TMAU Forum

Thanks, tenacity.

When you say your antibiotics have worn off, do you mean you're smelling? Or something else?

I know what you mean about giving away too much info - I really value my anonymity on the internet. I'd be mortified if I thought anyone who knows me could read this and know it's me.

I've been more or less OK for a couple of months. Little to no reactions from the public at large. Until yesterday....

I could actually smell an odd smell from myself before I went out. It was hard to describe, sort of "woody", but not in a nice way. A bit like that woody B.O. smell you sometimes get on old men. The night before I ate 2 slices of pumpernickel bread and took 2 Liv 52 tablets. I'm wondering if it was one of them that caused it? I was definitely getting dirty looks from the checkout operator and I could smell it myself too. For some reason it didn't bother me as much as it usually does.

I bought some pumpernickel bread because I thought it was yeast and wheat free, but I suspect now that it wasn't. It was more the American style bread than the german. I was missing bread so much, but I think I'm much better off without it. I won't be buying anymore for a while.

Hello again,

Really nice to hear back from you. Very sensible of you to value your anonymity. I suppose I did too before I got into my current career, but now it's driving me nuts having nobody to talk to. I should probably invest money in a private therapist or something...

Anyway, I digress.

Yes, I was talking about odour when I said the antibiotics had worn off. I don't always feel the meds eliminate it completely (unless I take up a life of inactivity where I can survive on a thousand calories a day), but they do reduce it. It's kind of a shock when it comes back completely. I think I forget just how bad it can be, and I end up isolating myself like I have done this weekend. Two lots of social plans cancelled - mostly because I've exhausted and need time at home to eat and sleep now that I FINALLY have some time off - but partly because I need antibiotics and I'm eating a lot (more food = more bad smells). That's just the way it goes. I totally love the person I'm sharing living space with at the moment, but I find myself constantly wishing I could afford to live by myself, as it's just not fair on somebody else to have to put up with this. Plus I must seem so antisocial and unpleasant to be around now that I'm constantly locking myself away to sleep or work and am not leaving the house in the evenings unless it's for work.

That's really good news that you are getting fewer bad public reactions. Sorry to hear about the other day, though.

I'd never even heard of Liv52. I must research it at some point!

I think I was reading just a minute ago that you don't actually have a diagnosis of TMAU? Do you mind if you ask how you know you have it? Do you know for definite, or does it just seem to fit?

I hope you're having a better weekend now...

T

I've only just seen your reply Tenacity, sorry.

Btw, that woody smell I was complaining about in my last post turned out to be my T-shirt drawer being musty where I'd put away some clothes that were still slightly damp. All the clothes in the drawer were smelling a bit woody and musty. What a twit.

No, I'm not diagnosed (I'm considering trying to pluck up the courage this year...). I don't necessarily think I have TMAU, but if I don't then I have something very similar indeed (possibly yet to be "discovered" by the medical establishment). My BO is definitely caused by certain foods rather than hygiene. Actually, I should say it's caused by the improper metabolism of certain foods, that's more accurate.

Liv 52 is an Ayurvedic herbal remedy that supports the liver. I figure anything that's good for the liver is good for me. I'm a big fan of Ayurveda. Like most eastern medicine, it treats the person as a whole, rather than just concentrate on physical symptoms.

I do worry about the allopathic medicine approach to this condition. Antibiotics kill the bacteria, but it comes back again and what are the antibiotics doing to your general health in the mean time? Seems a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut to me. JMHO, of course. Whatever works for you is the best approach, I guess.