VerySweatyBetty.com

This could be excellent news for people within the catchment area, I do hope Nicola Roxon comes through for you guys!

BOTOX could be added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to help people with excessively sweaty underarms and palms.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon confirmed she was considering subsidising Botox, a move dermatologists fear could result in rogue doctors exploiting the system to treat patients for cosmetic purposes.

The most common use for Botox, or botulinum toxin type A, is to minimise wrinkles and lines by paralysing muscles in the face.

The drug is already listed on the PBS for the treatment of severe spasms and spasticity in elderly patients or for certain medical conditions.

Ms Roxon said her Government had deferred a decision to list Botox, alongside five other medications.

A spokesman for Ms Roxon said the listing was deferred due to “difficult fiscal circumstances” but would be reconsidered when the financial situation allowed.

David Francis from the Australasian College of Dermatologists agreed the PBS listing should be extended to cover patients with excessive sweating, or hyperhidrosis.

“This is a debilitating condition, you-can’t-go-out-of-the-house type suffering,” Dr Francis said.

He said patients struggled with the cost of Botox at $500 or more an ampoule, requiring one ampoule per treatment every six to 12 months.

The only other option for patients is to have an operation to sever a nerve in the neck that causes the sweating, although this carries the risks of any surgical procedure.

Dr Francis admitted there was room for exploitation. “There may be the unscrupulous people who may say they’re treating underarms and using the rest on wrinkles,” he said. “It would be simple to catch doctors who took advantage of the subsidy. Most dermatologists would see no more than one or two patients a year with the condition.”

The Government last week listed seven new medicines and vaccines that would be available on the PBS from April 1 and announced the deferral of listings for the first time.

Ms Roxon said that while there were alternatives for the other five medications deferred, there was no alternative treatment for hyperhidrosis.

The chair of the Australian Medical Association’s Therapeutics Committee, John Gullotta, said the Government should say when it would make a decision about Botox.

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.

Hyperhidrosis is a skin disease.  It can be generalised or localised to specific parts of the body.  Hands, feet, armpits, and the groin area are among the most active regions of perspiration due to the relatively high concentration of sweat glands; however, any part of the body may be affected.

Hyperhidrosis can also be classified depending on whether it is a congenital (hereditary) or an acquired trait.  Primary hyperhidrosis is found to start during adolescence or even before and seems to be inherited as a genetic trait.  Primary hyperhidrosis must be distinguished from secondary hyperhidrosis, which can start at any point in life.  The latter form may be due to a disorder of the thyroid or pituitary gland, diabetes mellitus, tumors, gout, menopause, certain drugs or mercury poisoning.  It can be a symptom  of temporary illnesses like colds and ‘flu or hormonal changes such as periods or menopause.  Hyperhidrosis can also be divided into Palmar/Plantar (symptomatic sweating of primarily the hands or feet), Axilliary (armpit sweating), Facial/Cranial (sweating from the face/head region), Gustatory (sweating whilst eating/digesting a meal) or generalised hyperhidrosis which covers sweating from any other area in your body.

Everybody sweats, it’s a normal function which serves to cool us down so we don’t overheat.  Hyperhidrosis is caused by an overactive (ie broken) thermal regulator (the bodies thermostat).  In the simplest terms, in a Hyperhidrotic’s body, their thermostatic control is stuck on the hottest setting.

A medical diagnosis should always be sought, but if you sweat to an excessive level, there are now many ways of dealing with it.

About Sweaty Betty.
We are a small group of normal people who just happen to sweat a lot.  We’re not alone – millions of people worldwide suffer from this acutely embarrassing  and socially isolating condition, but, because of the negativity and misconceptions surrounding sweating and being sweaty, they attempt to keep it to themselves and suffer in silence.  As with all taboo issues, it only takes a few like-minded people to get together to blow a taboo wide apart and tell it how it really is.  Hence www.verysweatybetty.com was born.

We are committed to raising awareness of Hyperhidrosis and dispel the stigma and ignorance surrounding sweat and sweating.

Don’t allow your sweat glands to control your life any longer, please join us and find out how you can take control and start living your life again.

Our links:
www.youtube.com/verysweatybetty
www.twitter.com/verysweatybetty
www.facebook.com/betty.sweaty

Hi Member,

I read your story and I am saddened that your Dr was not more sympathetic with you, took me 11 years to find a good Dermatologist who knew what he was talking about. Most of us suffer the same, frustration and negativity on this disease.

You said your sweating started about a year ago?   If you don’t mind me asking you a few questions. How old are you? Have you gone through a lot of stress anxiety of late?  Do you live in hot temps or high humidity?

Has your GP done any underlying tests on you yet?   These are to test that there are no underlying medical mysteries. Should have had blood tested and urine (24hr test) This will test for hormone levels and proteins in your blood or to show any underlying disease.

Do you know of any other relatives suffering with sweating?   It may be hidden and most families will not admit to it or tell you that they suffer.   It can also come from a few generations ago. Most times it runs in families.

Have you started any new medications in the last year?   A lot of time members are not aware of the side effects that new medications can bring, some of them are excessive sweating and blushing. Not a good combination if you already sweat.

What to ask your Dermatologist,

Ask for tests to be run,  blood and urine to determine it is not underlying (secondary).

Ask him about oral meds, these work well for your sweating (Some of the more popular ones are Robinul, Ditropan, Detrol (may be Oxybutrin there).  These drugs are used for over active bladder disorder but one of the side effects is less sweating.   Also they come with some side effects, blurred vision, dryness and cotton mouth.

Iontophoresis recommended,
(For hands & feet, also underarms and trunk area, (not a great treatment for Truncal HH)

This involves placing the hands and/or feet into shallow trays filled with water, while a small electrical current is passed into metal plates and the water, talk about this treatment with your Dr.

Patients said after 5-10 initial treatments, dryness was reported to  last up to 3 weeks in applied areas, wonderful news.

Here are a few of the machines avail ( idrostar, i2ma, iomax 4, Drionic, idromed 4 and Iontex)  Enable the armpits to be treated and the trunk, buttocks,  however have not had great reviews on buttocks or compensatory sweating caused by ETS)

The maintenance  of  your machine,  talk to your Dr about how your machine works and clean weekly or monthly as required.   Some members saw less or no sweating in a matter of a week.   This was reported to last one to two weeks, if you do not follow instructions your sweating could return quickly!  Maintenance therapy is so important.  Follow all instruction from your Dr, (most) will have you do the first few sessions in the surgery so you fully understand this treatment.

**Very important to talk to your Dermatologist or Dr about this treatment option.   Make sure you understand this treatment and how it works **   Very successful with members across the globe.

Also there are new products avail on the market now.   Klima have a Aluminum free product(s) which do not burn at all. klimadeodorant.com

Also have you ever tired under arm guards?
These are very effective.

What I was stressing to a NEW MEMBER is the importance of knowing your HH, is it Primary or Secondary.  Also finding a good Dr or Dermatologist  is crucial in your well being and coping with your HH.

**We at VSB have all the advise and tools you need to gather this info to ask.  Don’t deal with this alone, there are treatments and Doctors who understand this disease**

~Anne~

Hello everyone,

I’m Anne and the one who started VSB.  What started off as a small dream has now turned into a huge one and we could not be happier to help others who suffer the same as we do.

If you read about the history of how it all began.  Now we are helping hundreds of people who have Hyperhidrosis.

Myself, Beverly and Kris are here to help you, give you advice and keep you sane Read the rest of this entry »