Fed up of fucking smelling

[nottomention]

Not a troll or first time poster, just NC as this is obviously an embarrassing topic. I’m almost crying writing this because I’m at my wits end with it all

i smell. I shower at least once a day but usually twice as I really need to. I’ve tried washing with every type of soap imaginable (liquid and bar form), I’ve even tried using no products in case that was better but it absolutely wasn’t, I’ve tried shower gels, jelly’s, creams, washes, washing up liquid, even tried cif once as a particularly desperate 18 year old, all types or deodorants and antiperspirant, roll on, cream, spray, perfume, body spray, no products etc. I still fucking stink. I’m fine coming out of the shower, and for around 2-3 hours after I’m ok. But then the smell starts. It’s unmistakably BO. If I shower at 7.30 am before work, I’ll have BO by lunchtime- enough that I can smell it when I smell myself but not enough for others to notice. By the time I get home at 6 I’ll have a much worse musty BO smell. And by the time I go to bed I really do smell.

I’ve tried avoiding different food groups in case it was a reaction. I’ve tried replacing all my clothes and pjs and bedding in case it was stuck to them. I’ve tried different materials.

I also get a horrible musty smell down there, despite having no BV or thrush. It just always smells bad, again I’ve tried washing with products and using just water only- no difference.

I could burst into tears. I mentioned it to my GP who looked at me blankly and didn’t see the problem. But this is ruining my life because I’m either smelling bad or I’m stressing that I smell bad.

for example, i can’t stay over at other people’s houses because I would smell so badly on waking up and the room would stink because of it. We went on a family weekend away and in the morning my room was noticeably more musty than everyone else’s despite the fact i showered before going to bed, it’s not the first time that’s happened

is this just an unfortunate part of the way I am? And I need to accept it and just keep showering as much as I can? Or am I missing something? It’s been going on for so long I could burst into tears but I don’t know what else to do and there’s no one that can really help. I’m just so utterly miserable with this

What on earth can the GP do other than run routine bloods to exclude obvious issues such as diabetes/ liver disease.

You've kind of answered your own question @Icannotbudget !

There's also specific metabolic disorders that can cause odour that would be reasonable to test for, in OPs case

My post partum sweat was so bad I could smell myself a mile off and showered Multiple times a day - my saviour was a deodorant from Amazon called Uriage !! Never had to worry about it after that. Apply a generous amount x

While you get investigations underway with GP -

1. I used a body scrub like superdrug cherry
2. I can start smelling of BO within minutes of showering so I get deoderant on fast, and wash with a face cloth with antibac liquid soap before if I need to
3. I carry a wet facecloth with anti bac soap squirted on, or soap and t tree oil, plus fresh t shirt/s and deoderant with me each day I go to work. I get up at 7 and by 10am I am often whiffy again. I sweat a lot - sister diagnosed with hyperhydrosis as well.
4. I try to shower before bed, but still often smell in the morning.
5. I wash t shirts at 60 or preferably 90 degrees if they can take it.

Its a pain in the arse, really! But those are my tips for trying to keep on top of it.

I use mitchum coconut or eucalyptus and am experimenting with wild deoderant - day one and it has stood the test so far.

I’ve read your messages @nottomention but not read anyone else’s. My sister was a non-smelly sweater (huge sweat patches through clothing etc) and was recommended Driclor deodorant. You put it on at night and wash off in the morning. Stings like mad if you’ve just shaved but worked a treat.

I then recommend the same Driclor deodorant to a friend for her teenage son that was so STINKY that she had to wash his school blazer everyday and it was a total game changer. My friend was so grateful as her son was like a different child- happier, confident and a lot less stinky!

If this doesn’t work I would insist on a GP referral. It is not normal to feel like this. X

Try Nuud.

I'm in the United States. Google LUME. If you think it may help with your problem, they will ship internationally.

Apart from trimethyaminuria, which causes a fishy odour, I’m not aware of any others, and the OP didn’t mention smelling fishy. Apart from the aforementioned liver and kidney disease, the NHS mentions obesity and hormonal changes as causes.
I just find this idea that the GP should be basically harassed into ‘helping’ OP with BO a bit bonkers.

I have this as well, the waking up at night very very sweaty, and recently learned my dad does to! I also thought it was just an annoying random thing.

Do you know where the smell is coming from or what kind of smell? Do you have any itching?

every morning and every evening shower with very gentle soaps (dove), clothes where you’re less likely to sweat and obviously clean bedding once a week.

No other menopausal signs with the sweating? It can happen early.

The GP needs to take this seriously.
In the meantime, have you tried mint/ peppermint? Olbas does make a shower gel. Sweat itself does not smell, it is the bacteria in our skin feeding on it, so mint/ tea tree oil/ lavender.. help to remove the bacteria and keep us smelling nice.
I hope you get it sorted soon.

You have my sympathies OP, as someone who also suffers from excess sweat / BO. To add to the good suggestions or products that work:

Double done on the anti bacterial as that’s what causes the whiff

agree with @MsCactus about carrying wipes. Kleenex anti bacterial water fresh hand wipes are good and come in mini packs. You can buy them in any supermarket . Handy as you can wipe yourself down in any toilet cubicle.

I tried all the extra strong deodorants and they didn’t help me much, and left nasty white marks on all my clothes which just seemed to be total BO traps. Dr Organic Tea Tree deodorant from Holland & Barrett is my go to as the tea tree is naturally anti bacterial but it’s aluminium free so doesn’t build up on clothes.

Hibiscrub can be used for 5 days in a row (that's used in treatment of MRSA). Might be worth doing that to start with and then once in a while.

Do you take iron or food with high iron levels? I stank on iron supplement

This will be a little triggering for many on here but the use of soap is a great example of marketing companies creating a problem to solve. Water has always been perfectly adequate to keep ourselves clean, but no-one was making money out of that. Using soap destroys the delicate balance of beneficial bacteria and fungi on our skins surface selecting the nastiest of all the beasties that can survive the regular soaping. It also dries out skin, forcing us to buy more stuff, it's a marketeers wet dream. I'd really urge you to try giving up all the chemicals and let your body be a bit more natural. It might take a bit of time for things to balance out so will need to persist a little. I personally have not touched soap for 5 years, I just use a scrubbing brush once a week and shower every day. My skin is looking amazing and used to be very dry and spotty. Soap is a scam of awful scale

I would treat with a BV product. If you’ve used soap products then you’ve disrupted the natural bacteria

dont use soap there ever!!!!! You now need to treat it

Could be TMAU? Look it up. I am Functional-medicine trained and supported a few clients with this. Cut out all sulphur foods for a start…

I'm so sorry this sounds awful. I get quite smelly downstairs as I have thrush and it's been really stressing me out. I find it's become worse since I've put on some weight, could that be the same for you? I also noticed today I smelled really quickly after having a shower in my armpits. The house is cold as it smelt a few hours after a shower! Realised my deodorant is shit and have order three lots of the Mitcham 48 hours which normally does work. It's a pain to get , even amazon doesn't always have it. It works for me so you could give it a try? Its around the £6 mark.

Ask your GP for prescription deodorant. My son was having issues for years and now has a prescription- you only need to use it 3x week and it has made an incredible difference to my son. It's worth trying

That's a shame. I'd use detol laundry liquid.
Natural fibres. See the gp (good luck with that 🙄). Mainly I'd get to a nutritionalist and see what they had to say.

I stress-sweat, and my normal sweat is okay but my stress sweat STINKS. It's horrific. I suffer from horrid anxiety, my whole life, so my clothes get ruined from my stinking stress sweating (the armpits never, ever get nice after stress-sweating into them), i get rashes, it's horrific. Becoming a stap has helped hugely so the stress sweats aren't so disgusting. But still happens at times.

Two weeks of antibiotics, followed with pre and probiotics, no alcohol, cigarettes, whole foods, kombucha, kefir, fermented foods...

I'm so sorry that you're going through this, and that you GP hasn't been helpful yet. So many good suggestions for prescription deodorant, botox, and the previous poster who mentioned surgery to remove apocrine glands.

In case it's helpful, just posting some items that you can discuss with your doctor:

1. Miradry: https://miradry.cosmebeaute.co.uk/ It's pricey, so hoping that if you go through your GP something similar. The little chart says it's not covered by insurance, but might be a starting point for a discussion with your GP for similar treatments that may be covered?
2. Dermadry or other iontophoresis https://www.iontocentre.com/product/dermadry-total-iontophoresis-machine-uk-stock-iontophoresis-device-ends-sweating/ This is a something for home use that is lower price than Miradry since you'd be doing the treatments yourself--no idea how well it actually works, but this might possibly be something worth further research?
3. Another poster mentioned you can surgically remove apocrine glands. Here is a paper that disucsses this option further: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10260323/#:~:text=Osmidrosis%20surgery%2C%20which%20involves%20the,made%20very%20cleanly%20with%20scissors.

Good luck OP!!!

You have my sympathies op.

Do you suffer at all from anxiety? I used to have really smelly sweat and I think a lot of it was down to anxiety (and caffeine would make it worse). I had hypnotherapy for the anxiety and I didn’t think it had worked but either it did or over time I’ve grown out of it. But I think nervous sweat is supposed to smell more due to hormones in it so worth thinking about.

I also found switching to a natural deodorant helped (I use kutis). I still sweat but it smells less.

Haven't RTFT but have you considered a fungal infection which can be associated with a musty smell? You can get anti-fungal creams, shampoos and washes.