it's back

when i first had botox injected into my hands...i thought maybe, just maybe, it was a placebo effect. i really do believe the mind is a powerful thing, but in this case, not powerful enough. because my hands and feet are back to the way they were: sweaty, sticky, a little swollen, freezing/stiff when the A/C is on at work, and just plain uncomfortable. i'm feeling super conscious of myself again, and i'm losing the confidence i had gained when they weren't sweaty.

on top of that...the dermatologists i have contacted that were on IHHS's list of physicians treating hyperhidrosis don't accept HMO. =( switching to PPO doesn't make sense for us, it's too expensive, and we don't need specific treatment by a specific doctor; the doctor i went to before having health insurance is covered under my HMO plan, so why pay more (a lot more)??

i guess i'll have to wait for the next IHHS conference...

It's over

The days of dry palms and feet look like they're over. The sweat is coming back full force. Click on the picture, and you'll see what I'm talking about...but it's gross, I know, so sorry. Gotta find a doctor now!

Sweaty Palms Update: 3 months

Remember my little (read: HUGE) problem with my sweaty palms. During my fittings, I couldn't even touch my dress because my hands were so wet. After receving the botox treatment at the IHHS conference in Frisco, TX, life has been a little bit sweeter. Let me recap a bit:

before:
-excessive sweating in hands and feet by doing nothing
-wetting papers including important documents and books
-stiffness in my fingers (sometimes preventing me from typing)
-cold hands and feet (can you imagine..they're wet too)
-ruined shoes
-unability to wear some shoes (and I LOOOOOove shoes!)
-constant wiping on my clothes
-afraid to meet people for fear of shaking hands
-reduced confidence (how ever did I score Dee?!)
-difficulty in applying makeup (blending with my fingers was impossible)
-my lap top would make me sweat like crazy
-any activity would make me sweat...e.g. shopping
-difficulty in driving, as in holding the steering wheel
-etc., etc., etc.

after:
-increased confidence
-less distracted by my hands in the office, at home, in a social setting, etc.
-i could wear my shoes without fear of ruining them!
-i can use my touch phone with ease
-i can type without sweating all over the keyboard
-i can hold hubby's hand without having to pull away because of the sweat
-i can touch paper and hold money without drenching and ruining it
-etc., etc., etc.

However...with 3 months past, I am starting to feel the sweat seeping its way to the surface of my hands. It scares me! I don't want to go back to constantly worrying about it again. Back to my search for a doctor who can treat me!

I was quoted in a USAToday article that came out yesterday, June 22, 2009. I'm a little sad in the shortness of the article and how mine and others' suffering isn't really emphasized. People still don't get that this isn't something we can control.

And on our wedding day...while standing before of our family and friends, i only pulled my hands away to wipe the tears out of my eyes (instead of pulling away to wipe my sweaty hands).

All photos taken by { j a c }

The Low Down on Botox...for hyperhidrosis

Here I am in my hotel room...just after receiving botox injections in my hands. I'm a happy camper.

So, as you recall, I have palmar and plantar hyperhidrosis. Basically, my hands and feet sweat. No, it's not just stress, and I can't just wipe it away. No amount of relaxing calms the sweating down. I do have a good day once in a long long long looooooooooooong while, but it always comes back. And I have tried everything, from over-the-counter antiperspirants, products you can only order online, prescribed antiperspirants and oral medications, but I have not tried iontophoresis and surgery.

This is my right hand. I'd already had the botox injected in my hands, but the treatment would not take effect for another 3 days to a week. Believe it or not, this was not a bad day for me...Sometimes, I can feel the sweat dripping from fingers or down my arm from my hands.

But before treating it, it took forever and a half for my doctors to realize it was a problem. Like most people, my "condition" was taken for craziness, absurdedness, or a temporary "thing." No one wanted to believe me, and for a while, I thought I was crazy. Even though my father and my sister have the same condition.

Excessive sweating is a problem affecting lots of people. Not sure if you're one of them? I highly encourage you to check out www.sweathelp.org. The site is run by the International Hyperhidrosis Society: a group of medical professionals who want to help people like me. If you have questions, they have answers. And they are the reason I was able to get the botox treatment for free. I'll come back to this later.

Today will be day 6. I have gone 3 days already of sweat-free hands. I started feeling the effects on day 3; Dee and I had our social dance class, and I usually sweat like crazy (I feel sorry that he has to hold my hand, but he does it, and I love him for it). But there was a significant decrease in sweating in my hands that evening.

The other great thing: my feet have also decreased in sweating as a result. The Executive Director had told us that we may experience this fortunate side effect, and I'm very happy to report that I have it.

But besides treating me and others like me, exessive underarm sweating and exessive sweating in the head were also treated with botox. Some patients were repeat patients who reported that the treatment has been successful for them.

I was also able to try iontopohoresis, a treatment which involves running positive and negative currents through your hands and feet via water. I only got a feel for it though. The treatment usually takes about 40 minutes long.


There was a gentleman at the conference who reported that this treatment was working out just fine for him. He was getting botox injected into his underarms.

So here's my left hand a couple of hours later. The sites that were injected soon turned into a faint purply-blue color, but it wasn't unbearable.

I would like to compare it to getting waxed...it hurts the moment you're doing it, but the benefits are great!

How I suffered before:
-excessive sweating in hands and feet by doing nothing
-wetting papers including important documents and books
-stiffness in my fingers (sometimes preventing me from typing)
-cold hands and feet (can imagine..they're wet too)
-ruined shoes
-unability to wear some shoes (and I LOOOOOove shoes!)
-constant wiping on my clothes
-afraid to meet people for fear of shaking hands
-reduced confidence (how ever did I score Dee?!)
-difficulty in applying makeup (blending with my fingers was impossible)
-my lap top would make me sweat like crazy
-any small activity would make me sweat...like shopping
-difficulty in driving, as in holding the steering wheel
-etc., etc., etc.

Met with someone yesterday and had to shake her hand...no sweating. Went spinning today, minimal sweating in both hands and feet. Also shopped for Dee's suit today...no sweating. My shoes are dry. Typing on my lap top...no sweat. It's amazing! I feel so giddy when I realize I'm not sweating.

Seriously...so happy. Almost happy enough to forget about the grandpa thing.