Monika

United States

I am a lifelong hyperhidrosis sufferer. Although my sweating is definitely inconvenient at times, it's a part of what makes me "me." I suffer mostly in the palmar, axillary, and plantar regions amongst others...I was started on deodorants at the age of 4!!! As a child, having HH was the trickiest when having to hold hands in a circle (it seems this was done for everything!). Kids can be pretty brutal and I definitely remember getting several "ewwws" in my day in response to my wet sweaty hands. It's quite ironic, in spite of my hyperhidrosis, I adore handshakes and hugs. I'm bummed when my hands are too sweaty to engage. Explaining that still remains a small challenge. These days, I limit my exposure to situations of that nature but every so often, when I'm feeling confident mind you, I give a nice firm handshake, sweaty or not! I read a really great Instagram post from @humansofny where a fellow HH sufferer considered the condition a superpower (hello opening those grocery produce bags!). Most days, I pretty much feel the same! Right now I'm working on getting my underarm sweating under better control since detoxing from commercial deodorants and helping to give HH a voice via my meetup support group. I'm so happy to see the HH community coming together and I can't wait to see what's next!