Aoibhin M.

Iran, Islamic Republic of

I have been living with hyperhidrosis since early childhood.I first noticed my excessive sweating when I was about 8 years old on holiday. It was really warm weather and I was wearing flip flops. When I took of my flip flops they were black in sweat, the other kids at the camp site made fun of me and I was very self conscious for the rest of the holiday. I presumed it was just due to the warm weather but it seemed to continue. When I got to secondary school I met a girl who played hockey with me. One day she mentioned something about sweating so much and then we started googling it. I really thought for many years that it was just me struggling with the sweat. I got to the point where I wouldn’t take of my jumpers or wear t-shirts under my jumpers because I would just sweat too much and felt there was nothing to help me. Situations like shaking or holding someone's hand became very stressful. When I realised Dermadry we’re raising awareness I realised I had to start telling people about my problem. I was fed up of getting embarrassed by my sweating. I also dread going to bed because that is when my hands and feet get their worst, my feet stick to the sheets and i feel very uncomfortable. In school my pens and pencils slip out of my hand and the paper gets wet. I recently started learning to drive and I had to stop because I was embarrassed my how wet the steering wheel got. I don’t think there is any part of hyperhidrosis that I am happy with, some people think it’s good because it keeps you warm when it’s cold outside or it’s good because you burn more fat sweating but this isn’t the truth.