Any Cycles Of "odd" Body Odors?

[erik]

Some things are expelled via sweat glands beyond water & electrolytes. Does your body go through phases of odd odors (or excess goo ? Have you happened upon any pattern to it, perhaps also timed with any POTS symptoms? Just fishing for a coincidence here... especially since many of our kidneys are often preoccupied with dumping water/salt... so our bodies might tend to expel things via sweat glands more than average folk.

There are plenty of potential causes, such as certain foods/ingredients, high protein (making the body expel excess nitrogen in sweat to augment dumping via kidneys), bacteria on the skin, detergents/soaps, high salt intake, etc. Sometimes an illness is known for trademark odors (diabetes can smell "sweet", etc.). Phases of being too tired to shower for a while would contribute, but something underlying could be at play too. Who knows.

I often have a scent that is akin to "artificial butter popcorn"! It comes and goes. I could well be basting myself in it in my sleep, and it might even be a useful cologne... but it's odd and doesn't vary simply from increasing or abstaining from the stuff. I am not related to Orville Redenbacher either, as far as I know...

I'm assuming it to be unrelated to POTS symptoms, but has anybody had anything similar that might have even timed itself with some of their POTS stuff? I'm open to any and all vague or specific, supporting or contradicting comments!

[potsgirl]

Hmmm....No, I don't think I have any 'suspicious' odors. Nothing anyone is willing to tell me, at least!

Cheers,

jana

[firewatcher]

Changing the acid/base level of the blood will cause differing body/breath odors. Hyperventilation and dehydration cause an acidification of the blood (I think!)

[Sophia3]

you may need to see an endocrinologist. I have one that treats my ANS (he is also a general practitioner as well as specialist. Many hormones can be out of whack causing body odors.

For me I get times of horrible B.O. that does NOT go away after washing or using deoderant. My male hormones get out of balance..and this can happen as women age as well.

So if the stink gets really bad, you might want to ask a doctor to check a series of hormones (can't tell you which been too long and too often over the years) Sometimes I need to take spironolactone but at a fraction dose as it also is a mild diuretic. Good luck

[bkweavers]

My mother who is a nurse said you can have body odor from the medications you take. I thought my daughter was more stinky because of being a teen but my mom said it could be more potent because of the meds.

Just another thought of what might be going on.

Brenda

[Janey]

YES, not sure how much detail you want me to go into, but every time I have a POTS attack (when it's really, really bad) I get brown urine with an inch of white silt in the bottom. I've been told it's catecholamines (spelling?) or calcium or sodium. They're still testing it, so when I know what it is I'll let you know. I get a lot of bizarre vaginal discharge during POTS attacks too, but my POTS doc doesn't really go into that with me at all, so I just put up with it. I've had all the tests for infection and nothing has come up. My sweat is also occasionally tinted brown (a sign that is currently fascinating my neurologist) and smells awful. So yes, I have the kind of thing you're talking about...

[Jan]

When I eat Cheerios my urine smells like Cheerios.

I have had meds that gave my urine a funny smell.

Is there any connection between what you ate and when you get all buttery?

Could your sweat be combining with your laundry soap and producing an Orville like scent?

[erik]

Thank you all for the responses! Looks like Janey has the closest similar thing, much more evident than mine for sure. I hope it subsides for you Janey... or if it does return, let's hope docs can eventually make something of it. The urine sedimentation sounds as extreme as a Rhabdomyolysis attack, but of different nature of course.

I am still uncertain about my "buttery" issue... it could even be periods of hypersensitive smell on my part. I've been in med & supplement free period for a few months and have had it occur recently, so there isn't a direct tie in there. Foods & additives are always a possibility... I'll have to keep an eye on that. I have confirmation from others on the "ammonia" thing (and that has explanation with ammonia/nitrogen excretion), but I don't know if others would notice my my fresh-buttered scent. Perhaps my theories are half-popped.

I will definitely seek endocrinologist scrutiny... I've only had a couple simple "spot-checks" and it is an important avenue to pursue and can mimic or exacerbate POTS stuff apparently. I am always curious about the acid-base things, it is very complicated and ties in with many things. It is held in close reign by the body so it's like a solid "backbone" to regulatory systems throughout the body and within individual cells... a push in one place can pop up in another (chemically & functionally).

[Tachy Phlegming]

I recently had a weird smell in my private parts (along with frequency and urgency problems). It wasn't so foul as odd. I asked the urologist about it. He had no idea what it was from and it seemed he had never heard of anything like that.

People might start to avoid you if you smell like buttered popcorn; there was recently news about how harmful it is to breathe that smell all the time. You might want to see if you can get your body to smell like something else.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...7050601089.html

[erik]

Oh yeah, your right... I forgot about that popcorn lung thing! As far as I know, I am not hazardous to be around... at least not from that odor, maybe a little extra methane at times

Now that you mention it I get some urinary urgency and definitely extra frequency at times... even lost it once in public but I was on a boat and arranged to get splashed with water which appeared to cover it. I'll have to see if the odor coincides... that could make sense if the body is unloading an excess of something.

[jjb]

Yes. I have strange odors that come and go.

The smells are of a metallic, burnt and amonia type smells.

They are all in my sweat. The metallic smell is only in my hands when they sweat.

The burnt and amonia smell are when my torso sweats.

The burnt and metallic smells began around the same time and was when my dysautonomia was at it's worse.

My daughter also gets the metallic and burnt smells.

Her smells usually occur around the time of seizures. They are REAL smells and it is me that smells them on her NOT her smelling them as an aura.

Her burnt smell is on her head, one of the few places she sweats.

Her metallic smell is usually her breath.

[Jessi]

I too have the buttery popcorn smell related to sweat. I was actually hoping someone had an answer and found this discussion while googling. I have not been diagnosed with pots yet, but I do have dysautonomia, as well as other fun chronic illness friends of pots. I guess I am just going to have to shower more.

[Brooke]

I found this thread because I too find my laundry especially smells to me like buttered popcorn, even after washing. I have been diagnosed with hyper mobile syndrome and are working on a diagnosis of hyper mobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. POTS is a comorbidity of which I have many other symptoms as well and am curious if this is somehow related. It seems this thread is old except your input. @Jessi What, if you are willing to share, are you’re diagnosis?

 

[SynKitten]

So this is something I have been trying to get to the bottom of for a while. Frequently my BO smells like straight Chinese food. I do not eat an abundance of Chinese food, or anything but fruits, salads, and chicken. I also am being evaluated for a POTS and EDS diagnosis. There has to be a correlation.

[MaineDoug]

I have definitely noted some weird body odor changes. No pattern I can discern.