Post by squeaky on Aug 11, 2013 13:39:48 GMT
Hello everyone
My apologies in advance that this is a LONG post, but I'm trying to put in as much info as possible.
My story won't be news to any of you. Started getting comments and reactions to my BO when I was around 12 - 13 (none before that) and I'm now 43 years old. I won't bore you with the hundreds of humiliating incidents and dozens of false hopes that I was "cured" because I'm sure most of you know it all already.
The relevant points:
1. Can't smell myself much (or very rarely and always only fleetingly, like a sudden change of wind direction or quick movement etc). Each time it's a different smell - farty, fecal, mouldy, sour, cabbagey and one that I can't describe at all which is eye-wateringly strong and repulsive, but which I smelt once before on a female teacher at my school.
2. I have no idea what causes it, although sometimes I feel like I can smell the food I've eaten recently, only a rotted or putrid version of it hanging around me.
3. I'm very clean, at least 1 shower and hair wash every day, two sometimes. Keep my clothes clean etc. I don't sweat excessively and don't have sweaty/smelly feet.
4. I've been vegetarian since I was about 18 years old and didn't notice any change in reactions at the time I stopped eating meat. Was vegan for about 5 years and still smelled. When I went back to being vegetarian I couldn't eat eggs, they gave me stomach pains.
5. Now and then I notice a distinct lack of reaction and people generally being much friendlier to me (strangers, shop workers etc). When this happens I don't get any comments/dirty looks/nose covering etc at all. However, this never lasts and eventually people start reacting again and I'm cast back down into my dungeon of stinkyness and despair. Don't know if it's hormonal or diet related or what it is. (I'm female and perimenopausal).
6. My partner says I don't smell and the only Doctor I ever plucked up the courage to approach was very dismissive. Close family don't mention it at all, although my young nieces and nephews have sometimes blurted out "Ewww" or "you smell!" from time to time and then looked very embarrassed and upset that they've done it.
7. I've tried: Chlorella, Chlorophyll, Spirulina, Metronidazole (sp?) followed by pro-biotics, B2, dozens of different soaps/shower gels, ditto for antiperspirants. A few months ago I noticed a horrible stale/mould smell coming from my armpits with one particular antiperspirant and I stopped using them altogether and now use a crystal.
Strange as it sounds, for someone who's had this problem for 30 odd years I often completely forget about it and just go about my business and I'm only reminded of it when someone makes a comment or shoots me the death-stare! At these times I'm genuinely shocked as I've been deluding myself that I don't smell or have forgotten about it or whatever. Other times I become hyper-conscious about it and try to avoid people and life in general.
Which leads me to recent events and the reason I joined this forum......
For around 2 months now I haven't had one single reaction - not a sniff, a cough or a single comment. The cashiers at the local supermarket have been more friendly than usual and yet again I've wondered if the BO has suddenly disappeared. This co-incided with me avoiding sugar as my teeth are very sensitive and I'm afraid of the dentist. At the same time as avoiding sugar I was making a conscious decision to eat cleaner foods and less dairy, junk and bread.
Until two weeks ago. I was given a juicer by my neighbour who bought it ages ago and never uses it. I used it every morning and made juice from carrots/apples/kale/lemons/ginger/spinach/cucumber/beets/parsley and I had this juice for my breakfast. I'm thinking, "all this green juice is going to be great for my health and well-being!" and indeed I felt great and even lost a few pounds too. Then I went shopping for more fruit and veg and had the most dramatic reactions I've had for a long time.
Dirty looks, comments and the cashier at one supermarket actually turned to her colleague on the next checkout and pulled a disgusted face in my direction, then covered her nose with her free hand. Mortifying. At the next supermarket it was even worse. A cashier from the other side of the store actually came over and asked my checkout operator "Is that you?!" in a horrified voice. The cashier laughed and said "no" and the other cashier went to some unstaffed checkouts and smelled the bins under the counters and said, "oh, its those bins", but they both were trying not to laugh. I actually have a very sensitive nose to smells (except my own, hah) and the bins didn't smell of anything. I know they were talking about me, one of them in particular is always very abrupt around me and gives dirty looks etc.
On the way out of this store there is an area with ads on postcards and I stopped to read one of them. A woman who was already reading them turned round as I approached her, as if she'd smelled something bad and then rapidly walked off. At the same time I got a fleeting whiff of something that smelled like a cross between a cabbagey fart and a boiled egg - and it was STRONG. I'm sure it was me.
I can't help thinking that this vegetable juice might be the culprit? I'll be so disappointed if it is because I really love it and don't want to give it up. Anybody here know anything about juicing vegetables and BO?
Anyhoo, getting to the real reason I joined this forum - has anyone here seen any information about thiols and body odour? I saw thiols mentioned on a web site that was about mercury in fillings or something, but they certainly sound like stinky chemicals and they abound in green veg, which is something I love.
Btw, on the day that I got the terrible reactions I couldn't smell myself (apart from that one fleeting second) so I took a clean wash cloth and rubbed it on my skin and sniffed it - nothing. I put the wash cloth in a ziploc bag and left it in a drawer overnight and smelled it again the next day and it smelled like farts - a kind of boiled eggy/cabbage type fart.
So I suppose my questions are:
1. Green vegetables making a smell? Mostly spinach, parsley and kale (no cabbage).
2. thiols anyone?
You'd think I'd be used to being a stinker by now, but I don't think I'll ever get used to it.
If you're still reading this and haven't fallen asleep, thanks
PS
I won't be able to check in here a lot because I'm trying to do it when my partner is out. If he saw me doing this he'd make a big thing out of it and I'd be embarrassed. The one and only time I got the courage to ask him if I smelled he acted like I was mental.
My apologies in advance that this is a LONG post, but I'm trying to put in as much info as possible.
My story won't be news to any of you. Started getting comments and reactions to my BO when I was around 12 - 13 (none before that) and I'm now 43 years old. I won't bore you with the hundreds of humiliating incidents and dozens of false hopes that I was "cured" because I'm sure most of you know it all already.
The relevant points:
1. Can't smell myself much (or very rarely and always only fleetingly, like a sudden change of wind direction or quick movement etc). Each time it's a different smell - farty, fecal, mouldy, sour, cabbagey and one that I can't describe at all which is eye-wateringly strong and repulsive, but which I smelt once before on a female teacher at my school.
2. I have no idea what causes it, although sometimes I feel like I can smell the food I've eaten recently, only a rotted or putrid version of it hanging around me.
3. I'm very clean, at least 1 shower and hair wash every day, two sometimes. Keep my clothes clean etc. I don't sweat excessively and don't have sweaty/smelly feet.
4. I've been vegetarian since I was about 18 years old and didn't notice any change in reactions at the time I stopped eating meat. Was vegan for about 5 years and still smelled. When I went back to being vegetarian I couldn't eat eggs, they gave me stomach pains.
5. Now and then I notice a distinct lack of reaction and people generally being much friendlier to me (strangers, shop workers etc). When this happens I don't get any comments/dirty looks/nose covering etc at all. However, this never lasts and eventually people start reacting again and I'm cast back down into my dungeon of stinkyness and despair. Don't know if it's hormonal or diet related or what it is. (I'm female and perimenopausal).
6. My partner says I don't smell and the only Doctor I ever plucked up the courage to approach was very dismissive. Close family don't mention it at all, although my young nieces and nephews have sometimes blurted out "Ewww" or "you smell!" from time to time and then looked very embarrassed and upset that they've done it.
7. I've tried: Chlorella, Chlorophyll, Spirulina, Metronidazole (sp?) followed by pro-biotics, B2, dozens of different soaps/shower gels, ditto for antiperspirants. A few months ago I noticed a horrible stale/mould smell coming from my armpits with one particular antiperspirant and I stopped using them altogether and now use a crystal.
Strange as it sounds, for someone who's had this problem for 30 odd years I often completely forget about it and just go about my business and I'm only reminded of it when someone makes a comment or shoots me the death-stare! At these times I'm genuinely shocked as I've been deluding myself that I don't smell or have forgotten about it or whatever. Other times I become hyper-conscious about it and try to avoid people and life in general.
Which leads me to recent events and the reason I joined this forum......
For around 2 months now I haven't had one single reaction - not a sniff, a cough or a single comment. The cashiers at the local supermarket have been more friendly than usual and yet again I've wondered if the BO has suddenly disappeared. This co-incided with me avoiding sugar as my teeth are very sensitive and I'm afraid of the dentist. At the same time as avoiding sugar I was making a conscious decision to eat cleaner foods and less dairy, junk and bread.
Until two weeks ago. I was given a juicer by my neighbour who bought it ages ago and never uses it. I used it every morning and made juice from carrots/apples/kale/lemons/ginger/spinach/cucumber/beets/parsley and I had this juice for my breakfast. I'm thinking, "all this green juice is going to be great for my health and well-being!" and indeed I felt great and even lost a few pounds too. Then I went shopping for more fruit and veg and had the most dramatic reactions I've had for a long time.
Dirty looks, comments and the cashier at one supermarket actually turned to her colleague on the next checkout and pulled a disgusted face in my direction, then covered her nose with her free hand. Mortifying. At the next supermarket it was even worse. A cashier from the other side of the store actually came over and asked my checkout operator "Is that you?!" in a horrified voice. The cashier laughed and said "no" and the other cashier went to some unstaffed checkouts and smelled the bins under the counters and said, "oh, its those bins", but they both were trying not to laugh. I actually have a very sensitive nose to smells (except my own, hah) and the bins didn't smell of anything. I know they were talking about me, one of them in particular is always very abrupt around me and gives dirty looks etc.
On the way out of this store there is an area with ads on postcards and I stopped to read one of them. A woman who was already reading them turned round as I approached her, as if she'd smelled something bad and then rapidly walked off. At the same time I got a fleeting whiff of something that smelled like a cross between a cabbagey fart and a boiled egg - and it was STRONG. I'm sure it was me.
I can't help thinking that this vegetable juice might be the culprit? I'll be so disappointed if it is because I really love it and don't want to give it up. Anybody here know anything about juicing vegetables and BO?
Anyhoo, getting to the real reason I joined this forum - has anyone here seen any information about thiols and body odour? I saw thiols mentioned on a web site that was about mercury in fillings or something, but they certainly sound like stinky chemicals and they abound in green veg, which is something I love.
Btw, on the day that I got the terrible reactions I couldn't smell myself (apart from that one fleeting second) so I took a clean wash cloth and rubbed it on my skin and sniffed it - nothing. I put the wash cloth in a ziploc bag and left it in a drawer overnight and smelled it again the next day and it smelled like farts - a kind of boiled eggy/cabbage type fart.
So I suppose my questions are:
1. Green vegetables making a smell? Mostly spinach, parsley and kale (no cabbage).
2. thiols anyone?
You'd think I'd be used to being a stinker by now, but I don't think I'll ever get used to it.
If you're still reading this and haven't fallen asleep, thanks
PS
I won't be able to check in here a lot because I'm trying to do it when my partner is out. If he saw me doing this he'd make a big thing out of it and I'd be embarrassed. The one and only time I got the courage to ask him if I smelled he acted like I was mental.