I am 23 years old, Asian. Before ETS I study mechanical engineering. workout 6 days a week.
I suffer from sweaty hands since I was a kid.
One day I read about ETS surgery from newspaper which promote it like a "miracle cure" with very little side effects.
I made an appointment with the surgeon.
I asked him about procedure/possible side effects/complication, he told me :
- ETS is very safe procedure
- just cutting the LITTLE nerve that supply sweaty hands
- 2% possible compensatory sweat
- 0.2% horner's syndrome
- not require chest tube
- full recovery within 1 week
I thought this is it. No more sweaty hands. but I want to make sure about the side effects so I search "ETS side effects" on google and this site
show up.
I read about fatigue/bradycardia/........ I'm confuse if I would cancel the surgery or not. I met my surgeon 1 day before surgery.
I asked him about possible bradycardia/........ that I read on this web site. He said it's not relate to ETS ,peoples on this web site are not doctor.
So,I am stupid enough to believe him and go ahead with the surgery.
.....................................
I woke up in ICU and found out chest tube on my right chest.(WTF!!) difficult breathing.
I asked the surgeon why he put chest tube in me. he said "safety first"
It's painful when he pull it out.
I went back home and felt that somthing really wrong with me:
- I can't sweat above the nipple line
- lack of emotion
- cold feet
- dizziness
- compensatory sweat
- fatigue
- Unrefreshing sleep
- Impaired memory and concentration
- hair loss
I called my surgeon. Guess what? He told me to see Psychiatrist.
I went to another hospital to answer what's going on with my body.
Diagnosis :
- chronic fatigue syndrome
- post sympathectomy syndrome
- Bradycardia
- Orthostatic hypotension
- Disable
- dry left eye (left eye ONLY!?)
- hypothyroid
I have to drop out from university, can not workout,I'm so suicidal, loss of relationship,.................................
For anyone consider ETS :
1.Sympathetic nerve control more than just sweating, It control your heart/thyroid/goose bump/thermoregulation/.....
2. some peoples happy with ETS, some disable all the rest of their life
3. compensatory sweating is not what you imagine It's "another form of hyperhidrosis"
4. ETS is irreversible procedure even clamping method
5. Don't believe surgeon's statistic. search "sympathectomy" on Pubmed
