Nursing student with compensatory sweating!

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Hello everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read my post and help me out with the following situation. So here is a brief history of what happened: About 10 years ago I suffered from severe facial hyperhidrosis. After dealing with it for quite some time I found out about micro-ETS procedure and was told by the doctor that the procedure had a high success rate and that only a handful of patients experienced compensatory sweating. Well, of course since he was telling me what I wanted to hear I jumped at the opportunity, plus being that I was a teenager at the time did not help either. Okay, fast forwarding to 2016: The procedure was successful at stopping the constant sweating from my face and scalp region, allowing just a small amount of perspiration from my left side of my scalp. I do not sweat at all from my hands or feet, which makes them always feel like they're freezing because I don't think heat is being released like it normally should. Do to this I experience moderate to severe compensatory sweating now from my thoracic region. This occurs with moderate activity in mild temperatures (70's) and if I am slightly nervous, and once it starts it takes awhile to stop. I have dealt with this for so long now that I am pretty resourceful about it and I think overall have a positive attitude. As of January 2016 I finished my service in the US Army as a medic. During my time in the Army it always affected me but I was quite the comedian and turned any awkward situation into a laugh for everyone. Since then I have been accepted into 3 prestigious BSN programs for the fall semester so I am extremely excited. However, in the back of my mind I know that my condition will cause me problems and I don't want people to think negatively of me or have it hinder my performance. I have enough to worry about returning back to school again after so many years in the Army. The best idea that I can come up with is try to lose as much weight as possible, hydrate each day, look into anti-sweat creams, and always wear moisture wicking material that breaths. In retrospect, I wish I had never messed with my body. At the time, I was an overweight teenager probably experiencing natural hormonal changes and instead of letting things happen I found an easy out. I think we are who we are and when we go trying to change who we are intended to be things like this happen. Well, if anyone has any ideas or advice on dealing with compensatory sweating while being a nurse I would greatly appreciate it. You can respond here or directly to my personal email: [email protected]

Thanks!

Mike

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Hello Mike, and welcome to Allnurses!

I'm sorry to read about this problem. It must be really uncomfortable for you. However, per our Terms of Service we cannot offer any medical advice, as it is beyond our scope of practice as nurses. I hope some others will come along and share their experiences with you.

Best wishes in finding a solution. :)

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Thank you for your response! I did not have time to read the terms, but may edit my original post then shorty. Appreciate it.

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Well apparently after an hour you can no longer edit posts.

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