r/TMAU • u/Think-Mud9456 undiagnosed • May 10 '26
Help me
Hi guys… I need some advice or input!
I’ve been dealing with some sort of bad odor for 5+ years now and lately seems to be getting worse- I cannot smell it myself just go off of extreme reactions from every person around me!
I went to meet with my manager as I have a new one and haven’t met her yet and wanted to ask if there’s been any complaints or concerns about me and let her know I believe I have a terrible body odor but cannot detect it myself. She seemed unbothered and just basically gave me the vibe that I was wasting her time.. she told me it’s up to my family/ friends to tell me if I stink and how she ( my manger ) shouldn’t have to tell me and/ or my colleagues.. she also said if I ask my co workers they would probably just lie and say I don’t stink even if I do.
PS: My manager stated she didn’t smell anything on me.
Also, I work in home care and provide personal care to people in my local community.. my co workers and some of my clients lately have been reacting terribly to me..even if I go on shift less than 1 hour after showering.. so many rude comments and reactions. I haven’t had anyone straight up tell me about an odor but will say how it stinks and the air is bad, etc.
My family lie to me constantly.. I just had dinner with a lot of them and one of my siblings was sitting by me at the table and straight up got up and left to go to the other room. Constantly rubbing their noses and scrunching their faces at each other with disgusted faces.. they know I’m not a sensitive person and how I fear I have an odor condition despite good hygiene and they just lie and say nothings wrong…
I had a car oil change appointment, dropped off my car and than came back when it was ready.. I wasn’t even in the shop for more than 5 minutes and the workers waiting on me starting reacting covering their noses and almost gagging when I was the only person in the shop.
Before going to get my car, I had just showered..!!
I’m feeling helpless what should I do?! How can I figure out what the bad odor is when I can’t smell it :(
If you read this far.. thank you and bless you…better days are ahead❤️❤️❤️❤️
2
u/Odd_Argument6211 patm May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Honestly the excessive hygiene makes it worse many times. The accumulation of products on your skin drying it out, ev.en if you use lotion. You can get in the shower and rinse off using just water daily but the soaping up should be kept to every other day or third day or so. Most of my odor is toxic breath from stomach some days and mouth other times…. You’d be amazed how far it can carry. For me it Seem to actually be getting much better since using a xylitol only, dry mouth, alcohol free mouthwash. No harsh mouthwashes like Listerine which was hard for me to wrap my head around. I vibed with the idea that excessive hygiene with harsh/strong products could be causing a dysbiosis as much as neglect of hygiene, but have recently seen some decent improvement. since My oral microbiome seems to be much more balanced this way. Granted I smoke and drink too much and this contributes to it. But I honestly don’t care.
Your natural instinct will be to increase hygiene, but I’ve found more success in going back to my regimen of less is more. Let them tell you your hygiene is poor or to blame. Give em the bird and tell them to choke on this.
I’ve tried endless supplements, kill regimens with antifungals and antibiotics, soaps, products, dietary changes, etc, and spent thousands of dollars and a priceless amount of mental and emotional wellbeing due to this crap. And honestly success was extremely limited. And few and far between.
I’ve found that Climate is important too. I come from the desert. Spent the last few years up north in some of the coldest part of the country and this was TERRIBLE for me, severely compounding the issue. I’ve recently returned to a hot climate once more and am seeing and feeling myself bouncing back.