new_sweater
Member
I'm new to the group, and I wanted to share my experiences and see how they compare with others. I sweat excessively on my hands, underarms, and feet. I struggled a lot with sweating when I was in school, and it had the usual social implications. I avoided many activities, and it probably influenced my chosen career. I finally tried to do something about it as a graduate student three years ago, and a doctor prescribed me Drysol.
The Drysol had a clear effect, especially on my underarms. Over time I noticed that in situations where I was especially nervous, the Drysol didn't work so well, and my hands would start sweating. This was true even if I used it more often prior to the event (like speaking in front of a group). Since the underarm sweating was basically solved (provided I kept using the Drysol regularly), the hand sweating became the major issue.
As most of you know, when you start to sweat it just makes you more nervous and creates a feedback loop. This is especially true if you have to use your hands in a significant way. On a number of occasions, people have noticed that things get wet. Ironically, I'd learned to not let it affect me too much, and just apologize or whatever (if it's hot out, I kind of have an excuse). But though I'd chilled out about the consequences, I couldn't chill out beforehand, when I wanted to prevent it from starting.
So I started exploring the psychological issues that might be involved. Beginning last spring, I started seeing a psychologist, and I realized that I had a lot of problems affecting me socially other than the sweating. These had to do with growing up, particularly having a controlling mother (who had her own psychological issues) and being fatherless, but also getting along with other children. I was too worried about being accepted by others, but at the same time I was worried about being controlled by others. It's very subtle, and I would never have known it were true without going through the therapy and talking to my psychologist about how I handled social situations.
Unfortunately, my psychologist couldn't stop the sweating, but he certainly helped reduce my anxiety level, which helped reduce the sweating. About a month and a half ago, I purchased the Drionic device to see if that worked better on my hands. I used it about four times before I went on a one month trip and left the Drionic behind. While I was using it before my trip, I thought it worked pretty well. Now I think it was because it worked on my fingers, whereas I wasn't using Drysol on my fingers. I was finding it very annoying to use the Drysol, because I couldn't sleep as comfortably, so the Drysol wasn't as effective as it could have been.
During the month I was away, I didn't use any Drysol on my hands, so they were pretty much Drysol free when I got back and starting using Drionic again. After trying it a few consecutive days, I decided to go back to Drysol for a number of reasons. One is that it takes me about 1.5 hours to do one treatment with Drionic, because I can only do one hand at a time, and there's preparation and cleanup involved. Another is that Drysol seems to work more effectively for me. I found I was still sweating a lot while trying Drionic, but then when I went back to Drysol I only needed two treatments before I was back to where I was before my monthlong hiatus. Drysol seems more effective when I put on gloves after applying it. I'm going to start putting it on my fingers also.
So that's basically where I'm at now. There's just a few more things I wanted to mention. One is that when using Drysol, my hands sometimes start hurting a lot just before I begin to sweat. While it is a bit painful, it also gives me a chance to calm myself down by breathing deeply or whatever. In other words, the sweat doesn't just come out right away. It's also easier to stop sweating after the nervousness passes (for this, I think psychotherapy was also useful). Without the Drysol, I would sweat continuously until bedtime.
Another is that psychotherapy may not stop the sweating, but it can bring you a lot closer, and I think it's worth it. You have to realize that your therapist is not perfect, but try to get as much information as you can, and realize that you probably have to work things out yourself. It's important to provide as much background information as possible, so he can make a good diagnosis.
One thing my psychologist wasn't able to help me with, possibly because it's outside of his expertise, is that the major psychological problem I have now is fear of sweating. It happens, for example, if I'm about to drive somewhere, or getting ready to give a talk. The fear is based not on the activity itself, but on what happens if I sweat during the activity. It's true that I've had other issues before, but they've mostly been dealt with. I've resorted to wearing gloves when I drive, so that I don't sweat all over the steering wheel, but that's something I'd rather not do in front of an audience. I'll start teaching again next month, and I'm going to try using a beta blocker. A lot of musicians use them. I read that one violinist had problems with losing the grip on his bow because his hands were sweating so much during concerts.
To finish off a long post, I think that overall stress level is an issue with sweating. Just to give an example, whenever I fly, I sweat a lot when I check in and when I go through security, but then I'm pretty much dry until I get to the destination. This was even true when I returned from my month long trip, after having not used Drysol at all. And my hands were sweating a lot when I arrived at the airport. So the point is, I think I was just very relaxed because of the sense that I don't have any responsibilities to worry about (after going through security). Sure, things could happen to me, but that doesn't seem to affect me as much. When I got back home is when my hands started sweating like crazy, because that's when I started worrying about all the things I wanted to do.
For stress level, I think yoga and exercise help. Ok, thanks for reading.
The Drysol had a clear effect, especially on my underarms. Over time I noticed that in situations where I was especially nervous, the Drysol didn't work so well, and my hands would start sweating. This was true even if I used it more often prior to the event (like speaking in front of a group). Since the underarm sweating was basically solved (provided I kept using the Drysol regularly), the hand sweating became the major issue.
As most of you know, when you start to sweat it just makes you more nervous and creates a feedback loop. This is especially true if you have to use your hands in a significant way. On a number of occasions, people have noticed that things get wet. Ironically, I'd learned to not let it affect me too much, and just apologize or whatever (if it's hot out, I kind of have an excuse). But though I'd chilled out about the consequences, I couldn't chill out beforehand, when I wanted to prevent it from starting.
So I started exploring the psychological issues that might be involved. Beginning last spring, I started seeing a psychologist, and I realized that I had a lot of problems affecting me socially other than the sweating. These had to do with growing up, particularly having a controlling mother (who had her own psychological issues) and being fatherless, but also getting along with other children. I was too worried about being accepted by others, but at the same time I was worried about being controlled by others. It's very subtle, and I would never have known it were true without going through the therapy and talking to my psychologist about how I handled social situations.
Unfortunately, my psychologist couldn't stop the sweating, but he certainly helped reduce my anxiety level, which helped reduce the sweating. About a month and a half ago, I purchased the Drionic device to see if that worked better on my hands. I used it about four times before I went on a one month trip and left the Drionic behind. While I was using it before my trip, I thought it worked pretty well. Now I think it was because it worked on my fingers, whereas I wasn't using Drysol on my fingers. I was finding it very annoying to use the Drysol, because I couldn't sleep as comfortably, so the Drysol wasn't as effective as it could have been.
During the month I was away, I didn't use any Drysol on my hands, so they were pretty much Drysol free when I got back and starting using Drionic again. After trying it a few consecutive days, I decided to go back to Drysol for a number of reasons. One is that it takes me about 1.5 hours to do one treatment with Drionic, because I can only do one hand at a time, and there's preparation and cleanup involved. Another is that Drysol seems to work more effectively for me. I found I was still sweating a lot while trying Drionic, but then when I went back to Drysol I only needed two treatments before I was back to where I was before my monthlong hiatus. Drysol seems more effective when I put on gloves after applying it. I'm going to start putting it on my fingers also.
So that's basically where I'm at now. There's just a few more things I wanted to mention. One is that when using Drysol, my hands sometimes start hurting a lot just before I begin to sweat. While it is a bit painful, it also gives me a chance to calm myself down by breathing deeply or whatever. In other words, the sweat doesn't just come out right away. It's also easier to stop sweating after the nervousness passes (for this, I think psychotherapy was also useful). Without the Drysol, I would sweat continuously until bedtime.
Another is that psychotherapy may not stop the sweating, but it can bring you a lot closer, and I think it's worth it. You have to realize that your therapist is not perfect, but try to get as much information as you can, and realize that you probably have to work things out yourself. It's important to provide as much background information as possible, so he can make a good diagnosis.
One thing my psychologist wasn't able to help me with, possibly because it's outside of his expertise, is that the major psychological problem I have now is fear of sweating. It happens, for example, if I'm about to drive somewhere, or getting ready to give a talk. The fear is based not on the activity itself, but on what happens if I sweat during the activity. It's true that I've had other issues before, but they've mostly been dealt with. I've resorted to wearing gloves when I drive, so that I don't sweat all over the steering wheel, but that's something I'd rather not do in front of an audience. I'll start teaching again next month, and I'm going to try using a beta blocker. A lot of musicians use them. I read that one violinist had problems with losing the grip on his bow because his hands were sweating so much during concerts.
To finish off a long post, I think that overall stress level is an issue with sweating. Just to give an example, whenever I fly, I sweat a lot when I check in and when I go through security, but then I'm pretty much dry until I get to the destination. This was even true when I returned from my month long trip, after having not used Drysol at all. And my hands were sweating a lot when I arrived at the airport. So the point is, I think I was just very relaxed because of the sense that I don't have any responsibilities to worry about (after going through security). Sure, things could happen to me, but that doesn't seem to affect me as much. When I got back home is when my hands started sweating like crazy, because that's when I started worrying about all the things I wanted to do.
For stress level, I think yoga and exercise help. Ok, thanks for reading.