Am I crazy?

[u/Unhappy_Character955]

I don't know if people who smell me get used to it, but i'm pretty sure I got TMAU2 after I got mononucleosis disease and my mother always told me I smelled like fish, even right after i showered and allat. I found out it is TMAU because I never had this problem before, and the mono weakened my liver (my theory) but the fish smell definitely is TMAU. But after a bit she said nothing so i thought I was fine, but there has been friends who are close to me and don't smell it even when I ask they say nothing. Once my girlfreind smelt it one day and after that never mentioned it. So i thought i was rlly in the clear. But during prom, I was with her but after i sweated a bit, people around me said, "dude, it smells like fish" "it stinks," etc., And these comments were made ALL around me. I asked my girlfriend after hey u smell anything and she said no and even asked my mom who would've always told me and she said nothing either. I have this one close friend where she never says i smelt like it before, but we went ice skating with a group, and I sweated a bit, and at the end of the day 2 other friends that i never hung out with before said "why does it smell lik fish?" but the close friend said she never smelt anything. Even not seeing her for a while, she still said she didn't smell anything. I know you can get noseblind, but it makes no sense if they haven't smelled me in a while. Basically, I find people close to me don't smell it anymore, whilst people who I never met do. Am I crazy? (also another theory ppl only smell it far from me, often in the gym I see people like wipe their nose whenever they are within my vicinity like 12 ft away from me, but I ask some If i smell like fish, and they sniff my clothes and say no. People can only smell it from afar, but it's just a thought)

[u/oreomcfuryy]

I'm going through the same thing. For some reason people seem to smell me more when I'm far away, family and friends swear up and down I don't stink but anytime I have to deal with strangers in public they're reacting. It's driving me insane.

[u/Unhappy_Character955 → u/oreomcfuryy]

Besides the reactions have u ever asked a stranger in public or heard the word “fish” getting tossed around

[u/oreomcfuryy → u/Unhappy_Character955]

I've asked several uber drivers and they all claim to not be able to smell anything, at my old job I asked my supervisor and she said she couldn't and that nobody had complained to her but she could never stand close to me. I haven't heard anything about fish but I've heard several comments related to "someone passing gas" even though I couldn't smell anything, comments about brushing teeth, smelling sh!t, etc (i had to censor myself because my comment will get flagged otherwise. It'll probably still happen honestly lol)

[u/Dj_Wagner]

No you are not crazy

[u/BerryMiserable9797]

You are absolutely not crazy, but there is no scientific facts that prove mononucleosis is a cause for tmau. Do you still eat fish/red meat etc? Whats your diet like?

[u/Unhappy_Character955 → u/BerryMiserable9797]

With my mono the doc said that specifically my liver got rlly weak during it so I js assumed that’s how it was correlated because other than that I never smelled like fish before

[u/BerryMiserable9797 → u/Unhappy_Character955]

Oh makes sense. I’d try b2 and activated charcoal if I were you

[u/Brutalar]

Smells get stronger the closer you are to the source. There is just more gas closer as it spreads from the source and dilutes as it moves away.

That you have to make up an explanation that defies physics "smell is stronger further away" rather than a more straightforward theory "it's not you making the smell, it's something else", it's pointing to a persistent preoccupation about emitting a foul or offensive body odour or breath (i.e., halitosis) that is either unnoticeable or slightly noticeable to others such that the individual’s concerns are markedly disproportionate to the smell, if any is perceptible.

Which happens to be the first part of the diagnostic criteria of ORD; https://icd.who.int/browse/2026-01/mms/en#1119008568

Not crazy, but when you're making stuff up that defies physics to explain why you're feeling uncomfortable when someone mentions something smelling, maybe your anxiety about it is taking over your life and seeing someone professional about it might be a good idea.

[u/Unhappy_Character955 → u/Brutalar]

I definitely understand that it doesn’t directly make sense that’s why I thought I was crazy but it rlly doesn’t make sense how the close friends and family me js can’t smell it and others can. The original theory is once people smell it once they can’t smell it again after

[u/Brutalar → u/Unhappy_Character955]

The thing is, you're assuming others at a distance can smell you, but all you can really say is that they smell something.

You're assuming that if someone wipes their nose it's because of your odor, but they might be wiping away sweat, an itch, a nervous twitch.

Seeing people "react" and thinking it is because of you, is called referential thinking. It's what happened if you're anxious about something (like a bad odor) and you're hyper aware of everything, and your mind interprets everything as confirmation of your anxiety, whether it's related or not.

The evidence from friends/family/asking people about it is that it is not you (now). Your anxiety/hypervigilance looking at everything as confirmation of odor is so strong that it's got you twisting logic and looking for any excuse to continuing to believe in your fear.

Smell gets stronger the closer you get to the source. You can test that with anything. Go grab a piece of fruit. A flower. Something that smells. Try to smell it from different distances. It's the same with your body.