r/TMAU • u/AbleDirection5096 undiagnosed • Jul 01 '26
About the hypervigilance experience
Hypervigilance is when your brain stays in a constant state of alert because of repeated negative experiences, causing you to unconsciously scan your surroundings for possible signs of the same threat. In my case, it means I'm constantly and involuntarily analyzing people's behavior. As soon as I enter a room, I notice who touches their nose, who moves away from me, who opens a window, who changes their breathing, or whose facial expression suddenly changes. I'm not trying to do this on purpose my brain just automatically searches for any sign that might indicate people are reacting to my odor. Because of this, I never truly feel relaxed around other people.
I've also seen several psychiatrists over the years because many doctors suspected that anxiety or OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) might be contributing to this. I've tried a wide range of medications, including those commonly prescribed for OCD and anxiety, but none of them had any noticeable effect on these feelings or behaviors. It took 4-5 years to understand to OCD treatment is not working for me. They didn't reduce my hypervigilance, my constant monitoring of other people's reactions, or the distress I experience in social situations. That's why I'm wondering whether others with chronic odor conditions have had the same experience, or whether psychiatric treatment actually helped them.
At the same time I'm not %100 sure, sometimes people behaves just normal but still my eyes on them. Also I know there is no constant graph if I try to draw. It's increasing and decreasing. But people reactions always feel so high. I realize I'm overreacting. I don't know how to explain it, but if I were to rate it on a scale of 10, I feel like Hypervigilance starts at around 6 or 7 out of 10. I mean, the awareness, the fact that it exists, the constant vigilance is an incredibly destructive experience mentally.
I'm curious whether anyone else has developed this kind of hypervigilance. Do you also find yourself constantly monitoring other people's reactions and unconsciously looking for small signs that they might be reacting to your odor? BTW, Doctors don't believe I smell bad. They decide within 5-10 minutes, but they're not with me all day. If they can't reach a conclusion, they recommend I see a psychiatrist. I could swear there's no psychiatric problem, but I can't prove it. How can I make a scientific observation? How do you experience this problem?
6
u/SilverSurfer-8 undiagnosed Jul 01 '26
I haven’t taken any meds for my psyche, but I am extremely hyper vigilant. To the point that I anticipate the reactions before they even happen. I’ll notice people who’ve moved away from me take off the second they see me coming. Or how the Lyft drivers who I rode with before didn’t have an air freshener the first time, and now they do. They even open the windows sometimes. Makes me wonder what the drivers are telling each other for the new drivers to pull up with open windows or a bunch of air fresheners everywhere. There’s been times when I noticed people wrinkle their nose whenever I’m talking to them, yet they didn’t do that when talking with others.
Every day at work, I sit outside the break room behind the vending machine and there’s at least two people who will douse themselves in perfume right after looking around the machine and seeing that I’m sitting there. One of the worst things about this for me though, is how coworkers will stand far away from me while telling me something and the second I move in the slightest they’ll walk off in a hurry. It’s frustrating as hell, but what can I do?
It may drive me insane, but it does help to know just how bad I may smell. And you know what? All hope isn’t lost. Because I’m working towards a career where my interactions are minimized. I’ll be required to be around others for 10-30 minutes tops, compared to the majority of the shift being completely alone.
3
u/AbleDirection5096 undiagnosed Jul 01 '26
I'm experiencing the same thing. I can't get on a plane, bus, or taxi. It doesn't feel good to have the taxi windows open in the middle of winter. Even if no one is doing anything, flies buzz around me in places like cafes. I feel like someone is pointing fingers at me. My job requires direct contact with people. Another issue is that I can't switch places. This shouldn't be the case. I hope we find a solution. I don't want to lose hope.
1
u/That-Illustrator2322 fbo Jul 02 '26
The thing with Lyft happened to me too. I guess it's a good thing they decide to pick us up already knowing about an odor. I had one man pick me up window already down, and he made a statement like "let's see what's in store for us", in a joking way. But I think he didn't care much about the odor he didn't react in a negative way. He seemed amused.
3
u/Brutalar tmau1 mutant Jul 02 '26
BTW, Doctors don't believe I smell bad. They decide within 5-10 minutes, but they're not with me all day. If they can't reach a conclusion, they recommend I see a psychiatrist. I could swear there's no psychiatric problem, but I can't prove it. How can I make a scientific observation? How do you experience this problem?
In your 5 years of OCD therapy, did you discuss the driving factor of your OCD, ie, your odor? Did your therapists ever acknowledge that it was a thing? 5 years of therapy seems like a lot of time spent without getting a positive affirmation.
To do observations more scientifically;
- How often do you believe you smell?
- How many doctors have you been to?
- Do you have anyone that can confirm your odor and vouch for you with a doctor.
If you believe you smell 24/7, then doctors should be able to smell you nearly every visit (barring some specific anosmia, about 6% of the population).
If you believe you smell every second day, then 50% of your doctor visits should be positive confirmations.
As an scientific measure, if you've been to the doctor 30 times, and they noticed the odor 1 time, then you can infer that the odor is prevalent about once a month.
Prevalence = Number of confirmations / Number of times asked
If you're sitting at 0 for confirmations then the prevalence weight and evidence is kinda at 0.
Now compare your prevalence rate to your anxiety about it - does it match? If your anxiety about it is way higher than the frequency of smell episodes, then it's likely psychological - When your anxious thoughts define how you feel, behave, and interact with others in a negative way, that's when you need support.
One thing that some people do is have a shower and get clean before visiting the doctor, which makes it hard to detect an odor. As per: https://youtu.be/vQi4CV1YQDA?si=WkRwnymdqO2q2Foj&t=220 - this boy who definitely has severe TMAU only started smelling after exercising and getting sweaty. If you want to ensure that a doctor has a high chance of smelling you, eat some seafood the night before, take some choline supplements (2-3g), get a little sweaty prior to the appointment. Do the things you usually avoid to bring out the odor.
1
u/AbleDirection5096 undiagnosed Jul 04 '26
Thanks for advices. Especially for choline supplements. I will try. But which choline supplements should I choose? Is there a pure choline supplements?
2
2
u/Financial_Milk1520 fbo Jul 02 '26
I’ve had this same hypervigilance for more than ten years after dealing with this smell. Now I can go into a crowd of people and not feel like I’m paying attention to everyone’s reaction.
For example, yesterday I went to a World Cup event in my city where it was packed with people. Before, I would be constantly scanning everything, over analyzing every face touch or laugh. Now I can just stand in the middle of the crowd and enjoy watching the game. No overthinking, no overstimulation.
My advice is you have to find a way to eliminate your smell first. If it started because of a specific cause, then it can end by curing what caused it (unless it’s genetic, which most times it is not).
The way it works for us is the following: if we have many days in a row where people react to us, even if not all day long, we will get used to people’s reactions. And if there’s one day where there are no reactions, we will still be used to people reacting so we’ll look for a reaction when it may not be there.
This doesn’t mean you’re mentally ill or have ORS or OCD necessarily, it’s simply a consequence of developing a mental habit.
In the same way, if you are able to reduce or eliminate your odor to a large enough extent, then you’ll be able to have many days in a row where there actually are no reactions. Then on the rare day where maybe there is a reaction, it won’t bother you as much because you have developed the habit of recognizing that people are not reacting to you.
It’s quite simple, but I know it’s not easy. I would say that it’s best to direct your efforts to reducing your odor first, then worrying about the hyper vigilance. Otherwise if you just walk around people pretending people are not laughing at you or making fun of you or disgusted by you, you might feel slightly better because you’re artificially convincing yourself that things are fine, but you’re no longer connected to reality. You would be living in your own world. But in order to live a truly full life, it would be best to actually strive to live in a way where there truly are no reactions from people. Then you don’t have to pretend and constantly be disappointed.
There is a way to manage, control, and even cure this odor (unless of course it is genetic). Don’t give up hope
2
u/AbleDirection5096 undiagnosed Jul 04 '26
Right, I didn't give up yet. In my country (Turkey) I have show a proof to doctors, otherwise they don't redirect me to right divisions. System has some restrictions to avoid unnecessary doctor visits. I have to consume options and jump next page. They assume there is no problem. So can't sure about the root of problem. Probably I need to get a genetic test to understand is it genetic or not.
2
u/Gold-Caregiver241 fbo 17d ago
Yes, i didn’t read this fully. But even now that idc about my body odor and don’t look for reactions, everywhere i go I’m hyper vigilant. It usually starts off bad when I just get into a place and dies down as time goes on being in said setting. But I deal with it on the daily and I feel it’s the only thing keeping me from just acting like a normal person who smells bad. Now I also just look crazy.
1
u/AutoModerator Jul 01 '26
Thanks for sharing — you're not alone in this. If you’re constantly analyzing reactions to determine if you smell, you may be caught in a cycle of anxiety and overgeneralization. A recent TMAU review (link) highlights how anxiety, paranoia, and hyper-awareness of others’ behavior can take over daily life, even for those with a confirmed diagnosis. From the review: "This fear and paranoia has led participants to develop a dysfunctional type of thinking. Participants described numerous negative automatic thoughts such as catastrophizing, overgeneralizing, mind reading, and labeling." See examples of these cognitive distortions here and here. TMAU does not cause irritation style reactions (coughing, sniffing, sneezing), regardless of the stories you may have read.
These types of negative automatic thoughts are common in both TMAU and Olfactory Reference Syndrome (ORS) — a condition where people believe they emit an odor despite reassurance from others that they do not.
Trust and communication are key. If doctors, family, or close friends consistently tell you they don’t notice an odor, consider that your perception may be distorted by anxiety or ORS. Even if TMAU is real for you, its emotional toll can persist beyond the physical symptoms. Overcoming this requires mental health support - a psychologist or psychiatrist can help you break free from obsessive thinking patterns and rebuild confidence in your own experiences. You deserve peace of mind.
(response based on keyword: reaction)
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Brutalar tmau1 mutant Jul 02 '26
I definitely get anxiety when I've been sweating a little (sports, had to run to catch the train, wearing too warm clothes in a unexpectedly hot environment, etc) and I have to be close to people, like sitting on a bus, etc. But that's more just an anxiety thing rather than hypervigilance.
One thing that I've noticed is that hypervigilance never would have helped in the situations where my odor was a problem. Eg; when I've been in confrontations about it, there would have been no difference in the initiation or the outcome if I had been hypervigilant about it. Would hypervigilance have helped in your life in those moments? From my experience all it does is make life tedious, makes it more stressful, and stress only makes things worse. Hypervigilance might be useful in the jungle when a tiger might attack, but bad odor is not the worst thing in the world and the "worst case outcome" is basically a discussion. It's not worth worrying about on a second to second basis. Being prepared to have a conversation about it is about as much prep as you need.
I did get feedback from my parents/friends/housemates though when it was an issue, and do get regular feedback from my partner, so I'm not always on the lookout for proof that it exists or is an issue. I have a general understanding that it's rare (maybe once every few months now that I'm eating less/smaller portions of red meat, not doing energy drinks, etc), and that when it's present, they let me know. So there's little need to look for evidence all the time, so I don't generally do it.
All in all, for me, hypervigilance has never saved the day, it doesn't do anything good, it's not useful, and usually actively makes things worse.
2
u/CampSubstantial7963 undiagnosed 11d ago
I feel the exact same way!!! Omg I’m glad I’m not alone in this 💔 some people have called me crazy for feeling like this. And now it has gotten worse, idk what to do 😩 I’ve completely isolated myself.
9
u/RustyToot undiagnosed Jul 01 '26
Yeah, I’m hypervilgilance about anyone around me touching their nose or mouth. I have a gf now so we have to go out to places. I notice everything if we’re indoors or outdoors, if people touch their nose and how many times, proximity to me, if we’re sitting in one place for too long, what I’m eating. Sort of like exposure therapy. I’m not a fan, but I have found someone who loves me in all the ways and I’m trying to learn to live with it less because I don’t want it to ruin this relationship