Can You Shed Some Light On This Please

Hi,

I just stumbled across this forum in my desperate search for the answer to my unfortunate problem.

I dont know if im posting in the right area so feel free to point me in another direction (not the exit door though!)

For sometime now i have noticed that i emit a stale/musty smell. Its not due to a lack of hygiene on my part i can assure you. As i am rather ignorant on these matters i have no real idea but was wondering could this be linked to IBS or something similar?? On occassions i have had blood in my stool and even after a bowel movement i feel discomfort and feel the the need to re-wipe the area. But this doesnt make any difference and doesnt mark the toilet paper anyway.

If any can point me in the right direction i would really appreciate it.

Thanks

Hi BigFoot,
Welcome to HealingWell!
I'm not sure body odor is linked to IBS. ???
I have heard of people taking charcoal to cut down on the odor. You can also refer to this thread for somemore advice/tips/help:
https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=26&m=226633

Colonics are definitely a controversy. IMO, I don't like them and they scare me. Other people swear by them so I'm not going to sit on a soapbox and tell you that you shouldn't do them because I value everyone's opinion. I can only tell you why I won't do it... to me your colon will cleanse itself out and does everytime you have a bowel movement. I am so afraid of improper steralization, I would never consider ever having one unless it was in a hospital with a licensed physician. It also scares me how much liquid they put in you. So those are my reasons. You probably will hear the other side which is great. I know this topic came up not too long ago in the Ulcerative Colitis forum.

I don't know anything about colonics but I hear they are dangers. In the book "Why Do Men Have Nipples?" the doc said not to do them.

Bad bacteria in your gut--so I have read--can cause bad breath. I wonder if the odor you notice is your body or your breath and if it is your body if the bad bacteria can cause that too? If I were you, I would ask a friend, honestly, do you smell and is it you or your breath? Maybe they don't notice anything at all. My mother has a nose like a bloodhound; she can smell garlic on my breath three or four days after I've eaten it. When my S.O. eats it and I don't, I can smell it very little on him and only for a day. So it may just be your nose is overly sensitive. Get a second opinon on the odor first.

Try taking probiotics if you are worried about the state of your guts. They don't hurt anybody (although acidophillus does give me a bit of gas cramps) and they will drive out the bad bacteria. Personally I am leery of colonics/ colon cleansers--isn't that going to be the same junk I took before my colonoscopy and aren't I going to spend a day doing nothing but pooping? There's a reason why I've only had one colonoscopy. Personally I have bouts of diarrhea often enough I am quite certain that I am flushed out. Maybe normal people don't feel that way, but I figure if you have diarrhea on a somewhat regular basis, there's not going to be any build-up in there.

Also, some people just have body odor that's fairly inexplicable and has nothing to do with being ill or personal hygiene. There's a medical term for it, but I'm afraid it's not coming readily to mind. If you definitely have an odor and some of the suggestions here don't work, you may want to see a doctor. I would guess you might want to see a dermatologist. I don't know that a PCP would know anything about pervasive body odor.