Why Do Some People Sweat More Than Others?

Velve921

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Why do some people sweat more than others? Does it have to do with adrenaline?

All thoughts will be appreciated.
 

miko

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I think there are two types of sweating - that from overactive sympathetic nervous system (mainly underarm sweating) and that from overall increase in body temperature (all body sweating).

Serotonin acting on 5-HT2a receptors can cause sweating (sweating is one of the more frequent side effects of SSRI drugs).
 
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Velve921

Velve921

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Interesting...so for example I have some athletes are absolutely drenched after games and some that are not..how would this relate to physical activity? Does this mean that the heavy sweat hogs have an immense amount of adrenaline on top of overall increase in body temperature during activity?
 

Ben

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I sweat very little, unless it is from physical exercise or heat. It is because I metabolize adrenalin very quickly. My dentist said I metabolize it 2-3x quicker. I think another tell-tale sign of low adrenalin is very thick veins on hands and feet which only constrict when it's cold, or from serious hypoglycemia like from caffeine.
 

miko

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I think it's depends on metabolism, activity of enzymes (that converts dopamine to noradrenaline), activity of your adrenal glands (and this comes from activity of your brain - hypothalamus: CRH>ACTH>activity of adrenals), activity of your sympathetic nervous system, sensitivity of your receptors (5-HT2a, acetylcholine receptors, beta adrenergic receptors etc.)
 
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Velve921

Velve921

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Obviously there are so many variables to explain sweat, but can we generally/objectively say that it is do to high adrenaline causing large amounts of heat in the body?
 

tara

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Ewlevy1 said:
Obviously there are so many variables to explain sweat, but can we generally/objectively say that it is do to high adrenaline causing large amounts of heat in the body?


I wouldn't think so - I think sometimes low metabolism can result in low sweat, and intolerance to both cold and heat, while strong metabolism can adjust to either, in part by sweating when hot.
I count myself over the last few years as low metabolism, high adrenaline, low sweat.
 

SQu

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I've been wondering about this. I've always tended to sweat a lot and now sweat more than ever but it's mostly head and neck now. My question is whether supplementing thyroid, which has made me hotter, is somehow being 'wasted' as heat rather than turned into energy. Or some of it at least. the weather is very hot at the moment and everyone is gasping in front of air conditioners and fans, but I'm like a tap that is turned on whatever I do. I don't think I'm particularly drenched in adrenalin. Some, certainly, but I'd know if it was an enormous factor for me. I also don't think serotonin is too out of hand either. I think I'd still be getting migraines if it was. I'd really like to know.
 

natedawggh

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The two types of sweating are correct. If you have an impaired metabolism, you'll sweat more easily and at lower body temperatures because estrogen lowers body temperature and correlates with high cortisol and/or adrenaline. Estrogen also causes flushing which pushes heat out to the skin, where the sweating impulse takes place, so you sweat more easily.

If you have high/normal metabolism and temperatures at rest, with a high pulse rate you will only sweat when you get hot and/or engage in activity, and this would just be good, normal sweating and not indicative of high stress hormones at all.
 

SQu

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Thanks. Makes sense. Estrogen and cortisol again. I just found clonidine over the counter here and the label mentions flushing though it's sold as a migraine drug and even called that - menograine. Tara it might be worth a look?
 

tara

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sueq said:
Thanks. Makes sense. Estrogen and cortisol again. I just found clonidine over the counter here and the label mentions flushing though it's sold as a migraine drug and even called that - menograine. Tara it might be worth a look?
Thanks Sueq. Just looked it up; clonidine is prescription only here. So there's one thing more liberal where you are. :): Looks like it is at least sometimes prescribed for migraine prophylaxis. I guess it goes on the list of things to try.
 

nikotrope

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I sweat a lot normally but when I started eating a lot more I stopped sweating a lot and was even surprised to almost not sweat at all (ok it's winter but it was relatively hot in my apartment). And while my temps and pulse were going up. Then I accidentally ate much less for a few days and began to sweat a lot again. Probably an issue with stress hormones when I don't eat enough.
 

SQu

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That's very informative nikotrope. Last night I tried clonidine and so far - great. Today is baking and I've been queuing in the sun for hours. I'm hot but I'm not sweating! I took 75ug at bedtime and 50ug sometime in the night. I feel relaxed and sleep was a tad better. Tara if enough people here have good experiences it might be worth pursuing a script. They've taken progesterone off the shelves which I'm truly devastated about, but finding this cheered me up.
 

tara

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sueq said:
That's very informative nikotrope. Last night I tried clonidine and so far - great. Today is baking and I've been queuing in the sun for hours. I'm hot but I'm not sweating! I took 75ug at bedtime and 50ug sometime in the night. I feel relaxed and sleep was a tad better. Tara if enough people here have good experiences it might be worth pursuing a script. They've taken progesterone off the shelves which I'm truly devastated about, but finding this cheered me up.

The data sheet I read said to taper down over a few days when you stop taking it. Not sure if that only applies after you've been using it for a while. Potentially unpleasant withdrawal effects.
 

SQu

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Thanks Tara. The insert said that but under dosage they say to take 1 x 25ug table twice a day , working up to three x 25ug tablets twice daily if necessary. Which suggests staying on it a while which I'm not planning to do. Yesterday My mouth got unpleasantly dry and taking it in the day made me groggy so I think I'll taper down for one more day then stop. I might keep it on me for really bad flushes. I wonder what else might help with the sweating and flushing which clearly in my case is quite extreme. I'm a little despondent that all the gentle measures like tea, coffee, all the peatish things haven't helped whereas this stuff gave me a tantalizing glimpse of how normal people feel in summer!!
 

lindsay

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Both myself and my brother used to play soccer and we were both sweat a lot. My brother sweat so much that he eventually stopped playing because he would get severely dehydrated and sometimes vomit. I should note, we grew up in Maine and I think adjusting to warmer climates was rough on us both at first - but now he lives in NC. I still prefer cooler climates.

I experienced the most sweating when I was playing soccer in college and was taking birth control pills at the time. I had so many issues while taking the pill (water retention and worsened asthma symptoms) that I gave up on it after 3 months. Also, before my metabolism really crashed hard 2 years ago, I was running a lot and if I ran on the treadmill inside, I would be drenched in sweat - which I loved at the time because it took care of water retention temporarily. I noticed immediately that when I started taking thyroid, I sweat much less when doing strenuous activities. If the weather is hot, of course it's natural that I will sweat, but not like I used to.

Additionally - for what it's worth - if you have female athletes who sweat a lot, as them if they are wearing lotion. Lotion tends to just lock in moisture and when the body heats up it melts right off.
 

jacob1111

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in my case, its winter time right now and i do martial arts and i over sweat and over heat every time even if I'm not really tired i over heat my face turns red I'm soaked in sweat and you can see the steam coming off my body nobody else in my gym sweats like i do and they are doing the same workout. I don't remember ever sweating this much before peating I'm wondering if this diet is making my body temperature rise to high i drink plenty of water and I'm going to try to cut back on sodium as maybe I'm getting to much I'm thinking if low sweating is a symptom of hypothyroid maybe high sweatings a symptom of hyperthyroid please help its winter time now and if i sweat this much i don't know how I'm going to be in the summer
 

ejalrp

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The really annoying thing about sweating which has always seemed odd to me is that unlike the theory where the evaporation of sweat cools the skin, in very still air or of course in humid conditions I find the sweat far more annoying than any consciousness of being "hot". It's as if the system were designed for a very dry or windy climate only.
 

Ukall

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Sweating (a lot) + Peeing less vs No sweating + Peeing (a lot)

In these two scenarios, which one is healthier?
I heard Haidut saying that perspiration is a good sign regarding thyroid function - . So sweating a lot seem healthier.
However, of course, I've also heard in the past from a physician I went, that if you sweat a lot is bad sign.

I would say atm, unfortunately, I don't sweat at all. It's almost Summer and I am still freezing. It's unfortunate for me, but it seems fortunate for others: when I am outside, people who sweat a lot say that they envy me (also, people who sweat a lot are not seeing very well because they seem disgusting).

What's the real reason behind it besides thyroid?
When I switched to a diet that was essentially fruits, I became colder. Of course, in this diet, the levels of Calcium and Sodium were very low and also Animal Protein was low.

"RP: Yah. That's why, as a quick therapy diet, I recommend a person having at least two quarts of milk and two quarts of orange juice every day to get the thyroid going and suppress inflammation and help the liver regulate things."

I did this diet for one week and LOVED it. I lost three pounds of fat, had NO excessive peeing and was sweating bullets I was so warm all the time.
from Ray's Quick Therapy Diet: 2 Quarts Of Milk And 2 Quarts Of Orange Juice Per Day

But when I heard this from thebigpeatowski... That's it? One person adds calcium and protein and the metabolism starts to 'accelerate'? The sad part is that I am still not convinced regarding milk...

P.S.: Is there any animal that sweat?
 
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haidut

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Eat some extra salt, as much as you can tolerate in that specific meal/drink. You will get very warm and stop sweating within minutes.
 

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