Iontophoresis is Torture.

Roads · Newbie User Joined: Jun 15, 2008 Posts: 14

Well, I just completed an incredibly painful iontophoresis session a few minutes ago.

I have been using drionic for about 5 months now to stop hand sweating. And it does work, somewhat, but mother of f***ing god it is painful. I was sitting there for 30 minutes, sometimes screaming in pain, and I couldn't help but realize: I'm going to be doing this for the rest of my life. And I still sweat profusely in any kind of social situation.

I'm not really sure that life with this illness is worth it anymore(not to mention the long list of other irrevocable problems I have). The topicals never worked for me, the side effects for the medications seem unreasonable, and the ETS is just insane and everyone knows it.

f*** it, i guess im just ranting.

what do you guys think?

BiGz · Newbie User Joined: Aug 29, 2006 Posts: 50

Hey bud, how long have you been using it for? Also can't you try a lower setting? I'm not familiar with using one of these but from what I hear it becomes less painful over a short period of time.

I'm looking for a ionthreposis machine soon too as nothing short of being 100% calm or drunk works for me either.

Roads · Newbie User Joined: Jun 15, 2008 Posts: 14

Lowering the settings too much results in the treatment essentially not working as well. The pain is sometimes easier to bare, but most of the time its not.

beckiboo · Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:17 pm Post subject:

lol I know what you mean, it does tingle a bit! ive just completed a month's course at hospital and my hands seem pretty dry so far, I didnt notice a difference till the 6th-7th session and im defo gonna get a home use machine, I figure its worth the pain for the improvement ive seen so far..

dpr · Intermediate User Joined: May 04, 2008 Posts: 158

i've been using it for about a year now, not the dristar but the fischer md-1a.

it does tingle but i wouldn't describe it as extremely painful. uncomfortable maybe, but not painful. and i crank the thing up to 9.5 (about 19 ma)

do you have cuts or scrapes anywhere on your hands? that sometimes produces some pain for me. just make sure you cover the cuts with petroleum jelly. and try not to clip your nails right before you do the ionto, that can make it a bit painful as well.

you probably just need to get used to it more.

missyv · Newbie User Joined: May 30, 2008 Posts: 24

Thanks for sharing, that leaves me out. I will not be using this method for my plantar HH. I cannot tolerate even the slightest pain.

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Pinker · Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:18 pm Post subject:

I sympathise when you say you're stuck with the machine.

BUT, on a positive note, the pain will decrease with time. Trust me your skin will grow tougher to the treatment. I've been using it for going on 3 years and I have very little pain now. Apart from where I have cuts or eczema.

I'm not sure if you're read on here already, but the drionic is the worst device. Because it only treats select parts of your hands and feet I imagine the current will be concentrated more than with other machines. Not to mention the other areas of skin will be left un treated.

What annoys me is how inconsistent iontophoresis can be. I'm still in the middle of treating every other day again, trying to get them back as dry as possible. You really have to keep on top of treatments every week. I used glycopyrrolate solution a few days ago because I was desperate for some relief, yes it worked but i've had an annoying dry mouth for two days, and my palms are so dry there's loads of whiteness. Not to mention my hands are so dry now that I have patches of eczema in places. I can't win... All I can do is stick to tap water every other day until it stops. Then hope it stays that way.

You're right I think what we've read about ETS has put almost everyone off, but on the reverse they could always be the unlucky few. But I wouldn't like to risk it. On the bring side scruffpot has given information about Pulse radio frequency sympathectomy which seems to be somewhat different. But it's difficult to understand with relatively little information out there.

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Roads · Newbie User Joined: Jun 15, 2008 Posts: 14

I didn't know drionic was the worst. Any recomendations?

Pinker · Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:24 pm Post subject:

What country do you live in? The fischer is the other main one in the US. If you have the money, the idromed 4 is the best, then the idrostar probably. See the sticky thread

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HH · Intermediate User Joined: Jan 07, 2008 Posts: 105

first thing to do is get rid of the drionic and get a better machine like the idromed GS 4 or the fischer one, they cost more but its worth it. Then see how you get on with one of these, most people have it set on about 10mA which doesn't hurt to much. Theres things you can try to ease the pain e.g. don't cut finger nails before you do a treatment-give it a few days. Use vasiline to cover cuts and apply along the water line. If you have a cut put a waterproof plaster on it. Your hands should toughen up as you do more treatments making it less painful. Maybe use really cold water.