Hi this is my first attempt at posting on this site I hope someone will see this. I am a good decade into my struggle with underarm odour and I am yet to read something online that seems to match up with my story. My problem is underarm only and is not an excessive perspiration problem. The issue is that the second I get even the slightest of tackiness under my arms a bad smell quickly follows, and I'm talking minutes.
I describe it as not your generic bo smell initially, more like bubble mixture or just very sharp, sweet' and acrid. Anything I put on my skin (conventional antiperspirants, natural deoderant, all the home remedies you can think of) simply serve to mix with the smell coming out of me and not neutralise it so I end up smelling like I've not washed for a month and tried to cover it with something despite only washing an hour ago.
Doctors gave me Antibiotics to kill internal bacteria and strong cream to do the same on the skin but that cream helped for one day only. Which is what seems to happen with most things I try. I always suspected that it has to be something internal and recently I had an organic acid test which showed high levels of arabinose which apparently means overgrowth of candida. My naturopath is about to prescribe a rotation of antifungals but I'm worried as I've read many things online saying that concern me whether I will be taking the right things; there seem to be so many conflicting options about candida diet and AIP diet and which supplements are good/bad.
I believe that my problem comes from the hundreds of Antibiotics I took aged 17 for glandular fever (doctor thought it was tonsillitis initially) which is when this all started. I think maybe they killed all my good bacteria which has left me out of balance and the candida has grown out of control. I don't have any other symptoms or ailments aside from this persistent and relentless odour. And because it doesn't clear a room doctors won't take me seriously they just tell me to wash more and use antibacterial soap which in my opinion is not good advice.
It is not right to smell bad an hour after a shower and I am fed up of being made to feel I should just accept being a smelly person. There has to be a reason and I'd love to know if anyone on here has a story similar to mine and whether they have any advice.
I managed to get rid of my problem for six months after I started taking powdered refrigerated probiotics and cut gluten and reduced sugar. It I hoped I had cured it as opposed to prevented something so I went back to eating 'normally'. I have been on a no gluten no dairy no eggs or legumes and minimal Sugar diet for years now and nothing helps. Recentl biokult helped for a couple of weeks but everything seems temporary like a sticking plaster and I want to address the root cause whatever it is. Sorry for this insanely long post it is really hard to be succinct when it has ruled your life for so long, thank you