Excuse me Dr...I have a SWEATING problem.Aug 27 '03 Write an essay on this topic.
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This has been building up inside me for several months now, and I just keep get angrier and angrier. I hope that writing about it will be therapeutic for me. I have hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating. This is a condition that causes me to sweat much more than a normal person. In doctor terms that means that my sympathetic nervous system is working overtime. From what I've been able to find out through online sources, this problem affects more than 10% of the population. I have had this problem since I was about 16, I am now 22, and the problem hasn't gotten any better, if anything it is much worse. The sweating occurs mostly in my underarms, but also on my face, hands, and feet. So, what's the big deal, a little sweating, so what? This is not a little sweating I'm talking about here. Imagine sweating the way you would sweat during a good workout when you're sitting calmly in class. Or imagine that same amount of sweating when you have all the windows open in 30 degree weather, literally shivering with cold and pouring sweat as if it were 100 degrees. That's been my life, every day, for years now. I've ruined almost every shirt I've owned since I was 16 within days of purchasing them. I've been forced to wear dark colors and materials that don't show perspiration as easily. I've been embarrassed repeatedly. I believe my self-esteem has been damaged tremendously, and I have ostricized myself from some social situations because of my fear of others witnessing my out of control sweating. Sweating may not seem like such a big deal to you, but if you had the sweating I've experienced you'd understand. I don't imagine that you could understand without experiencing it. I've learned to hide it very well over the years, with clothing choices, and holding my arms at certain angles. However, I usually changed my shirt at least four or five times, every day, and even though I could hide it, I was still sweating at outrageous amounts. I've always been too embarrassed to tell anyone, I mean, how exactly do you talk to someone about excessive sweating when everyone else doesn't seem to have anything even close to what you have. If I couldn't tell anyone close to me, how could I ever tell a doctor. Well, this past winter, I decided that I couldn't take it anymore. This was affecting my life too much, and I needed some kind of control. I was tired of being uncomfortable, restricted, and mentally absorbed with it all the time; I was always aware it. Trust me, when you're sweating that much it's hard to think about anything else. I scheduled an appointment with my doctor feeling certain that he would find the problem and be able to fix it, you see, I had no doubt that it could be fixed, I was just too embarrassed to deal with it. You'd think that in this day and age a doctor can help you with just about anything, especially something as seemingly simple as excessive sweating. Well, I finally did get the courage to seek help, and when I did, it was only to be belittled and treated as if I were crazy. My doctor couldn't find anything wrong with me...with only two tests that he performed...and so he then assumed that I was mentally unstable. That's right, crazy. Let me go into more detail... My first visit to the doctor was actually okay, I even left feeling like the problem would finally be solved. He told me that it was probably hyperthyroidism; which is actually what I'd expected him to say. I'd done my own research prior, of course, I'd had years, and most sources agreed that excessive sweating is usually the fault of the thyroid gland overproducing. So, he conducted that blood test. He also thought that for some reason I might have diabetes, even though people usually only contract diabetes in the first years of life, or in mid-life...again, I was 21 at the time of this appointment. He even told me that diabetes was unlikely, but he conducted the test anyway, and of course, charged me for it. I waited a couple of days for the results and when they came back I found out that I neither had diabetes or hyperthyroidism. I couldn't believe it, if it wasn't hyperthyroidism, then what was it? That was the only condition that I had found in my research that caused excessive sweating. Feeling worried, and sad that the problem hadn't been solved easily and efficently I made a follow-up appointment. It never occured to me to choose a different doctor, because I had been to this particular doctor several times before and trusted him. I had also admired his bedside manner in the past. Well, this second visit proved to me that his bedside manner is not what I thought. I went in feeling that he would run another test or two and find the problem. Well, no more tests were to be done. Instead, he told me that it was probably hormones that it would go away. Excuse me doctor, but it's been five years and it hasn't gone away, plus even if it does go away, there has to be something you can give me to control it. I had heard of prescription strength anti-perspirants before, and was sure he would recommend one. Nope, he didn't, but he did give me a prescription though. Let me explain. We had discussed the fact that I've had trouble sleeping most of my life during several appointments, including this one. So, he assumed that I must be a depressed insomniac and gave me medicine that was suppose to help me sleep. Excuse me again doctor, but I came here because I have a sweating problem. I've never been an easy sleeper, but it's never been a problem for me, the sweating is a problem. He also asked if I've ever had crying fits, or if I ever felt depressed...I answered no. I mean, we all feel down sometimes, but I'm no where near being clincially depressed. He gave me the medicine under the impression that it was for sleep, and even told me that it would likely help with the sweating too (his actual words). However, I looked it up on the internet and learned the medication was actually specifically for depression. He even suggested that I see a psychiatrist. Well, the medication didn't even work for my sleeping at all. I would take it before bed, and still stay awake for hours like always, even sometimes waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to get back to sleep...now does that sound like a sleeping pill at work to you? If anything it actually made more depressed and frustrated. I left the office that day feeling hurt, confused, and mistreated. Here I was with a bogus prescription, holding a big doctor bill, still with my sweating problem, and feeling like I must in fact be crazy. He actually almost convinced me that I was crazy, just because he had no clue what was wrong with me. How dare he make me feel like the one at fault just because he wasn't concerned enough to find the source of my problem. I made a big leap by coming to him, and finally trying to get control, and I left feeling worse about myself. I understand, being a doctor is no easy job, one of the hardest I'm sure, but that doesn't give a doctor the right to brush someone off just because their condition eludes him or her. "I can't help you, go to a psychiatrist," he says. Excuse me once again doctor but I am not crazy, I came to you for help, and you helped me all right, you helped me to realize that I won't be coming back to you again. You helped me to know that I shouldn't believe it just because it comes out of a doctor's mouth. Since then I have gotten help for my problem, on my own. I've found many people on the internet who have hyperhidrosis, have had all their lives (it doesn't go away), have also been mistreated by doctors, and have also gotten help through other doctors or support groups. I've learned that there are actually several doctors who has studied hyperhidrosis and are working on treatments, some include surgery, powerful anti-perspirants, and my personal favorite...shock therapy. I'm not one to go shocking my armpits for twenty minutes every week, so I'm currently using a very strong anti-perspirant called Maxim (www.stopsweat.com). Now why couldn't that doctor give me a prescription for an anti-perspirant like this one? Maxim isn't prescription but there are others just like it that are, if I know about them, then I know he must have. He just didn't care enough to give me the right treatment. Maxim works great, I've not had a sweating disaster since I started using it, but it's not exactly perfect. It gives me terrible rashes, the itching is really painful, but cortisone does helps a little, and I think my skin is geting use to it after more use. I'd much rather have horrible itching than horrible sweating (this should give you a clue about how bad the sweating is), plus Maxim has to be applied every two nights (for me personally) or the sweating comes back full force. The surgery is permanent and it's something I'd like to look in to when I have the financial resources, but I've heard many times that it doesn't work on my biggest problem area, the underarms. At this point it looks like there won't be a permanent solution for me anytime soon, which is dissappointing, but I'm glad that I now have something to at least control the sweating. I now can wear whatever I want without worry, and be comfortable, except for the burning rashes of course, and as long as I remember to apply Maxim. I hope that doctors will continue to work with this problem. I also hope that I never have another doctor experience like this past one. No one should be made to feel crazy when they have a real physical ailment. No one should ever be given medication that they don't need, and be brushed off they way I was. It's not something I'll forget, or tolerate in the future.  |
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