# The Odorless Stench...



## Pepelepew (Jul 6, 2014)

Hello all, I'm Pepe.

I stumbled upon this site today after a quite embarrassing day at work. I'm a lifeguard at a local Marriott spa, and after dealing with all the looks and nose grabs and snarls I decided to take advantage of google and look deeper into what is known as ibs (I'm still not diagnosed but as far as webmd goes and the people within a 10 foot radius of me) I have ibs. Nose grabs sniffing squints and occasional "did some one step in ######?" Aren't new to me. I've been dealing with the scent seekers and frowners since high school. I'm familiar with the Robert deniro scrunchy "what's that smell face?"










Luckily in high school I had a very blunt friend who was quick to tell me I was reeking of BO. At the time it pissed me off but I'm greatful for his reactions and often look to him for his approval of smell before some social events. But anyway. Until today I've always thought I just wasn't wiping my ass good enough which turned into doodoo followed by a shower. I will be posting more stories I have so many to share. I'm quite social believe or not maybe because after a few shots I don't giv a $$$$$$ about a stench.....

I was scheduled to work from 8am -1pm at the pool. Life guarding(as serious as the title sounds, it's more like sitting and waiting until the end of the shift lol). Last night, I went and partied drank some Jose and took some Molly. Didn't get home till 5 am and of course I was tired so I stayed up surfed the web.







. Around 7:30 I took a shower and proceeded to head to work. Very content with my 711 coffee opened the pool and sat on guard. The pool area is on the top floor and is indoor with a huge sky light over the pool. It's very hot and muggy. As people start to come in to swim I noticed the "sniff sniff" air quality check. Of course I did the pit check and I got nothing but oldspice and didn't pay as much mind to several snarls and sniffs because I showered 30 min prior.

Around 9:30 it was time for the water aerobics class, and as I sit and watch these old people Macarena to some shitty 90's techno I noticed more than 60% of them gasping for air and gagging and turning towards me. I refused to believe that i was emitting the alarming stench that i couldn't smell what so ever. Showers a good for more than 2 and a half hours.

Paranoid after seeing people fix their face as though they've just seen 2 girls 1 cup, i snuck to the locker room and throughly showered as quick as i could without being gone for long. dried off and returned to the pool full of bitter oldies but with a grin on my face baring the confidence of clean armpits.

rejuvenated and now snarling along with people that walked into the pool area, as to say "yeaa you smell that?" even though all i could smell was chlorine and an abundance of deodorant that i slabbed on. After a while of faking along with people sniffing and smelling i grew frustrated that I truly couldn't perceive this scent. anxiety started to set in around 11 after the class was over and the old grumpies left the pool mumbling obviously about a fowl smell.

Paranoia set in again, but also confusion as well. 2 showers?! what the hell? As i sat from 11-12 trying to find something to blame the stench on. I than lit up and thought maybe it was my breath? or my whole mouth in general. I have a few cavities that I'm being a lil pussy about and i figured maybe the stench could be a decayed tooth. Luckily, the spa has mouthwash in the locker room so i went and rinsed and came back with a new confidence but still doubtful. 12-1 was kid swim and it gets pretty busy, I was stressing the rush of kids and parents holding there nose. (Nothing more discouraging than seeing someone hold their nose, knowing you are the reason for their discomfort).

keeping in bright spirits (Probably still slightly rolling), I folded towels and avoided eye contact with sniffers until kid swim. and just as i expected in came the mommys the nannys and the stubborn lil kids. It was greatly discouraging watching them trickle in one by one each flicking their nose. People walked by me and snarled and i grinned knowing it was me but i didnt know what the $$$$$$ it was either! 12:30 and Im at my peak of paranoia, watching people just to see how bad this invisible smell is. Facial expressions told me to sneak out and take another shower as i thought "maybe i just gotta scrub here" but sure enough i come back out to the same snarly faces










Thats when a spanish speaking family came in and obnoxiously gagged and cough and held their nose in front of me while speaking in spanish. A HUGE PET PEEVE OF MINE! but nonetheless with 30 minutes of humility left to spare I sat surrounded by a smelly forcefield and eavesdropped on the family utilizing my 3rd grade spanish education. I picked up some context clues about smell and sat their so humiliated and annoyed at the family obviously speaking about me. As i acted as if i didnt care about anything. 1 pm came and i got the $$$$$$ outta there and the first thing I did was google "Odor other people can smell that I cant". And after browsing from site to site and comparing life stories and symptoms I feel much better now that I have absolutely no control over my fowl stench and that it isnt poor hygiene.

Will be posting more of my experiences, as they will never cease. Hoping to use this site to relate with all who suffer from the invisible stinks.


----------



## Lexalai (Jul 11, 2014)

I have a similar situation like you, as well! It started about a year ago when I was at school and doing a group activity in class. I felt like I was releasing some gas (even though I wasn't controlling it). At first I thought it was some weird bloating problem and I also didn't smell anything bad so I just thought I must of eaten something bad the night before and it just caused my stomach to be uncomfortable. Turns out, I was releasing the most horrible smell imaginable and my group mates were holding their noses and coughing. I instantly knew it was me because a situation like this happened before (except it wasn't as compromising). I started acting as if it weren't me and said that I was going to spray some perfume (that I kept in my school bag). I sprayed the perfume, but after a while it wore off and some of the classmates started asking the teacher if they could open a window. I have never felt more anxious and embarrassed in my life, and I instantly went home feigning a vomiting episode. I didn't go to school for over a week and I am lucky that I was doing homework during the days spent at home to catch up in school.

I don't know what started it though! I mean, I've always had pretty bad body odor (I was always aware and I had some friends that told me so) and because of this I would shower once or twice a day, lathering up a lot of soap in the process. I also have pretty bad breath (I don't know what the cause was, though, I have always brushed, flossed, and mouth washed every morning and night). I always wore a ton of deodorant and perfume and never wore the same clothes twice. I started to become constipated as well at the same time during the passing gas situation. I've never really had a good, balanced diet (parents never really liked to cook and we usually had processed food for dinner. I would sometimes cook my own meals and tried to stay strictly on healthy, fresh food, but due to AP and Honor classes and after school sports, that was short lived). I actually starved myself due to the stress of people smelling me. I thought that because I was eating that it was the reason I smelled so bad. My mentality has gotten better, but I'm still prone to anxiety attacks and depressed episodes and starving myself for a few days.

I went to three different doctors: two regular ones and one gastroenterologist. The first regular doctor told me that I was only just constipated and that it was normal while also laughing behind her hand telling me this (Smelling like feces is normal? I was pretty upset that she thought I was joking). The second doctor told me that I might be lactose intolerant. I started to avoid milk/dairy products and it has helped quite a bit, but the symptoms still made an appearance. The second doctor then sent me to the gastroenterologist, who then told me that I had IBS and should do the low-FODMAP diet. I understand that it varies with different people and many don't usually get the results they want, but I fear that my problems lies more heavily on internal problems (like colon blockage or cancer) than diet problems. But the change in diet did help immensely after a while. I still need to work on my self control and not eat too much unsafe food, etc. I also take probiotics (which help my bowel movement become more frequent).

I am not very sociable because I am very introverted and usually tend to stay in a small group most of the time. I like to talk to people that I am friends with and because of this I haven't lost much friendships due to my putrid odor. I have asked some of my friends if I smell like farts and they say no (but I can tell that they were only saying that to not hurt my feelings). I found out that my smell usually varied on how stressed/comfortable I am and if I am sitting down or not. I've also looked more into it and suspect it could be a case of leaky gut.

I actually have contemplated suicide on multiple occasions. I don't want to make this post depressing, but when people just give you disgusted looks or make that god awful sniffy-noised, snarly face (like you mention) it just becomes too much sometimes. I hope that we both and people in similar situations as ourselves find a way out of this terrible, endless situation.

(Also, sorry this post is so long! I feel bad for flooding it with my stories. I've kept it in on the inside for so long it feels good to let it out! Have a nice day!)


----------

