Sweaty feet and general aurgh!!

[Hyperfeet]

First off let me say I'm so glad I found a forum full of people with this problem. Such a horribly debilitating and humiliating condition...

What surprises me is the lack of threads about foot sweating - I have palmar auxillary and plantar but it's the feet that have effect my social life the most, by far - namely because of the smell... it's hardly surprising that feet are the worst - constantly being held in hot shoes and socks, bacteria heaven, even despite frequent drying outs and shoes swapping

I'm 18 and it's been getting steadily worse over the last few months. I tried driclor and shaving my feet (after remembering an old teacher had said 'people with no hair never have BO problems' - bull****) and both only exacerbated the problem a lot. Tried two doctors, the first offered a perscription antiperspirant and the second shrugged it off.

I've literally tried everything - antiperspirants, insoles, tea soaks, disinfectants, bicarbonate of soda, boric acid. I ordered some Avert capsules but after only 1mg I got the blurry vision and dizziness so not really the right drug for me I guess - didn't help with the sweating much either.

I might one day try ionto (seems to be all that's left) but for now it's not really possible on my student budget - plus I'm always reading about people for whom it's stopped working. So irritating that there's not long term cure for HH.

So I suppose two questions - does anyone have any suggestions on things that have helped with foot odour? Socks vary from being lightly damp to horribly so. And secondly, how does everyone get over this? Hyperhidrosis for practically your entire lifetime? It ****ing sucks, can't go to gigs, clubbing, selfconsious in any social / working enviroment... how does everyone bear the prospect of an entire lifetime of this?

urgh, sorry, had to get that out of my system

 

[Rexus]

it's really weird that your main issue is with feet, you know they're hidden inside your shoes n all. Hands and axillae are the worst and most apparent. Maybe you need to say, "thank the lord i don't have that big of an issue with my palms/underarms". Believe me, I have generalized hh (face, palms, underarms, feet, etc.) and all I care about is just living palm sweatfree for a day.

So errr, ya, that barely helped, but iontophoresis should be your next step. Try to save up for one (Idrostar or Idromed 5 are great choices) or make your own one

YouTube - Re: Cure Sweaty Hands, Palms, Hyperhidrosis, Hyperhydrosis

ionto needs perseverance and eventually it will work

It's currently not working for me but i'm very sure if i keep at it and consistent it will work again, i can already feel it.

 

[Hyperfeet]

it's really weird that your main issue is with feet, you know they're hidden inside your shoes n all. Hands and axillae are the worst and most apparent. Maybe you need to say, "thank the lord i don't have that big of an issue with my palms/underarms". Believe me, I have generalized hh (face, palms, underarms, feet, etc.) and all I care about is just living palm sweatfree for a day.

So errr, ya, that barely helped, but iontophoresis should be your next step. Try to save up for one (Idrostar or Idromed 5 are great choices) or make your own one

ionto needs perseverance and eventually it will work

It's currently not working for me but i'm very sure if i keep at it and consistent it will work again, i can already feel it.

Ah but maybe you need to say "thank the lord I don't have a problem with my feet". I'd say I have a fairly equal problem across all three areas but honestly, the feet are easily the worst - the sweaty palms thing doesn't bother me in the slightest - they don't smell, you can dry them with ease and it's only really a problem when shaking hands, which luckily rarely happens, whilst underarms aren't a massive problem as long as I wear the right clothes (ie no grey tshirts, for instance).
Try walking into a crowded room knowing your feet socks and shoes are damp and hearing or seeing people say 'what's that smell?' and you'll know how utterly degrading it is. Completely sucks.
-

How long have you been using ionto, out of interest? I ask as a lot of people say it tends to stop working after a couple of years. Someone should do a sort of survey around iontophorisis - average time it lasts for, how often people have treatments, ect.

 

[Rexus]

Ah but maybe you need to say "thank the lord I don't have a problem with my feet". I'd say I have a fairly equal problem across all three areas but honestly, the feet are easily the worst - the sweaty palms thing doesn't bother me in the slightest - they don't smell, you can dry them with ease and it's only really a problem when shaking hands, which luckily rarely happens, whilst underarms aren't a massive problem as long as I wear the right clothes (ie no grey tshirts, for instance).
Try walking into a crowded room knowing your feet socks and shoes are damp and hearing or seeing people say 'what's that smell?' and you'll know how utterly degrading it is. Completely sucks.
-

How long have you been using ionto, out of interest? I ask as a lot of people say it tends to stop working after a couple of years. Someone should do a sort of survey around iontophorisis - average time it lasts for, how often people have treatments, ect.

I've been using ionto for about 4 months, I sure hope it won't stop working in 2 years. I sure hope it won't stop working now anyway. It's all i've got. And I'm willing to say for your feet it's all you've got. Try it out. Save up some money or make the homemade one, i feel you're gonna find success.

 

[Hyperfeet]

I've been using ionto for about 4 months, I sure hope it won't stop working in 2 years. I sure hope it won't stop working now anyway. It's all i've got. And I'm willing to say for your feet it's all you've got. Try it out. Save up some money or make the homemade one, i feel you're gonna find success.

Yeah that's certainly true. I'm going to see how much student loan money I have at the end of term and then consider buying one. Also, just a quick question - how often are you meant to treat yourself with idrostar?

 

[IhateHH]

Hey hyperfeet!! I totally understand what your going through!! I'm 19 and i'm going through EXACTLY what you are with the feet smell and how people act around me. I'm glad to know that im not crazy and that im not alone in this f*cked up situation. I hate the head trips i have to go through when i go out in public just to see peoples expressions and comments, the worst part is when im trying to talk to em about something they don't pay attention cuz my feet smell destroys their train of thought.

http://www.socialphobiaworld.com/hh-has-destroyed-my-life-im-alone-depressed-and-need-advise-23443/

^ Check out my thread that i started couple weeks ago and the advises i got... im currently a week into zinc tabs and they don't help at all, which means the smell is from sweating PERIOD, nothing internal. Im about 10 days into doing a homemade ionto with 18v and don't see much difference in foot sweet when i go out and drive around, only sometimes when im at home its a little bit more dry.

 

[Soy Sauce]

I don't know if it has something to do with age, but when I was younger, I had really bad foot odour from my sweating too. I wouldn't even go over to my friends houses because I didn't want to take my shoes off. My mom was always complaining about my feet smell and when I was changing in the locker room at the gym, people would comment too. For some reason, the odour has really gone down and is barely noticeable now. Haven't had anyome comment on my foot odour in several years now that I think about it. Even my mom, who has a nose like a bloodhound.

Also, I have gotten feedback from a couple people who have been using Iontophoresis for 10+ years, and say that it still works for them. Hopefully it'll be the same for me.

 

[Hyperfeet]

@IhateHH - glad to find a fellow sufferer! Thanks for linking to that thread, I've read up now. Shame the zinc thing didn't work for you, I'm thinking of trying that out. But sadly I think you're probably right that it is the sweat that's causing the smell.

Also, some advice to you, most of which I'm sure you've read already but, odour eater insoles, light, open shoes (converse are good) and socks (I wear white cotton ankle socks, cushy at the bottom and thin at the top), have made life just about bearable for me. Just.

Be sure to keep us updated on progress with ionto treatment. Something else I might try if it gets any worse - though from wha I hear it's generally less effective in stopping foot perspiration due to the thick skin.

@ Soy Sauce - thanks, that's really encouraging news... I've been hoping that that my age if the reason it's so bad right now. Has the sweating from your feet reduced over the years or merely the smell reduced?

Incidentally, the worst part of the odour problem is how acoustemed you can become to it... I'm practically oblivious to it most of the time, yet others clearly aren't.

 

[Soy Sauce]

The amount my feet sweat hasn't really reduced, just the smell.

Also, I have never used Iontophoresis on my feet. Only my hands. But when my hands stop sweating from Ionto, so do my feet. They are connected somehow.

 

[Noca]

Hey hyperfeet!! I totally understand what your going through!! I'm 19 and i'm going through EXACTLY what you are with the feet smell and how people act around me. I'm glad to know that im not crazy and that im not alone in this f*cked up situation. I hate the head trips i have to go through when i go out in public just to see peoples expressions and comments, the worst part is when im trying to talk to em about something they don't pay attention cuz my feet smell destroys their train of thought.

http://www.socialphobiaworld.com/hh-has-destroyed-my-life-im-alone-depressed-and-need-advise-23443/

^ Check out my thread that i started couple weeks ago and the advises i got... im currently a week into zinc tabs and they don't help at all, which means the smell is from sweating PERIOD, nothing internal. Im about 10 days into doing a homemade ionto with 18v and don't see much difference in foot sweet when i go out and drive around, only sometimes when im at home its a little bit more dry.

People can smell your feet through your socks and shoes??

 

[Hyperfeet]

People can smell your feet through your socks and shoes??

It's more like they can smell the smell that the sweat makes when it soaks through to the sock and shoe. Not really that surprising. As I say it's just weird it doesn't seem to be a more common problem.

Other most irritating thing about HH: people (generally on the internet, I don't discuss it in real life) giving the 'you smell? Here's an idea, use soap! lol!!111!!' response. People just assume a lack of hygiene is to blame.. Sigh.

 

[IhateHH]

People can smell your feet through your socks and shoes??

Worse. I can stink up a whole room within 5 minutes and everyone will be holding their breath taking quick sniffles and stares at me and my feet. In my senior year of high school, my Econ teacher was a heavy set dude and he had trouble breathing during lectures cuz of me ><. Try going to one place for the first time and everybody coughs when you walk by, go back a second time a week or two later, and everyone remembers you from your smell and avoids you.

It's like walking around with slimy stinky water in my socks/shoes, it would be equal to walking around with some water and mud constantly sloshing in your shoes. AND the obsolutaly worst part of all, is not really being able to smell myself, only sometimes and i have to actually try really hard to smell myself!

Some comments i got was, Who farted, did someone piss themselves, i smell sweaty gym socks, uugghh, you should take a shower, even those "indirect" comments when people leave like im gonna go home and shower etc. When i tried using many varieties of powders, people coughed around me. When i used to party a lot and drink with some ex close friends, i would pretend to use the bathroom and eaves drop on em only to hear, he smells like brown sugar, he smells like piss, what does he smell like, maybe thats just the way he smells, are you getting tired of this sh*t, don't say nothing, laughing, etc etc.

I have bought and used cleaning/hygene products within a month that most people would have bought and maybe used within a year. And all that i wrote here is only scratching the surface of the bullsh*t i had to go through and still am.

The only positive and beneficial thing i got out of this is that i quit smoking cigs from fear of b/o created by cigs, smoking bud cuz i get paranoid, drinking cuz i get paranoid, etc. I've smoked cigs since i was 13 and ill have a one cig relapse maybe every 4 or 5 months but it's a big improvement from a pack a day everyday habit, but i think the negatives outweigh the positives by a mile .

So yes people can smell my funk through my socks and shoes.

Edit: i didn't mean to drop the bomb but i had to say/type my experience someday and my experience of telling people my problems always backed fired, so why not on a forum where no one knows me :/.