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Original poster

Why does DH suddenly smell?

209 replies

PinkMonday · 31/05/2023 08:32

Help! My DH stinks but I don't know why and I'm desperate for suggestions. He has a bath every evening, cleans his teeth, flosses, clean clothes but he still smells. I change our bedsheets once a week.

It's a really weird smell. Kind of like baby drool. I'm not pregnant so it's not like I am suddenly sensitive to smells.

It's only started happening in the last 2 weeks I think. He said he can even smell it on himself too.

I even started washing his back to make sure he's 100% clean but I notice by the morning he stinks again!

OP posts:
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5
KetoQueen · 31/05/2023 09:35

My son has very very thick hair and when he was little he has the same smell - he had a fungus on his scalp

Barney60 · 31/05/2023 09:39

Lots of different health problems can have a smell, back to GP from me for further more in depth tests.
Has he been more tired than normal?
Toilet habits changed?

NooNooHead1981 · 31/05/2023 09:45

Whatthediddlyfeck · 31/05/2023 09:07

Fucking hell!! He’s 40….and I can’t say I know or have ever known of people smell just die to getting older…possibly declining personal care, but not “age and decay”. Jesus wept

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Oh God, this comment made me guffaw out loud! 😅🤣😅

Fortytwothrough · 31/05/2023 09:48

NeverendingCircus · 31/05/2023 08:38

Have you changed your shower gel? A friend bought me some expensive shower gel and matching bar soap which I started using (think it was Molton Brown). For weeks I wondered why I stank of baby drool - that exact smell you describe. It turned out to be a reaction to something in the products. I chucked them away, went back to my usual soaps and stopped smelling like baby sick.

I'd forgotten until you mentioned it but the smell was so specific. I thought I was ill.

This happened to me. The smell was bizarre, like a musty, unwashed, unpleasant smell despite the shower gel smelling lovely. I, too, thought I was ill!

DeoForty · 31/05/2023 09:49

Has he had Covid recently? My husband smelt 'sour' after he had covid. It went away eventually. I recently had it and my husband told me he could smell it on me (although that could be him getting me back).

JFDIYOLO · 31/05/2023 09:53

Perhaps a visit to the dental hygienist?

AutumnCrow · 31/05/2023 09:57

GiveupHQ · 31/05/2023 09:10

Source?

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Viz Comic, Professor Piehead

HecticHedgehog · 31/05/2023 10:00

Is he on any new/different meds for anything? My partner smelt very strange once due to his meds.

I'd be seriously worried if any live person was decaying 😂

mummymeister · 31/05/2023 10:03

This happened to my husband suddenly and he went on to develop ulcerative colitis. worth checking out with your gp and maybe taking some blood, urine and faecal samples to check he doesnt have one of the pylori type bacterias.

OrbandSpectacle · 31/05/2023 10:06

As you get older you do smell more it’s just ageing and decay.

Fuck me, at 69 I must absolutely reek!

AutumnCrow · 31/05/2023 10:08

Mummaluma · 31/05/2023 09:33

The NHS now offer a health MOT to anyone who has just turned 40.

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And it does include at least one blood test, for cholesterol levels.

TooOldForThisNonsense · 31/05/2023 10:10

Jesus, I bet the OP is delighted she posted. Age and decay? Parkinsons?

OP I agree with giving the soap a change and then a trip to the dr for a blood test

Bluebells1970 · 31/05/2023 10:20

It's age related and comes from the oil around the hairline/neck. DH started with this around 40 - now he's 58, it's pretty intense at times. I have to wash anything with a collar with laundry sanitiser, and boil wash pillow cases/protectors. That's how he smells by the morning, it's the pillow. And I regularly wash his coats as those are the worst offenders.

His car smells of it too, and I have to wipe the leather headrest with a cleaner. You can smell it the moment you open the door. It's an age smell and the oil gets stronger the older they get.

Most effective treatment for it is trading in for a younger model.

MoirasSaggyBundles · 31/05/2023 10:23

wossgoinon · 31/05/2023 08:44

Has he been checked for Parkinson's? I did read somewhere that a woman noticed her husbands smell changed and this was the reason. She did have a heightened sense of smell though

Nicky Campbell's Different podcast on BBC Sounds has a programme about this woman, who has been able to use her ability to detect it in others as part of a medical study. Absolutely fascinating.

I hope OP's husband is just having a reaction to a product and it's nothing more serious.

FarmGirl78 · 31/05/2023 10:24

Dodo2023 · 31/05/2023 09:03

As you get older you do smell more it’s just ageing and decay.

Definitely get some blood tests though.

You do know that OPs husband isn't actually dead yet? Get away with your "smells of aging and decay"! Thats the daftest post I've read in ages.

SeatonCarew · 31/05/2023 10:26

FarmGirl78 · 31/05/2023 10:24

You do know that OPs husband isn't actually dead yet? Get away with your "smells of aging and decay"! Thats the daftest post I've read in ages.

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😂😂😂

🎶"Change and decay in all around I see"🎶

😂😂😂

AlinaRawlings · 31/05/2023 10:30

Trimethylaminuria-fish odour disease.

user1471538283 · 31/05/2023 10:34

I thought possibly diabetes as well.

Maybe use the really sensitive body wash as his skin could be reacting to dive or the ingredients may have changed slightly.

caringcarer · 31/05/2023 10:37

wossgoinon · 31/05/2023 08:44

Has he been checked for Parkinson's? I did read somewhere that a woman noticed her husbands smell changed and this was the reason. She did have a heightened sense of smell though

Yes I read about that too. That lady is now used like a sniffer dog to sniff out others who may have the condition. She did a blind trial and got every one correct, even identifying one person who had it but was not diagnosed until 10 months later.

Nanny0gg · 31/05/2023 10:37

PinkMonday · 31/05/2023 08:39

I think it's his body.

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Something he's eaten? Digestive issues?

Womanofcustard · 31/05/2023 10:46

I recall something about Dove soap - it’s not ‘proper’ soap.
I would change brands for a start.

HedgehogB · 31/05/2023 10:46

Try a ph neutral body wash (like femfresh body wash)

SarcasticIntrovert · 31/05/2023 10:48

Urine infection? My son smelt different/bad when he had one, although he was also unwell in himself.

Thepleasureofyourcompany · 31/05/2023 10:52

Dove soap isn't the best, try an old fashioned plain bar soap or the dettol one. And try an anti fungal shampoo for his hair. Dh smells a bit greasy sometimes despite showering every day, and nizoral sorts it.