To be miserable about how badly i smell?

[fireworksinthesky3]

Hey

name changed but longtime poster

really hoping this post resonates with someone and I can get some advice or help 🤞

bit of an embarrassing problem but I smell really badly and don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everything I can possibly think of to fix it and it’s not helped. I’ve heard of things like fish odour syndrome but I don’t think it’s that because I don’t smell of fish- I just smell really musty/BO. It’s genuinely making me so depressed- I’m only 26 and I’m so embarrassed and miserable about it. I’ll post below everything I’ve tried

• I shower every single day without fail, I tried showering twice a day but it made no difference whatsoever. At first I smell fine, then after a few hours I smell musty/BO/as if I haven’t even showered in days

• I’ve tried every single combination of deoderant/antipersperant I could access. Mitchum was highly recommended but wasn’t any help disappointingly, in fact I think I smelled worse with it. Right now I’m using dove stick which is bearable but not great either. As I said above- fine at first, then after a few hours I smell again , badly enough to be noticeable by other people

• I’ve tried every shower gel, scrub, body wash, lotion, soap (bar and liquid), even tried using dettol soap- no difference. I shave every 2nd day.

• i wash my hair every 2-3 days, I change my bedding every week without fail

• i wondered if it was possibly my clothes which smelled rather than me so I got rid of EVERYTHING, and started all over again (new underwear, new pjs, completely new clothes etc) but same problem literally no difference

the only thing I can think of that I haven’t tried is the Driclor range which I’m going to try and I’m praying it works. I’ve always had this problem- I remember being so embarrassed about it as a teenager. It’s definitely not something I’m just paranoid about either- I’ve asked my friends / family to be completely honest with me and they’ve agreed with me. I don’t have any hormonal problems and sweat like a normal person as far as I’m aware but for some reason I just smell so much quicker than the average person

does anyone have any tips or product recommendations I could try (in case driclor doesn’t work)?

sorry for the long post, I’m just so down about it x

There was a thread on here not too long ago about a poster’s teen daughter who smelled even after a shower. People were suggesting all sorts of weird and wonderful remedies, powerful deodorants, GP visits etc, but it turned out that she just wasn’t shampooing her hair properly.

She was just slapping shampoo on the top of her head and the lather wasn’t touching her scalp. Once she started to properly scrub her scalp, the odour was gone.

I expect the most simple solutions are the answer here. Make sure you’re showering really thoroughly, maybe try bar soap instead of shower gel for a few weeks. Use a shower puff or washcloth instead of your hand. Shampoo really really thoroughly.

Oh OP I could have written this myself! The best thing I did at the start of this year was swap to Wild deodorant. It's expensive and will take a couple of weeks to get used to, but I honestly smell SO much better and would never ever ever touch another deo like Dove, Mitchum or Sure.

DH and I were on a cost-cutting mission last year which meant shopping at Lidl - the deodorant from there eventually left me smelling like a leftover takeaway. The same with the body wash. So these have all been replaced with Wild products.

I also agree with other PPs about the clothes you wear - go for natural fibers. Linen, cotton. They are dearer but I've managed to find a good few go-to shirts/jumpers on Vinted from the likes of M&S and Next that make me feel and smell a lot fresher.

Wishing you luck and love from a fellow smelly one 💐

Have you tried looking at your diet? Particular foods that you could be reacting to etc? Could you try stripping your diet back to a very small variety of basic foods and see if you see a difference? Sometimes it’s what we’re putting into our bodies that’s the cause.

Synthetic fibres are likely a cause; try wearing all natural fibres.
Also, consider your diet; do you eat lots of processed food? Lots of sugar?

Do a detox

Juice and veg cleanse
Drink lots of water

Starts from the inside

There is a genetic condition where individuals synthesize proteins in a different way leading to the person smelling . I worked with someone like that and it was distressing for her and unpleasant for us although we certainly did not make an issue out of it. Speak to your GP and see what they think. I think there are tests for this but I don't know what the treatment is. Look up metabolic disorders which can cause body odours. Good luck, x

Buy a washing machine cleaner and clean the machine. Don’t air dry your clothes. Or at least tumble dry part way.

Use a soap bar and an African net cloth in the shower. Get a good lather on the cloth and scrub. I mean scrub too not just a swipe over. Scrub every area and every nook and cranny. Relather soap when needed. Then use a body wash to go over. Double shampoo your hair, really scrubbing your scalp on the first go over.

Once dried get glycolic acid on a pad and swipe under armpits- I like The Ordinary one. When dry add deodorant. I also use a scented body lotion with a body oil on top. Spraying a bit of perfume on top of your lotion freshly out of the shower makes it last longer. I carry a body spray in my bag too. Spraying it on your hair helps as it clings to hair.

I’m a really sweaty person. Especially at this time of year due to layers. If I shower before bed I wake up smelly. I have to really keep on top of it. This is my routine and I am always complimented (even by strangers) on how nice I smell.

We had a nanny for the kids and she did this and the smell was awful! The kids refused to go near her by lunch time. We stopped using her after that as it wasn’t working for us. I am sure it was her clothes as it was an awful damp smell. So please do check your clothes. Lenor scent boosters are fab maybe add some to your wash and you could also use some good quality long lasting perfume on your skin.

It could be a chemical reaction to something in your clothes?
Try all natural fibres, pure cotton, wool, bamboo.
Avoid polyester, rayon, nylon, synethetics.
Try a washing product that has BIO in the brand name.
We have Biozet. It breaks down enzymes.
Add cup of Vinegar to the wash, also breaks down.

yep, second this. I only wear cotton now or natural fibres. With synthetic clothes I’d get sweaty quick and the clothes never seemed to get clean. I’d try asos because most clothes on boohoo ect are polyester. Be vigilant about it, even some expensive brands use polyester. Start with getting 100% cotton t-shirts and jumpers.

Look at your diet. If you have skin folds it could be a fungal issue. If you are overweight you could be running hot and sweating a lot. If you have an inflammatory condition you could be running hot and sweating a lot. Is the smell coming from a particular area?

Oh! And exfoliate! Two or three times a week to get rid of dead skin cells. They trap bacteria and can build up and cause a lot of smells.

You only need to do this if you have really greasy skin. If you don’t, or if you have dry skin, you’ll damage it. .

There isn't an issue where you live is there? Damp or other smell? This happened with a relative - the house was damp and all the clothes smelt musty

I was going to say this too. It might be your belly button. It also happened to me once it might be that you haven’t been drying properly.
Sudocream sorted it out in a few days

Our washing machine was leaving everything smelling mildly musty at one point, but then my husband got caught in the rain and his clothes smelled terrible when wet. All were dried outside or tumbled so not put away damp or left wet for any length of time.

Our current washer is the culprit. It needs cleaning once a fortnight on a 90 degree wash with white vinegar and bicarb. We can’t use cheap laundry stuff, it has to be fairy and comfort (lenor is ok, but someone is sensitive to it).

Definitely give your washer a clean, it’s worth a shot and won’t cost as much as another new wardrobe.

Good luck OP.

There’s quite a few medical conditions that can cause musty smell, have they been ruled out: www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/what-does-disease-smell-like

Also, the smell from fish odour syndrome is not always fishy, it varies from individual to individual.

Another thought, a medical grade anti bacterial body wash.
From pharmacy

If you have a medical condition that causes this, all the washing and deodorant in the world isn't going to make a difference. You need to go back to the doctor. And you need to see the doctor while you actually smell, too. Not when you've just washed.

I sometimes sweat alot from my armpits and it smells quickly, can be an hour after a shower if I get hot or stressed. I can sweat through Mitchum easily. Driclor, Sweat Block wipes and similar products work for me; I don't sweat for days after an application. The downside is it they sting to put on (some more than others, sometimes I can tolerate it). You can't have shaved in the 1-2 days before application and it needs to put on freshly washed, thoroughly dried armpits at bedtime.

Other things that make me smell sometime is when we don't take clothes out the washing machine quick enough after a wash and putting clothes away slightly damp. Fleeces are the worst for this!

1. I think you need to go back to the GP about this specifically (ie. not as an add-on to discussion about another issue)
2. Make sure you wash your clothes on 40 degrees. These eco washes and 30 degree washes don't get clothes clean enough and I find if I've washed something on 30 I start to smell not long after putting the supposedly clean clothes on.
3. Put the washer on at 90 degrees with vinegar in it at least once or twice a fortnight because they can get musty and stinky and pass the smell on to clothes.

If it's not a medical condition it's most likely to be the clothes because your hygiene routines sound fine.

Could your clothes have cooking smells?
DH loves doing 1970s style bean casseroles
They make my whole house stink

Look at your diet. I find I always smell of BH when I've had spicy, strong tasting food.

When I was younger I had excessive sweating and used Driclor which cured it, but you say your problem is just the smell?

Hand sanitiser in the pits! PP mentioned that. That's my trick. But I got that from being on an ortho ward with a broken shoulder and hip for 5 weeks. Could only shower on week 2. It was getting pretty scary, lol.

Magnesium I think is good. Loads of magnesium salts in bath and a magnesium shower gel. Use those gloves you get that are kind of rough, like loofah. And scrub pits like mad. I have to wash mine like three times in the shower!

I think I've very bad BO sometimes but my family claim I don't. So a lot of it is probably not as bad as you think. I eat a lot of onions and drink alcohol which apparently makes your sweat pongier! 😐

Solidarity OP! Definitely try Driclor, I had terrible BO as a teenager and finally did driclor and it sorted it out. It was such a weight lifted. I remember it being quite harsh on the skin so you might have to persist through unpleasantly sensitive/sore skin. It was 15 years ago so I can’t recall how long I used the driclor for before switching back to normal deodorant (maybe a few weeks or months?) but after that I just had to be careful about regular showering and non synthetic clothes, and I am just a slightly sweatier than normal person. Good luck!