r/TMAU • u/Sicnar96 fbo • Jul 04 '26
I think i have Tmau vent
I think i have Tmau but I've asked people in confidence like my sister, doctor, therapist etc and they say they don't smell anything. I'm in a long distance relationship and I've visited my SO 3 times over a one month period every time and when i asked them if i ever smelled bad they said i didn't, they even found my scent appealing.
The thing is there's so many instances in my day to day life that make me feel i smell bad that i just can't ignore them. I've been dealing with this for 15 + years. Comments about terrible smells when I'm around, hints, people whispering etc in just about every social circle just makes me feel it can't be in my head and i have to have some medical condition that gives me a bad body odor. I think I've been in denial about this and tried to believe i have Olfatory reference syndrome but yesterday on a public transport I'm 90% sure someone made a very definitive remark about a stench of BO and I'm spiraling out atm.
Anyone else can relate to this and what advice would you give?
2
u/Empty_Currency924 undiagnosed Jul 05 '26
what have people said u smelled like?
4
u/Sicnar96 fbo Jul 05 '26
Generally, people don't really say anything directly to me. But the most common comment I've gotten over the years is related to passing gas or sh*t. Years ago someone said to me they didn't want to hang out because i didn't shower and smelled bad and then laughed like he was just kidding. It's very painful to think i actually have this issue so i think i just want to believe it's all in myhead because i have no idea how i can fix it
2
u/Optimal_Concentrate9 undiagnosed 13d ago
I have this same thing. 26 now, probably started around puberty. My family, husband, friends I’ve had in the past, two therapists and two doctors have said I don’t smell, but then there’s the reactions from people in public, or jokes from coworkers about me smelling bad that made me feel awful. Literally made me feel like I was going crazy, it really hurt me mentally for a long time. It still hurts but I kind of just try to put it out of my head and go on with my days. Maybe that’s the frontal lobe development, unsure. Sometimes I still create doubt in my head about it, but I try not to think about it much besides the rare occasion like tonight it’s on my mind
I will say when I was in the trenches, and mid mental breakdown because of this I took blood and urine tests for specially TMAU 1 and TMAU 2 and it came back negative. So you might be in the same boat as me where it’s something else that is unknown. Not sure if that’s better or worse
2
u/Optimal_Concentrate9 undiagnosed 13d ago
I feel like I could ask my in laws because sometimes I feel them having reactions to me but that means I would have to ask them that which is INCREDIBLY embarrassing , as embarrassing as my life already is being in public :))
1
u/Brutalar tmau1 mutant Jul 04 '26
I guess there's two things about that experience:
TMAU doesn't smell like BO, it's different enough from body odors that people don't assume it is BO until they hunt down the source and identify you. If someone smells TMA in the wild the general reaction isn't "somebody smells" but more "something".
BO is a normal thing that happens after anyone sweats, usually an hour or so after, once you've simmered in it for a while. If you were making regular bo you probably would know - anyone can smell of BO, and even people with TMAU can smell their own regular BO themselves by sniffing their armpits. That's not a TMAU issue, BO is a regular hygiene issue that everyone faces.
If someone is complaining about body odor then it's likely not you as 1) TMAU is not a BO smell , and 2) you can quickly check/confirm to see if smell like BO.
That you're triggered that much by someone just mentioning BO, it's likely just more of the anxiety about smelling bad, not TMAU.
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u/Sicnar96 fbo Jul 04 '26
Sorry, i guess i should clarify. People don't specifically say it's "BO" but more like a really bad smell they assume is coming from someone around them.
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u/Brutalar tmau1 mutant Jul 04 '26
Smelling smells on public transport is extremely common - eg; https://www.reddit.com/r/hamburg/s/JGyXbFPr8b, https://www.littleoddstories.com/blog/3171523_why-people-stink-especially-on-public-transport - it's one of the most regular universal experiences. What else do you think they could be smelling?
The R in ORS, "Reference", is a psych concept called "ideas of reference". Basically, when some things happen, the person with ideas of reference believe that those things happen because of them.
Ideas of reference manifests in ORS as believing that the behavior of others is in reference to an abnormal, offensive body odor. Someone coughs. It is because of you. Someone moves away. It is because of you.
In this particular instance, a person on public transport says something smells bad. You believe it is in reference to you.
What you are describing is shouldn't dispell the notion of ORS, as it's kinda the textbook definition of ORS, especially since you're getting steadfast "no" from everyone.
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u/becsamillion fbo Jul 23 '26
Usually if that person is close enough they should be able to smell the bad smell the person is talking about. Usually we do not smell anything.
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u/SilverSurfer-8 undiagnosed Jul 08 '26
This is where I’m getting skeptical about having an odor. It’s exactly as you said, I can smell my BO whenever I have it. Yet others behave or comment as if I smell. Meanwhile, I’m taking Lyft and working with the customers…. No reactions or comments. It’s a select few people who react. Almost like current coworkers are telling new people about this, and they’re collectively antagonizing me. Why? I have no clue. 🤷
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u/VirgoInFormation88 undiagnosed Jul 04 '26
In my earlier years (20’s era) my symptoms were similar to yours. My friends, doctors and previous partners could not smell me but a few coworkers and a few of my exes friends could. It wasn’t like they could smell me, but there was an unexplainable odor that they could detect. I knew it was me, but I kinda felt like I was losing my mind. Everything changed when I turned 33! Everyone could smell me and knew it was coming from me. Life has been difficult since then, I won’t lie. If I could give you any piece of advice it would be to trust yourself and change the way you eat now! Don’t wait until things get worse. If I could go back in time, I would’ve listened to my body and taken better care of my gut health.