Support Group: Hi, John!
Today, loyal readers, I'm performing the classic act of self-sacrifice in today's culture: revealing an embarassing fact about myself, in order to help others.
I have, or should I say had, sweaty pits. Frightfully sweaty pits. Not just a light dampness -- a steady drip, drip, drip of cold, clammy nastiness. You can feel beads of sweat forming before they slide, ever so slowly, all the way down your side to your hips.
The condition's called axillary hyperhidrosis, and apparently it afflicts quite a few people (enough, anyway, to justify the purchase of the domain name www.sweaty-armpit.com by a doctor who treats hyperhidrosis).
Any shirt I put on would be soaked through in the underarms in five minutes flat. Wearing undershirts didn't help, whether they were made of cotton or high-tech wicking material; the sweat would just gather in an ever-expanding white-ringed splotch on the outer shirt.
All that's changed thanks to a fairly inexpensive medicated antiperspirant, Certain Dri.
It cost me about $5.50 at Walgreen's. It contains aluminum chloride instead of the aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex found in your standard antiperspirants. You put it on before bedtime and, after some initial fierce but bearable itching, forget about it. It shuts down your armpit sweat glands for days at a time; you don't even have to use it that often. Don't worry, you won't overheat. There's plenty more sweat glands all over the rest of your body.
Believe it or not, you can buy it at Amazon.com, where its sales rank is
Be sure to catch the glowing and hilarious review from "chatchi," who refers to himself in both the third person and the first person while relating that he (somehow) measured seven quarts of personal sweat output and decided to get help "[a]fter failing numerous job interviews, and scaring away an immeasurable amount of potential romantic companions because of my mind-boggling sweat production ... ." He concludes: "Thanks to Certain Dri, chatchi had the last laugh."
uh.... Thanks for sharing?
ReplyDeleteChatchi, Chatchi, Chatchi.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006EPHM/georeviews-20/104-4979684-3098364?dev-t=D1LVOTBTNINVCE%26camp=2025%26link_code=sp1
ReplyDeleteI've had friends that swore by Mitchum Solid Antiperspirant & Deodorant, but more importantly i'm gald you have found something that helps you function more normally.
tom
I am chatchi... or is chatchi I? Whatever. I just wanted to thank you for including me in your blog last week. It's nice to see that my work has stretched outside the boundaries of Amazon.
ReplyDeleteYour support is appreciated.
Viva le chatchi!
I had no idea. But, you helped me find a product for nail biting (also embarrassing) in the Health and Personal Care category of Amazon. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI used to use that stuff, but it made my face break out, so now I jsut bare with the sweaty pits.
ReplyDeleteThere is a very nice message board for people who suffer from excessive sweating
ReplyDeleteHH Support
Hey Im 13 and i am trying to stop my UNBARABLE sweaty underarms. I cant ware any thing! even sweat shirst show the ugly ring. I am going to try certin dry i hope it works!
ReplyDelete-ally
Good luck, Ally.
ReplyDeleteI had to use Certain Dri daily for quite a while, but then my condition seemed to change and normal antiperspirants worked well. Then things got all wet and drippy for a month, and I had to go back to using Certain Dri. Now things are fine again.
The short story is that excessively sweaty pits are irritating, but they can be fixed.
hey, my name is rio and im 14 years old. reading through these posts lightens weight on my shoulders. i now know that im not the only girl my age who suffers everyday from (as my friends like to call them) "pit stains". if people only knew how hard i tried everyday to stop these sweat stains from coming out on every shirt that i own. every morning i load each armpit with layers and layers of antiperspirants, and even that doesnt work. i also HATE shopping with my friends, because i always come across shirts i have labled as "unsafe" to wear, while the rest of my friends seem perfectly comrotable in. my wadrobe now consists of black, hoodies, and sweaters. i've tried so many crazy emebarrassing things, such as taping my armpits or wrapping them in sprain bandages, but even still, i sweat through them. im not at all obese, and i play a lot of sports, so im in good shape. i dont understand why this is happening to me! it started when i was 12, and its continually became a larger and larger problem. my friends have all hinted to me how gross they think it is, and even my boyfriend is starting to turn on me. but i do see a light at the end of this tunnel. in my desparate final resort, i researched online looking for a antiperspirant that would deal with my excessive sweating. i came across a product called Certain Dri. everywhere i go, i keep hearing about how it works miracles for people my age. apparently, its one of the closetest things you can get to perscription antiperspirant. i also have heard it does burn, but i could care less. at this point im willing to sacrifice anything to regain my self-image and confidence. this type of problem is mentally and emotionally bashing, and its starved me of all my self-esteem. i ordered this Certain dri product last night, and im hoping to get it in 7-10 buisness days. i hope this works, its my only hope left. does anyone else know anything about this product?
ReplyDeleteI have been using Certian Dri for 3 days now and my sweating has gone down a little, but there is still wetness on my clothes by the middle fo the day. Does it take a few days for it to work or does it just not work well for me?
ReplyDeleteI started using Certain Dri this past weekend and will absolutely swear by this product. I am 22 and got sick of being embarrased talking to girls because my pits were always wet. The first time I used Certain Dri there was not a drop of sweat for two days, so I reapplied and still nothing. I freaking love this stuff, I can finally where my tighter shirts again. In response to Katie, I read on another post that you have to be sure that your pits are completely dry before applying the product. So maybe shower, dry them with a towel and then dry them with the cool setting on a hair dryer. I also read that you should apply the product while lying on your back because supposedly you won't set as much, if at all, lying down. Finally, my own suggestion is that because of that stupid roller ball that dispenses the product may not really be letting product out, lie on your back and move the ball around with your thumb (have a paper towel handy to clean your thumb) until you see beads of the product on the ball, then apply it to your underarms. Be careful not to use too much, 2-3 swipes to cover your pits is plenty. A word of warning to all, this stuff burns like fire the first few applications and you may notice redness, but mine went away and now I'm completely dry and couldn't be happier.
ReplyDeleteHey!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your embaressing story John! Just rencently i have started sweating it seems a lot more under my pits and nothing seems to help. I too ahve tried wearing multiple shirts, extra deoderent, constant reapplying of deoderent, and even shaving under my arms... yucko. lol.
Anyway, It seems this problem happens to me as well and i'm not even doing anything that requires...moving. Like I could take a shower then come sit bac down on the computer for 15 minutes and ill have sweat marks under my arms. Even at school, just walking from class to class I end up getting rings under my arm.
I am extremely happy you shared this story, because I am now leaving for my local Walgreens to give this stuff a try. Thank you so much, and I hope it works!!
I sweat like crazy. Once at a dance I really wanted to wear a dress that I knew would show sweat, so I taped tons of tissue to my armpits. It didn't work, and the sweat rings were mortifying.
ReplyDeleteCertain Dri works. My sister tried all kinds of things and heard about Certain Dri years ago. We used it, loved it, and I even bought bottles of it for friends I knew shared my problem.
For me Certain Dri didn't change me overnight, but after a week or two you can sit back with your hands behind your head no sweat. Really!
Now I'm in a wedding in 2 weeks with a tight bolero made of satin. I haven't used Certain Dri in a while so I've gotten back on it so I can dance free of worry!
I avoid solids like the Mitchum mentioned above because I heard my yellow underarm stains on my shirts were because of solid deodorants. I now use Mitchum clear for women in the morning, but Certain Dri at night. Certain Dri will help you feel normal!!!
I have hyperhidrosis real bad. I cannot stand to make presentations. My pits will drip the moment I begin anticipating standing in front of people. Not to mention going out... The one thing I noticed is when I met a certain guy and spent time with him it stopped. The moment he got off the plane the sweating stopped and the moment he walked back through security to leave it began again. What was this? Maybe they should start new research on phermones or something...
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI have a question about using Certain Dri.
I used this product for the first time last night, but I was wondering if I am supposed to use my regular antiperspirant the next morning after showering?
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Reagards,
Jimmy
Man, I thought I was the worst until Ive read some of you guys' stories, and it seems as though we are all in the same boat. I too experience the balls of sweat rolling down my sides... It can be 38 degrees (fahrenheit) outside and I can be without a jacket, I will shiver, but still have sweat going. Its insane. I can remember one of my first dates in middle school, my arm was around the girl in the movies, and I could feel an unbelievable amount of sweat building up. It had not gone away since. I found out about certain dri in college. The night I used it, I couldnt MAKE myself sweat the next day. My only problem is, I have a hard time remembering to use the stuff at night for some reason... but yes, certain dri is great!
ReplyDeleteI know it's been a while since anyone has said anything about this, but I just have to comment. I'm 13, and I've got horrible sweating in my armpits and palms. So I decided to search Google for anything that could help and I'm so glad I found this. When I read this I realized that I am not alone and that I may have found something that actually works; "morning i load each armpit with layers and layers of antiperspirants, and even that doesnt work. i also HATE shopping with my friends, because i always come across shirts i have labled as “unsafe� to wear, while the rest of my friends seem perfectly comrotable in..."
ReplyDeleteI'm going to talk to my mom about it sometime and see if she'll let me order it. I'm so exited about getting this deoderant! (Never thought I'd ever say that...). =]]
hey ive been using some other anti sweat deoderant (im in aussie) called dricote it works for me but is giving me black stains under my arms does this deoderant do that >
ReplyDeletei have that too. i can get up in the morning, shower, and when i get down to the bustop 30 minutes later, i have a completelty soaked shirt! nothing helps- not any amount of deodorant can banish it! i am in year nine at shool and not being able to raise my arms to catch a basketball or answer a question is getting very frustrating.
ReplyDeletei wan to try certain dri or drysol, but i live in australia... can i get it here/ how long will it take to get to australia if i order it from america?
thanks.
certaindri doesnt work for me it just cut some sweatin not all of it like some people swear to this product ive order drysol and hopefully it works for me cause this is just not cool sweatin
ReplyDeleteI'm in Australia... Where can i purchase Certain Dry?
ReplyDeletei have been searching for ages!
this post is extremely helpful!! Thankyou.
Australia, that's a tough one. I was going to say order from Amazon.com, but according to this ...
ReplyDeletehttp://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080523210301AADVTL7
... there is no Amazon.com store for Australia.
Perhaps you have a friend in a country serviced by Amazon who would be willing to purchase a bunch of Certain Dri and ship it to you? The product itself comes in very light containers.
I have been using certain dri solid and it has reduced the sweating little by little every day! I was wondering when does it completely stop the sweating?? I use this every night before I go to bed.
ReplyDeleteMikalah, I am afraid I cannot answer your question because I haven't had the cold, dripping sweat for some time. Right now, in fact, I am wearing a dress shirt with no undershirt. I still have what I will call normal underarm sweat, which I suppose I would characterize as a mild all-over moistness, rather than localized dripping.
ReplyDeleteWhile I have no science to back this up, I think the cessation of the cold dripping relates to a substantial decrease of stress in my life.
I still use the Certain Dri liquid occasionally, but only when I remember to, which isn't often.
I am twelve years old I have hyperhidrosis. I put certain dri on at night then 3 clicks of secret clinical strength. (because I have to use three clicks to stop the sweating). why does it take more then the required amount to stop my sweating? I know that I have focal axillary hyperhidrosis. I havnt been to the doctor yet about it but I will. Do you have to go see a dermatolagist for hyperhidrosis or a regular doctor????
ReplyDeleteis it true that drinking water helps with stopping sweating??
ReplyDeletejon and peekie,
ReplyDeleteI'm not qualified to offer medical advice. I'm sorry I can't answer either of your questions. Perhaps someone else reading this can help?
Hey, it feels so good to read all of your embarrasing stories, and to know that im not the only one that has this problem. Ive been dealing with this problem for about 4 years now, and i couldnt take it anymore. i found out about certain dri, and ive been using it for about 3 days.. IT ITCHES AND BURNSS... but after a while, i dont feel anything. it really does work and i am very happy with this product.
ReplyDeleteYet, i still have one question.
I know its a roll-on, but i seem to have some problems applying it to my underarms, i feel as if it doesnt dispense... an i struggle to apply it.
Is this normal? and is it a watery substance??
hope somebody can help, thank you
-JOHN
@John p.: Regarding dispensing, I sometimes have that problem too. I turn it upside down and give it a shake or two. You can also try rolling the ball with your finger until drops of the product appear.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is watery.