My first post - Any input would mean a lot to me

[husky337]

First off I'd like to thank the sweet Lord above for this forum, came across this recently and until then thought I was one of 5 people with severe HH. Reading all your posts and comments has been very uplifting to me and I hope to learn from those of you who have tried different solutions to combat this condition. I hope that you guys can take some time to read my story (might mimic a lot of other people on here) and give me input on some questions I have, this would mean the world to me as I have just recently found the courage to finally get up and do something about my hyperhidrosis instead of feeling unhappy at times and sorry for myself.

Keeping this as short as possible, I'm 22 years old and have severe hyperhidrosis in the hands and feet with armpits sometimes also being an issue (palmar, plantar, and axillae). I have had this since I was maybe 13-14 years old, the condition never got better or worse where I've had abnormally sweaty hands and feet for the last 8-9 years with some sweaty pits too (I have to watch what color/material shirts I wear quite a bit). Living through the teenage years, high school, and college was tough and I have no idea how I actually survived but I know it involved some embarassment, shying away from certain situations, wiping my hands a lot, and avoiding physical contact unless I was under the influence and drinking.

It wasn't until a couple months ago when I was finishing up my undergraduate studies that I decided that this condition was severely affecting the quality of my life and dominated it from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed, constantly being a worry in my mind. That is when I decided to really do something about it. I had seen a dermatologist awhile back as a freshman in high school complaining about my hands (the main thing I, or we , care about) and she seemed to not really understand the severity of my condition and perscribed me drysol. I tried following the directions for my hands applying them on at night after I showered then wearing gloves for a couple weeks and nothing happened. Then I thought there was no solution, until recently.

After I decided that I was going to look into solutions for hyperhidrosis and really get serious about it, I perused over all the listed treatments online and one that stood out to me was the Mayo Clinic's sympaTHOTOMY, not the ETS but a different version where they simply cut the connection between the nerves instead of removing them or clamping them (http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/content/78/2/167.full.pdf). This procedure has had great success, the study currently out being a sample size of only 10 but a new one is coming out in August with a size of 150. I think it was 148 people were happy with the operation with minimal CS and dry hands, basically a miracle operation with minimal risks. I even had the chance to speak to someone who had the surgery 3 years ago and amazingly his hands are still bone dry to this day, using them to wipe sweat off his brow and other areas when exercising. I still had my doubts as I know to take everything in with a grain of salt. I flew to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota with my father and heard from the surgeon himself. They were all very understanding, professional, and honest (no pressure). I was very close to electing to do the surgery, but after talking with my family we decided that it would be best to try other treatments first.

So here I am with some questions and praying that a solution out there can work for me like it has for some other people, dry hands (and if possible feet and armpits) would mean the world to me and I would give up so much for it (within reason of course!!). Living with HH has been such an impediment on my life and I feel that if I could just get this addressed and put to the side I could really move forward in life and get to experience new things.

My questions:

I think that Iontophoresis is going to be my first plan of attack and fortunately for me money is no problem in regards to buying a machine that gives me the highest probability of sweat reduction in my hands, feet, and possibly armpits. Because there are a lot of machines out there, I was looking at the Idromed 5 PS, Idrostar Pro Pulse, and Hidrex 500 PS. I was wondering what you guys thought of those 3 machines and which (if you know) has delivered the best results.

Also, these machines claim to be able to treat both hands and both feet at the same time, how is that possible when they only come with 2 trays that detach from being a briefcase?

They also claim to be able to treat armpits with some type of pad, I was wondering if anyone has tried this out or has any thoughts on that.

I am not very educated in terms of electricity and how it works but after reading some stuff I came across the issue of polarity and I was wondering how that plays into those machines and what I will need to do to ensure the best chances for results.

After the iontophoresis questions I was also looking into taking Robinul Forte after reading about the success people have had with taking that, not sure if I should do ionto first then take Robinul or vice versa, etc. I've read here that some people take the pill year round, bear the side effects, and have happily experienced dramatic sweat reduction.

The last question is in regards to the Diltiazem pills and whether those are worth trying or not before the Robinul due to what appears to be milder side effects.

This is my first post (of many I'm sure) and I can't thank you guys enough for being there for all of us with HH and taking time to post your comments on this board. Any opinions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated, the more the better. Thanks again!!!

 

[upndwn]

I am not familiar with your condition unfortunately, but I would like to welcome you to the forums. Hope there is someone here that can help you better than me.

 

[hyp-hi]

Hi Husky, welcome to the forum. You explained your situation well, and I'm sure you will find plenty of help here.

I would recommend doing the surgery only if everything else doesn't work. I know you said it is different than ETS, but cutting the nerves that cause sweat sounds like ETS and many people who have done that experienced bad sweat on other areas of their body.

I would check out the ionotophoresis machines like you mentioned. I haven't tried those 3 models, but I do have the RA Fischer model and I have experienced pretty good results while using it. It comes with 2 trays, so you can treat your hands, and your feet, but not at the same time. I know some people have made their own machines that have 4 trays, so it is possible. Also there are pads available for armpits. I haven't tried those.

Robinul is another option to try. I have had some success with it also, with minimal side effects. I tried that before the ionto. I would recommend both options, but try one at a time so you can figure out what works individually.

Hope this helps! Good luck with your treatments!

 

[Knickerless]

Welcome to the forum.

I am sure you will have read here that any form of surgery should always be the last resort, I am not in the business of scaremongering but if you were one of the unlucky ones who resulted in worsened compensatory sweating as a result of surgery that would be bad enough... but to know there were other routes you could have tried first would be the pits (no pun intended!).

Having read pretty much everything ever written here and tried all but surgery myself I feel confident enough to give you my personal opinion:

The machines seem to work well for the HH you describe, however, the fact that you would like to reduce/get rid of sweating in three different areas multiplied by the amount of time you will need to give to the treatment everyday would suggest to me that the first option may well me oral treatment. On the basis of this forum and its user feedback Avert or Robinul would appear to have the highest success rate but you do need to work out the best dose for you as some people get irritating side effects such as dry mouth and mild tiredness. You could also look into Secure Wipes (see sticky topic) which contains the same drug but in a topic form, good for the hands, feet, face, arm pits etc (anything localised). I would only look at Ditropan if these do not work for you as the success rate between the two do not compare to be honest.

Hope this helps.

 

[tron26]

Hi Husky

If ionto works...pls be patient and follow the manufacturers regime and you will see results...i have axillary and palmar HH too....i use driclor for my axillary HH and its keeps me about 70% dry and i use a self made ionto kit for palmar HH which I looked up on youtube ( a video by shannon bowling).

You dont have to put up with HH...just keep trying things and you will find something which works for you...I am glad you have taken the first step towards it...I agree with others in the forum that surgery should be the last option..

Good Luck with ionto....

 

[ysh]

I would recommend Idromed or Hidrex. Don't know if there is multiple resellers for these, but I ordered a Hidrex PS 500 from Bindner Medizintechnik in Germany. I did order from here cause they gave me a 8 week money back guarantee in case it didn't work, and they also have a good support forum. The reason I can recommend Idromed and Hidrex is that both can operate with pulsing current or direct current. Pulsing current is what I prefer, cause I get this itchy feeling when treating with direct current. With pulsing current I don't feel much at all. Good luck! I am sure ionto will help.

Btw, I am sure all other professional devices will work as well but I don't have any experience with those (Idrostar, Fischer etc.).

 

[husky337]

Thanks for all the input guys, I am leaning towards starting an oral medication and see if I can put up with the side effects and take it daily long-term, then maybe if the results are not exactly to my liking I might supplement it with ionto for just my hands (the most important part to be dry for me). Just had a couple other questions for you guys:

- When you guys do ionto or take an oral medication to fight hyperhidrosis, do you guys still get that infamous tingling feeling that leads to sweating? For me whenever I am dry, as soon as I think about my hands or find myself getting the least bit nervous, anxious, or hot I will get a tingling feeling in my hands that immediately leads to sweaty palms, then get it in my feet and lastly my armpits.

- Is there a difference between Robinul and Robinul Forte? I've read different effectiveness for the extended release version, any opinions?

-If I do buy an Idromed system (which I'm leaning towards), do I need to worry about polarity and switching it?

Thanks so much guys, appreciate all the comments and opinions a lot!

 

[ysh]

My recommendation is to not go for the oral medication. I did that for about 3 or 4 years, but I stopped cause of the side effects. Felt tired, sometimes a bit confused, dry eyes and mouth. I only took the medication cause I had no other alternative at the time being. But actually I got fed up with the side effects and decided to use aluminium chloride based solutions instead, even though it was not all that effective.

Then in January this year I got really fed up with this condition so I decided to go for Botox. As it was rather expensive and would not last for more than a couple of months, I remembered that I had read about ionto some years ago. I didn't not believe that it would work, but still decided to give it a try. To my surprise it only took about two weeks to get the hand and feet sweating under control. It has now been 5 months and now it is summer. Still I have no problems with hands or feet sweating. Imagine being able to exercise a hot summer day, and still your hands do not sweat. And if they do sweat it's comparable to how a person without HH would sweat.

I recommend ionto. Oral medication affect your whole body, and reduced sweating is just a side effect.

 

[margiehope]

The oral meds may or may not be your answer, but don't walk in assuming you'll have bad side effects.
I've been taking Avert for maybe 6 years. I do sometimes have dry mouth, but not always, and I'm happy to trade it for dry head/face etc. (Lately, just when it's getting more hot and humid, I've been having attacks of stupidity and forgetting my meds. The resulting soaking wet head, drops pouring down my face, etc., make me thankful I discovered the pills--now I need to remember to take them!)

 

[Sprawling]

husky337:

When you first start ionto it's not unusual to the feeling like your hands are sweating when they aren't. They call this "phantom sweating" and it does go away in time. It really is a strange sensation.

 

[husky337]

Thanks for all the input guys. Living in a warm climate makes me nervous about experiencing success with iontophoresis and I am expecting that I will need to supplement the ionto with robinul (maybe forte?) after I do a trial run for 3+ weeks of ionto alone to see if it is effective for me. Reading about people's concerns here on the forums about long-term effects of taking robinul it seems to be a risk/reward thing where the benefits might be able to outweigh the cons. Still trying not to expect much from either to prevent myself from being let down, as our condition still isn't very understood at all.

The thing for me is that it is July 7th, and I begin graduate school for the first time in late August. I am praying that I will have found something that works for me by then in order to prevent another debacle of meeting new people and feeling embarassed and nervous because of my hands all over again. I have ordered the Idromed 5 PS system from Markus at ionto-device and am waiting for that to arrive in the mail and also have an appointment with my mom's dermatologist to try and get some robinul perscribed that I will take if the ionto does not work by mid August.

I had a couple questions regarding the ionto too if you fellas didn't mind:

- The idromed claims that it can do both my hands and feet at the same time? How? Do I need two extra tubs for that? Is it ok to do that or do the hands then feet separately?

- I don't understand the concept of polarity and how it plays into ionto. What do people mean by switching polarity half way through treatments exactly?

- How do you guys recommend I start an aggresive ionto regimen, since there's some information out there is hard for me to understand.

- I've read that water level plays into the effectiveness of ionto, so I want to keep the water levels just covering my palms and not whole hand right?

- Fingertips apparently can be tricky to deal with as well, so do I just repeat the hand treatment in time and voltage but just with my fingertips?

I understand that everyone responds different to ionto but just wanted to hear your thoughts, thanks as always guys - appreciate it

 

[hyp-hi]

To address some of your questions:

From what I know, the polarity is just the way the electricity is flowing. It can either go from positive to negative or the opposite. So basically when you have the 2 tray, electricity is coming in one and going out the other. I haven't noticed much difference with either setting, but I switch it up each time just to keep it balanced.

For a starting schedule, I would try it once a day or once every other day. You will probably want to start at a lower intensity and work your way up.

For water level, yes, just have it contact the area you want to reduce the sweat, for example the palms.

I haven't noticed fingertips sweating any more than the rest of my hands, so I think that is different for everyone.

 

[ysh]

Find my answers below.

- The idromed claims that it can do both my hands and feet at the same time? How? Do I need two extra tubs for that? Is it ok to do that or do the hands then feet separately?
I would recommend asking Markus about this one as you ordered the device from him. You would need extra tubs. I have one current setting that works for hands, and another one for feet. If I would treat both hands and feet at the same time I guess I would have to find a compromise current setting that works for both feet and hands at the same time. Haven't tried it myself, but send an email to Markus.

- I don't understand the concept of polarity and how it plays into ionto. What do people mean by switching polarity half way through treatments exactly?
I have never switched polarity half way through treatments. I switch polarity every other treatment if I remember which polarity I used the last time. It is not that important really, but I switch try to switch evenly just in case there is a difference.

- How do you guys recommend I start an aggresive ionto regimen, since there's some information out there is hard for me to understand.
Initially perform treatments for every day until you achieve dryness. Then move on to treatments every second day for some time. If still dry, treat every third day etc. You have to do some experimentation here, with time you will find out how often you need to perform treatments to keep the sweating under control.

- I've read that water level plays into the effectiveness of ionto, so I want to keep the water levels just covering my palms and not whole hand right?
I have the water level up to my finger nails. So I treat palms and the sides of my hands and feet.

- Fingertips apparently can be tricky to deal with as well, so do I just repeat the hand treatment in time and voltage but just with my fingertips?
I have a Hidrex so I my settings are in volts. I do 15 minutes at 30 volts for hands, 15 minutes at 40 volts for feet and then 10 minutes at 20 volts for fingertips. Perhaps a bit high but it does not hurt and most important of all it works. I will do some experimentation to see if I can use a lower voltage setting.

 

[Sprawling]

Water level has had zero relevance during my 6 years of treatment. I have been making sure my entire hand is covered in water and most of my foot. I have used 2 gallons of total water, and currently use a little less than 1 gallon of water between the 2 trays. Both scenario's outcome is exactly the same.

I find that water quality is what determines a successful treatment, not the amount of water.