Hello all,
I have been feeling so frustrated since last week thinking I was going to receive my Facial, Cranial Botox as a Hyperhidrosis treatment.

We drove 50 miles round trip and waited almost 45 minutes to be seen by my lovely Dermatologist, when she took me back  I placed my bag on the window sill next to the procedure bed thinking this is where I would have my treatment done.  I could see her looking and she told me to sit in the chair near her.  (I thought she prob wants to go over the side effects and make sure all meds were the same?!)

I sat and waited and she smiled weakly and said, “The are not allowing you to have the Botox treatment as they see if as a cosmetic procedure rather than a medical treatment!”

She apologized and I know in my heart if she could have made it happen she would.

I was gob smacked and told her I thought I was having it done? I said the her nurse had called telling me so?!  She said she was sorry for this and that it was a miss communication.  She thought it best to have her deliver the news in person rather than over the phone.  I told her thank you and asked why!  All I wanted to do was burst into tears and scream.

She said they saw it as a cosmetic thing rather than a medical treatment and I challenged her and said big organizations claim that most insurance companies are now seeing Botox as the big treatment for this and why wont mine?  She said they don’t understand, they don’t get it!  Even though it stated all the other tried treatments failed.

I then proceeded on and said, “do they think I want a wrinkle free scalp and hair line?” I’m not asking to have this done any where else!  I could see if I was having it done around my eyes and other areas.  She replied they just dont get it.  I them told her how this affects me on a daily basics.  She gets it, she really does but her hands were tied.

How are they EVER GOING TO GET HOW IT EFFECTS US ON A DAILY BASICS???  Can anyone answer this?  Until they walk in our sweaty bodies, they never will or if they have a close family or friend who suffers to really see the draining impact of life and hyperhidrosis.  They will never know how we turn down social events and fear ones we have to attend because they don’t understand or get it!

They will never know how we hide behind closed doors or wear dark clothing to disguise the sweating.  How we feel dirty and what it feels like to have to live in wet clothing.  To suffer yeast infections on our skin and chaff from the sweating.   How afraid we are of having to shake a hand or hold something.  How we have to change clothing often and ruin our clothing because of the smell and sweat stains that wont come out.  How we slip and slide in shoes or make them so wet and funky we have to replace them often.   How normal activities for everyone else turn into a sweaty night mare for us.  The fear of hot weather and humidity.

How would they feel, if they walked in our bodies for a week?

Do you think Hyperhidrosis would be more accepted and treated better?

I have a member in the forum the same way as I was a week ago!!   Crushed and in tears as she was told she could not have the oral medication they prescribe for this (even though it is not for Hyperhidoris) but used as one of the side effects is less sweating!  We take them because of this, regardless of their horrid side effects and dangers of being in prolonged daylight.  We take them because they give us some relief and peace of mind from the endless sweating.  Just like we do with hundreds of needles if WE  ARE GRANTED, Botox or Dysport as a treatment for this.  The only treatment currently to give us a few months break and less of the horrible side effects but it is like liquid gold, hard to get!   Do we blame the manufacturer or maybe Doctors or even the public for making it this way?  It is seen as a cosmetic procedure for vanity but what can give SUFFERERS OF HYPERHIDROSIS relief we are denied!

What can I tell her?!

I can give her the support and comfort she deserves as she is a beautiful human being who suffers and has become a dear friend.  She suffers daily not only physically but emotionally as they go hand in hand.  The emotional round about we are on daily would swing your head!  The thought and preparation of a day in a sufferers life if there is an social event would have you a basket case too!

How do I tell her that everything is going to be OK?  How do I tell myself?  With not having professionals understanding this skin disease, WHO IS?

I have a big event coming up in two weeks and had to pay for my own treatment, most are not cheap.

I have to give a big shout out to my wonderful Dermatologist in Austin, Dr Daniel Carrasco who does understand and did help at a discounted price.

We need more understanding on this and compassion from professionals.  More awareness need to be raised and if your with me let me know and we can fight against this together.  There needs to be more cheaper treatments available for us that don’t burn our skin, dry us out or can even cause heat stroke.

I hope you understand and I pray to God that one day we will all get the treatment we deserve while living with this social killer, self confidence drainer and self esteem robber sore,  they call HYPERHIDROSIS.

Hello all,

I have been chatting to a lot of you on our Facebook page and have had a lot of , “Members Only Questions!”   I was thinking of creating a section just for this?

Would you ask?  Could be something that you have been wanting to find more info on and a great opportunity to get the input of other members and their advise and knowledge.  Could be an embarrassing question regarding our sweating and hyperhidrosis, or maybe you just need advise on what to do or how to hide it.

Thoughts please and ASK AWAY in our friendly safe forum or join us on our Facebook page, Sweaty Betty.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/betty.sweaty

Another in our guest blogging series.  This time the blog concentrates on a whole family’s experiences with Klima Products for their various personal fights with Hyperhidrosis.

Our thanks to go Klima for very kindly supplying the products.

Klima antiperspirant spray:
My name is Tim.  I have always sweat more than usual.  It was sometimes annoying, but I learned to live with it.  What else are you going to do?  I sweat excessively on my feet, chest, back, head and armpits.  I don’t believe it is all that much more than others until someone points it out.  More often, I just sweat in situations where normally someone wouldn’t sweat.  I am 37 year old and in recent years, I have learned from a friend that we have a condition called Hyperhidrosis.  My friend recently introduced me to a product from Klima to help reduce the sweating.  I have to admit it works almost too well.  When I used the antiperspirant spray from Klima, it completely stopped the sweating on my feet.  It mostly stopped sweating on my back and chest as well.  After I had used the Klima antiperspirant for a few days in a row, I only had to use it every few days for it to work.  I now use it even less often, usually on occasions where I really don’t want to be seen sweating.

Klima HyperDri Facade:
User, my son Ryan.  Ryan is 12 years old and sweats excessively on his head and face.  I was excited to hear about Facade from a friend because it was made especially for craniofacial hyperhidrosis (facial sweating).  I was also excited to try the product out on my son because it is aluminum free and I don’t like over loading my son on aluminum products at such a young age because cancer runs in my family. The first week on the product I only noticed about a 20% decrease in my sons sweating but by the second week it worked a lot better with about a 50% decrease in his sweating but I did notice compensatory sweating on the top of his head. I would like to see Klima produce an aluminum free shampoo that my son could use and cut down on his entire heads sweating. I would also like to see an all over body wash.  My son also tried Klima’s Hyperdri antipersperant gel for the body. He applied it under his arms in the morning for 3 weeks. It worked well and kept him dry under the arms for most of the day. It does irritate the skin if applied after a shower. Make sure you wait until completely dry to apply.  Ryan also said it burns a little anyway. This product is completely aluminum free as well. The 1.7 oz. bottle only last for about 3 weeks.

Klima HyperDri Freshfoot:
User, my daughter Clare.  Clare is 9 yrs old and has sweaty, stinky feet and is starting to show signs of facial sweating. My friend recommended that I try freshfoot gel for Clare’s feet.  The product was aluminum free which I love.  I would apply the product before she would put on her slip on tennis shoes. I bought a new pair of shoes so that I could tell how well the product was working. She picked a black pair of no tie, slip on, tennis shoes..  After three weeks of using the product her shoes didn’t have the white salt stains that sweat creates and they still smelled pretty good. Her last pair of tennis stunk so bad that I could smell them from the back seat while I was driving and they made me gag. I would always have to buy a new pair of cheap tennis shoes each month because of this. Clare did complain of a slight burn when the gel was first applied and by the end of the bottle of gel her feet started to peel from dryness.

Bone Dri antiperspirant roll on:
User, Jackie age 43.  I was given two bottles of this roll on by my neighbor to try. I sweat the most under my arms and bra line. I absolutely LOVED this product.  It glided on easily and dried quickly and would keep me dry for 24 hrs. I would even spread it under my breasts. It worked great!! The 2 bottles only lasted about 5 weeks though.

Klima website

Klima’s YouTube videos

Klima Antiperspirant Deodorant

Klima Stop Hand Sweating

Klima Sweaty Hand Solutions

Direct links to Klima’s YouTube videos

Klima Antiperspirant Deodorant Klima Stop Hand Sweating Klima Sweaty Hands Solutions

We were up bright and early that Saturday morning, drank some coffee and got myself ready, thought no point in really styling my hair as it’s going to be a mess with sweat from the anxiety that was building up over having facial and cranial Botox.

The drive to Austin was about an hour and half and even though it was early that Saturday morning in June the sun had some punch and I was hot by the time we pulled up into the parking lot of Dr Carrasco’s office.  The temperature gauge in the car reads 87 degrees.

The walk from the parking lot to the office I could feel my anxiety rise, I kept telling myself to stop being silly it is not really a long, painful procedure and to remind myself of the relief I get from having this done.

Walked into the very modern, stylish waiting room, the staff are so nice and friendly, they make you feel welcome the moment you walk in.  I sign in and the receptionist tells me to take a seat and Dr Carrasco will be with me soon.

We sit there, the air conditioner is on and it is lovely and cool I relax a while pick up a pamphlet on skin cancer and proceed to read.  My phone vibrates I check it and it is from Beverly telling me news of another Hyperhidrosis group starting and the stealing all our members!!!  I feel the panic begin and my anxiety getting worse.  I did not however read the end of the email where she proceeds to say it’s a joke to help get me more anxious to show my sweating.  Sweating at this point is essential as it helps Dr Carrasco locate my sweat glands to make the most of my Botox injections.  Ironically, if I didn’t sweat at this point, the Botox would be hit-and-miss and doubtless wouldn’t work.  I was called back into the procedure room by the assistant and could not at this time get back in touch with naughty Beverly!

Her email worked, I was sweating bad.  The assistant took my vitals and asked if there was any change in history in my health.  Dr Carrasco came in and we talked for a while and he explained about the procedure that was happening today.  I was having facial, cranial Botox done.  He left as his assistant continued to do the starch and iodine test on me, this is to show exactly where the sweat glands are and the areas of severe sweating.  Once the starch is over the iodine it turns black.  After a few minutes Dr Carrasco comes back in and takes a look at me.  Seems I sweat worse on one side than the other.

The assistant gets  me cleaned up and ready for the procedure.  The tension is bad, I can feel myself locking up but Dr Carrasco talks to me and this calms me down.  He tells me where to expect the sticks from the needle and says probably will be around 100 or more sticks on my forehead, hair line and scalp.  I take a big breath, he places his hand on my arm as asks, “Are you ready, Anne?”  I say, “As ready as I ever be!”  I close my eyes as the first needle goes into my forehead, the first few hurt and sting but they go in so fast and just below the skin so after a few you forget it and it is over within 30 minutes.

I get cleaned up after, removing the dried blood (tiny amounts where the needle went in) and the starch and iodine.  The areas which have had the Botox are sore at first and there can be some swelling and bruising.  I noticed that I had slight swelling and head aches for the first few days.  This is a normal side effect from having Botox.  Dr Carrasco told me it can take up to a week or so to start seeing it work.  I ask him how long with this last?  He replied anywhere from 4-7 months, could even be longer, people break it down differently, it all depends on your own antibodies.  Also with having facial Botox the muscle in the forehead is the largest and this will be temporary paralyzed from the Botox and will feel heavy and stiff.

We chat about future treatments and talked about doing my armpits as this is another area that really troubles me with sweating, sweat marks so bad that I leave salt lines.

We hug and shake hands and I say my thank you’s and see you soon.

Walk out of the building and my face is sore, we grab some breakfast so I can take an anti inflammatory to help with the pain and swelling.  I can feel after a hour or so the Botox already working as my forehead gets stiffer, by the end of the day my forehead is feeling so heavy and feels like my eyelids are drooping and heavy.

After a week the Botox fully kicks in and it is the best treatment of all regardless how hot it is or humid my forehead is not sweating at all.  I don’t have sweat dripping down into my eyes stinging them.  I am able to style my hair and wear makeup and not look or feel like a freak!  My hair line is also dry and areas of my cranial.  However places of my back hair line are sweating but this I wipe away with a facial towel.  To have the freedom of a sweat free forehead and head is the best feeling of all.

After the weeks go on I notice I have no movement of my eyebrows and can not raise my forehead.  Now completely frozen, my forehead becomes quite the conversation piece and friends try to make you raise your eyebrows.  It seems very strange at first but after about a month of so this eases and now it has been four months I have movement again in my eyebrows and some of my forehead.  This means my antibodies are breaking the Botox up, but if it gets me through the hottest part of the summer here in South Texas I will gladly go back again and again to be sweat free for a while and feel normalish again.

I have been so down in the dumps the last few weeks since returning back from my trip home in England.  I have not been there in almost 10 years and growing up in a small South East Village as a child I could not wait to leave.

However now being in my late 30′s I see England in a whole different way.  While home I enjoyed the cooler weather and cooler evenings, the humidity got to me a few days but nothing like living here in South Texas USA.  How I long for cooler pastures which one day will be, but for now I have to make the most of what I have and the daily battle with HPYERHIDROSIS.

Most days  I wake up wet!   My head, neck, chest and back will be sweaty, I have a ceiling fan constantly blowing and two stationary fans in the bedroom blowing on me!  I know the experts say you don’t sweat at night but I know I do and there is a condition called SLEEP HYPERHIDROSIS.   I may be already going through the beginning of MENOPAUSE which can make sweating worse night or day?   I find that when it’s that awful time again my sweating gets worse.  I think hormones are to blame for the added heat and sweat each month.

Beverly swears by the CHILLOW ( pillow), you can find these in our VSB SHOP.  I am thinking of investing in one as she claims they keep your head cool and she is sweat free.

I then help the girls get ready for school and drink an iced coffee!   I can no longer drink HOT drinks, these speed me up and I just pour of sweat!!   I am just miserable regardless if I’m in air conditioned or outside.

After seeing my girls off to school I start cleaning up, may be a quick sweep, dust, clean bathrooms the normal daily chores and after about 20 min into this I will start dripping from the back of my head, (hairline) then the sweat moves down my chest, armpits, groin, and feet will be soaked.  I also suffer with facial and chest blushing, looks like I have been out in the sun all day!

The things we face daily, it can cripple our EMOTIONS, SELF CONFIDENCE AND SELF ESTEEM,  regardless if your a Male or Female.
After the fight of my morning sweat I then take a cooler shower.  This sets my body into spastic mode and I sweat for about another 30-45+ minutes.  I have to cool myself down even before I think of makeup and hair.  I also take a fan into the bathroom with me just to keep me cooler while applying makeup.   Do you find that shampoos, body washes, creams, lotions make you sweat more too?

Being a WOMAN can be a night mare living with HH, as I said it takes me 45+ minutes to cool down before applying any facial creams or makeup.  When I am applying cream, this will also set me off and my face will start sweating!  Makes applying makeup impossible!

I found a solution to this, my good friend at Klima sent me his new product, www.klimadeodorant.com  The product is called Facade and you apply it once a day for the first week,  (follow instructions there after) and let it dry and after about 2 weeks I started to notice a reduction in my under eye sweating, nose and lip!  Making applying daily makeup easier.

Another thing I noticed was how this product was making my skin feel so smooth and silky.  I also noticed it was helping me with my mild acne and open pores.  Then after a few weeks I  noticed I had less visible wrinkles

This product is wonderful and recommend it to anyone who has facial sweating.  It is aluminum free and very gentle on your face, not like the abrasive prescription products that burn and irritate  your skin.  I have not applied this product to my forehead yet as I had Facial and cranial Botox last June, once it wears off I will be using it.

Also I am excited for my Daughter who has been using  Klima Facade on her face, remember it is Aluminum Free so no chemicals being used on someone so young, (13)   She noticed after 1 week it was reducing her sweat and after 3 weeks her facial sweating had been reduced by 70%  Another advantage to this great product was it cleared up her acne.  She was so happy one day and lifted her bangs up and said, “Look, my Zits are going!”  I was so happy and said it was probably the Facade that dried them up.

So now I have my makeup on and styling my hair.  I then proceed into my wardrobe and stare at my CLOTHING, what to wear?   I have to think of what the HUMIDITY and HEAT are  going to be?

On a normal day it is HOT here regardless.!  Most of my wardrobe consists of black and patterned clothing.  It hides a multitude of sins, SWEATING being one of them.  I longed to wear colours instead of patterns or dark or black as my AUXILIARY (armpit sweating) was just so bad.  I would leave small plate size rings around my armpits, showing through my CLOTHING and EMBARRASSING me, I also left SALT  lines on my darker clothing and shoes.

I have been trying klima products for this too and have seen remarkable results!  I have been using Hyper Dri another Aluminum Free product in the evening and Bone Dri in the day to keep me sweat free and smelling clean.  I used these a few weeks before I went to the UK and while I was in the UK and I did not have an embarrassing problem with sweat marks or salt marks.

I also used their sure foot spray  as I tend to ruin shoes, flip flops and slippers on a regular basics, also I tend to have smelly feet from the bacteria.  This spray worked really well and you can shower and not have to worry about reapplying it.  It did make my feet dry at first but with a good moisturizer you can avoid this.  I am able to wear flip flops and not have to worry about ruining them or the smelly bacteria.

After choosing an outfit to wear and finally cooling down I will work on VSB or go out with girl friends and family.  I tend to avoid being out in the heat any time I can.  I go from an AC van to an AC store.

How we miss the little things in life living with this.  I’d love to go for a walk, picnic but can’t in this constant heat.  I long for the few weeks of winter here in South Texas.  I feel normal for a while and can enjoy the outdoors.

Once kids are home I then cook dinner, this alone makes me sweaty!  I tend to bring one of my fans and have that blowing on me.  I have to fight for this with my brown poodle, Yogi who suffers too   Who said pets don’t suffer, he takes over the fan and ears are flapping.

I find that after eating within minutes I start sweating again, this is caused by GUSTATORY sweating, spices, heat, foods that you digest.

Are we really ever FREE from SWEATING?  If you look at your every day life?  I know I’m not.

How do we balance life and find happiness living with HYPERHIDROSIS?

We can help you find BALANCE, HAPPINESS, SUPPORT and FRIENDSHIP, right here at VSB, our members make it happen.  We are an independent, non-profit organization.  All of us are volunteers and all suffer from Hyperhidrosis.

All these products I have spoken about you can find these products at www.klimadeodorant.com   They offer a free consultation to helping YOU find the right product for YOUR Hyperhidrosis.

So maybe we can find balance and happiness.

Hope to see you in the forum.

hugs and sweat happens, try not to let it take over you life.

“Anne

www.verysweatybetty.com

Wanted to let everyone no the good news!  My Botox treatment has been approved though my insurance.  I can have facial, cranial and axillary treatment.

Lets hope it’s soon as this Texas heat is just about turning me into a recluse again.  Humidity levels are in the 90% and Temps are high 90′s by the end of the week and holiday weekend could reach high 90′s to 100′s…awwwwhhhhh Read the rest of this entry »