Please help - tablets/supplements for smell

[Methodinthemadness]

Hi, I feel really down at the moment and am looking for some advice.

I’m in my early 40s and in the past week I’ve suddenly had some very noticeable hormone changes (noticeable to me) likely relating to perimenopause. I’ve suddenly started getting really smelly underarms/ strong body odour that’s really hard to shift. It’s so frustrating and causing me so much anxiety. I already shower twice a day and wear deodorant straight after my showers. What happens is that after I shower I just start to feel progressively ‘dirty’ throughout the day - even after 1-2 hours I feel like I need another shower. I’m not even sweating - sometimes the smell is there straight after showering with warm water (not hot).

I did some research last week - mostly people suggesting deodorant or soaps so not exactly treating the problem. Someone suggested washing with head and shoulders which kind of addresses the smell for about 10mins but then the smell comes back. I’ve also tried zinc and magnesium tablets (helped with sleep actually but not so much with the smell). I’m also changing my clothes frequently. My husband can’t smell it which is a relief but also makes me wonder whether my sense of smell is being heightened? The thing is though the feeling of being dirty is not about the smell. I physically feel gross. The only other time I felt like this was when I was a teenager. I don’t think it’s healthy to shower 3 times a day! Is there a solution to this? I don’t really fancy taking HRT so just wondering what else I can do. I don’t have any other symptoms or issues.

Thank you!

First of all are you pregnant? Do you think you might be missmelling* because your husband can't smell it, saying that I stopped using shower gel in my mid 40s and switched to soap.

Hi, definitely not pregnant (history there). Think this is very much peri related. Keen to hear from others whether they have experienced something similar that turned out not to be menopause or fertility related. Nothing else has changed for me. Irregular periods for years so that’s not unusual.

I had this for a couple of months (deep in perimenopause).
Smelled of body odour/kebabs/onions, even after washing. It wasn’t obvious to anyone else so I think maybe it’s to do with heightened smell also.
went away by itself - just tried a couple of new deodorant smells to distract me from it.
Sorry no magic solution!

Driclor deodorant for underarms - carefully as it can irritate. Use a small amount on dry skin and rub in with fingers. Use every other night until you notice a difference then just once a week. Use normal deodorant in the daytime.

Wash with persimmon soap. This combination has solved my lifetime of being sweaty. I’m 47 and have been sweaty since school/puberty. I use this one https://amzn.eu/d/964WJiN

Omg yes this. I woke up smelling like I have been rubbing onions under my armpits 🤣 lovely. I think from memory I had something very briefly in my 30s like this (had a few bouts of hot flushes then but nothing since) and I remember trying waxing as a solution and the smell went away. I think that might have just been a coincidence though. For you, did the smell just disappear after a few weeks?

Thank you. It’s weird - my underarms are mostly bone dry but smell is overwhelming to me. If it doesn’t go away in the next week or two are look into switching up the products I am using.

Yes it just went away on its own.
nothing I did made much difference.
even when I knew I was clean, just felt like it was seeping from my pores (wasn’t sweaty or anything).
But it was for a couple of months max.
if it comes back again I won’t worry half as much about it as I knows it buggers off eventually!!

I’ve been using this soap for a few weeks now and it’s definitely helped me. I use soap anyway so I knew it wasn’t a shower gel problem.

Chlorella tablets are very good for pong and easily obtainable.