Hand and Feet hyperhidrosis possibly spreading?

[dezza]

I've had hyperhidrosis on my hands and feet for many years now, and have tried a few things with little success.

I've tried anhydrol forte, which caused too much irritation so stopped using that quite quickly. Had iontophoresis done at the hospital for about a year or so, which worked for the first 6 months, then the effect slowly deteriorated. I now have my own machine, which doesn't do anything for me now at all. It doesn't help with my sweating, I tried using it every week and giving it a break to see if that would help, but was no help (I was told I should not use it more than once a week).

Have just come off Propantheline tablets, which seemed to make my sweating much worse... I don't know how this is possible but it seemed to trigger my sweating a lot more often.

My doctor has suggested surgery and I am due to go for an assessment in a couple of months, but I would prefer to avoid going through this if possible. I was thinking of trying Odaban or the Perspirex hand and foot lotion, has anyone had any experience of these, and what are their effects?

It seems that now, when I'm inside, my sweating gets worse on my hands and feet, and when I go out, I seem to start sweating all over my body, but my hands and feet aren't that bad. Seems weird, don't know if it's just me? I noticed this started getting worse since I started taking the Propantheline tablets, which I have now stopped taking.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks!

 

[dezza]

Thanks Pinker for your reply.

I did pay enough money for the machine so it would be nice to get some result out of it.... I heard about this special solution called Gycopyrromium Bromide (sorry if it's spelt wrong).... have you had any experience with this or anything similar?

 

[**removed**]

Yes I used glycopyrronium Bromide solution (0.05% concentration) for a few months before I reverted back to water. It's very good at stopping the sweat but it does come with side effects.

Are you from England btw? I was able to get glycopyrrolate on repeat prescription when I gave my GP the details of the company who make it.

 

[dezza]

I called my GP about this today and they called the hospital, but they said they would strongly advise against this as it can cause drying of the pupils, is this true? Is this the side effect you're referring to?

And yes I am from England - is it true that only one place makes this here?

Thanks again.

 

[dezza]

Hi pinker,

Yes that was the company name I was given on another forum, I can't understand why they're saying this if some hospitals actually recommend this.

Maybe they're thinking that I'm referring to the tablet form, which I'm led to understand, and as you've pointed out, is quite lethal.

I'll have to see what all the fuss is about, as although there's some side effects, they don't really seem life threatening or dangerous compared to a lot of medications I've seen.

I'm going to make an appointment with my GP and take along some info about it. Or possibly move my dermatology appointment forward to have a word about this.

Meanwhile thanks for the advice, I shall keep on with the tap water for now.

 

[**removed**]

Yeah try using the machine more often with tap water.

Lots of people on the forums actually take robinul tablets (also called Avert). They are actually suppost to have the least side effects of any of the tablets.

 

[dezza]

It would be nice if I could get away with just using the onto machine without using tablets, would you happen to know the most drastic side effects of the avert/robinul tablets?

 

[**removed**]

It would be nice if I could get away with just using the onto machine without using tablets, would you happen to know the most drastic side effects of the avert/robinul tablets?

Hey, umm it varies from person to person really, for most the worst side effect they get is a very dry mouth (sometimes called cotton mouth lol) or dizzy spells. There was a thread on the msn forum where people were talking about impotence caused by oral medication, but some of these people were taking a mix of tablets so they probably had a high dosage in their system.

 

[dezza]

Hi again, well I've never heard of cotton mouth but it doesn't sound very pleasant! Thanks for the info, I got an appointment with dermatology on Tuesday so I'll have to see what they say. They were on about surgery last time but it would be nice to try something else before resorting to that.

 

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What machine do you use btw? I'd try upping the current to about 13mA (this is what I use) and i'd try and do more frequent treatments.

About surgery.. have a read of the ETS stories in this forum - http://pub157.ezboard.com/betsandreversals

and take a look at this site - http://editthis.info/corposcindosis/Main_Page

It makes cotton mouth sound laughable.

 

[dezza]

I use the i2ma iontophoresis machine. The problem at the moment is that every time I do it, the itching that occurs, especially on my hands, is almost unbearable which is why I don't like using it at the moment.

I did use Odaban previously which irritated my skin on my hands and feet, but even before this my skin itched when using the machine. I know this might be normal but it is very unpleasant. Should I put something on the skin to try and stop this before using it?

 

[**removed**]

Do you use the Idrostar machine? That's the one I use.

What current are you using when your hands get itchy? That happens with a lot of people but they tend to call it more of a burning sensation. Though a few times my hands and feet have got really itchy.. it could be due to using the machine too often? My fingers tend get irritated a bit in places where I have a bit of eczema so I have to put vasaline on areas of skin that burn quite easily. It's a bit unusual if its your palms that are itchy, but I think you will experience that less after a long time of using the machine. You may even find using a higher current makes it seem less itchy.

I haven't tried odaban but I tried Driclor on my hands and it made them dry and flakey so I think antipersprants are a bad idea for hands.

 

[dezza]

I use the i2ma, it's the blue one that STDpharm sell, along with the idrostar.

Maybe it may help if I moisturised my hands and feet every day, but I thought that this may worsen my sweating? I don't know if it feels like burning, but it feels like extreme pins and needles, but it's almost unbearable sitting there for 10 minutes with that.

If I put vaseline all over my hands/feet when I use the machine, may this reduce the effectiveness?

 

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Wherever you put vasaline, the treatment won't take effect because it seals the skin off from the water. So it's ideal to put it on individual cuts or eczema before a treatment.

What current are you using with the i2ma? It's a long time since I started using the machine but I think it was difficult for me to bear at first. Now I can use it at 10-13mA and not feel anything.. so you get used to it.

I think you should try keeping it around 6mA to 8mA for the full 10 minutes, and just grin and bear it! After doing this a few times I think you'll find it much more bearable. Was it bearable when you had hospital treatments?

 

[dezza]

When I was at the hospital for the first few treatments it was fine, absolutely no itching at all, but when I started the top up treatments every month or so, that's when it started. Maybe it's down to leaving the time between treatments too long? But as I could only do top-ups once a month and I didn't have my own machine, I had no choice but to wait.

Maybe I'll have to start again, using the same schedule they use in the hospital (day 1,2,4 etc, or whatever it is) and see how it goes from there. I suppose it's a case of no pain no gain! Or no loss in the terms of HH!

 

[dezza]

After having my appointment at the dermatology clinic about this, they're going to try the glycorropyrate solution in the hospital, so although I'll be going there a few time a week, hopefully it will pay off in the end.

If it works, then they said they would have a word with my GP to prescribe this on a longer term basis. They also arranged for me to have a word with the surgeon regarding ETS surgery, but it is highly unlikely that I would consider it, and they don't recommend it either.

Many thanks again