Re: Honest opinions - Olfactory Reference Syndrome

Thanks for bringing this important condition to our attention. Am I the only one who is a little concerned about some of the implications, though?

I know EXACTLY what ORS is, and knew about it long before I knew what TMAU was. However, I DO NOT have ORS; I have TMAU. My last long-term boyfriend and former flatmates all agree that the problem is EXACTLY as bad as I think it is and no better or worse. No, scratch that, before I started seeing my old boyfriend I was blissfully unaware that the TMAU odor was also coming from my breath. He needed to tell me or else I wouldn't have known, so you could say it was actually worse than I thought(?) I believe the same is true of the lady who began the TMAU foundation - she didn't know she had a problem at all until a coworker told her.

I do not spend all day thinking about or obsessing about odor. I have better things to worry about like my family, career, friendships and a chronic illness I developed almost two years ago.

I do not "imagine" people saying offensive things about me; I HEAR people saying offensive things about me. The reason? They actually have something to pass comment about!

I totally agree that ORS is a serious problem that needs to be talked about and highlighted on this board so that people get the correct diagnosis for their own personal problems. I DO NOT agree that we should all be made to feel that the problem is "in our heads". Perhaps I am misinterpreting the posts above, but I did feel a little as though the implication was that anybody "suffering" with TMAU also has some kind of mental or emotional problem, or that they aren't really trying to get better. There are many serious illnesses - CFS, candida, ME, fibromyalgia, even some vitamin deficiencies - that were dismissed as mental illnesses for years before medical causes were found. For the record, diet and physical activity affect my TMAU much more than stress. And I am TRYING to manage it, but I don't believe the fact that I can't make it go away all together necessarily means that I have an emotional problem - just that I haven't quite got my strategy right yet or found a diet that doesn't also make my other illness worse. It has never even occured to me not to pesist or "fight" TMAU - hence my online name!

Like I say, I agree that ORS is a serious problem that needs discussion, but please be sensitive about how you do it. The last thing we need is another convenient excuse for doctors to fob us off with a diagnosis of paranoia, or for people to be made to feel that TMAU is not being taken seriously.

Sorry, that was not intended as a "flame" against whoever started this post. Again, I am glad there is a post about ORS, and agree that it is something that needs to be discussed. I am just adding my views to what I hope will now become a more balanced discussion...

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