overpowering stench from BMs quite noticeable in public

Hello all, I am a 22 -year-old college student with IBS-D. I have gone through all the tests: colonoscopy, upper and lower endoscopy, blood and stool samples, and they found nothing. For awhile I thought I had celiac, but then when I found that on top of gluten it was hard for me to eat dairy, soy, egg, and a few other things, I thought it could something else. I went to another doctor and after trying a new diet (which didn't work), he suggested it must be the catchall IBS. I too used to be afraid to go out for fear of not knowing where the closest bathroom was. But I have begun taking supplemental digestive enzymes and this has seemed to help. I still try to stay away from wheat and dairy, but everything else, at least in small amounts, seems to be okay. During periods of severe stress, i.e. lots of schoolwork due over a short timespan, my D flares up. In any case, I recently added more fiber to my diet and this has seemed to help (not counting when stress is high). My stools are more formed and claylike. But the fiber has made my gas and BMs considerably more foul in the smell department. Now, I am constantly paranoid that I smell bad. People are constantly sniffing when they are around me and, to be quite honest, it is rather embarrassing to be the "smelly kid." I know some people are just sniffling because it is cold and their noses are running, but one time, shortly after a BM, some guy passed behind me, sniffed, and said, "wow, that's terrible." So I'm not just being paranoid. I use anti-bacterial soap to kill the germs on my skin that cause odor as well as, in my opinion, a pretty good smelling anti-perspirant (I tried cologne, but the scent was too strong and it bothers people in the classroom). I constantly bathe and wash my clothes (and I just started using those scented dryer paper-things). But yet everytime I use the rest room, I notice significantly more sniffing around me. It's gotten to a point now where I try to go only in my apartment bathroom, and before going, I'll remove my pants and shirt. What's worse is that I can never tell, regardless of whether the BM was foul-smelling or not, how badly I smell. When I smell myself, I just smell my anti-perspirant, which is pretty good in my opinion. Somebody please help me. What can I do to get rid of or mask the odor when I use a public restroom? Because it is extremely annoying having to walk all the way back to my place just to use the bathroom. And does anyone know if this strong smell is just a temporary result of switching to a diet with more fiber, meaning in time my body should adjust, or is this just one of the side effects of fiber?

I am still pretty lost. I don't know what to do. I've been doing a lot of laundry lately, but that's not everything I think. People don't overtly sniff me anymore, which is good, but they still get uncomfortable and shifty around me, and they touch their noses a good amount. I think it might be my breath. I'm going to get a tongue scraper and see what happens.

But it can't just be that. In my big lecture class the other day, I was sitting like 7 rows back from the front, so far enough so that the professor couldn't smell my breath, but he kept gagging nonetheless. He always looks very neat and polished, and looks like he has excellent hygiene, so he can probably tell when someone else doesn't. He was clearly having a hard time breathing up there and he kept holding his finger up to his nose, I guess to avoid smelling the bad odors. Also, I know I'm not being paranoid because I don't think it's a coicidence that wherever I move in that classroom, that's where the kids with the sniffling "runny noses" sit. I realize it could be B&O, and I'm doing my best to take care of that. But could it also be "aroma"?

I'm not sure how to explain this. But there's a door that connects my bathroom to my closet. Is there anyway that the smells from the bathroom could be getting into the closet and attaching themselves to my clothes? But not deep enough into the clothes so that when you do a close-up fabric smell you can smell anything, but enough so that other people can smell it? Because unfortunately for me, my clothes smell fresh, but maybe that's not what they smell like to everyone else. If my clothes smelled really bad, then I could tell myself, but I don't think that's not the case here b/c I've been doing a lot of laundry lately.

Also, the other thing I've noticed is that since adding fiber to my diet, the odors my body produces have become significantly stronger (i.e. gas, bowel movements, sweat, breath probably, etc.) Is this something I should be worried about? And what does this mean? Does this mean I am just healthier now, or is this just something that happens when you add fiber? And has anyone else noticed this? Or has anyone else had an experience when their odors became significantly stronger?

The other possibility is that maybe people just don't like the smell of my anti-perspirant, or maybe it is too powerful? But this would probably be my last guess.

When I go to a public washroom and think I may smell it up I flush the toilet as I'm going so that it doesn't sit there too long. And I bought a small spray bottle of rood scent that I carry around in my purse that I spray while in the toilet. You may want to give those things a try.

Is there anyone you trust and like enough to ask if you actually do smell? Sorry for the wording.

Jodi,
I actually tried spraying Febreeze on my bag b/c I was so paranoid, but I think I overdid it. As I passed one kid in the library, he gagged and sort of shrieked at the same time. But as for carrying it with me, I might try that as well. I actually asked a female friend who I trust how I smell and she said good. So part of me might be thinking that now it's not necessarily a bad odor, just maybe too strong. But I could be wrong.

Jim,  The only thing I can suggest at this time is to make a doctors appt and ask him/her if they smell an odor. If your friend tells you don't smell than its hard to say what else to tell you. I feel terrible that you are going through this and that I don't have more advise. Sorry Please keep me posted.

Jim,

Try taking chlorophyll capsules. A naturopath I talked to told me to take them and they're the only thing that ever worked. Chlorophyll is supposed to have antibacterial actions, acts to heal and repair tissues, increases circulation to the organs, and is an internal deodorizer. It works and it's fairly inexpensive.

Search the web for the cheapest source of Mega Chlorophyll, 100-mg caps, 120 caps/bottle, from World Organics Corp. you can find. A lot of places sell the 50-mg capsules, but it's more cost effective to take the 100-mg caps (but few places sell the 100s). The last time I bought them I got them from easypricematch.com for $11.22/bottle. I've taken 4 caps at a time, twice a day, for the last two years and wouldn't be without them. Each person being different, you may have to experiment with the dosage that works for you. I tried other brands available in local health food stores, but the quality of the chlorophyll wasn't the same and consequently they just didn't work.

When the body gets overloaded with toxins and can't eliminate them, odors begin to come out through the pores in addition to causing bowel movements with a bad odor. I suspect this might be your problem. Those with chronic diarrhea or constipation often have this happen to them. So do those who have to take pharmaceutical drugs/antibiotics for long periods of time. Even people who go on cleansing/detoxing regimens often develop this when the body begins to purge itself of accumulated wastes/toxins.

Be advised that your bowel movements will be green for as long as you take the chlorophyll, but it will definitely get rid of any smell your body might put off! I also take probiotics several times a day to keep the "good" bacteria in the gut. Please let me know if this helps.

Thanks for the advice everyone,
I was planning on trying the probiotic 'acidophilus' because that's what my doctor suggested. Because I have IBS-D, my stomach may be lacking enough "good bacteria." Also, I was planning on trying activated charcoal, preferably in powder or chewable form if they exist, to cut down on gas. I hear it works. Does anyone have any experience with any of these supplements?

ty kls. i really appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences and also the websites to visit for more information. I will let you know how it works out.
Thanks again.

Also, if the chlorophyll has anti-bacterial properties, isn't that similar to taking an antibiotic. So won't the same thing (bad body odor) just happen again once I stop taking the chlorophyll. I understand that you are taking a probiotic as well, but do you still get all the benefits of the probiotic while you are taking chlorophyll, which would presumably kill 'good bacteria' as well as the bad?

Jim06,

You mentioned charcoal in an earlier post...I can tell you, yes, it works great for gas. And it's cheap. You can get it from Vitamin Shoppe if you have one locally; or you can get it online from various places. It comes in capsules. I always keep a large bottle around because my family uses it frequently. Although, my daughter, who swore by it for years, now tells me it doesn't work as well for her anymore. It still works for me (although I really don't seem to need it much anymore), but that's probably because I take Pascalite clay, chlorophyll, probiotics, and now Oxy-Powder daily. I keep telling her she has to change her diet, as well as include daily probiotics in it, but she's young and in college, and has no time, and can't be bothered with it right now, etc... (She does, however, religiously take my probiotics for several weeks after each round of antibiotics the doctor puts her on because she's learned that lesson the hard way -- she gets horrible diarrhea that won't go away if she doesn't.)

Did you read my earlier post to jodi569 about Pascalite clay? Since I've been taking it I rarely ever need to take charcoal; and it's incredibly cheap. But if you need something to get rid of gas quickly, I think charcoal may work the fastest.

If gas seems to be a constant problem, then taking digestive enzymes before you eat will cut down on most of it. I swear Digesticol is the best product out there right now. (Expensive but it works.)

Take care.

Jim06,

Let me apologize first for the lengthy post! Now here goes…

Just a thought here...do a baking soda bath just for general cleansing (you mentioned you’re in an apartment, so I hope you have a tub!).

Go to the grocery store and buy an 8-oz box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda. Run some hot bathwater in the tub and dump in 8 oz of baking soda. Mix it up, then soak in it for 15-20 mins; rinse off when you’re done.

If you want to get fancy, use a washcloth or loofah while you’re soaking and do some light skin brushing (and I do mean LIGHT, especially with a loofah -- you don’t need to scrub, you just need to eliminate dead skin cells and stimulate the lymphatics to remove wastes. Even if you do nothing but soak in it, it will remove a lot of waste from the skin.

Taking a baking soda bath is an old, old remedy for cleansing the body. Also, it’s extremely relaxing and after doing it you really feel like going straight to sleep. You’ll feel SO much better the next day. It does help cleanse the skin of wastes and baking soda is a natural deodorizer, although I’ve never used it by itself to see whether it will eliminate especially strong odors. I think that calls for internal cleansing as well. It might do that, but I suspect you’d have to do it every single day because the body is constantly eliminating toxins, so you’d be constantly building the odor back up.

When you get the Pascalite clay, you can also use that to take a bath in. Use one cup in a tub of water. Mix it up, then soak for 20 mins. It’ll pull all kinds of junk out of your body. Be careful not to do a clay bath except for about one every other week. Clay is extremely drying to the skin, and you can easily pull out too many skin oils and/or really dehydrate yourself doing it too often. For that reason, drink lots of water when you do one. Pascalite is the only non-swelling clay I know of, meaning you can let it drain straight out of the tub and it won’t clog up your plumbing. (Most people use Bentonite, which like every other clay DOES swell, so you couldn’t possibly let it go down your drain! It’s a mess to get out of a tub.) I don’t know if taking Pascalite internally will help with the odor or not. Pascalite WILL bind toxins and move them out of the gut for sure, but whether it has deodorizing properties, I don’t know -- chlorophyll is what’s known for that.

Let me clarify something here…when alternative health people talk about “detoxing” they’re usually talking about people who periodically induce the body into cleaning itself by ingesting cleansing foods or herbs, fasting, etc. Then their body starts to purge itself, which sometimes causes them to periodically give off a foul odor; or they’ll get temporary skin problems (itching, rashes, etc.). I know of some people who say that every time they go on a general cleansing routine, their gums bleed. After the body purges itself, things go back to normal. However, people who have long-term gut problems sometimes start giving off an odor not because they’re “detoxing”, but rather because their bodies are just plain unhealthy on the inside. If you have a build-up of putrefactive material on the inside and you do nothing to clean it out, it just gets worse over time; so a smell can develop for that reason too.

Regarding where you sweat and the smell there…between the center back and neck…I honestly don’t know why there would be a particular odor to that specific part of your body. It’s possible your body has sequestered something in that region, though. The body will “pocket” things (like heavy metals, or residues of antibiotics or other drugs, yeast, etc.) in different places, then skin problems might erupt in that particular area.

I do know that there are some acupressure points in that location that are good for opening up the lungs! (It’s said that the ancient yogis used to grab a heavy piece of wood and swing it around with their arms because they knew that stagnating energy accumulates between the shoulder blades, and they could ward off a cold by doing this. -- Just thought I’d throw that in!)

I don’t know whether excessive protein intake can cause odors or not.

Regarding the antidepressant and antibiotics…
Most antidepressants cause constipation; however, Prozac causes diarrhea in 10-15% of the population. But the antibiotics definitely did some damage, just because they always do! 3-4 years of antibiotics? Did your IBS start before or after them? Antibiotics, especially for that long, would have very effectively wiped out all your good gut flora. And unless you’re a vegan vegetarian eating tons of raw food daily, you’d never re-colonize the gut with enough good flora on your own.

Did you know that a systemic yeast infection causes depression as well as diarrhea/constipation? Actually, yeast overgrowth can cause probably a hundred different problems, but fatigue, depression and bowel problems are classic.

Jim06, whatever you do don’t give up. I know how horrible you must feel having to go to class and have everybody make remarks, cough, sniff, etc. That would kill ANYBODY emotionally. The person who said to get some Febreeze had a good idea. I’m a smoker and carry a bottle with me in the car. I carry another small spray bottle with me in my pocket or purse (you can get a little spray bottle in the cosmetics section of most grocery or drugstores). I douse myself with it before getting out of the car if I’ve been smoking because I got tired of people making remarks about smelling smoke! It’s quite effective.

In the meantime, take it step by step:
You only have one more week to go, then finals. Try to sit as far away from everyone else as possible and douse yourself with Febreeze right before you go into class (heck, douse yourself with it periodically all day long). It’s VERY likely that between the Body Mint AND the Febreeze, no one will realize it’s you -- they might notice an odor wafting around, but not necessarily where it’s coming from. Keep taking that Body Mint and then get those chlorophyll caps. Increase your chlorophyll intake to 400 mg in the morning and 400 mg at night. After a few more days of it, you’ll probably notice a big decrease in the odor. When the Pascalite comes in, start taking several caps a day to see if it helps the IBS, and use it for baths once in a while. Take baking soda baths frequently until you get out of class.

Let me know how it’s going, and don’t give up hope!

kls,

when I was ordering some stuff from Kirkman today, I called their help line to ask a question about their probiotic (which I'm going to try), and after explaining my symptoms, etc, the person I spoke to also mentioned yeast overgrowth, which I thought was interesting because I know you mentioned the same thing in your last post. So I did a little research, and it sounds like a potential culprit, or at least a contributor to the problem. I don't know if I have this or not, but if I do, that certainly explains why I crave sugar pretty much all the time and why I have to urinate like 10 times a day (but that might also be because I drink a decent amount of water). If this is the problem, hopefully the probiotics will take care of it and I won't have to take an antifungal drug. I'm not too high on taking prescription drugs anymore, at least not for awhile. And if yeast overgrowth is the problem, do you think Pascalite clay might help with that? On a side note, I read somewhere that Pascalite has some antibacterial abilities. Should I be worried about that? Or by "antibacterial" did they just mean that it focuses on "bad" bacteria? And going back to body odor, does yeast have anything to do with b.o., or is that reaching?

I was taking 600 mg of chlorophyll per day, but it didn't really work. I would have gone to a higher dosage but it was giving me a stomach ache and I think the runs. Maybe the chlorophyll liquid I ordered a while ago will be friendlier to my stomach.