"Groundhog Day"

2 February 2003

You've probably seen the movie with Bill Murray, the one where he's a weatherman cursed to re-live Groundhog Day over and over until he gets it right.

Sometimes I feel that way with my HH. Every day I get up, get dressed, head for work, and look, there's a perspiration stain again. Didn't I just do this yesterday?

The weekends are usually a respite for me. Sitting at home, doing normal activities, in low-stress environment, I don't get very sweaty. But yesterday was different.

I turned on the TV and there was the latest tragedy. Without me even realizing it, my stress level ratcheted up just watching the news, and soon my cotton shirt was soaking under my arms. _sigh_

It's terrible what happened to the shuttle, and my heart goes out to all the families involved. These kinds of events help us to keep our HH troubles in perspective.

Exploration has always been, and will continue to be, a dangerous activity. Many people died on the early voyages across the Atlantic and around the globe. It didn't stop them from trying again then, and it shouldn't stop us now.

I've received many more positive emails about this site (so many I've not been able to reply to them all, but I do wish to thank everyone!). Here are just two:

From BA:

Dear Janet,

You are totally awesome! I'm a 53 year old male and have been sweating excessively since my teens. With me it's mostly my head. My hair starts getting wet and then the sweat trickles down my face. It makes me feel like Albert Brooks in Broadcast News when he finally gets his chance to anchor the evening news, panics and starts pouring sweat down his face in front of millions of people.

I'm an old hippie and so body hair doesn't really affect me one way or the other. I have a beard. But I have thought of shaving my head. Maybe those beads of sweat popping up and running down my polished dome would be better than soaked and matted hair! But if I'm too lazy to shave my face, I doubt is the high maintenence of artificial baldness would be anymore probable. After reading all the stories on the HH site I think my problem is probably not as bad as I've been telling myself it is. The constantly wet hands and feet must really be a drag.

I've never found my sweating a problem during sex. It just seems natural to be in that steamy state. The women I've been with during my life have even said they like my smell.

I am like you in that I run hot. I'll where a t-shirt down into the 50s if I'm being active. I'm the biggest practitioner of layering when it comes to clothes you ever saw. I'm constantly taking off or adding clothes as the temp or my activity changes. When asleep my bed mate is always bundled up while I've just got a sheet over me. Although, I do seem to provide a great heat source for them. They love to snuggle with me, which often works out great because they feel cool to me! What a concept!

Regarding "Ss" comments regarding femininity and the quality of your site. What an ass. That's just the kind of person that perpetuates superficiality in common social interaction, that judges people solely on their looks, and is probably scared, hung up and lonely and the biggest victim of their own intolerence. But actually kind of funny in their complete "not getting" the purpose of this site.

Keep up the great work! Humor and self acceptance are two of the most important skills we can master in life, and your site goes a long way to encourage both! Now that I've unloaded, I'll try to boost up the humor part.

From TS:

Dear Janet,

They say that if everyone took their problems and placed them in the middle of a table, when the time came to choose from the pile each would take back his or her own. As I believe this to be true, I greatly appreciate you having created this web page. I�m a member of the Yahoo HH group, and I know that it�s important to be able to discuss HH. HH is a difficult condition to live with, but it causes no physical pain, and we CAN live with it. We can move on to have families and friends and careers. So many others are stricken with conditions that literally, physically cripple them, and, like you, I�ve decided that if my HH cripples me, it will be of my own allowance.

I have full body sweating that began as palmar when I was born and steadily became worse. I have had wonderful parental support all through my life on this issue, and recently I have begun acupuncture to help bring me some relief. I�ve found that it definitely reduces my sweating, and the rest I have found the strength to deal with.

People say that the greatest strength lies in fighting, but sometimes I feel as thought the greatest strength lies instead in acceptance and moving forward. Thank you for putting yourself out as a role model of this sort of strength � I hope thousands of women (and men!) all over read about it and are given courage.

For those people, and for you, I will always pray for us to find the best of strength and courage.

For prior stories, see the archives.