tbanner523
23rd December 2005, 04:38 PM
Hello...I hope no one minds if I ask a few questions. I have had excessively sweaty hands and a general anxiety problem for as long as I can remember. Two years ago the sweating spread to my torso and I noticed that I generally felt hotter across my entire body. Over the past year I have started to experience a prickly heat sensation (combined with sweating) whenever I got nervous or exerted myself....needless to say it is extremely uncomfortable. Additionally, my face was becoming increasingly flushed, particularly after exercising or being embarrassed. Two months ago my doctor prescribed clonidine to help with the sweating and burning body sensations, and it worked woderfully for two weeks before loosing its effectiveness. Since then, we have increased the dosage three times, but I have not noticed any relief. Starting three weeks ago, I started to feel overly sensitive on my jawline, like I had windburn or something...I complained a little, but mostly ignored it. Fast forward to last Saturday, I went to dinner, came home and, for some reason was irritated, and found that my face was really red and hot, more so then ever before. On Sunday night, two hours after working out I was sitting on my couch and my face got extremely hot again, I felt like I might have had a fever. I went to look at my face and it was completely flaring, my chest was very red, all very similar to an allergic reaction. I looked like I had a bad case of sunburn. The following morning I went to the doctor and he gave me a cortisone shot and a bunch of Allegra. That was Monday, and my face is not nearly as red but it still burns, reacts to everything, and causes my eyes to be watery and bloodshot. Because it is still red and sore, I went to a dermatologist this morning who said it sounded like rosacea, but as we continued to talk she said that it may actually not be. She said rosacea is a skin disorder and that my recent flushing seemed more like a disorder of my sympatetic nervous system (consistent with my sweating, anxiety, and general intolerance to heat) and that there was little that she could perscribe for it. She suggested that it may also be related to clonidine use, and that I might want to taper off of it for now (weird, since I have seen it recommended for flushing and rosacea). She also gave me hydrocortisone cream, which I am reluctant to use because of what I have read...but then what if I don't have rosacea? Anyways, it is all very confusing, and my face and body are all very uncomfortable..and I guess I just needed a place to vent.