The "smell" of illness?

[Lifegavemelemons]

OK, so this is a sensitive one.

I have an elderly friend (80's) who comes to visit maybe 6 times a year (pre-covid) she's lovely and has been very good to me over the years. She has had a lot of illness over the last few years, including cancer, but has responded well to treatment. She has come to me for a week+ at a time when her family have been away as they don't like her to be alone with no support. Her mobility is not good, but we go out and about to Xmas markets and have a lot of afternoon teas and meals out when she comes. I live in a scenic part of the country so lots of drives out. I generally put on a few pounds each visit 🤣. Love seeing her.

She's with me for a couple of weeks ATM and I am struggling a lot with her smell. Something is VERY different. The smell is strong and not at all pleasant. I know her clothes are clean as we've done a couple of clothes washes while she's been here - and she showers daily, so it's not that. The room she is in smells very strong and I will have to do a thorough fumigate when she goes. I'm really not exaggerating - I have dogs and cats so my house is not all "linen and lavender" smelling by any means.

I haven't said anything, and won't, but have done some serious googling - and yes, humans can smell sickness. Not as well as dogs, naturally, but it is a thing, and unconnected with hygiene.

Anyone had experience of this? I assume it could mean a deterioration in her health? Ironically she has seemed a lot more mobile this time round and has not been falling asleep as randomly as on previous visits.

I seen this on This Morning once where the lady could smell diseases have a google for it :)

Fetor hepaticus?

Having just had a general chat about health and the monitoring they are doing due to the cancer treatment (monthly blood tests ) - we can rule out diabetes. She has just said they switched medication a couple of months ago (since I last saw her) so it may be that.

Really interesting how many people can smell illness - my mother died of breast cancer and I don't remember any smell in particular - but she was in a care home when she died so lots of competing smells there - my memory is of disinfectant and urine .

Such an interesting thread. To those who can smell when their kids are sick what does it smell like ?!! Trying really hard to imagine it.

chemical reason perhaps

@Tee20x

Such an interesting thread. To those who can smell when their kids are sick what does it smell like ?!! Trying really hard to imagine it.

For me, it's not so much a particular smell - I couldn't describe it at all - but it's the fact that DS smells noticeably different to me. It's quite distinctive and he doesn't smell like that unless he's unwell.

I can smell changes, I can smell the menopause, and when my friends are on medication, mainly antidepressants, when you think about it we are chemical, so we will change as we get older or ill.

Maybe we need to get some Mumsnetters round to give her a sniff diagnosis?

Smelling diseases is a thing. Doctors used to be taught this. Only some diseases smell. As a posters said Parkinson’s and some cancers , especially lung cancers are included. So is pre-eclampsia, kidney and liver failures, and even MS. some people can smell certain ones, and others not at all. So it isn’t that reliable as a general diagnosis. T
I had a relative with serious mental health issues- he smelt very faintly of something it was hard to place …unpleasant ..aromatic ..stopped when he was taking meds …could tell when he wasn’t taking his meds.

@Mintyt

I can smell changes, I can smell the menopause, and when my friends are on medication, mainly antidepressants, when you think about it we are chemical, so we will change as we get older or ill.

What does the menopause smell like ?

From what you have said, I don't think it is this but I just thought, that even though you say she showers daily, she may not be as flexible as most people due to her infirmness.

Washing front and back thoroughly takes some doing when you are less agile and she may not be thorough enough . A build up of this would not be a pleasant smell.

It is lovely to hear of your friendship though .

My dad had lung cancer. He had a particular smell. So bad that when I went to my parents house the smell hit me as soon as mum opened the street door.

He passed away more than 10 years ago.

Illness smells like pear drops or nail varnish remover to me

Yes I can smell my children, and husband to some degree, very strongly just before they become ill and during an illness.

Doctors sniff patients for some diseases eg diabetic collapse. Smell is a really old and proven diagnostic tool.

I smelt something gag-making on one of my neighbours, asked MN what on earth the appalling whiff could be, and loads of posters complained. Neighbour had advanced breast cancer, diagnosed the following week.

Does she have diabetes? My friend I lived with had diabetes and I could smell when her sugars weren't right. I'd just thought it was her natural odour until I worked with a women and she walked past me and I asked if she was ok because I smelled it again and she told me her diabetes was playing up.

Different illnesses definitely have smells!

I’d say it smells sour? Not like bad sour or off sour but a sour version of their normal smell?

It’s really difficult to describe it’s just not ‘normal’ and the variant is usually a little sourer than normal.

I know how to describe it. When you’ve had a chest infection and you still get phlegm at the back of your throat, it smells how that tastes. Quite acrid but mixed in with their normal smell.

Does it smell like rice cakes? I can't eat them because they smell like the breath of a person with a sinus infection, sort of thick mucousy smell.

I remember sitting beside dad in the months before he died. He had i smell to him which i felt was like decay, like his body was decaying from inside, which it was. Dad was clean etc, but i knew what it was.

Could a medication she is taking be affecting her smell? Or is it a perfume? If you have known her 50 years she may not be offended if you bring it up delicately. Perhaps you could say something like “that’s an interesting smell, do you have a new perfume?”. Just a suggestion!

What does the menopause smell like

I had started to develop a smell in my late 40s that was faintly reminiscent of blue cheese. Sort of stale and a bot mouldy, but only very faint. Went away within 2 weeks of starting HRT.

As she's so closely monitored because of the cancer meds I doubt it's a new condition - the smell is more like something rotting and it's not coming off her in waves, more just VERY obvious when she's been in a room for a while, so the bedroom, bathroom etc. The bedroom in particular is strong - of course.

Not being very dextrous and not being able to wash properly is an interesting suggestion - but on reflection she is more mobile now than she has been in the past - and this is a new smell to me. I'm thinking that the change in meds and the possible progression of the cancer might be the reason. Who knows, will just have to enjoy whatever time we have.

I'm definitely going to pay more attention to smells around people!

When my grandfather’s cancer had progressed, I am sure I could smell it on him. He had this smell, I can’t explain it. He had 24 hour care with nurses who helped him clean etc but this smell just lingered.

@Nasturs

What does the menopause smell like

I had started to develop a smell in my late 40s that was faintly reminiscent of blue cheese. Sort of stale and a bot mouldy, but only very faint. Went away within 2 weeks of starting HRT.

How strange, my DD told me I smelt like cheese yesterday (I had showered and was wearing clean clothes!) and I'm late 40's and well into peri