ETS - Flushing

[felix10]

I have undergone Endoscopic Thoracic Surgery about a year ago. The sympathetic chain was cauterized at the T2 level. I now suffer from several side-effects such as severe compensatory sweating in other areas and thermoregulatory imbalance. I also suffer from quite severe facial flushing and ever-present redness to the face and neck, which was never a problem before ETS. Do you have any idea what could cause this facial flushing and redness? Several other patients that I know of who have undergone ETS have reported the same problem. Does it have something to do with an imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve systems? Could it have something to do with scarring that may have occurred around the area that was cauterized? ETS surgeons that I have have approached with this problem do not seem to have a clue about this side-effect.
I would appreciate your view on the matter.

[wallygator]

About 6 years ago I began to suffer from hyper hydrosis of the arm pits and slightly on my lower back. It was embarrassing for me. Especially when I was in high school and had to layer up even on the most hottest days of summer. I tried Drysol and found that it just wasn't enough. So I did a little research and found out about endoscopic thoracic surgery, and I had it done. Six months have past and I have had the most intolerable compensatory sweating of my lower back and butt. I was wondering if it would ever go away. I think it would have to be due to the dilated blood vessels as a result of the surgery. If so, would they return to normal? If not would it be possible to get a nerve sympethectomy proceeder done for my lower back and buns.

[HeatherB]

Ditropan (oxybutynin) is for overactive bladders, but one of its side effects is decreased sweating. About 5mg in the AM and 5mg in the PM keeps most Hyper Hydrosis sufferers compleately dry all day. It also may alleviate som of your facial blushing. Allow 3 to 7 days for meds to take affect. Hope this helps.

[felix10]

Thank you for your comments.
Could you direct me to the reports about facial flushing related to imbalance in the S/PS nerve systems?

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-JT]

Compensatory sweating is well known to be a side effect of ETS, and there are a few case reports in the literature regarding facial sweating/flushing. According to some reports, it does seem to be related to a PS/S imbalance as you suggested. Or if that was the primary problem in the first place, the surgery would be considered a failure and you may need re-evaluation. Hope that helps.