A young woman has shared her experience of living with a rare condition that causes her to sweat excessively, up to three liters a day.
At the age of 10, Darcie Hamilton began to notice that she perspired more than her classmates during her time at primary school.
As the years went by, Darcie’s condition intensified, leading her to take extreme steps to hide her perspiration from her peers.
These measures included bringing multiple changes of clothes to school and taking as many as five showers daily.
Despite her attempts to manage her condition discretely, Darcie, who hails from Scotland, UK, faced severe bullying due to her sweat, ultimately prompting her to leave school at the age of 14 because of the harsh comments.
When she was 16, doctors diagnosed her with hyperhidrosis, describing her case as one of the most severe they had encountered.
According to Cleveland Clinic, hyperhidrosis is a condition that leads to excessive sweating, often without any apparent reason.
Recalling her school days and the burden of her condition, Darcie shared: “School was absolutely horrendous for me. The condition was one of the things that I got severely bullied for.
“I had to leave school at 14 because that’s how bad the bullying was from it. They would say I was dirty. It’s something that definitely did affect me.
“The sweat would literally be from the top of my armpit all the way down to the bottom of my waist.
“The older I got, the more visible it became. I would start chafing. It would cause rashes, blisters, really bad sores,” Darcie continued.
“It overtook my life, I was in my bed all day every day. I didn’t want to leave the house or make friends. I was embarrassed.”
Darcie estimates that at one point, she was producing three liters of sweat each day, necessitating her to consume five liters of water daily to avoid dehydration.
Beyond the relentless sweating, Darcie’s condition also resulted in numerous blisters on her hands and sores under her arms.
She explained: “The hyperhidrosis caused contact dermatitis because of the constant sweating.
“The sores in my armpits and hands were excruciating. I would get hundreds of tiny blisters on both hands.”
Initially, Darcie was offered Botox injections through the NHS to alleviate her symptoms, but this was eventually discontinued, compelling her to seek private treatment to manage her condition.
Now, Darcie is advocating for greater awareness of hyperhidrosis so it can be recognized as a legitimate medical issue.
“Hyperhidrosis is not taken seriously as a real medical condition,” said the 22-year-old. “I think people see someone sweating and think they’re disgusting and don’t clean themselves.”
“It’s a real medical condition and there’s real people living with it,” added Darcie.