Hi Steve. As someone who went through the operation 15-16 years ago now, my advice mate would be don't do it! I enjoy having dry hands, but the thing is they are now freakishly dry, i.e. you do a 60 minute treadmill session and there's next to no sweat on your hands, less I would imagine than a 'normal' person. Now, this might sound like a dream for someone with palm hyperhidrosis (and it did to me before the ops), but the nerves that they cut don't just affect the hands and underarms, they control sweating to the face, forehead, scalp, and I think neck. for the last decade-and-a-half I have sweat next to nothing from these areas (again, even after a gym workout in the summer). Consequently I feel hot / flushed all of the time (to the point where you feel like you're going to pass out). Sweating from the face and head are natural bodily reactions, but something that I simply cannot do now. Also, not sweating at all from the underarms feels very unnatural.
When I think about my quality of life pre-surgery, I would say it was at least 10 times better than the last fifteen years have been. Instead of sweating through 'normal' areas like the hands, feet, underarms and face, I sweat horribly through my back, stomach, chest, sides and legs. So much embarrassment, self-conscious etc it's ridiculous. I did so many things 'back in the day' like play rugby that I just don't feel able to do now. Basically it feels like the nervous system (and consequently body) are f****d. What people (including myself) seem to make the mistake of, is thinking that hyperhidrosis sufferers have some kind of extra nerves that make our hands sweat (for example) but it's not the case - we have the exact same nerves as everyone else, ours are just overactive. But that's the thing, if something is going too fast you have to try and find ways to slow it down - not stick a knife through the damn thing! The operations are just so unnatural and wrong in my opinion, the nerves are there for a reason and serve so many functions. For example, I am convinced that the ops have also had a very damaging effect on my emotions, such as in my early teens I could cry like a baby if something upset me, but over the last fifteen years you kinda feel disconnected from everything, to the point where I didn't cry at either my grandma or granddad's funerals, and they both meant the world to me! Now of course I cannot prove that the operations did this, but after a lot of reading I'd say it's very likely.
Anyway, I hope that this doesn't come across as a 'woe is me' sobstory because that wasn't my intention, I just wanted to give a perspective of someone who has been through a devastating post-surgery existence for the last 15 years.
If you want my advice Steve, I would leave surgery well alone. Get as much as you possibly can from non-surgical treatments like iontophoresis and Odaban, maybe even add some brief counselling if your condition has caused you a lot of things over the years like depression. I believe in treatments like all three of these, and if I had my time again I would have used that package of support and stayed the hell away from surgery.
Anyway, very best of luck mate, don't give up hope.
JR25
