chocbunny
New member
Hi all,
Sorry this is a bit long, but please bear with me, i just had so much to say!
After reading all of your experiences I felt inspired to add mine. I am a 24yo female with generalised HH – that is I sweat everywhere - face, underarms, back, tummy, groin, backside, arms, feet. I guess you could call it mild/moderate as it doesn’t stream off me (except when I’m exercising, in which case I don’t care that everything is soaked as it just looks like I’m working really hard!). But I certainly get sweat marks everywhere. It’s worse in hot weather, when I do more than 5 mins of exercise, when I’m nervous - all the usual times. And sometimes it’ll just happen when I’m totally relaxed. I’m not overweight, I’m fit and healthy – its just something that happens.
I was lucky that mine developed as an adult as I can’t imagine how hard HH would be to deal with in a school situation. I noticed it developing a few years ago, starting with my underarms and gradually becoming my entire body. I went from a colourful wardrobe to all black. Shopping was a nightmare. Not only could I only buy black, it had to be a certain type of black. The type of material, the deepness of the black, and the style of the clothes meant that buying clothes was a constant struggle. I can’t tell you the number of times I saw a gorgeous top that I couldn’t buy because it didn’t come in black. I actually got into the habit of pouring water onto clothes I bought to see if they would hide sweat marks or not, and chucking out the ones that didn’t pass the test. I’m glad that I’m a girl as I can wear singlets in the office, if I had to wear long-sleeved shirts I don’t know what I’d do.
I started to refuse certain invitations, like a cycle tour through wine country, or watching a sports game in the middle of summer, because I knew there would be no way to hide the sweat. Car trips were an absolute nightmare, when it first started I once sweated through jeans – no way to hide that. I’m constantly in singlets as I’m always hot, where everyone else is in jumpers looking at me like I’m crazy. I constantly go to the bathroom to check I’m OK. I always bring a change of clothes. Plastic seats are bad bad bad, I always leave a big sweaty imprint. The few people I told thought I was over-reacting as I became so skilled at hiding it they never saw the sweat marks.
I know I have to live with the fact that I can’t go everywhere I want, or buy anything I want. I’m OK with that, I still have enough fun. I’m know I’m supposed to feel lucky that apart from the HH I’m healthy, but its something you have to deal with everyday and it gets quite hard.
Just a week ago, I went to the doctor and he gave me probanthine. Good tip – find a good doctor who knows about HH (these are rare), or like me, find one that listens to what you suggest as it was me after countless hours of research that suggested he give me probanthine. I’ve only been taking it a week, but so far it has been a godsend for me. I take one pill in the morning and it pretty much sets me up the rest of the day. I don’t take it when I know I’m not doing anything that day as I want to prolong the time it is effective. Even if they eventually stop working, any time off from this condition is fantastic. Dry mouth? Sure! But that’s a very small price to pay.
Irony is that on the day I first wore a coloured top, no one commented! I think that not as many people notice the constant black-wearing as you think. I actually asked someone and she said she never noticed that I always wore black, because I always wore bright jewellery, or a coloured singlet underneath. But being able to not constantly worry has boosted my confidence to no end.
Just my two cents, probanthine might not work for you – but it could. I’m about to go travelling around the world and I know that I will have a much better time not having to constantly worry about sweat marks (provided it keeps working). Just remember that people may notice less than you think, and if they do – the majority will either not care, or just feel sorry for you, which I didn’t find that bad. Anyone that is cruel is just not worth it.
If you want to know anything, just ask me, we all need to be here for each other!
Sorry this is a bit long, but please bear with me, i just had so much to say!
After reading all of your experiences I felt inspired to add mine. I am a 24yo female with generalised HH – that is I sweat everywhere - face, underarms, back, tummy, groin, backside, arms, feet. I guess you could call it mild/moderate as it doesn’t stream off me (except when I’m exercising, in which case I don’t care that everything is soaked as it just looks like I’m working really hard!). But I certainly get sweat marks everywhere. It’s worse in hot weather, when I do more than 5 mins of exercise, when I’m nervous - all the usual times. And sometimes it’ll just happen when I’m totally relaxed. I’m not overweight, I’m fit and healthy – its just something that happens.
I was lucky that mine developed as an adult as I can’t imagine how hard HH would be to deal with in a school situation. I noticed it developing a few years ago, starting with my underarms and gradually becoming my entire body. I went from a colourful wardrobe to all black. Shopping was a nightmare. Not only could I only buy black, it had to be a certain type of black. The type of material, the deepness of the black, and the style of the clothes meant that buying clothes was a constant struggle. I can’t tell you the number of times I saw a gorgeous top that I couldn’t buy because it didn’t come in black. I actually got into the habit of pouring water onto clothes I bought to see if they would hide sweat marks or not, and chucking out the ones that didn’t pass the test. I’m glad that I’m a girl as I can wear singlets in the office, if I had to wear long-sleeved shirts I don’t know what I’d do.
I started to refuse certain invitations, like a cycle tour through wine country, or watching a sports game in the middle of summer, because I knew there would be no way to hide the sweat. Car trips were an absolute nightmare, when it first started I once sweated through jeans – no way to hide that. I’m constantly in singlets as I’m always hot, where everyone else is in jumpers looking at me like I’m crazy. I constantly go to the bathroom to check I’m OK. I always bring a change of clothes. Plastic seats are bad bad bad, I always leave a big sweaty imprint. The few people I told thought I was over-reacting as I became so skilled at hiding it they never saw the sweat marks.
I know I have to live with the fact that I can’t go everywhere I want, or buy anything I want. I’m OK with that, I still have enough fun. I’m know I’m supposed to feel lucky that apart from the HH I’m healthy, but its something you have to deal with everyday and it gets quite hard.
Just a week ago, I went to the doctor and he gave me probanthine. Good tip – find a good doctor who knows about HH (these are rare), or like me, find one that listens to what you suggest as it was me after countless hours of research that suggested he give me probanthine. I’ve only been taking it a week, but so far it has been a godsend for me. I take one pill in the morning and it pretty much sets me up the rest of the day. I don’t take it when I know I’m not doing anything that day as I want to prolong the time it is effective. Even if they eventually stop working, any time off from this condition is fantastic. Dry mouth? Sure! But that’s a very small price to pay.
Irony is that on the day I first wore a coloured top, no one commented! I think that not as many people notice the constant black-wearing as you think. I actually asked someone and she said she never noticed that I always wore black, because I always wore bright jewellery, or a coloured singlet underneath. But being able to not constantly worry has boosted my confidence to no end.
Just my two cents, probanthine might not work for you – but it could. I’m about to go travelling around the world and I know that I will have a much better time not having to constantly worry about sweat marks (provided it keeps working). Just remember that people may notice less than you think, and if they do – the majority will either not care, or just feel sorry for you, which I didn’t find that bad. Anyone that is cruel is just not worth it.
If you want to know anything, just ask me, we all need to be here for each other!