How to deal with excessive sweating/hyperhidrosis?
Sweating — my biggest trauma. Basically, it's something that's preventing me from living a normal life.
I'm 24 years old.
It all started with excessive sweating in my armpits. I believe I was around 14 when I first started noticing it. I began going to school wearing a jacket to hide the infamous sweat stains.
Some time later, I discovered Driclor, which is basically a very strong antiperspirant. Fortunately, it worked and significantly reduced the sweating.
However, after I finished school, I started noticing excessive sweating on my scalp.
I remember one specific situation: I was with my ex-girlfriend and ran into some female friends. That triggered something in me, and I started sweating heavily. There were other similar situations, but at the time, I was still able to live with the problem.
Today, the situation is much worse.
There have been times when I went to two family gatherings and had to leave because of the sweating.
Honestly, I've been avoiding going to college for more than four years because of this. It's incredibly frustrating to feel like something so basic is limiting my life.
Even at the gym, I struggle with this. I have to walk up a hill to get there, and when I arrive, I spend about two or three minutes in the air-conditioned bathroom, waiting for my body to cool down.
The most interesting thing is that I don't have a problem with "justified" sweating. For example, I can run on a treadmill for 30 minutes and be absolutely drenched in sweat, but I feel completely fine if I have to talk to someone afterward, even while I'm still soaked. Because, in my mind, the sweating is justified: I just worked out.
The problem is when I start sweating in situations where there doesn't seem to be any obvious reason for it. That's when the nervousness kicks in, which ends up making me sweat even more.
It doesn't always depend on being in public, either. There have been times when I've been alone, remembered certain things from the past, and started sweating. Sometimes it happens right after I finish lunch or dinner, and my body gets so warm that I start sweating.