try to do something to excuss myself and go to the bathroom...I stayed in a abusive relationship for 15 yrs because it did not bother him so made me comfortable with the sweating but didn't make the abuse any better...My younger brothers suffer also one had the surgery done a few yrs back and is happy with the outcome of it..He still sweats a little but says he is comfortable because its not excessive..I fee for all those that suffer from this horrible problem and am open to any suggestions other than surgery...Are there any pills I could take that would help?

I was wondering if those who suffer from hyperhydrosis also suffer from mental disorders...I have hyperhydrosis and I am bipolar...I noticed when my anxiety level is up I sweat even more.

I get sweaty feet, normally as a result of anxiety,
which doesn't sound too bad it began a year ago, but it's ruined my whole life, now I won't go out anywhere because i'll feel too uncomfortable to enjoy myself, i'm at a loss as to what to do...

I have suffered with hyperhidrosis all my life. Like others, I was told I needed psychiatric help. Finally, finally about 3 1/2 years ago, I saw on a forum similar to this, someone mentioned Robinul Forte. I asked my doctor and he prescribed it. That was 3 1/2 dry and happy years ago! I feel like a different person now. I am definitely more outgoing. I no longer dread meeting people or shaking hands. I can wear anything I want now, all those cute sandals, silky blouses, etc. If I had one word to sum up how I feel, it would be "FREE'.
This medication is not without side effects, but they are minimal compared to the suffering of this condition.
I hope others find this helpful to them.

i had this on my arms/pits andhanda really bad for a tear and a half. i would wake up soaked. i searched and searched on the net to find a 'cure'/

i found on a forum that 1 guy took iron pills as well as a banana a few hours b4 he would meet with his clients and that doing so stopped his sweating. i tried it for a few days and it seemed to stop the excessive sweating, i havent really had it since. i stopped the iron pills a week or 2 after i stopped sweating. im not a doctor so im not saying take iron pills and a banana(potassium in it helps absorb iron in body), im just saying what worked for me. what i would recommend is go to the docs and gt a blood test

. yes i sweat on my hands but it seems normal now.

i really feel 4 u guys tho, i know how it feels

Hooray!!!!! Finally my excessive armpit sweating is a condition. I've spent the past 25 years embarrassed! not to say how many dollars I've spent on clothing. I just made an appoinment with a Dr.
Does anyone know if Hyperhydrosis is linked to hormones in women?
I'd appreciate any info.

Hi all, from reading your posts it makes me remember how miserable having this condition was. I used to suffer from hyperhydrosis under my arms and sometimes on my forehead. I have been free of symptoms for more than 6 years now. I used an antiperspirant that I found online called Maxim antiperspirant. You can use it on other parts of your body as well, palms etc. This stuff gave me my life back, and now I use it only once or twice a week, just to make sure it never comes back. It also started working for me after the first application.

i am 27 years old now i have had hyperhidrosis for as long as i an remember,just like most suffers,i was told its normal to sweat and i shouldn't worry as i would grow out of it as years advanced.Sadly the reality is a far cry from these presuppositions my sweating has persisted and if anything has gotten worse,i have tried every things from antiperspirants to anti-anxieties but nothing seems to work for me.Lets not talk about the social ramifications of the suffers because i know its dire! that aside i just wanted to ask if anyone knows if there is a link between hyperhidrosis and eczema(extreme dryness of the skin accompanied by extreme sensitivity of skin to anyting it comes to contact with)? Anyone wih an idea?

Hi, my name is Rikk and I am a 26 year old male that suffers from excessive sweating of the underarms. "Hi, Rikk".

My story isn't much different than anyone else's. I go through the usual string of super fun nonsense. I've been going through it since I was 16 or 17. You know the drill - changing shirts two and three times a day, sneaking around blow driers to dry out my shirt's underarms when I can, wearing sweatshirts over my t-shirts religiously, normal antiperspirant doing absolutely nothing for me, the embarrassment, etc. High School was brutal.

I've tried the super strong prescription antiperspirant, but it causes rashes and excruciating itching, and usually only serves to moderately reduce my sweating for a day or two. After that, it has no effect whatsoever. I've tried the off the shelf "prescription strength" stuff that's recently become available, too. Nothing. It's a total joke.

I even once bought an e-book for 40 bucks that suggested I buy a luffa sponge and scrub my underarms in the shower, and to avoid using soap. It had the usual length of quotes from happy customers saying it totally stopped their sweating. No change for me.

I've begun to think about when I sweat the most. It's usually in social situations, around other people. It'll sweat through my shirt a moderate amount by myself, like if I'm playing an intense video game or working hard on something, but it's always the worst when I'm around other people. Even just hanging out and relaxing with a friend, laughing and having a good time - I'll sweat buckets in my underarms and it ends up ruining my good time.

Here's the thing though - I don't feel anxious or even a little nervous in these situations, or if I do, I am totally unaware of it.

I'm in the entertainment business, I host a moderately successful internet show (thankfully I wear a thick black costume so the strains don't show) and I am the lead singer in more than one band. I have no problem being in front of large groups of people. In fact, I adore it. I love performing.

So what's my problem? Is it some weird subconscious thing? I will admit I don't enjoy being around most people simply because most of the people I know are through my music contacts and they all like to drink like fish and do drugs and I want no part of those things, but I'm not a total shut in. I'm not agoraphobic. I don't feel like my nerves are shot and I'm having a panic attack around other people. On the other hand, I certainly don't mind being by myself for days at a time so I don't have to worry about sweating in public.

I have noticed in the past my sweating was greatly reduced when I would go out alone with just my (now ex) fiancee. It seems to depend on the person(s) and my relationship with them?

I suppose I should see a doctor and get a physical to see if it might be a thyroid problem or anything, and my mother does have diabetes type 2. But I have a bad history with doctors not listening to me whatsoever about medical issues and blowing off what I tell them, then throwing some half-baked prescription that doesn't help at me to make me go away so they can make their tee-off on the golf course.

Anyone else like me out there?

My doctor prescribed me hypercare/drysol, so far my underarms have been dry, my feet and hands are still working. I feel it's a nerve prob because my child has the same.

folks,

this won't help everyone who reads this. but i suffered from this for years (i'm 40 now). i inadvertently found my answer thanks to my wife who had read that supplementing iodine protects against breast cancer (there's a history of it in her family). i decided to supplement at low dosage too (because i worked out i get very little of it in my diet). i supplement at twice the RDA which my own research suggested was absolutely safe and i take it as liquid pottasium iodide. within about 4 weeks of supplemntation my problem had resolved itself. now obviously iodnine affects the thyroid which controls metabolism so there's an obvious link there but i had had a recent thyroid function screen and it was normal. so go figure. anyway, my point is, for something so simple may be it's worth giving it a try.

For me I have always had extremely sweaty feet. In fact, they have sweated so abundantly that they are stained a fleshy colored orange, I guess you might say.... But that is normal for me. (My son who is 5 has really sweaty feet too, but that is all I am seeing manifest w/ him) Odor is not an issue per the feet for either of us.Thank God!

About the time I was 21, a boyfriend brought some of my sweating (feet and under arms) to my attention. It just increased from there. At age 24 or so, my hyper sweating & slight odor under my arms was in over drive and was ruining my life! I had to change my shirts at work up to 7 times a day! It was like a faucet that wouldn''t stop dripping. Winter was the best bc I could wear sweaters over my clothes and layer my clothes to hide it. Summer was awful! ONe job was so embarressing with the light cotton red shirts. I felt like such a fool with my shirt pucked up into my pits to try and hide. I was only allowed 3 shirts per 6 months. It was awful, and even worse when the A/C stopped working. How I didn''t float away, I will never know. I worked there 6 months and left. This sweating was pre-occuping everything! I really was starting to get upset with this. It was affecting me so deeply. I felt suicidal at times. I felt very misunderstood and sad.

My skin was so sore from constantly being damp. It stung like when you''re done crying. I really noticed when I would wake up kinda wet. I went to the doctor for help with this over active sweat gland from hell issue, but I was given anxiety meds and drysol. Drysol is a topical you put on your skin at night and endure through the night till morning when it can be rinsed off. It stung like the devil. It was so painful. It barely put a dent in the sweating and it made my skin more tender, which was already mentioned, was so sensitive from the very condition to begin with. I stopped using it and the other med that did nothing. There have in recent times been high powered anti-perspers. out there to treat the sweating, but it is lower level aluminum (?) based stuff. (Think lite- weight Dryson, w/o the sting)



I wonder if the intense abuse I grew up in somehow primed the internal pump bringing my nervous system (?) to extreme over-activity ? Was the living situation a long term factor contributing or causing this condition. (Think constant stressful living with an explosive and troubled alcoholic father and a workaholic mother, who closed her eyes to her husband that was a drunk Vietnam vet nut, her children''s primary caregiver).Please note that not all people are cut out to handle children in this world.

When I was about 24/25 yrs old and things had gotten so out of control, I cried out to Jesus for help. I was beyond desperate. I remember those days well, but for some reason, I am not still experiencing them. 9 in a half years later, the sweating is much less and once in a very blue moon. I am very nervous around people at times and I expect some sweating, but this is nothing compared to what I had to endure at the highth of this issue. It has been a long process: I got saved, and quit using drugs at 21, got some counseling when I got married and got pregnant, then found at 27 that I had diabetes( which I take an oral med to contain.) Perhaps some of those things were factors that worked to assist me in slowing this thing down? I have removed the stress of the alcoholic (who refused to change) from my life. (I don''t hate him though) As I get older, it just started to decrease. I didn''t have to go into the work place, my husband did and I tended to our child. I have often wondered if I was to go back into the workforce, if it would start up again? I don''t know. Maybe I was just an anomally? Maybe my system self- corrected since I was able to change a lot of the mental & emotional stimuli that was torquing my sweat glands? One thing about this condition is that you sweat irreguardless of the situation you are in , or the tempetature. Though, you will for certain sweat when you are nervous or too warm, though with this condition, the hyper sweat is NEVER limited to those. That is what normal sweaters deal with; normal people. I don''t know for sure to this day why my condition has decreased, and if it will stay in this lull. I can only pray it does. Today, I try to exercise(some) and read and scrapbook to de-stress, as those things bring me pleasure. I meditate, but on God''s word, not the Eastern OHM stuff. ( No thanks to that)
I pray some of this may be helpful to you in your quest for normal living. I understand what it is like to suffer with this awful condition. I used to and still do to some degree, envy those people who can go out in sleeveless sundresses and be so carefree. When you have spent so much of your life hiding something (in my case many somethings), you are still guarded to some degree even if much of the sweating has subsided. I pray God extends his hand to assist each of you who struggle with this misunderstood issue that goes beyond our control unless we purchase Botox, or go under the knife. May you somehow find peace, sweet peace.

Hang in there please. Perhaps science will find something we were unable to see before and there in lies hope.
God bless you