dubcloser
Member
Hello all-
Thank you everyone for the info I've found on this forum. It was incredible to find you all to begin with and understand that I was not the only one out there with HH.
I have HH all over the place. It started in my teens. I am now 27. I have dripping pits, sweaty hands, craniofacial HH, and I often sweat badly from my chest and belly. It runs in the family - my mom has the same issue.
You all know how this effects our lives, so Ill spare you all the story - the embarrassment, horrible social situation stories, etc.
I tried Odaban, which was a godsend - sort of. It stopped the armpit sweating, but it irritated my skin. I used it all over the place as well, with similar results. I looked like I had a permanent sunburn. Odaban helped my armpits and hands, but it did not help my facial/neck/scalp sweating, and it ate my skin on my chest and belly. I used it for several years.
Then, I tried Ditropan (Oxybutynin) SP?. I saw it on this forum and it was cheaper than avert so I tried it first. What a nightmare. It does work to reduce sweating. Ditropan did not eliminate sweat for me, but it did control it fairly well. The problem was the side effects. My god. I expected dry mouth - but not like that - it was horrible. I felt like I was heavily medicated all day. Cloudy head and horribly dry mouth, nose, etc. I am in sales. ( Seriously) I found myself walking into sales meetings with liter bottles of water. Sure, I wasn't leaking all over the customers desk, but I had to sip water every 2 minutes to speak coherently. Ditropan was horrible for me. I only would take it if absolutely necessary, and even then I would look at the pills with disdain before I downed them. I knew I was in for a horrible day long after my meeting was over.
So, I contacted Pharmacy.ca about Avert. I had a fairly extensive questionnaire to fill out and an additional feedback session with a doctor from there. I ended up getting the secure 3% wipes and the Avert 2mg pills. I tried them 2 days ago for the first time.
I used one Secure wipe around my forehead and around my scalp and temples. I have very short hair so I can just run the wipes through the hair and I can feel it on my scalp. I ran the wipe over my neck as well. I then took one 2mg Avert capsule and I did not eat for 2 hours as directed. The wipes have a lot of alcohol on them and evaporate quickly. They feel like the oxy pimple pads I used when I was a teenager - that same abrasive stingy alcohol feeling.
Immediately after taking the pill and using the wipes some friends picked me up to go to Six Flags Great America near Chicago. Normally this is a nightmare scenario for me as I am guaranteed to be soaked through my clothes within the first hour even on a cool day. I walked all over this large amusement park - rode roller coaster after roller coaster - waited in huge lines in crowded hot buildings - I even ate a huge order of nachos with jalepeno peppers. And I did not sweat.
It was 80 degrees out and it was humid. I felt fresh all day. I did sweat a little when we were trapped in a line under a glass window that was directing the sun onto us, but my "normal" friends were sweating too. It was just a little bit of sweat, and only for a minute. I think that is normal. I dont really know what it is to sweat normally, but I didnt feel out of place at all.
I did refuse to go on the water rides. I was afraid the Secure might wash off or something. My friends were baffled - they hate the water rides - I always insist we go on them. (Normally, I am soaked, so If I look like I just got off a water ride, well, no big deal.) I hate water rides actually, but its the only way I can justify being soaked when noone else is.
The whole day was amazing to me. An entire day of physical activity in hot weather and I did not look like I just got off a water ride. I was rubbing my hands together all day and I was running my hands through my dry hair all day - i couldn't believe it. They were totally dry. This was an incredible day - I have never been able to go to an amusement park and not be self conscious about my sweating. WOW.
I was also amazed by the lack of side effects. The Ditropan left me miserable. The Secure wipes and 2mg of Avert left me with minor dry mouth. Thats it. It was really not intrusive. It was probably worse than it would normally be because I was on roller coasters and screaming all day.
My friends had raspy throats too by the time we left the park that night. Interestingly enough, none of them noticed that I was not sweating all day until I brought it up on the car ride home. They all know I have this problem, but I thought it was great that they didn't even notice that I wasn't leaking like crazy. Maybe my insecurities are unfounded. It doesnt matter to me tho. I spent 12 hours in a crowded park and walked miles and I still felt fresh. Unreal.
Today I did the same thing. Secure pad around my face, neck, scalp, and one 2mg capsule of Avert. I drove around a bit with my windows up and no A/C to test it out. It was 80 degrees out. No problem. I went to an large extended family birthday dinner tonight (8 hours after the pad and pill) in a crowded restaurant. No problem.
I am amazed. Hopefully this stuff doesn't wear off, because if it keeps working then I have found something that will change my life.
The true test will be in two weeks. I am going on a trip to Cancun Mexico, and the average temp this time of year there is over 90 degrees with high humidity. I am hoping to sweat like a normal person sweats in 100 degree heat. If I can walk around a little sweaty like everyone else rather than looking like I just got out of the pool I will call this experiment a huge success.
Anyway - thats my first post - I hope it helps - and I hope and prey that this will continue to work for me. Thanks to the collective community here for giving a lurker some direction and ideas.
Ryan
Thank you everyone for the info I've found on this forum. It was incredible to find you all to begin with and understand that I was not the only one out there with HH.
I have HH all over the place. It started in my teens. I am now 27. I have dripping pits, sweaty hands, craniofacial HH, and I often sweat badly from my chest and belly. It runs in the family - my mom has the same issue.
You all know how this effects our lives, so Ill spare you all the story - the embarrassment, horrible social situation stories, etc.
I tried Odaban, which was a godsend - sort of. It stopped the armpit sweating, but it irritated my skin. I used it all over the place as well, with similar results. I looked like I had a permanent sunburn. Odaban helped my armpits and hands, but it did not help my facial/neck/scalp sweating, and it ate my skin on my chest and belly. I used it for several years.
Then, I tried Ditropan (Oxybutynin) SP?. I saw it on this forum and it was cheaper than avert so I tried it first. What a nightmare. It does work to reduce sweating. Ditropan did not eliminate sweat for me, but it did control it fairly well. The problem was the side effects. My god. I expected dry mouth - but not like that - it was horrible. I felt like I was heavily medicated all day. Cloudy head and horribly dry mouth, nose, etc. I am in sales. ( Seriously) I found myself walking into sales meetings with liter bottles of water. Sure, I wasn't leaking all over the customers desk, but I had to sip water every 2 minutes to speak coherently. Ditropan was horrible for me. I only would take it if absolutely necessary, and even then I would look at the pills with disdain before I downed them. I knew I was in for a horrible day long after my meeting was over.
So, I contacted Pharmacy.ca about Avert. I had a fairly extensive questionnaire to fill out and an additional feedback session with a doctor from there. I ended up getting the secure 3% wipes and the Avert 2mg pills. I tried them 2 days ago for the first time.
I used one Secure wipe around my forehead and around my scalp and temples. I have very short hair so I can just run the wipes through the hair and I can feel it on my scalp. I ran the wipe over my neck as well. I then took one 2mg Avert capsule and I did not eat for 2 hours as directed. The wipes have a lot of alcohol on them and evaporate quickly. They feel like the oxy pimple pads I used when I was a teenager - that same abrasive stingy alcohol feeling.
Immediately after taking the pill and using the wipes some friends picked me up to go to Six Flags Great America near Chicago. Normally this is a nightmare scenario for me as I am guaranteed to be soaked through my clothes within the first hour even on a cool day. I walked all over this large amusement park - rode roller coaster after roller coaster - waited in huge lines in crowded hot buildings - I even ate a huge order of nachos with jalepeno peppers. And I did not sweat.
It was 80 degrees out and it was humid. I felt fresh all day. I did sweat a little when we were trapped in a line under a glass window that was directing the sun onto us, but my "normal" friends were sweating too. It was just a little bit of sweat, and only for a minute. I think that is normal. I dont really know what it is to sweat normally, but I didnt feel out of place at all.
I did refuse to go on the water rides. I was afraid the Secure might wash off or something. My friends were baffled - they hate the water rides - I always insist we go on them. (Normally, I am soaked, so If I look like I just got off a water ride, well, no big deal.) I hate water rides actually, but its the only way I can justify being soaked when noone else is.
The whole day was amazing to me. An entire day of physical activity in hot weather and I did not look like I just got off a water ride. I was rubbing my hands together all day and I was running my hands through my dry hair all day - i couldn't believe it. They were totally dry. This was an incredible day - I have never been able to go to an amusement park and not be self conscious about my sweating. WOW.
I was also amazed by the lack of side effects. The Ditropan left me miserable. The Secure wipes and 2mg of Avert left me with minor dry mouth. Thats it. It was really not intrusive. It was probably worse than it would normally be because I was on roller coasters and screaming all day.
My friends had raspy throats too by the time we left the park that night. Interestingly enough, none of them noticed that I was not sweating all day until I brought it up on the car ride home. They all know I have this problem, but I thought it was great that they didn't even notice that I wasn't leaking like crazy. Maybe my insecurities are unfounded. It doesnt matter to me tho. I spent 12 hours in a crowded park and walked miles and I still felt fresh. Unreal.
Today I did the same thing. Secure pad around my face, neck, scalp, and one 2mg capsule of Avert. I drove around a bit with my windows up and no A/C to test it out. It was 80 degrees out. No problem. I went to an large extended family birthday dinner tonight (8 hours after the pad and pill) in a crowded restaurant. No problem.
I am amazed. Hopefully this stuff doesn't wear off, because if it keeps working then I have found something that will change my life.
The true test will be in two weeks. I am going on a trip to Cancun Mexico, and the average temp this time of year there is over 90 degrees with high humidity. I am hoping to sweat like a normal person sweats in 100 degree heat. If I can walk around a little sweaty like everyone else rather than looking like I just got out of the pool I will call this experiment a huge success.
Anyway - thats my first post - I hope it helps - and I hope and prey that this will continue to work for me. Thanks to the collective community here for giving a lurker some direction and ideas.
Ryan