Hello,

I have been thinking about writing this for quite some time, but for some reason I would always put it off until later.

My name is Christina, and I am 23 years old. I have been suffering from Body Odor since I was a freshmen in high school. There have been ups and downs…ups like when I went through my senior year without anyone mentioning the S word and downs like when I had thoughts of killing myself because the paranoia as well as the harsh words was driving me down a dark road.

For the most part, I think I am lucky when it comes to this disorder. I have read some pretty upsetting things on this forum, but I am glad that we have all found it. At least we know that we are not alone. I find myself lucky because I am not alone. I have a wonderful husband who has stood by my side this whole time. He has been with me since almost the beginning, and I believe that God gave him to me to keep me from doing something irreversible. I also feel blessed because there have been times in my life with the disorder that I could almost pretend it wasn’t there. As stated above, stinky was absent my senior year, and I had a great job where people thought I stunk but they didn’t act as if it was the end of the world (most of the time). I know that not everyone has been treated this way period when it came to their experiences.

My husband claims that it is not true. I do not stink nor does anyone else think so. He claims that I am so paranoid that I invent these situations for myself. I do agree with him that some of the time I believe that I hear things that are not said or see people acting uncomfortable and immediately believing that I am the cause. It’s hard not to do that when you have lived with this problem for a good length of time…as I know you can attest to.

Lately, I have been feeling torn. I have been using baking soda and ACV (the Bragg’s version) everyday as a part of my morning routine. I have noticed that there has been little to no comments when just the semester before someone was almost always saying something. However, I do not want to get my hopes up. I have had stretches like these before, and I have thought “Maybe it’s gone” only to find out that people still think it. I have noticed that even though no one is making comments that people still tend to act uncomfortable around me. I think that maybe the vinegar and baking soda are making the smell less potent, but that it remains nonetheless. My husband thinks that I am just paranoid and until someone comes out and says something that I should not worry about it.

I wanted to know if maybe this has happened to someone on this forum before. Please share.

If you wanted to know what I do:
1. I drink 2 tablespoons of ACV in a 16 oz bottle of water. I sip this throughout the day.
2. Before a shower, I dab on ACV under my arms and private areas. I then let it set for a moment before…
3. Taking a bowel of baking soda and making it into a paste (just add water)
4. I then rinse off the ACV, apply the paste all over my body, rinse, and wash normally
5. I dry off and dab more ACV under my arms and private parts.
6. I take baking soda and put it in my undergarments as well as putting a decent amount of deodorant under my arms and then patting on more baking soda

Thank you for reading my post.