hyperhydrosis

Jimmy.Joe

Hey Folks,

I hope this is the right place to put this, if not please feel to move it.

I'm along time sufferer of hyperhydrosis, for those of you who don't know it's basically excessive sweating. I find it particularly effects my hands and this can be quite uncomfortable in everyday situations. I've tried mostly natural remedies acupuncture (with varying degrees of success) and homeopathy (which I've come to believe is pointless, for me anyway), I did alot of research on on the more invasive methods and I'm just not keen.

There seems to be a new method using botox injections. I'm wondering if any one has ever tried this out?

I've booked in for a consultation anyway to bounce a few questions off the doctors, but it would be nice to get a feeling if anyone has tried it and could give any details on their experiences in the matter.

Thanks for you help guys

_Whimsical_

Have you ever heard of Isotophoresis treatment?

I was just listening to the Dr from the CH4 show Embarassing Bodies on the radio earlier and she was talking about Hyperhydrosis.She said Botox was very effective but that this treatment was recommended as something to try before you try Botox as it's non invasive.You can try it in a hospital or treatment rooms and buy a machine if you find it's effective so you can do it at home yourself. A machine can cost around the same as a course of Botox and as both are things you need to repeat the machine can work out cheaper in the long run.I think she said it was effective in 85% of people.

I'm not sure whether it's as widely available in Ireland as in the UK but it might be worth looking into if you haven't already done so.
http://www.sweathelp.org/English/PFF_Treatment_Iontophoresis.asp

Giggles1982

I suffered it as a teenager , from the armpits, terribly embarassing . At the time i was prescribed a roll -on called Anhydrol Forte (or something like that ) , I applied it at night to my armpits , it burned like crazy , and i washed it off in the morning before applying regular anti perspirant. It worked a treat.

Its now available OTC in good chemists , Im sure its the same strength, I remember it said it was for use in armpits or hands / feet .

ge_ch

i went to a specialist years ago and he recommended Isotophoresis too.Told me botox is effective but some people start sweating somewhere else after.
i used to get Aluminum chloride hexahydrate on perscription from a pharmacy and tried different lotions for palms and feet but they make my skin very dry and i loose sensitivity of touch in my hands.
there are good antiperspirants for underarms. even the new "sure" does it if i use it every night before going to bed

Jimmy.Joe

ge_ch wrote: »

I used to get Aluminum chloride hexahydrate on perscription from a pharmacy and tried different lotions for palms and feet but they make my skin very dry and i loose sensitivity of touch in my hands.

I went down the road of using Aluminum Chloride based anti-perspirants however it looks like I'm allergic to them, so I avoid them all together. I'm gonna give the botox a try and see what side effects I get (I don't think there is anything permanent) I'll let you know how I get on. After that I'm going to try the Isotophoresis treatment after. Finger crossed one of these will work in the short term. It's a pain of a condition to have especially since I'm quite a social person.

Jimmy.Joe

Hey Guys,

I just thought I'd document what happened in case someone else comes across this thread and is looking for information, I went in on Friday at about Lunch time for a consultation and talked to the doctor and asked a few questions about possible side-effects, the procedure, cost etc. I had investigated this extensively before hand and found that about 95% of what the doctor said was matching with what I had read online and in whitepaper articles. So I decided to go with the treatment there and then.

The treatment itself was quite painful, first they map your hands with a combination of iodine, some powder (I've forgotten the name of it) and the sweat from the pores. Essentially the the sweat, Iodine and the powder work together to create a dark purple looking stain on your hands (showing where the worst sweating is occurring) and marking where the best place for the injections where. This part was painless.

The next part was the botox injections itself I think I got a bout 20 in each hand, it was quite painful and the doctor kept asking me if I wanted a break - very nice guy, however I just wanted to get it over with. Luckily he finished just before my pain threshold. According to the doctor female patients don't experience as much pain as the skin on their hands are generally softer and it is easier to administer the injections. He mentioned that some people get this treatment under the arms and they experience very little pain if any at all. In total my hands bled for about 5 mins after the last injection and there was some mild swelling (nothing seriously) and I was able to go back to work immediately.

In total the cost was quite significant, however I it's day 4 now and since day 3 I have not sweat out of my hands unless training for rugby, running or when I was playing basketball on the weekend. I have had side-effect though, I think it is due to lack of anxiety I'm feeling lately but I seem to sweat less everywhere except when I'm training (to be expected). So all in all this has been quite a positive experience for me. I'll update again in another week or so to ensure that the changes I have had are semi-permanent and hopefully this information should be useful to other people dealing with the same problem. If anyone wants anymore information please feel free to pm me.

_Whimsical_

Jimmy.Joe wrote: »

Hey Guys,

I just thought I'd document what happened in case someone else comes across this thread and is looking for information, I went in on Friday at about Lunch time for a consultation and talked to the doctor and asked a few questions about possible side-effects, the procedure, cost etc. I had investigated this extensively before hand and found that about 95% of what the doctor said was matching with what I had read online and in whitepaper articles. So I decided to go with the treatment there and then.

The treatment itself was quite painful, first they map your hands with a combination of iodine, some powder (I've forgotten the name of it) and the sweat from the pores. Essentially the the sweat, Iodine and the powder work together to create a dark purple looking stain on your hands (showing where the worst sweating is occurring) and marking where the best place for the injections where. This part was painless.

The next part was the botox injections itself I think I got a bout 20 in each hand, it was quite painful and the doctor kept asking me if I wanted a break - very nice guy, however I just wanted to get it over with. Luckily he finished just before my pain threshold. According to the doctor female patients don't experience as much pain as the skin on their hands are generally softer and it is easier to administer the injections. He mentioned that some people get this treatment under the arms and they experience very little pain if any at all. In total my hands bled for about 5 mins after the last injection and there was some mild swelling (nothing seriously) and I was able to go back to work immediately.

In total the cost was quite significant, however I it's day 4 now and since day 3 I have not sweat out of my hands unless training for rugby, running or when I was playing basketball on the weekend. I have had side-effect though, I think it is due to lack of anxiety I'm feeling lately but I seem to sweat less everywhere except when I'm training (to be expected). So all in all this has been quite a positive experience for me. I'll update again in another week or so to ensure that the changes I have had are semi-permanent and hopefully this information should be useful to other people dealing with the same problem. If anyone wants anymore information please feel free to pm me.

That was really interesting Jimmy.Joe. Thanks for coming back and telling us how you got on. That's a very good point about how you now feel less anxious now so that you probably sweat less all over.It makes sense.

Really glad you got on well.Good luck with the rest of it!

Jimmy.Joe

Folks I realised I meant to update ages ago and forgot to so here's my finds (albeit a little over due) I wouldn't recommend going for the botox. It's quite expensive and it only lasted about 6 to 8 weeks tops (originally it started off as no sweating at all for a couple of weeks but eventually became mild sweating and then back to profuse sweating).

Mind you I suffer very badly from hyperhydrosis, any doctor who has dealt with me realises that I'm quite a severe case. On a scale of 1 - 10, 10 being the worst I'm probably about an 8/9 . That might have been a contributing factor to the shorten effects of the botox, so you might fair better. The injections themselves were quite painful and it was completely localised to the hands, I paid 600 euro and never lost and strength in the fingers, mind you the guy I went to never injected me near the fingers and was quite apprehensive about doing so. Just thought I'd fill you in as some people have PMed me about it.