Body odor puzzling me. Seeking advise please.
Hello all. I havent ever discussed this with anybody else before now. I am 100% certain that I have a
Body Odor problem that has nothing to do with my hygeine as I shower daily. I have been living with this for the past 8 years or so. I am 31 yrs old. Like so many other people here it has had a very negative effect on my life.I was an outgoing friendly guy and I had been in a great relationship for 7 years with a girl I loved with all my heart. It ended 5 years ago because of how difficult and introverted I became because of this awful illness! She cudnt understand why I changed so much and why I lacked any ambition in my life having dropped out of college because of the embarrassment. I could never bring myself to discuss it with her even though I knew it wud mean the end for us. It destroyed me having to get through the breakup and the realisation that I had something seriously wrong with me.
For me the problem is that I cannot smell anything. I have been out with friends on so many occasions and heard the old familiar "Whats that smell" "did you fart"... it wud be funny if it wasnt so tragic. I would just feel like a freak and try and ignore it. The only thing that I can make a connection with is that it seems to be triggered with alcohol. 90% of the time I hear the remarks when I am in a pub or club with alcohol in my system. If I stay in a friends house after a night out drinking there would always be a comment on a strange smell in the room I slept in! Before I had this problem I spent a summer abroad with my friends and basically got drunk every night for 3 months.(Im Irish, that explains my drinking habit!!) I thought that maybe my liver became damaged and led to these problems, but I had my liver tested and it came back as normal!
I am just so confused. When I heard about TMAU I was convinced it was the answer. Im not sure though as I cannot detect any strange smell off my urine or saliva. My breath seems to be fine also apart from 1st thing in the morning. I exercise regularly in a gym and have never noticed anything that wud indicate I am stinking the place out. After exercise the armpits of my tshirt just smells like regular BO. I dont sweat that much anyway. I have just tried to get on with my life and deal with it but I am missing out on so much. I am a nervous wreck in social situations. I cud only ever go out socialising if I calmed my nerves with alcohol but it seems to be making things worse! I am just getting tired of having to deal with this and need to confront it head on but am not sure who to turn to. Where cud i get tested for TMAU. I am currently living in Ireland. Sorry about the length of this post, I cud type for the next 2 hours and not cover all of the embarrassing moments Ive had to deal with.
Thank you for the time youve taken to hear my story and if you could offer me any advice it would be much appreciated.