Hyperhidrosis Forum

Hi

Like all of us here we have or still suffer...here is my story and how I overcome some of my HH and some things I do/did to help me so I hope it can help you.

I am now I an my 40's and have suffered HH all my life- full body ... My Mum tells me she didn’t know why I would come inside all the time when I was a kid with muddy hands...I now know why. I was told by Dr's that “he will grow out of it"....I didn’t

At school from (vivid memories from 12years of age) I would constantly use folded up paper under the hand I wrote with, constant visits to the toilets to wash and "cool" down my hands. Holding hands was a non-event and I cringed when I had to engage with other kids. Could not focus properly as I would be think about my hands sweating rather than what I was supposed to do.......... We all know we have been there.

So looking back and knowing what I know now and the references that are available now (both my Children Girl 5 and Boy 7 have it...my Dad has it my grandfather had it and my sister has it) I am prepared to help my children adjust to HH until a decision is made to what is the best treatment when they are a bit older.

How do I try and beat it:

I wear "explorer" cotton socks. They are super thick socks usually worn for hiking and I wear them summer and winter. They save a few pairs of shoes as well as so much sweating rots the shoes. Make sure they are cotton as the nylon ones don’t absorb.
I change my socks when I get home from work (or at least twice on weekends) and this also stops a lot of the smelly feet. Ye I have a huge sock drawers
I rotate my work shoes. (I have a few pairs) so that they have a chance to dry out and also not get smelly
If I need to go for an interview or meeting I make these first thing in the morning...for me the nerves hadn’t "woken up" yet!
I always carried a hanky in my pocket so I could wipe my hand in there before pulling it out to shake some ones hand
I have found that "Kustom" make a "noodle" thong(flip flop- Jandal?) that allows the sweat to run into the spaghetti /noodle fibres and your feet tend to "breath" a bit better and you don’t slip around in your own sweat...Thanks to Kustom...first time in my life I can wear thongs(Aussie)!! I just wash them out after a few wears to make sure they don’t get smelly as well. Also for me it was the "feeling" that my feet were sweating that made them sweat more and more. It’s like your feet are super sensitive and smooth surface thongs make your feet sweat..Well this is what I have found. http://www.surfstitch.com/online/Noodle%20Thong


What I have tried:
Beta blockers
Acupuncture
Every spray /snake oil invented
Hypnotism
Self-hypnosis
Relaxation tapes etc....

Eventually about 15 years ago I read about a "new" procedure to cut the sympathetic nerve. It was going to cost me around $10,000(Australian) a flight to Melbourne as I lived interstate and a weeks’ worth of accommodation due to the recovery. This Surgery was the older style where the back of the neck was cut and the sympathetic nerve was cut. I was happy to pay this as it was worth it...or so I thought.
I eventually found a doctor in my home state that had been involved in its research and was able to get this done under the government health scheme. I.e. Free. I went ahead. The next three days I had no sweating but when the trauma had settled the sweating started again. The Dr couldn’t help me...I went home and couldn’t lift my arms above my head for 6 months The surgery had killed all my nerve cells on half my back and cut all my muscles..Recovery was extremely slow and very painful. To this day I still have areas on my back where there are areas of little feeling.

Five years later I again read about a "new” procedure. This time they come in under your arm, collapse the lung and cut/staple the sympathetic nerve... I had to do it
I agreed to do the right hand first as (being male) this was extremely important to "get fixed" and I would see how that went and get the left hand done some time later.

Surgery was performed.... the doctors told me that due to the previous surgery that there was a lot of scar tissue and they were not confident that it would work. 10 years later I am the most grateful person to have this surgery..It was and is life changing. I have rocketed thru my career and have extreme confidence....
Only side effect is that now when I eat hot chilli food is that the left hand- side of my forehead sweats --excessively... it’s a bit of a joke with my wife and me but that pretty easy to live with. My left hand stopped sweating probably by about 20-30% due to the fact that I didn’t get that "flush" when embarrassed or new that my hands would start to sweat...for me it was a new beginning and I shook hands at any opportunity and probably over did it ..I was so happy. To this day I have not had my left hand done.

Not long after I had my right hand done I thought I would try my feet as they are really bad. This procedure was to inject a poison (I think) into the lower part of the spine under a MRI scan and kill of the mechanism to stop the sweating....it didn’t work and caused me to increase sweating on my chest and back.
I have decided that it was now too dangerous to try anything else like this and will just live with what I have ... and control it like I mentioned above. (Although the new "shock” treatment is not invasive and I will have to look into this for myself and my children!!

This is my story I hope it helps someone as I have been there and tried almost everything...surgery for me was very traumatic and it really needs major consideration as I had some major issues.. I had major recovery times and some did not work as I was told it would, although there are no guarantees as they told me as well.

All the best

Mike

...one other thing I use to do and still do occassionaly is to have a really hot shower...as hot as I can stand it then turn the hot water off and stand there under the cold water as long as I can last(1min?) and the turn back on the hot water...repeat this about 3-4 times in the morning. It doesnt fix the problem but it does slow down the "wakeup" reazction time of the sweating...it free and worth a shot. It makes you feel extremely alive and the body tingles for some time as it cant work out if it hot or cold it sort of resets the body temperature sensors...

Mike

That's a great idea. Do you know that water relaxes our body. Since, excessive sweating is caused by anxiety anything you can do to relax yourself. Can help slow down the sweating or even stop if you don't think about sweating.

Taking a shower, swimming anywhere, the ocean pool, going in the sauna, steam room, getting a message all these things help.

Yes agree...I am currently living in Indonesia...its obviously very hot. But I think I sweat less of the "anxiety" sweat as I am more relaxed. Sure I sweat but so does nearly everyone else here so its more"accepted" or a way of life. People are also less judgmental or react that you have two tone shirts ( i also wear colours that dont change colour that much when wet, dark blues and whites ) and therefore you tend to be more relaxed from this..I find if we think about the sweating its a viscious circle, we just sweat more. Moving to a cold climate would restrict me from enjoying what I enjoy the most..beach and sun and being outside

I have massgaes a few times a week and I dont care that when I lay day that i am already wet...I just say I am hot and they accept this...but in Australia people do definetley think its weird...until you explain it to them for the first timers...like podiatrists , acupunctursists and the Physio..they all now understand.

Mike