secondary hyperhidrosis

100th Blog Post – Three Years of Just a Little Sweat

/ carynjoan / Leave a comment

Today is a very special day for Just a Little Sweat as I am celebrating two major milestones in the life of this blog. It has been exactly 3 years since I wrote my first post for Just a Little Sweat. Today, I share my 100th!!

3 years of Just a Little Sweat

As I sit here at my desk, writing this entry with the help of my favorite yellow towel and fan, I wanted to first say how thankful I am for all of your support in Just a Little Sweat. If you take a look back at my first post on December 5, 2011, I write about not being sure if I wanted to make this blog public. Talking about HH is really scary, even if it’s over the internet! However, you all accepted me and this blog with open arms and have provided as much support to me as this blog may have supported you. Over the course of 3 years writing for Just a Little Sweat, I have met countless people in cyber space – people from all over the globe and all walks of life. I am honored to have met you, to have learned your stories, and to have had the opportunity to respond to your all your comments and emails. Thank you for your positive feedback, your strength and optimism in the HH community, and for lending an open ear to my stories.

A lot has happened in my life in the 3 years since starting this blog. Let’s take a look back at some of my posts as I remember the highlights:

To celebrate 3 years, I looked back at my 100 posts and chose my top 5. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Caryn’s Top 5 Favorite Posts from Just a Little Sweat

5. The HH Super Villain??
I love it when HH appears in pop culture. It’s not proven that the character has HH, but I’m pretty sure he does 🙂 I’m cheating by linking this additional post, but I can’t resist. Check out another HH reference in pop culture in a Luann Comic.

4. What HH has taught me
Every now and then, I return to this post to remind myself of everything I’ve gained because of HH – patience, strength, courage, tolerance and pride in myself.

3. I posted my Blog Site on Facebook
Writing this entry and actually following through with posting it on Facebook was a huge step in my life. I’m proud of how I brave I was in this moment and still think my letter to the Facebook community provides a great introduction to awareness of HH.

2. Sweat and Chicken Wings
This post was a response to a question about my dating life with HH and how coincidentally, my fiance has secondary HH when he eats spicy food like chicken wings. I write: “HH is a big part of your life and a big part of who you are, whether you like it or not. The right person for you is going to love you for everything you are.”

1. How My Blog Got Its Title
I just posted this entry this week, but it is my favorite. I remembered my initial goals for this blog were to help connect the HH community and explain HH in a way that was relatable to people with and without HH. Advocating universal awareness of HH has always been important to me. Thank you for giving me courage to advocate for our community and for being advocates yourself!

Although the time seemed to fly by, so much has changed and I am very happy to be where I am now in life. I’m looking forward to many more years of sharing my stories with you and listening to yours! Thank you again for your support and as always, for reading!

All my best and Happy Holidays,

Caryn

Share your HH stories on a brand new site!

/ carynjoan / 2 Comments

Hi all,

I’m excited to promote this amazing new website project from one of my readers, Matthew Roundell. His website is a story telling platform for the Hyperhidrosis community. The site is still in the works as Matthew is trying to compile more stories from people like you!

I submitted my story and I can’t wait to read yours!

Check it out and submit your story today at www.hyperhidrosee.com

A big thank you goes to Matthew for continuing to connect the HH community!

All the best,

Caryn

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Certain Dri Giveaway!

/ carynjoan / Leave a comment

Certain Dri Antiperspirant is a product I saw success with early on in my life. I started using it in middle school after noticing that I had a huge problem with underarm HH. My underarm sweating caused me a lot of embarrassment in school and I was very unhappy.

After using the Certain Dri roll-on, I started noticing results pretty quickly. Underarm sweating didn’t occur for three days at a time.

Continued use of Certain Dri proved 100% successful for me. I no longer suffered from sweat stains reaching the hem of my shirt and felt more comfortable wearing lighter colored shirts.

Certain Dri has greatly improved my quality of life and I recommend this product to all my readers who suffer from excessive underarm sweating.

Recently, Certain Dri found my blog and approached me because of my success with their product. They have offered a unique opportunity to you, my readers.

Thanks to Certain Dri, I have been offered a chance to host a giveaway of Certain Dri product- an antiperspirant in your choice of a roll-on or solid.

The giveaway will take place from Monday, July 8 to Wednesday, July 17.

CLICK HERE to find out more information and to enter!

Good luck!!

Caryn

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He Said, She Said

/ carynjoan / 1 Comment

Today I thought I would give you a little glimpse into some of my conversations with Francis!

While hanging out together with my cat:

Francis: Why is Grace’s tail wet?

Me: Because her tail is resting on my foot.

 ______________________________________

Near the end of a long run together:

Francis: My feet are all sweaty in my shoes. Do you get that too?

Me: Oh, I can’t tell the difference anymore – sweat is my normal.

______________________________________

While holding hands at my friend’s wedding:

Me: Sorry my hands are so wet.

Francis: Every time you say that, I’m just going to hold your hand tighter.

Happy Reading,

Caryn

Photo Booth from Friend's Wedding

Me and Francis- Photobooth photos from my friend’s wedding this weekend!

 

Luann Comic- Hyperhidrosis

/ carynjoan / 3 Comments

Hi All,

This weekend, the popular Luann comic strip mentioned Hyperhidrosis! Thank you to my Aunt (who also has HH) for bringing this comic strip to my attention!

I am so happy and surprised that HH is mentioned, and by name too! I feel like this comic strip just made HH history. So many people read the Luann comic. It was my favorite comic strip growing up!

Greg Evans (Luann creator) was just able to reach thousands about HH. I am so curious what the response is! Thank you!

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All best,

Caryn

Tell Someone about HH- Challenge!

/ carynjoan / 4 Comments

Hi All,

Now that you have some tips for telling people about HH, I present you with a challenge: Tell someone new about your HH this week!

Telling people about my HH has made me feel more comfortable in my own skin and has helped me cope with the emotional aspects of the condition.

I am less anxious when I go to rehearsals with my quintet because they know why I need to use a towel sometimes. I am less embarrassed and self-conscious as I sweat uncontrollably in the hot summer sun when I’m out with a friend because they know I can’t help it.

Now, I want to hear from you!

Please leave a comment about a time you told someone about your HH.

How did you do it?
What was their reaction?
How did you feel?
Did your relationship with that person change?
How is your relationship with that person now?

Good luck, and as always, thanks for reading!

Caryn

How to tell Someone you have Hyperhidrosis

/ carynjoan / 12 Comments

Hi All,

I know that telling people about your HH is really difficult and scary. Sweat is a taboo subject at the very least, but it has also proven to have negative connotations in society. So, we hide, conceal, disappear, and avoid doing what we love.

HH creates a physical disability, but also a social one. One day, I hope that HH is a commonly known condition. One way we can help the cause is by telling people about HH.

Every person you tell is one more person with understanding and awareness. Knowing this gives me a little boost of courage. I tell people about my condition for the HH community.

Here are a few ways I have told people about my HH:

1. I find the most effective way to tell people about my HH is in person. Usually, I will wait until I have visual example to show the person, ie. Excessively sweaty hands. I don’t tell just anyone. At this point in my life, I am only telling people who I have known for a while and trust/care about a lot. After some time, I know I can trust my relationship with the person to remain the same even if I open up about HH.

Sometimes, the opportunity will present itself. Maybe the person will notice and ask about it, or you’ll experience an embarrassing situation where there is absolutely no way to hide, or it’ll be really hot out and you are sweating much more profusely and noticeably than they are.

I usually start by saying, “I have a medical condition called Hyperhidrosis. It’s difficult for me to talk about, but I struggle with it every day and I’ve had it my whole life.”

When telling people about your HH in person, you are able to answer questions and have a dialogue about it. You are also able to make sure they fully understand all aspects of the condition and how it impacts your life. Understanding the full impact is very important, as we all know that HH is NOT Just a Little Sweat.

Last, when telling people in person, you are able to see their facial expressions and gauge their reactions. When I email people about my HH, and they don’t respond right away, I can never be sure what they are thinking. By telling people in person, you have a much more immediate and honest reaction.

2. You can email/snail-mail people you trust about HH. I have done this several times. Sometimes it’s just easier to hide behind the computer. I have emailed and sent Facebook messages to some of my closest friends. Some members of my quintet found out about my HH through email. I have also emailed co-workers and old college friends.

I try to write a very open and honest letter describing HH and what it has meant for me to live with it every day. I also mention how important it is that I can be open with them about it from now on. This does not mean that I need to talk about HH all the time. I just don’t want people to be quiet about it and treat it like some secret that I want hidden. That’s not the point. The point is to start feeling normal with our condition.

3. If you want to stay anonymous but still help the cause, tell someone by blogging about HH! That’s how I started. I wrote this blog anonymously for a really long time.

Blogging was and is very therapeutic for me. I used to be so angry about HH, but recently am focusing my efforts more positively. As a result, this blog has helped me and others.

Please feel free to add any other tips for telling people about HH. Have courage and good luck to you all out there!

Caryn

Hyperhidrosis Genetics Study

/ carynjoan / 2 Comments

This past year, I participated in a study conducted by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine on the genetics of Hyperhidrosis.

In today’s e-newsletter from the International Hyperhidrosis Society, I learned of some findings from the study. You can read the article HERE.

If you are living with HH, I encourage you to contact the College of Medicine and participate.

My experience with them was very positive. I was mailed a free kit that included a HH questionnaire and supplies for DNA samples (mouthwash samples).

After the questionnaire was complete and mouthwash samples were collected, I mailed the kit back to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, free of charge.

It is important for your family members to also participate in the study whether they have HH or not because genetics and heredity are being tested.

Thanks for reading,

Caryn

 

What do you say?

/ carynjoan / 10 Comments

Hey All!

I’ve had a great time responding to all your comments from the article, and it’s time to get back to posting! Thanks for your patience!

For some time now, I’ve wanted to write about my palmar HH and what I say or think  about my hands when they are extra sweaty.

Palmar HH is really difficult.
If my hands are extra sweaty and I’m in a meeting, I literally can’t take notes. I can’t even move.

The other day I was in an awfully stressful meeting. I literally sweated through half a notebook- just by holding it.

If the sweat wasn’t enough, I was also super self conscious about my neck and chest blotching and was trying so hard to cover it up.

Other examples of Palmar HH struggles:
If I’m on a hot platform waiting for the subway, I can’t read a paperback book or a newspaper- I can’t even hold it! (Recently switched to Kindle and loving it)
Also, just last night, I was trying to answer emails on my Mac and my sweat was interfering with the trackpad! Can’t catch a break.

Palmar HH is so annoying!

Here are a few things I say about my hands:

My hands are…

1. melting
2. not working right now
3. broken
4. bad
5. a mess
6. not behaving

I’m sure I missed a few.
What do you say about your palmar HH?
Please leave me comments!

Thanks for reading,
Caryn

I was featured by the International Hyperhidrosis Society!

/ carynjoan / 14 Comments

I wanted to share some exciting news!

Today I was featured in an article in the International Hyperhidrosis Society eNewsletter! Sharing my HH story with others has been a really rewarding experience and I thank the International Hyperhidrosis Society for giving me the opportunity to share with so many of you!

Please click HERE to read the article.

The International Hyperhidrosis Society is a fantastic support site for people with Hyperhidrosis. They share a wealth of information including HH education, tips for coping, stories from others with HH, deals and discounts on sweat-helping products, research studies, treatment information, a comprehensive search for doctors, ways to get involved and more! I have had a really positive experience communicating with them in preparation for this article and always find their website helpful. Please check it out!

All best, and stay tuned for an entry about the Iontophoresis machine that was just donated to me from R.A. Fischer iontophoresis devices !

Caryn