Has your BO (Body Odour) changed with your treatment?
arpie
Member Posts: 8,129 ✭
Hi guys
Just wondering if you have noticed if your BO has changed (become more pungent) after your rads and/or chemo?
I first noticed it during rads (hmmm ... maybe it was the 'fear factor' making me sweat more - plus of course, not being allowed to wear deodorant until after each rad was finished for the day ....) Actually, I noticed my pee smelled different as well during rads (which was REALLY weird! Not unlike when you eat fresh Asparagus .... but I hadn't eaten any - almost an 'oily' smell!)
SO .... here I am, 3 months down the track from rads - and my BO is still way more pronounced than it used to be. I was expecting it to 'settle down'.
I've always used a Men's deodorant stick as I've found it more effective than Female ones ..... so that hasn't changed. But now I am SO aware of it - I 'top it up' half way thru the day!!
What about you? Have you noticed any change?
Take care out there & be kind to yourself xxx
Just wondering if you have noticed if your BO has changed (become more pungent) after your rads and/or chemo?
I first noticed it during rads (hmmm ... maybe it was the 'fear factor' making me sweat more - plus of course, not being allowed to wear deodorant until after each rad was finished for the day ....) Actually, I noticed my pee smelled different as well during rads (which was REALLY weird! Not unlike when you eat fresh Asparagus .... but I hadn't eaten any - almost an 'oily' smell!)
SO .... here I am, 3 months down the track from rads - and my BO is still way more pronounced than it used to be. I was expecting it to 'settle down'.
I've always used a Men's deodorant stick as I've found it more effective than Female ones ..... so that hasn't changed. But now I am SO aware of it - I 'top it up' half way thru the day!!
What about you? Have you noticed any change?
Take care out there & be kind to yourself xxx
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I stink. No one else admits to being able to notice it, but I believe I smell like mice and old tea towels; a sort of musty greasy unpleasant and unhygienic stench.
I can't tolerate deodorant and it doesn't seem to make any difference. Its a bit like spraying the loo with Glen 20 when you've had a dump--it still smells like shit with an overlay of gag perfume and a side dressing of environmental vandalism.
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Has that been a more recent thing, or have you been aware of it from way back, @Zoffiel ? A number of women do have excess sweating & Doctors actually use Botox injections to 'immobilise' the sweat glands, reducing the problem big time.
I found a coconut based home made deodorant recipe a while back, @ Zoffiel .... here it is .... in the Less than Fresh thread:
https://onlinenetwork.bcna.org.au/discussion/comment/137357
Hmmmm .... Maybe it is time I made some up & tried it?0 -
It's possible it's a post chemo thing--both a change in odour and a heightened sensitivity to certain smells. I think spending more time in the house is part of it as well, I feel like I'm seeping into the paint and the soft furnishings.1
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Smelly feet - not sure if it's because my big toenails are only marginally attached (and way too painful to scrub) and wearing socks all of the time. Plus I keep catching a sour odour and not sure if it's me or something else!0
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Definately had stronger body odour during and for some time after chemo. Most noticeable change of smell in my knickers. My lady bits smelled "chemical". A sort of sharp, sour and chemical smell...not fishy and no discharge, so not thrush or somesuch. Thar department back to normal now.
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Ah, the 'Vegemite' knickers @allyjay That's a description of the smell, not the skid marks. Salty, a bit yeasty and really sour. While we are talking about knickers, anyone who wears white undies all the way through the poo perils of chemo is a better laundress than I.4
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The lady garden has a different fragrance since chemopause. Another thing that makes me furious. I'll get over it but garrgghh!
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@Zoffiel, oh indeed. Whilst having the taxol portion of The Great Noxious Nightmare of chemo, I developed some sort of neuropathy in my bottom. Always felt as if I had either toilet paper or my knickers stuck in my crack. But then (red face here), it happened a few times that I thought I was merely going to sound the old bottom bassoon, and ended up with more than I bargained for. After that, I took to releasing the aforementioned windypops on the loo to avoid dastardly results. Fortunately, the situation has improved, but I still have to be very cautious that I don't do the dirty.
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Have had to clench tight on afew occasions and perfected the fast waddle.4
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@arpie I can't let the mention of asparagus or new mown grass go past without suggesting you get your blood sugars checked. Don't ask me why, just do it. Mxx
PS @allyjay one of the supreme low points of chemo was farting in bed, shitting myself and not even realising it had happened until everything cooled down. What's cold, wet, stinky and sticks to your leg, back, arse and then hand....Gawd. Just when you think you've hit all the lows. Sheets, topper, mattress protector, threw the lot in the bin because I simply did not have the physical or mental energy to wash them and couldn't trust my creaky old machine to do a decent job.
That experience may have damaged me for life and convinced me I stink. Sort of joking.6 -
OMG Ladies .... I can relate to SO MANY of these comments - and I didn't even have chemo!!
Yes ... the lady garden also smelling 'different' - not really 'chemical' for me - just appreciably 'different'!
Yes, also been caught out with the bottom bassoon, @AllyJay ..... tho I put it down to some sort of diarrhoea .... I was TOTALLY surprised! LOL
Haven't noticed the smelly feet, @Sister .... tho my toe nails seem to grow 3 times faster than my finger nails! LOL Matter of fact .... I'm just trying some glued on ones on my 'strumming fingers' - cos I've worn them down to the flesh .... it feels SOOOOO WEIRD!!! Tomorrow will be my first 'play' with them on the uke. See how I go!!
Take care out there! xxx0 -
@arpie - definitely noticed a change in body odour even since my mastectomy - I thought it might have had something to do with having nodes removed. I just can’t seem to stay feeling fresh all day and it’s winter!! It’s definitely possible that chemo is exacerbating it all.
@AllyJay - can SO relate! I’ve been much more musical since Taxol started! So far have managed to get to the loo mighty quickly with the @Sister waddle!1 -
It's the night sweats that does it to me, I have to wash my hair everyday or I feel like I smell sweaty and dirty. I can smell it so I am sure others would too. You can't wake up covered in sweat with dripping hair and not wash it, well I can't anyway.2
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Checked my bloods before breakfast this morning @Zoffiel .... 5.8, so happy with that. (Keith is a diabetic - his was 7.5 so not too bad, as we regularly check his too.) As far as I know, most people have funny smelling urine after eating fresh Asparagus (not sure if it relates to tinned asparagus tho!) Check it out next time you eat some - usually within an hour or so of eating it, you should notice a distinctive odour to your urine!!
Yes, lots of things get biffed when coming in contact with what almost amounts to Baby Poo type liquid shit! I almost considered wearing a pad to stem the leak as it just did ... but I'd gotten rid of all of those years ago ..... so just used some folded up toilet paper to 'plug the hole' (so to speak - or should I say 'slot'.) Not very comfy, but it did the trick! My session of 'the trots' only lasted a day or so, thank goodness!
I remember cleaning up my stepmother when she shit herself one night when I was staying with her (she was about 90 & went into a nursing home shortly after.) It was incredibly difficult, what with me heaving/throwing up & trying to wipe her bum, legs, inner thighs ..... and that was AFTER I'd put her in the shower at 2am!
@Eastmum - that's an interesting thought - that it may relate to the node removal, as I had thought my right side was more 'whiffy' than
my left side! Hmmmm .... food for thought!
It is amazing how everyone's observations paint a fuller picture!
Hmmmm .... I've had a couple of hot flushes in the last week and can fully understand why showers may be needed (recalling my night sweats back when going thru menopause 15+ years ago .... not regular just now, thank god - and they seemed to be more in my face than lower body!0 -
Thank you everyone for this; it's helped fill in the picture for me about what's ahead and also where I am now. I'm 3/4 way through chemo and lots of these experiences have been mine too. I've been waiting for signs that I'm whiffy because a friend (3 year survivor) told me her body odour changed and her grandchildren didn't want to hug her any more. Difficult for me to judge because my sense of smell has changed too. Nobody is telling me. But the constant bottom alert bells have been ringing for some time. My online supermarket delivery order contains all the necessary products every week. Anyone would think they were delivering to a young new mother.1
