Help new user from the UK

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Mike88

Member
Thought i'd join up and express my feelings.

I am a 22 year old guy and I believe I have been suffering from hyperhidrosis for about 4/5 years. I am not sure if it's anxiety or stress related, but only seems to occur in new places or stressful situations. I seem to get the classic fight or flight response where I will get a little shaky and start to sweat. I tend to sweat from my back, armpits and face. The back and armpits I help to control by using driclor; which it helps somewhat but still not 100%. Facial sweating is more difficult to control, I try to use odaban but I don't think it works that well.

I did go to the doctors about a year ago and was prescribed a course of anti-depressants for a month. I never followed this up as the side effects weren't very pleasant.

I have got to a point where it's affecting my life so much that I fear getting job interviews and I am considering going back to the doctors.

Just thought id share.
 
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hyp-hi

Well-known member
Hi Mike, welcome to the forum. This place is a great resource for help with hyperhidrosis. Browse the topics for advice and treatments for HH.
 
M

Mike88

Member
Thanks for the replies. I am kinda convinced it's more physiological than anything. Sure I sweat more than most people; just going for a walk can get me a little sweaty. Although if I go to my local pub and it's really hot inside I won't really sweat because its familiar surroundings and I feel in-control. Whereas if I am in a new place I get anxiety and if I am in a stressful situation I get stressed; which both in turn makes me sweat.

For example I work part-time in a local supermarket; I tend to arrive 30 mins before my shift starts and chill out in the canteen (making sure I turn off the heating that the night staff put on and turn on air-conditioning if it's hot). I can then relax, watch tv or read the paper ready for work. Whilst I am working and dealing with customers I try to control my anxiety/stress by keeping calm. In this situation I am use to the store, procedures and types of customer queries I get so I can control my anxiety/stress and overall not have a full sweat out.

It's just new situations and places that cause me to sweat excessively and I am not really sure how to combat this.
 
SaintChains

SaintChains

Active member
Other facial HH sufferers report strong results using witch hazel extract. That and sage are supposed to be wonder-herbs when it comes to this kind of sweating.

Again, what have you got to lose?

New places/situations are unpredictable, and I think it's that unpredictability that impels your sweat to start. Plus, knowing that it's coming, you start to worry that it will come, and then it does, and still you worry, and then you sweat more, etc. - right?

I'm not sure how to deal with this either. Some will tell you that you need to become more confident, which is possibly a solution. Perhaps joining a toastmaster's club will help you to build that confidence. I understand, though, how difficult this can be. It will ALL be uphill at the start, but hopefully things will ease.

Meditation is also another possible path. Many balk at so-called "new age" remedies (though they are older than western medicine and synthesised drugs), but there has to be some truth to them. If anxiety can produce a physical reaction such as sweating - and nobody doubts this - why should your control of that anxiety not stop it? If the cause is all in your head, so to speak, then perhaps that's also where the solution lies.

There is a faith in the ineluctable advance and efficacy of science - it is here to serve the amelioration of mankind. This is in large part due to its omnipresence in our lives. Science has given you almost everything you interact with - it has shaped your world, it has made the clothes that you wear, it is in the food that you eat. Everything comes to you mediated by other people, manufactured and processed somehow.

But this faith, bent as it is on claiming superiority of the artificial over the natural, is simply unfounded. Yes, we have amazing gadgets and machines that make our lives easier, but they in no way impinge or vitiate the potency and felicity of natural medicines and medicinal philosophy.

To summarize: the ubiquitous products and technological achievements of the twentieth-century can blind you to the source of things; the power of a lightening bolt was unlocked with a key and a kite. Don't forget where science started: observation of the natural phenomena of the world.

Try the herbs, Mike, and don't lose hope, above all.
 
M

Mike88

Member
Thanks for the suggestions. I went out and bought this tea tree and witch hazel toning lotion. Although I haven't seen any positive effects at the moment. I went back to work today after having a week off, my god the electrical department where I work upstairs has become incredibly hot and humid; I was sweating all over my face and back was a little sweaty. The driclor I applied last night really did stop my armpits from sweating. I will carry on using the witch hazel stuff on my face to see if that helps.

It's annoying that other members of staff were complaining about the temperature, yet I was the only one actually sweating and it's only 12c outside :(

I am back to work tomorrow for the same length shift, which I am not looking forward to.
 
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