Meet the woman who sweats 10 litres every day

For Vicki Mason, life is a daily battle to keep her excessive sweating in check

Throwing her head back with laughter, Vicki Mason’s just-blow-dried bob bounced prettily around her face. Her skin was glowing, and in her freshly manicured hand was her favourite pub tipple, vodka and cranberry. As first dates go, her and Alan were having fun. The drinks flowed, and so did the flirty banter.

But when Alan teased Vicki about not knowing the football offside rule, and she shot straight back with the right answer, he was so impressed he tried to high five her.

Vicki froze.

"Come on, don’t leave me hanging," coaxed Alan. "Give me a high five!"

It was only a light hearted gesture, but Vicki flatly refused to play along. There was an awkward shift in the atmosphere.

Because ever since Vicki was a teenager, she’s suffered from extreme hyperhidrosis,

a condition which means she sweats excessively in three main areas: her hands, feet and armpits. Her doctor has estimated she sweats up to 6-10 litres a day, 10 times more than the average person.

"There was no way on earth I was going to touch Alan’s hand and show him how sweaty mine was," explains Vicki, 31. "But he just kept holding his up there, I was mortified."

At the end of the evening the pair promised to meet again, but they never did.

Like her mum Jane, 50, who she inherited the condition from, Vicki started noticing she was more sweaty than her friends when she hit puberty at 14. On hot days, or when she got nervous or did PE, damp rings would appear under her arms.

"We had a school teacher with big fat sweat patches and the kids sniggered and whispered it was disgusting. So I dreaded them seeing mine."

Embarrassed

When she was 17, Vicki went on her first proper date with a boy from college.

"I remember it so vividly, we’d been to the cinema together and afterwards he went to hold my hand. I was nervous, it was sweaty, so I pulled away quickly. He looked at me funny, and I never heard from him again."

Vicki – a legal secretary from Basildon, Essex – confided in her friends who were supportive. But her confidence was shaken. In 2000, when she was 18, doctors suggested she tried strong medication Robinul. "The side effects were a really dry mouth, constipation, and headaches. Then, after six weeks my body became acclimatised to the pills and they completely stopped working and the sweating returned."

In the same year Vicki met Ian, a digger machine operator, who happily accepted Vicki’s condition. "He wasn’t bothered at all, which improved my confidence, but I’d still get embarrassed. Once, we were stuck in traffic on a hot summer’s day. The car seats were leather and I was literally dripping wet. My beige trousers were soaked through around the bum area and around the back of my legs. I just broke down in tears."

In 2008 Vicki was given NHS Botox injections in her armpits in a bid to freeze the sweat glands. "But it wasn’t enough to stop it because I just have so many glands," explains Vicki. "The nurse actually gasped because she’d never seen so many before."

Vicki gave up on the injections, and after nine years together she and Ian drifted apart. "It was a mutual decision to split, but I got it into my head that no one else would accept me again.

"I put up this barrier because I thought guys would perceive it as disgusting, it is disgusting. I’d worry they’d think 'she must stink'. It’s not normal."

Putting on a brave face, Vicki got on with her life. Many hours are now spent dealing with – and trying to disguise – her condition. While her sweat doesn’t smell – body odour is caused by stale sweat only – keeping dry is seriously time consuming.

"I shower three times a day and have tried every deodorant, lotion and potion, but it’s a medical condition no deodorant can stop".

After each shower Vicki tucks a wad of kitchen towels into the sides of her bra to soak up the excess fluid. Her keyboard often drips with sweat, so she constantly washes her hands.

She frequently washes her feet in the loo basin, and wears socks over her tights to absorb more foot sweat.

Every lunch time Vicki visits the gym where she can shower afterwards. "I really, really sweat at the gym, but everyone sweats there so I just look like I’m working out really hard!"

In her car, Vicki mops her hands on a towel to keep the steering wheel dry. She guzzles three litres of water a day to stay hydrated and always has a banana to hand to replace the potassium she’s sweating out.

Happily, after four years being single, Vicki met policeman Rob, 33, on Tinder, in September 2014. On their second date she came clean about the hyperhidrosis.

It was a big thing for me. I was really embarrassed telling him, then I showed him my glistening hands. He went to hold them, and I tried to pull away, but he just grabbed them firmly and said, 'It doesn’t bother me whatsoever.' I couldn’t believe I was letting him hold my hands on our second date. It’s only been three months but we’ve both said that we’ve found The One."

Vicki hopes for a family of her own one day, and accepts her children might have hyperhidrosis too. "I would help them try to hide it – and hope they’d worry less than me!"

Looking ahead, Vicki’s symptoms – like her mum’s have – will likely improve when she hits the menopause and her hormones change.

"At least that’s one thing about ageing I’ll embrace!"