Excessive Sweating my story - happy ending. I hope it can help you.

I am a 29 year old guy. I have suffered from excessive sweating since a young age.

I am 6ft and about 190lbs, I have always been active and have always played sports. Other than my excessive sweating all over I am very healthy.

My excessive sweating was easily triggered even on cold days. I could be sitting down and my entire back would be soaked. I also would sweat from my backside and the backs of my legs, my shins, feet…. I mean all over, it was very embarrassing. The more active I was the worse the sweat. I live in Ireland so it’s not like we get much hot weather, on just a normal day and I would break out sweating. A simple short walk and I will feel the beads of sweat down my back & bum. I hated it.

I always avoided relationships, mainly because they would end abruptly once the relationship became intimate. Sex sucked for me as I would be a mess of sweat all over. Its a horrible feeling and it got me really upset and down. I felt very alone.

I found a doctor who dealt with this type of condition. He suggested I take a prescription tablet called Cystrin (this tablet contains oxybutynin), this is usually used to treat an overactive bladder or incontinence, not something I suffer from at all. But oxybutynin had one side affect which causes the nerves that trigger sweating to be less sensitive (apologies, I’m sure a doctor can explain this better).

Anyway it’s been over a week since I started taking this and I’m astonished at how it works. I am a very sceptical person and was sure it wouldn't work but it has been such a miracle really. My excessive sweating is gone. I still sweat on hot days but in a way I would consider normal, the sweating from my backside & legs has stopped 100%. On a warm day I will sweat a little on my back but in a completely normal way, nothing that I'd be embarrassed about. Basically I feel like a normal person again. I no longer need to wear t-shirts under my work shirt as I have no sweat to hide. No more wet underpants. All the small things that would cause me to sweat no longer do.

I suffered from excessive sweating for so long and I know the pain and hurt it causes. I thought I would be it’s prisoner for life. I want to share my story with you as I know how it feels and I hope it can work for you. I would recommend anyone to speak with their doctor about oxybutynin, it may change your life.

I will do my best to reply to anyone who has questions. All these blogs and threads have been helpful to me and reassuring that I'm not alone. I hope to return the favour.

Thank you! I'm thanking you in advance because i'm sure this will give a lot of people in similar situations hope. I'm going to get some of this stuff right away. Once I get it i'm sure i'll have more questions for you, but for now THANKS

This is interesting to read about as I am considering oral medications to combat my severe hyperhidrosis if my iontophoresis machine doesn't work out for me in the next 2-3 weeks. The medication oxybutynin is not new to us with hyperhidrosis as it is an antichlorgenic more well-known here in the states as Ditropan. I know that Robinul (even more well known) is a different type of antichlorgenic. So I wonder were that Cystrin plays in and if it has maybe different or less side-effects than Robinul or Ditropan might, I guess all 3 over time would be well worth a shot to hopefully find one that works best for each of us. Either way I am very excited for you and hope that I, in time, can experience the same feeling you are having now!! Congrats!!

Cystrin, Robinul or Ditropan can be bought over the counter? how many times do you take them, is it once a day? I'm thinking of taking oral medication if its not too costly.

thanks for the post, im sure this will help alot of others out there.

oh and how bad are the side effects for the medicine? I work for an airline so need to bbe on my toes alot. I read about how oxybutin tablets cause drowsiness and dry mouth etc. Im just wondering aout the severity of the side effects.

Hello again,
I can give you some more information on the Cystrin tablets that I take.

In Ireland Cystrin is a prescription drug. Each tablet is 3mg and contains Oxybutynin Hydrochloride, the maximum amount I can take daily is 6 (that would be 2 in the morning, 2 in the evening and 2 at night), however you don't have to take this full amount.
I started off taking the full amount and this worked extremely well, I had no excessive sweating. I would prefer to take the least amount that would be required to stop my excessive sweating, so at the moment I am taking 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening and this has also worked extremely well. With my doctors advice and my own experience we can figure out the best dose for me.

It's most likely I will stick to 2 in the morning & 2 in the evening (it still works and it's less hassle than 3 times a day).

My doctor told me all the possible side effects, dry mouth, dry eyes, blurred vision, drowsiness, dizziness etc.... I can happily say that I have had no problematic side effects. Dry mouth is the most common side effect you could get and on occasions I've had this but very rarely. A slight dry mouth usually comes when I first wake up in the morning (a glass of water and some breakfast and the dry mouth is gone). Also when I am playing sports my mouth can get very dry (again a bottle of water on hand is good).
As I say the dry mouth is only a rare occurrence and does not cause me any discomfort. I can happily & easily deal with it.

As for the rest of the possible side effects I have not had any of them (thankfully). No drowsiness at all, no dizziness at all etc...

Since taking the Cystrin tablets I feel great & healthy.... with no more massive sweat outs!

I still sweat during sports but in a way I would call normal. Before Cystrin I could ring the sweat out of my t-shirt after sport. With Cystrin my t-shirt will be wet but in a way I find acceptable and normal.

I hope that gave more detail and answered some questions.
Feel free to ask more.

Sean that is awesome that this is working so well for you with no real side-effects yet complicating things, I am meeting with my doctor in 3 days to try and get perscribed the US version of oxybutynin and hoping for the same experience being almost the exact same size as you and a bit younger.

So you are taking 2 3mg pills twice a day instead of three times a day? And the sweat reduction is still the same? Does it matter when exactly you take the pills, I've read that people take Robinul (not sure if it's the same) an hour before breakfast to let it get into their system quickly.

can this type of medication be prescribed for people with palmar/plantar hyperhidrosis?

husky337 said:

Sean that is awesome that this is working so well for you with no real side-effects yet complicating things, I am meeting with my doctor in 3 days to try and get perscribed the US version of oxybutynin and hoping for the same experience being almost the exact same size as you and a bit younger.

So you are taking 2 3mg pills twice a day instead of three times a day? And the sweat reduction is still the same? Does it matter when exactly you take the pills, I've read that people take Robinul (not sure if it's the same) an hour before breakfast to let it get into their system quickly.

Click to expand...

Yes, at the moment I am still taking 2(3mg) pills twice a day. We've had a nice spell of sunny & warm weather here the last few days, I find myself going on long walks to test myself and test how much I sweat.
If I'm just hanging out in the sun or going about my normal business I find that I don't sweat (which is great).
If I was to go on a long hard walk in the sun, after a while I would sweat a tiny bit (what I would consider normal & acceptable).

Taking the tablets 3 times a day would definitely keep me dry on a hot day. But I find that twice a day is good enough. I have decided that if it's a particularly hot day I may go to 3 times a day, just to top up if you like.

On an average day I intend to stay with twice a day.
On a hot hot summers day, I will go with 3 times a day.... if necessary, just to top up.

Before I started on oxybutynin, I would have beads of sweat racing down my back, armpits etc. but ever since taking it I have not experienced the streams & beads of sweat at all. When I do sweat now it's just minor and it will stop when I come to rest and is not noticable.

I don't think it matters too much when you take the tablets. I don't have any set routine, I take 2 in the morning right before breakfast or sometimes straight after breakfast and the results are the same.
I would then take the 2nd round anytime between 1 and 3ish.

I really hope it works for you too. I feel so much better since I started taking it. I'd like to hear how you get on.

mblair90 said:

can this type of medication be prescribed for people with palmar/plantar hyperhidrosis?

Click to expand...

Hi, I would assume it would work for palmar/plantar hyperhidrosis but I am not in a position to give you a definite answer. I can only really give feedback on my own experience which is generalised hyperhidrosis.

I would certainly recommend consulting a doctor about it.

Man I am honestly very happy for you as I know how bad this condition sucks having lived with it for the last 8 years, cannot wait for my doctor appointment tomorrow. I will definitely keep you posted with how things go as I would like you to continuely update us here as well just to look out for each other.

Another question I had in mind was that are you keeping a close eye on side effects? Because the oxybutynin seems to have harsher side effects that can emerge when compared with the other popular oral medication people take for HH called glycopyrrolate. Both are antichlorgenics but I guess they are different. Here in the states the oxybuynin seems to be called Ditropan while the glyco seems to be called Robinul, with Robinul appearing a lot more in these forms from what I've seen than Ditropan. One old forum post I read said that the person preferred Robinul to Ditropan because of the less severe side effects, but if you are taking the European version of Ditropan with no real noticable side-effects yet that is great. I guess it is a risk/reward thing and I am definitely willing to take on some side effects to reduce my extreme sweating. Are you planning to take these pills long-term? I think I might if I can bear the side effects.

Here is information just on Wikipedia about the two:

Glycopyrrolate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oxybutynin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hi Seanboi,

I am now taking Oxybutynin 5mg tablets 4 times a day. I started out on 2.5mg 4 times a day and they didn't work so my doctor advised to up the dosage to 5mg. I do have side effects, dry mouth, trouble swallowing sometimes and a full bladder most of the time. But it's a very small price to pay for being sweat free. I just can't believe that we have the hottest day of the year in the South of England and I am completely dry thanks to you! If I had not found this forum I would still be suffering, so thanks guys and I hope others can benefit from this!

husky337 said:

Man I am honestly very happy for you as I know how bad this condition sucks having lived with it for the last 8 years, cannot wait for my doctor appointment tomorrow. I will definitely keep you posted with how things go as I would like you to continuely update us here as well just to look out for each other.

Another question I had in mind was that are you keeping a close eye on side effects? Because the oxybutynin seems to have harsher side effects that can emerge when compared with the other popular oral medication people take for HH called glycopyrrolate. Both are antichlorgenics but I guess they are different. Here in the states the oxybuynin seems to be called Ditropan while the glyco seems to be called Robinul, with Robinul appearing a lot more in these forms from what I've seen than Ditropan. One old forum post I read said that the person preferred Robinul to Ditropan because of the less severe side effects, but if you are taking the European version of Ditropan with no real noticable side-effects yet that is great. I guess it is a risk/reward thing and I am definitely willing to take on some side effects to reduce my extreme sweating. Are you planning to take these pills long-term? I think I might if I can bear the side effects.

Click to expand...

I feel your pain husky337. I too have lived with hyperhidrosis for years, and out of all the places, it had to be the scalp,neck, and forehead, the most exposed parts. I also have done some research through the forums and have found that both medications work , although glycopyrrolate seems to be the more popular choice. I think side effects for both medicines are tolerable (the most common side effects being headaches and dry mouths), although it could vary from person to person. I'm going to visit my dermatologist very soon and see if he can give me further information about these two drugs and if I can get a prescription for one of them. Let me know how it goes with your doctor, I'd love to hear some feedback from other people.

Hey Joe,

Same to you as well, I can relate very much to the stuff you go through daily. As I type this my hands and feet are sweating and I have a towel around my neck to wipe my hands as I'm typing on my laptop. I got perscribed Robinul Forte, glycopyrrolate, 60 2mg pills. My dermatologist told me to start off taking 1 pill in the morning before breakfast and another in the afternoon ONLY if I need the extra pill, she told me to err on the side of caution when taking these pills on a need-only basis and not just 24/7.

I haven't taken the pills yet though, as I am trying to finish a 3 week iontophoresis treatment for my hands and feet first to see if that will work or not as the side-effects of ionto is non-existent, if I could manage my hands and feet with ionto then I would prefer that to taking pills daily long-term.

It's been exactly 2 weeks for me since I started ionto and I haven't seen any results yet, if anything the sweating has increased. So I am giving myself 1 more week to ride it out and if still nothing then I am going to switch to the pills and begin observing what it's like and if it will work for me. If the ionto THEN pills don't work, next up the ladder is Botox which I hope I can avoid.

Regardless for me going back to college soon I refuse to go through what I've gone through in my schooling so far and figure out any way besides surgery to address my hands.

Keep me posted with what you decide to do!

husky337, do you go to uconn?

Haha nope, just a big fan of the husky dog breed, my family has had them for years. Going to college at SMU in dallas