I am nineteen years old and today I found out what hyperhidrosis is…and I cried. I didn't know that I'm not alone.
Most of my shirts are black or navy blue. I can't even remember the last time I wore a white shirt. As a child my mother would scold me for being ungrateful after wanting to return or get rid of clothes I would get for birthdays and Christmas. I knew I wouldn't be able to wear the blouses or anything that wasn't dark and made of thin materials.
For a long time I didn't know it was abnormal. I thought everyone had a similar experience but knew how to handle it better. It wasn't until I really looked and saw the thin shirts girls would wear in all these lovely colors without a trace of sweat under their arms. Meanwhile I was capable of sweating not only through a thick shirt but my sweater as well.
When I realized that what I go through isn't normal thought I'd never get a boyfriend. To my surprise, in high school I did. I dated him for over a year and I never told him. I did a good job at hugging him with my arms down and drying my armpits in the school bathrooms with thin toilet paper. I was too embarrassed to tell him. One Christmas he gave me this really nice grey, skin tight, nike sweater and I cried because I knew I couldn't wear it. I made sure to only wear it if we were doing obvious exercise to make the sweating seem normal.
I've always really struggled with deodorant because I smell and I smell bad! Ive had my many attempts at finding the right one to use. Dove doesn't work for me. Secret doesn't work. Certain gel forms have caused rashes in my underarms. I liked Mitchum but I did a lot of reapplying with that one. The antiperspirants I've used don't help with the oder. Most recently I've switched to Old Spice. Yes, it is a men's deodorant. I find that it's much stronger than women's and I think it helps reduce the sweat a little bit. Although, I really do not like the smell. It is too strong for me! If you have had success with other brands please comment them as I am prepared to try them.
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You are not alone. I also thought my sweaty hands and feet was something only I was afflicted with. Mine began in 9th grade and I would usually wear a jacket, even in warm weather, so that I could hide my hands. In 10th grade dance class for PE I remember leaving a puddle on the floor where my feet had been sitting during a prolonged instructional sit down session. Since we weren’t allowed to wear socks or shoes for the class, just a leotard, I just got more and more anxious the longer we sat there and that just led to more perspiration. I also thought nobody would love me with this condition, but I found my husband who was able to look past it as a minor flaw, as we all have some. Fast forward to 32 yrs of age, my painful foot bunion forced me to the podiatrist for some minor foot surgery and upon explaining my embarrassment he casually said, “That’s hyperhidrosis. Many people have it.” I researched it on this new thing called the Internet and was reassured. I had tried the night time aluminum chloride solution with gloves earlier in my early 20’s without any success. I asked my Kaiser doctor to send me to the surgeon to determine if I was a candidate for the Sympathectomy procedure. The surgeon did a nerve block test on me to see if the surgery would fix my problem and after speaking personally with 2 of his patients about their surgeries, I had the surgery in 2002. I am lucky that I have little compensatory sweating, mainly when I eat spicy foods. I work in a hospital and touch patients frequently, so this had really affected my daily interactions at work. Although the surgery has its own potential serious risks, for me, the confidence I gained after the procedure was the best unexpected side effect.