Hyperhidrosis and Me.com

I'm just starting to review this website -- definitely worth checking out -- http://www.hyperhidrosisandme.com/.

More later...just wanted to pass on the link.

Beware, Hyperhidrosis Shysters!

Watch out for scam artists trying to take
advantage of people with hyperhidrosis!
Image courtesy of Ninja M.,
 http://www.flickr.com/photos/a_ninjamonkey/

There is nothing wrong with being shy. Shy people are among the smartest, most clever people I know. A 'shyster', however, is a different creature. A shyster is a disreputable person who is trying to sell something under false pretenses. There are shysters who try to post comments to this blog only to generate sales for their shady products, or to promote ETS surgery as a first resort. I know who you are. You can't fool me, and I am not going to post your comments. I'm not even going to identify who you are because then you'll just get more links. I am sick and tired of people trying to scam people with hyperhidrosis out of their money. I make enough money on my own, and I don't need to make money from this blog. The reason I am writing it is because it is part of my own healing process. My teenage years were hell because of my sweaty palms and feet, and by sharing my experience and connecting others with resources, I hope I am being helpful to teens who are in my same wet shoes.

A reader earlier commented negatively about the International Hyperhidrosis Society, alleging that the organization has been putting out false information. I have no personal connection with this organization, and no reason to profit from their success. I do think that they offer valuable resources and that teenagers should visit the Teen Sweat 101 website. Surgery is recommended only after all other treatments have failed. To be fair, I do think the International Hyperhidrosis Society needs to push doctors and medical insurance companies to make iontophoresis more widely available. (Many doctors offer only Botox treatment because it is more profitable.)

I really don't have much time to blog these days, and I'm sorry for the delay in responding to non-shysters who have reached out to me.

Drionic Success Story

A story from a West Coast reader...she had good luck with Drionic. I, on the other hand, found that it didn't work for me! So buyer beware!

***

So I'm 18 years old and I live in Seattle, Washington. I've been living with hyperhidrosis of the hands and feet for my entire life and it has been horrible. Two years ago, I started using Drysol and those other aluminum chloride things. They barely worked.

About six months ago, I went to a dermatologist with my mom and she gave me a brochure for Drionic. It has completely changed my life.

While I don't have HH in my armpits, there is a Drionic device for your armpits too.

I ordered my device online from drionic.com. It was about $140...more with tax and shipping, but it was well worth it!

I only use it for my hands, because they need it most and batteries are $7 a pair. This will change your life, I promise you. I first used it for a total of 7 hours (in half hour treatments) and i was dry for 5 weeks! I started doing it once weekly after another set of treatments to stay dry. So a pair of batteries usually lasts about two months or so.
I hope I have helped!!!

Drionic: Does it work or not?

I used Drionic when I was a teenager, and it hurt like hell! Perhaps I didn't use it correctly, because one reader wrote to say she used it with success. (Hopefully she is not a Drionic marketing representative!) Anyway, here's what the reader said:

So I'm 18 years old and i live in Seattle, Washington.
I've been living with hyperhidrosis of the hands and feet for my entire life and it has been horrible. two years ago i started using drysol and those other aluminum chloride things and they barely worked.

About six months ago, i went to a dermatologist with my mom and she gave me a brochure for Drionic. It has completely changed my life.

While I don't have HH in my armpits, there is a Drionic device for your armpits too.

I ordered my device online from drionic.com. It was about $140...more with tax and shipping, but it was well worth it!

i only use it for my hands, because they need it most and batteries are $7 a pair. This will change your life, I promise you. I first used it for a total of 7 hours (in half hour treatments) and i was dry for 5 weeks! I started doing it once weekly after another set of treatments to stay dry. So a pair of batteries usually lasts about two months or so.
I hope I have helped!!!

From a reader in Spain

I recently received an e-mail from a woman in her early 30s from Spain. I haven't heard from her again, but I wanted to thank her for her kind words and wish her all the best in her journey. Please write when you have a chance!

***

I found your blog early this morning and I couldn't stop reading all your post! I can't barely explain to you how happy am I of having found it. I mean I was reading through it and wow! it was just if it was me who was writing it. I mean, there are a lot of thinking and references and experiences that I'm also been through any time in my life that wow!! I do not know at what point I started to cry, but I've been crying for while as I felt so so identified with your words. And you have a special and caring way to write. I'm deeply moved.

Tiara, thank you for you blog, for your support, for you courage... Well, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one telling you about this magnificent job you're doing in helping other with same condition; but believe me that I'm impressed. You know, when I'd done with the reading I was like "I'd like to have been me the one wrting all these feelings and experiences you have gone through!!" I mean you are so confident about what this condition means in your life that I envy you!!

I've been suffering from HH since I was a child. Both on hands and underams until my teen years and basically on hands from my 20s. Lately it has been a nightmare... I'm also now letting out all rage on this condition I have inside myself and I'm trying to stop hiding this problem. I'm telling others about it and it is not easy at all. The most important thing of all it is that I'm becoming aware of how it has marked my entire life. It's hard but it is doing good on me anyhow.

I would like to share my experiences in your blog. Just let me take my time to write it properly. If you don't mind, I will e-mail to you anytime soon. I've been thinking about setting up my own blog in Spanish (that's why I felt overwhelmed when reading yours) because I think we should let the people know that this condition is something we can't erase from our lives and we need the rest of the world to know about it instead of making fun of people having wet hands. I'm still thinking about it.

I've been through several treatments and I would like to tell others about them. I had botox on my palms in the past and know I'm considering it again. I'm also seriously thinking about having an ETS done in the near future. But I'm dead scared of it.

Be sure that your blog has inspired me and has given hope to me. Please, don't stop sharing with us you day-a-day.

"You know that wet feeling under arms cannot mean good"

Thanks to our anonymous contributor, age 15, for sharing her story. Anyone have words of encouragement for her? Drysol didn't work for her...what else might? Here is her story.

I would prefer not to give my name. But I’m a girl, I'm fifteen years old and this is my story.

When I tell my mother and my friends about my problem, they just don’t understand. They say things like: “It can’t be that bad, I’ve never noticed anything.” But the only reason she doesn’t notice is because I am utterly brilliant at hiding it! In fact, I’ve had three years of practice. I put up with my hyperhidrosis problem for a year, not knowing how serious it was. Then finally, one day, I decided to pucker up the courage and talk to my doctor. She recommended various things like PerspireX and Drysol.. but nothing seemed to work. And now, three years later I am still in the same place I found myself in before. I’m now in high school and I’m sick of putting up with this problem.

Picture this: you’re standing in your science classroom on the third floor. It’s the beginning of February in Canada and it’s cold outside. But for some reason the classroom is hot today. You’re getting all your exam marks and you’re talking to your teacher about the 66% you just got. Sweat begins to trickle at the rim of your forehead. You feel it there and with the sleeve of your sweater (which is already covering your largely stained armpits) you wipe it away. But you’re hot now and feeling red. You need to get out of there. And you can’t concentrate on what your teacher is saying. Finally you leave and enter into the busy hall, constantly wiping your face.

Picture this: it’s the first day of your new classes. There’s new people to meet (cute boys for example) and your next class is just after having gym. You’re sticky and gross. And not in the normal way because no one else from your gym class is that way. You’re hot in the class and you want to take off that sweater of yours but you can't because you know that wet feeling under arms cannot mean good. You get to leave early for a doctor’s appointment, so you grab your bag and race out of that class thankful for being in fresh air once more.

Picture this: You just bought a new shirt. You cannot wait to wear it! …But it was 40$ so you hope it looks good. But you bring a sweater… just in case. You go to your locker and take off your jacket, then remove your sweater. Your new shirt looks great! You head off to class. Time passes. Around twenty minutes to be exact. And you feel it coming. A bead of sweat trickles down your arm. Followed by more and your armpits feel wet and visibly stained. You grab your sweater while trying to hide it. Covering up, you feel more comfortable and relaxed. Fifteen minutes before class you ask to go the washroom. There’s a boy you’re crushing on in your next class and you want to show off by wearing your new shirt. So you pray to God the bathroom is empty and lucky for you it is. You tear off your sweater and stick your armpits under the dryer, desperately trying to remove the stains. It works and you hurry on to class not trying to seem like you were up to something. You wait a few minutes before taking off the sweater as not to look suspicious. It’s time for the next class and you race off, eager to see this boy. He sees you. But about ten minutes into the class you feel it coming on again. You say something like ‘it’s freezing in here!’ and you run to get your sweater.

This is only three examples of what I have to go through everyday. Everyone says ‘oh it’s not that noticeable’ but it’s only because I’m good at hiding. I like looking good. I don’t need to because that’s not the type of thing I necessarily believe in.

We all have our problems. Half the time we choose to hide them from our friends. Half the time they try and make your problem look like nothing compared to theirs. But to me, this hyperhidrosis is ruining my life. All I ever wanted was to feel comfortable. To be pretty. To let boys like me. And I’ve managed so far. I’ve just gotten out of my first real relationship. But w always want more. It’s a new semester with new people and I just want them all to like me.

I’m talking to my doctor and she’s putting me with a specialist. But I hope I get this done fast, because now that I have gym I’m going to be sweating times ten! It’s hard, but if I’ve put up with it for the past three years, I think I’ll manage for a couple more weeks.

I hope all those with this problem find a cure, it’s a terrible thing to have to live with. Especially at the age of adolescents where appearance matters a hundred times more. I hope all those with this problem, I hope your lives turn out great. You deserve it. Putting up with this is not easy, it’s not fair either. But then again, life isn't fair. So good luck.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share this. It is much appreciated.

Acupressure for hyperhidrosis

Yesterday I went to a medical lecture about acupressure, a type of traditional Chinese medicine that can be self-administered. My hands were drippy wet, and I hadn't even been feeling anxious. And of course the only pen I had on me was the type that runs everywhere when the ink touches my sweaty left writing hand.

The speaker had us do a 5 minute acupressure self-treatment, placing a finger on a pressure point where the shoulder meets the clavicle. Within a few minutes, the sweat had seriously subsided.

The hidden costs of hyperhidrosis anxiety

We can only expend 100 percent of our energy at any given time. Social anxiety, hyperhidrosis' evil twin sibling, can take a big percentage of one's energy. For me, this percentage ranges from 0 to 70 percent, averaging 30 percent. A low level persistent anxiety. Which means that I have only 70 percent to give. I want to give 100 percent. Life is too short!

So how do you get from where I am to being able to give 100 percent of your energy to a cause greater than anxiety--using your talents and your love to make this world a better place or at least help someone feel listened to, loved, and appreciated? Medication? Therapy? Meditation? All of the above? I function pretty well as is, but it would be great to have that extra 30 percent at my disposal.

I Love My Sweaty Baby, No Matter What the Other Kids Say!

Our beautiful baby boy, four days old and just home from the hospital, slept peacefully in his bassinet. He woke up, ready to eat. I pick him up and, to my great chagrin, feel a wet spot on his back. The bassinet sheet is wet in the same place. Over the next week, the same wet spot appears several times a day. We know it's hot outside, but not that hot! And why would a baby have sweat glands only on his back? Have I passed on hyperhidrosis to my little one? Can't he have at least a few sweat-free years?

We visit the pediatrician a week later for a check-up. Nervously, I ask the pediatrician if our baby might have a sweating problem. We described the wet spot on his back. She laughed. I've heard that question many times, she said. And it happens only with baby boys. All you need to do is point his penis down when you change his diaper!

And thus ended our sweaty baby scare of 2008.

The Sweaty Hands Poem

Poem of the week: "La La's" Sweaty Hands Poem. There are so many ways to view our sweaty palms...thanks to La La for showing us the poetic side of hyperhidrosis.

BTW, La La, for sweaty hands and feet on yoga mats, try putting a small towel at the head of your mat. That's what I do, and it holds my hands in place during downward dog. To keep my feet dry, I step on it or dry off my feet during a sitting pose. I've seen others doing the same as well. Or you can just go to a hot yoga or ashtanga yoga class, where everyone will be sweating their ***es off. I no longer care if the others see my sweat. Once a teacher asked another student to remove the towel, and she said "It's better if I use it--my hands and feet get sweaty." No shame or embarassment. All the teacher could do is say 'fine' and move on.