Perimenopausal Armpits

[decenteringmen]

Jesus fucking Christ.

In the last six months, ONE of my armpits has started to produce the most sour and pungent sweat, despite my best efforts. I usually leave my pit hair alone, and it grows to epic, EPIC proportions. I could braid the bloody stuff if I felt like it (I don't, I really can't be arsed). One armpit is absolutely FINE, but the left one is being pretty bloody obnoxious. I've now shaved them both. I've been using hibiscrub daily when showering to clear away any hideousness. I used to use Mitchum, but even that stopped working on my one awkward armpit. Since then I've tried Pitrok, Fussy, and several men's roll ons in the hopes that it might work, but nooOOooo. I change my bra and T-shirt twice a day. I am extremely clean and the idea of skipping a shower is revolting to me, sometimes I'm showering twice a day.

The heatwaves have been torture. Upon speaking to my doctor, she told me that this can happen when you're reaching the end of perimenopause (HURRY UP FFS), and I just have to deal with it. I'm on HRT patches at the highest strength (evorel) and have a Mirena installed because my periods are like Vesuvius without one.

I probably can't do much about it outside of bitching about it. I don't wear synthetic materials, only cotton because I know polyester etc can make things worse.

What in the ever loving fuck do I do now? I've considered weaponising my one armpit to demolish men, because frankly I'm fairly sure I could poison them with it. It is a biohazard at this point.

Please tell me I am not the only one with difficult armpits, and would it be entirely unreasonable to use my newfound but extremely unwanted superpower to knock them unconscious when they're being particularly annoying?

-Noxious armpit of Yorkshire.

What age are you OP? I was reading with horror here recently about a thing called the "old people smell" and at 68 I was contortioning myself to get a sniff of the pits. Jesus Mary and the wee donkey, is there anything us women don't have to flippin suffer?

I'm taking note of all the suggestions in case I need them, but I remember reading that Persimmon soap is good for the old people aroma. Not saying you are as ancient as me, but it could be worth a try. I have it on standby 😊

I had this but thankfully it seems to have improved, unfortunately other perimenopause symptoms have taken its place 🤦‍♀️

I’ve had this on / off since my 20s and mine is always the right one too.
Left pit smells all fresh and fragrant, right pit smells of actual arse (well, arse mixed with onions to be exact 🤢)!
I’d never even considered your ‘not applying properly with the left hand’ theory…but now you’ve got me seriously wondering 🤔

I'd love it if I solved this for you 😂 Get ambidextrous with that roll on and report back!

I shall try and answer everyone in one go, and hopefully won't miss anyone.

I'm 48 and definitely fed up of being perimenopausal considering I've been this way for 8 sodding years.

I use hibiscrub to wash my pits rather than anything like shower gel, because most of them aren't effective anymore. Pits need proper soap and cleansing, and not moisturising oily nonsense.

@Muffsies - the doctor did have a good look and poke about in my pits and surrounding areas to make sure nothing extra weird was going on. She didn't have any concerns. Thank you for the Vichy recommendation, and yes I am on the maximum level of Evorel HRT patches.

@Whowahway123 - I dont fancy botoxing me pits, but if it's the last chance saloon option, I'll look into it, thank you.

@Shirtyllama - another Vichy recc - noted and thank you!

@WobblyBoots - it's my left armpit that's being particularly hideous. Hibiscrub gets things clean and fresh, but the moment I exert myself, it kicks off.

@NuovaPilbeam - I shall give the dettol wash a shot, thank you.

@BeyondMyWits - I have been soaking the pits of my shirts with bicarb paste before putting them in the wash, and that seems to get the nasty out. I also add a cup of soda crystals to every load of washing, because it's great for extra cleaning power.

@zaazaazoom - Mitchum stopped being effective for me unfortunately, even the hardcore men's version. 😭

@DiscoBobit- it's s bloody awful, I am paranoid that other people can smell my pits when I'm out and about, even though they probably can't unless they're standing very close to me.

@Cat3059 - thank you for the Trust recc.

@Hiptothisjive - I will check out Secret, thank you.

@Turboislander - it's bloody weird that it's only ONE pit. Why does it have to be this wonky?!

@BashfulClam - I do have a large bottle of hand sanitiser, so maybe I'll spritz my pits with it after each shower.

@Mumoftwoboysaged4and5 - I stopped using spray deodorant years ago, I've been firmly in the roll on camp for a good while.

@Waitingfordoggo - I have not tried Driclor yet, but I will add it to the list of possibilities, thank you.

@BUMCHEESE - your username made me genuinely LOL. My sense of smell is definitely more sensitive, and that's definitely why I could tell it's changed and got stronger. I live alone, so I don't really have anyone to ask unless I go and ask me mum time I see her.

@WhyamIinahandcartandwherearewegoing - Mitchum used to be my fave, but it stopped working. 😭

@wominzy - I'm'm 48, and honestly running out of patience with me own body. Why do they have to be so ridiculous?

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. If I've missed anyone, I do apologise, it's just I think my brain has been replaced with a BLANCMANGE. 🫠

I had this. Armpit sweat had a most peculiar and horrible smell. It did go away though.

Mine is my right one too! I've found men's shower gel and sure for men deodorant is helpful 😊

Sure Maximum strength cream deodorant combined with washing with anti bacterial bar soap seems to be a winning combo for me (for now!).

Driclor you put it on at night

My sister had this and it went away after a few months.

Shaved pits, Wild (applied throughout the day), washing with lemon verbena bar soap helped me get on top of it. Now I'm out the otherside and it has settled. Hang in there.

I have bioidentical HRT. I don't know if that makes a difference. Also I've lost a huge amount of weight in the past year and a half, and sorted my fitness out.

I really want to test @WobblyBoots theory now. People with a uni pit problem - is it on the same side as you write with? I'm left-handed and it's my left arm pit that had the problem

Not armpits but my hair started smelling really bad (despite washing and not being greasy) in peri.

It was a horrible smell, seems to have eased with hrt but still comes back sometimes!

It's my right and I'm right handed.

I've also got some nasty eczema thing going on.

I'm using soap and a silicone exfoliating brush thing. And cetreban every night.

Same problem here. Pits (and down below 😳) sometimes stink despite washing thoroughly in shower. I’m going to try the Secret Solid Powder Fresh deodorant recommended on this thread. I use Dettol Fresh Cotton Antibacterial Laundry Sanitiser which helps to remove odour from clothes.

Bad Body odour, menopausal belly that won’t sodding shift, and a hairy face. Ahh the joys of getting older 😞

You need different, better, HRT. Sorry, you may need to go private. Try different trea,ente of something. There’s better options than this - the root cause is hormone imbalance (not enough oestrogen). Best of luck, huge sympathy.

I had this. My left armpit smelled of weed. Lasted about a year, then disappeared. Very strange.

@decenteringmen mix the Hibiscrub with an exfoliating face or body wash and leave on the pit for 5 mins then wash off - it needs to be on for a bit to kill the bacteria

swab with witch hazel or glycolic acid (this can be done with any body part)
It really helps with odour

make sure the pit is completely dry before applying deodorant and again completely dry before putting your clothes on

increase water intake and drink less or no coffee for a while too

Yep I had this with Peri.

very unpleasant.

Dettol laundry liquid helps with clothes. I also had to chuck quite a few as it’s hard to get the smell out once it’s in.

light loose layers helped.

i also shaved daily, used hibiscrub and Dettol anti bacterial soap.

you can get body wipes that you can use midway through the day etc to freshen up.

You poor thing. The only light at the end of the tunnel is that post menopause, my hormones have given up and I don't really get BO at all. That on top of no periods is (almost) worth the wait.

Anti bac hand sanitizer sorted mine (read it on a thread here). Bar soap in the shower, squirt of hand gel rubbed in, once dry use a roll-on. Took nearly a fortnight to fully clear the first time but it did return a couple of months later however it went away after just the one shot of hand gel that time. Absolutely bizarre how it was only the one armpit, the other one was fine.

A few bits I forgot to add because as said previously, my brain is a BLANCMANGE:

I don't drink alcohol, nor do I drink tea or coffee, I only drink water, and lots of it. I reckon at least two to three litres a day. I'm quite boring in that regard. At the beginning of peri, I stopped any alcohol because I was finding that after a couple of hours, I started to feel absolutely rotten. I have never been a big boozer anyway so it wasn't difficult.

I have asked about bioidentical HRT, but was told I can only get that privately, and that's not really an option for me, although my doctor did say it can be a bit hit and miss anyway.

I don't seem to have any issues with abnormal odour regarding me growler, I keep it trimmed but I don't shave it off because it's supposed to be furry and it's protective. If I didn't trim it, it would end up like Epping Forest. That's the one part of me that hasn't gone absolutely mental odour wise, but when I hit peri the hair growth went FOOMP

I do overheat very quickly, which doesn't help. Always have. Now it seems to have magnified. If this pit nonsense is the last vestiges of my body going through perimenopause, it needs to hurry the fuck up.

I am also careful with the kinds of foods I eat, I no longer eat anything heavily spiced, or anything that has a lot of garlic or onion. No red meat either.

I'm considering going into the woods to build a hut on legs like Baba Yaga, and perhaps weaponise my malodorous bits as a cautionary tale to any men who get too close, because for some stupid reason, I seem to be attracting men half my age who are looking for a mother to baby them. They can bugger right off, although I suppose I could always threaten to eat them.

This is all stupidly exhausting and I'm fed up of it now. Thank you to everyone who's taken the time to respond. 🌺

It’s important to let the Hibiscrub soak into your pits for at least 5 mins to kill off the bacteria. I use a benzoyl peroxide face cleanser and lather up my armpits and let it sit. You will also have to treat the armpit area of all your clothes with something that kills bacteria (dettol etc). I soak shirts in a bucket with water and a few good splashes of dettol prior to washing them.

Mine didn’t decide to do rogue sweating but both decided to become allergic to every deodorant know to womankind!

huge red welts and scaly itch skin - a friend finally recommended one she had used throughout chemotherapy and it worked but it’s £11 for a tiny roll on from Amazon

Armpits seem to be yet another menopausal shit show we have to deal with 😡

Is it the Mitchum roll on you used? If so, try the gel (not the stick) as it is imo massively superior.