[Solepa]

Hi I had a session today and it was total disaster.

I have anxiety and when I get nervous I do sweat more then usual and therapy is one of the occasions it unfortunately happens.

So I try to wear clothes that doesn´t show it that much. I go to bathroom before hand and I do anything to help it. But the more I worry about it the worse it gets.

But today I came with very bad back pain and as she is also body therapist she asked me to do some exercise. I was wearing T-shirt and because of the anxiety and pain ... well I did sweat and it showed under my arms. It was disgusting and she saw it very well while I had to put my arms in various positions.

I have already big problem with feeling disgusting in general and this did not help at all. I am feeling so embarrassed and really really yucky. Right now I don´t feel I can ever go back.

I had shower right before I went there and I use deodorant and perfume and I don´t know what else to do.

What would you do? Do any of you have similar problem? How you deal with it? Any tips to stop this from happening?

Thank you and sorry If I grossed anybody out

I don't have an issue at therapy but in other situations that make me anxious... Does your deodorant also have an antiperspirant ingredient? Not all do. Also here in U S there are a few brands that sell prescription strength.

[Virginia1991]

That makes me so self conscious too. I have prescription deodorant. Works for me. Sometimes I am like wiping my armpits on the way to therapy because I am so nervous��

[Freewilled]

Oh, I thought I was the only one! Honest I even do the bathroom thing beforehand lol I'm so impressed that you still did the therapy exercise though - I'm sure I couldn't have gone through with it.

I've had sweating issues inside the therapy room and I'm pretty sure my T noticed. I'm not positive of course, but after over a year I'm sure there've been times he has seen it. I figure I'm there partially for anxiety stuff and he's gonna have to deal Might it help to let her know it's a side effect of your anxiety? How do you imagine her responding to that disclosure? I imagine if I talked directly to my t about it he would be so gentle and compassionate how about you?

P. s. - I've tried all kinds of prescription strength deodorants/antiperspirants. None worked well enough for when I'm under a lot of stress

I dint know if this helps put it in perspective but I'd rather break out in a sweat then puke in T... Which is an anxiety side effect for me.

[growlycat]

Recently I posted about a sweaty session. I was lucky that the roles were reversed, and T was sweating way more than I was.

It wasn't gross. We meet in the am, early, so we are both freshly showered as far as I know. I actually felt a lot of empathy towards him because he seemed miserable with the bad AC in the office. We ended up meeting outside and it was lovely.

I doubt your T thought much of it. Just wanted to share "the other side".

[Solepa]

Hi thank you everyone for your replies.

I did try all kind of deodorants and antiperspirants they work well when I am in normal state of mind but when I start stressing and getting all shaky and nervous nothing seems so save me

Originally Posted by Readytostop

I dint know if this helps put it in perspective but I'd rather break out in a sweat then puke in T... Which is an anxiety side effect for me.

Oh I was already there as well so.....I did make it to the bathroom though. When I got out she was standing there with tissues. saying it is ok... yeah right !

[Solepa]

Freewilled: You sure are not the only one. We are sisters in sweat haha ... sorry just came to my mind

I will have to bring it up during next session as it is really big issue for me obviously. She is body therapist so part of my therapy is work with the body and she is suppose to touch me and stuff so we need to work this out.

It is just going to be soooo embarrassing to talk about. I maybe write it down and let her read it... well first thing would be getting myself there which would be embarrassing enough as it is. Good thing I have next appointment in 3 weeks as we are both going for holidays.

Take care and best luck on your journey

[Partless]

OP and others who reported these problems: are you male or female? For better or worse, there are different standards about that and it seems when men sweat it's not seen as big of a deal than women doing it. Aside from that, also I think there are different ways of covering it up depending on your gender and the kind of clothing you were. For instance I'm a guy and though I do sweat, I'm usually wearing undershirt and a shirt on top of it and my jacket on top of that, which is unbuttoned when I sit down to talk. My face gets sweaty but I just use tissues and dry it and not problematic.

Also don't get into that cycle of becoming self conscious because like you said, it just makes it worse. I have some bad experiences with uncontrollable visible sweating but not in therapy, but when I went on a date, which is rare because I'm a pretty shy and introverted guy so it was a huge deal. On my first date I actually ran out in the middle of a dinner because she touched my hand and that just made my whole system go into some chaotic place, I started sweating, tried to hide it, made me get a panic attack, more sweat and now suddenly saw my shirt starting to stick to my body and spots of sweat forming and tried to cover myself with the coat I was wearing and it made me warmer and more sweat, felt like choking, and now profuse sweating as if a volcano was gonna erupt (all this withing 10-15 minutes) and I escaped from the bathroom window of the restaurant. And I've never done such a thing in my life! I ended up bruising my knee and had a bad right knee for a while. I had called her later saying (lying) I had thrown up in the bathroom and was feeling so sick I just called someone to pick me up, though she did not seem to believe me cause the restaurant was small and she could have seen me leave. It would be several years before I attempted another first date (not much better either).

But I digress. Just relax. Don't get self conscious, it makes it all worse.

[Aloneandafraid]

I had a really sweaty face yesterday. The sun was streaming in through her window which was closed & the blinds were pulled back. I was so embarrassed. I don't usually sweat that much, but yesterday - I was really glowing! I was embarrassed about the session in general which didn't help. I was so relieved to get outside yesterday.
(I'm female!)

[iheartjacques]

Pretty sure T's understand that sweating is from anxiety. You can ask for ways to manage your anxiety.

[lilypup]

I sweat on my face and I have a dry eye problem which causes my eyes to LEAK water.(go figure, huh?). So I often look like I have tears running down my face. I would just explain it all to the T and she was fine.

[complicated larry]

This may not relate but if you get heavy sweating in other environments look up hyperhydrocis (I think that's how to spell it).

Anyway I suffer from it an getting anxious or nervous really triggers it fast.