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AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 2:37 pm
by Trotter76
Hello All--

I am new to the board so go easy on me. I have been a "sweater" since I was a kid but by the time I went to college in a very cold state in the Midwest, it became unbearable. Even while out at the bars on weekends, I would excuse myself to go outside in sub-Canadian temps just to cool off. People would always laugh that I constantly carried a stack of napkins w/ me at all times to wipe my brow. After graduating college, the sweating continued and always would increase on the way into NYC for a job interview or even going to a black tie event--basically any time something "big" was happening. But it was not exclusive to that, I was constantly sweating anyway. It had become increasingly embarrassing and I always had to carry extra t-shirts w/ me, rags, cold packs, you name it. In 2005 I was approved to have a Video-Assisted Thoracic Sympathectomy. They wound up making twice as many incisions as they had planned and the procedure did absolutely nothing. I have been on SSRI's since 1994 for OCD & Depression but I was a sweater long before that. Seven years now after the surgery, I am at my wits end. Constantly soaked and carrying around a jumbo size Gold Bond powder w/ me at all times and lathering myself up like a piece of KFC chicken. It has become impossible to make trips into NYC for work or gigs (I am also a stand-up comic). By the time I get into the city from the mass transit bus, I am completely drenched. It used to be primarily my face where it was like having a faucet on the top of my head but the worst now is my chest, back and sides. I even lost over 30 pounds but still no help at all. My old dermatologist had me on some medication (I forget the name) for a year or so and it did not do anything except dry my insides out.

I am at the point where I do not even want to go out b/c it has taken a huge blow to my self-confidence. I am constantly putting hand towels down my back to soak up whatever I can. Dating has been a nightmare and two weeks ago I soaked through a black long sleeve shirt and was pretty humiliated. On top of that I was constantly wiping my brow to soak up the facial sweats. I just do not know what to do anymore and am willing to try anything. I have been reading a lot about baking soda and its benefits but I do not know how to make any concoction that will help me. If any one has any suggestions that can help me w/ this debilitating condition, I would greatly appreciate it. It has literally started to run my life and it is even rare that I buy new clothes anymore b/c they are just soaked through after I wear them once. On the rare occasion that I am in a group setting with old friends, they will always have to take into account that I will overheat where we go and it makes me feel terrible that they have to cater their plans to my condition. My self-confidence is completely shot and my once solid reputation as a sharp dresser and "best looking candidate" in high school are a thing of the past. I am now just happy to get through the day and have given up on my appearance b/c of the sweating. Thanks for listening and I appreciate any insight that you all may have.

Sincerely,

Trotter76

Re: AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 7:37 pm
by Sonya
Dear Trotter,

I feel your pain. Please read my posts about Tranxene. It is an anti-seizure medication, which at a very low dose, cured my sweating completely. Sweat literally dripped off of my hands, especially if I was nervous, anxious, etc., since I was 5 years old.

My doctor worked diligently with me to find something that worked. The Drysol peeled the skin from my hands. I didn't want to do Botox every six months. He tried several anti-depressants (even though I wasn't depressed), but all of them made the sweating worse.

I am so grateful to him that he thought of Tranxene. Just a few minutes after taking the Tranxene, my hands, underarms, and feet stop sweating. I only take two a day. I have had no side effects and have been taking it for 15 years. I had hoped I would find something besides a medicine that I have to take the rest of my life, but I too, was at my wit's end. I no longer have the constant worry of the embarrassing sweating.

Please see your doctor and explain how the sweating is interfering with your everyday life. I am so grateful that I did.

Sonya

Re: AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 9:34 pm
by Trotter76
@Sonya--

Thank you for your post. Do you have any available scientific links that back up anything about Tranxene? Most of the Google searches I did on the medication gave me results of your posts from other topics on this site. There does not seem to be much information about how the drug helps men specifically w/ hyperhidrosis. If you have any links w/ any scientific data and the correlation b/w the drug and hyperhidrosis, I would very much like to see it before I go to my internist to ask about a prescription for the drug. Thank you for your input and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,

Trotter

Re: AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 4:31 pm
by Sonya
Hi Trotter,

I too, have looked for scientific evidence and/or clinical trials regarding Tranxene as it relates to excessive sweating. I have found nothing.

I recall my doctor bringing a medical journal into the examining room when we had tried everything else he could think of. I thought that was odd, as I had never had a doctor read a journal as part of an office visit, and he had been in practice for at least two decades. I don't know what journal he read it from, but he found it there and asked me if I would try it. I agreed.

One of the reasons I posted to this site was in the hopes that others had tried it. I would like to find a doctor who would be willing to do a clinical trial. So many people could be helped and/or cured if it works for them like it does for me.

I completely understand your not wanting to ask your doctor for a prescription. I had hoped there would be another solution, but I will gladly take 2 pills a day for the rest of my life in exchange for dry hands and feet and no night sweats.

I have talked to several doctors about sweating and most of them tell me that they don't know anyone whose hands and feet sweat a lot. I tell them that it is because it is embarrassing, and those of us who suffer are very good at hiding for short periods of time. I suffered for 30 years before I mentioned it to my doctor, so I certainly understand that it is not an easy subject to broach, even with one's own physician.

Sonya

Re: AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 4:37 pm
by admin
Sonya, I am also interested in such a study.

Considering that 4-5 beers(!) or Robinul Forte pills can make the sweat go away, I don't doubt that other things such as an anti-seizure medication could do likewise. You seem to have no side effects, so I might post a link on my home page to your main thread on this in the near future.

Thanks for your feedback and discovery.

Re: AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:52 pm
by Sonya
Dear Admin,

That would be great if you could post a link on your home page.

I have emailed several clinical study groups in the past few days, hoping that one will agree to a clinical trial on hyperhidrosis, and/or night sweats.

For me, the hand sweating affected so many aspects of my life - dating, work, driving, etc. And from reading the posts on your site, I know that there are many others in the same situation.

Having experienced the agony of hot flashes (if I forget to take my medication), I am amazed at how little effort has been made by those in the medical/pharmaceutical fields to find a cure for a condition that makes one's life miserable.

I feel very fortunate that I found a physician who was willing to take the time to find something that worked for me. I cannot imagine waking up every night wringing wet with sweat. The few times that it has happened to me, it left me exhausted and very irritable.

I asked my ob/gyn about night sweats and her answer was to keep a glass of ice water beside the bed and to drink it if I have night sweats. I couldn't believe that she didn't have a better solution than ice water! I told her that the Tranxene kept me from having them as long as I remembered to take one before bed. She had never even heard of it. She wrote it down, but I doubt she will ever do anything with it. I just don't understand why we are just expected to just suffer for years, or even a lifetime, when there are medicines available that will help, if not cure the condition.

Thank you for your reply and for creating this forum. I will let you know if I get any feedback from the study groups.

Sonya

Re: AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 2:27 pm
by admin
Hi Sonya, I added a link on my main page and will remove it in a few months if no-one else is seeing success.

I titled the link: "Sonya's success using Tranxene since 1997"

Re: AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 4:13 pm
by Sonya
Dear Admin,

Thanks so much for adding the link. I certainly hope you get some feedback from others who have tried this medicine, and had success.

Sonya

Re: AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 6:00 pm
by Trotter76
@Sonya--Can you PM me those links or post hyperlinks on this board? I would really appreciate it. I have not been on the boards for a while b/c I was in a car accident and naturally the Hyperhidrosis has increased...

Best,

Trotter

Re: AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 9:16 pm
by H8sweating
I am curious about the Tranxene too. I have been taking glycopyrrolate for about 16 months which has been like a miracle drug until now. Just this week it has stopped working for some reason. When I took glycopyyrolate in the past I would only sweat like a normal person. Instead of having sweat dripping off my hands and feet (and also my trunk) at all times, I would only sweat when I worked out or if it was very hot outside. I have been able to get away with a low dose of glycopyrrolate (2mg once a day). All of a sudden I am sweating again but not as bad as before. I have tried to increase my dose over the last few days but so far it hasn't helped. I am not sure what is going on. I am surprised that it worked as long as it did since everything else I have ever tried either didn't work at all or helped a little but then stopped working after the first month. After knowing what it is like to have dry hands and feet, it makes sweating again almost unbearable! I don't understand why the drug isn't effective in controlling my sweat anymore. I have given up caffeine completely this week because it definitely makes my sweating worse. Has anyone else experienced this problem with glycopyrrolate? I don't know where to go from here. I will try anything to be sweat free again!

Re: AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 8:16 pm
by golfer
Concerning Tranxene:

Like you, I wanted more info on Tranxene because it sounded too good to be true, and guess what? it is. Tranxene is a benzodiazepine. being a benzodiazepine, long term use (daily for over 3 months) is strongly discouraged. if you're not familiar with benzos, it's the same family that xanax and valium are in. Withdrawal is very severe and comes with a host of problems. Pick your own poison, but i discourage anyone from turning to a benzo that would be taken everyday for years. if you come across a period of time (let's say vacation for a week) and you run out of the drug, you are in for a very threatening trip.

source: me, a senior pre med student at johns hopkins.

Re: AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 10:28 am
by Sonya
Golfer,

Would this be true for such a low dose (3.75 mg), twice daily?

If so, I will request that all of my posts about Tranxene be removed. Even though it has cured my HH, and allowed me to live a sweat-free life for many years, I don't want to encourage others to take something that might be harmful to them.

I have forgotten to take my medication with me on a few occasions, but the only problem I had was that my HH returned until I was able to take my medication again.

Thank you,
Sonya

Re: AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 5:03 pm
by Sonya
golfer wrote:Concerning Tranxene:

Like you, I wanted more info on Tranxene because it sounded too good to be true, and guess what? it is. Tranxene is a benzodiazepine. being a benzodiazepine, long term use (daily for over 3 months) is strongly discouraged. if you're not familiar with benzos, it's the same family that xanax and valium are in. Withdrawal is very severe and comes with a host of problems. Pick your own poison, but i discourage anyone from turning to a benzo that would be taken everyday for years. if you come across a period of time (let's say vacation for a week) and you run out of the drug, you are in for a very threatening trip.

source: me, a senior pre med student at johns hopkins.
I just read that someone on here drinks 30 beers a week because it helps with the HH. I would much rather take 2 pills a day than drink that much beer. Withdrawal from that much alcohol would be far worse than withdrawal from such a low dose of Tranxene.

Anyone who is on medication must be responsible enough to make sure that they take it on vacation, etc.

I take back what I said about deleting my posts.

source: me, a 50-year-old menopausal woman who doesn't drink and doesn't sweat anymore, thanks to Tranxene.

Re: AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:01 pm
by Marcianna
AT MY WITS END w/ MY HYPERHIDROSIS! PLEASE HELP!

I was just reading your posts having just posted my story this afternoon and I am wondering if you have had any success. First, your initial post was worded in such a way, it is obvious you are a good stand up comic.

In one of the follow up messages to you, I saw something about someone drinking 3/4 beers a day to rid themselves of HH. This same post mentioned Robinul Forte.

My question is, are the majority of HH sufferers adverse to taking a medication, even for life? I do not see much written, although I have only gotten as far as your original post from 2012, but I have yet to see anyone say they have had great results with Robinul, other than me.

I did not have hand, soles of feet or arm pit sweating, but I have it everywhere else, head being the worst but also back and backside where I leave wet marks from sitting. Imagine that!

Robinul (1 mg twice a day) has cured me within two days. The only side effect for me is dry mouth...big deal!

I just do not understand having surgery, though I do understand the total desperation. But if there is a drug you can take, even for the rest for your life, why risk having a surgery that not only may not work, but something else could go wrong.

I hope you have found a solution as since I have, I see my life returning. I wish you well.