Changes in Body Odor and/or Earwax production

I have had a strong body odor for the last months. My brother says i have “liver smell”.

The truth is I feel like I smell like an old man I have to constantly put deodorant to be sure that I don’t smell bad.

My body odor has changed significantly, I’ve seen a post on here where a user referred to his as a cross between vinegar and cat-piss. That accurately described mine…

2 Likes

I have noticed this too, my body odor has completely vanished, recently on some days it will return but only for short periods of time. I also seem to have less ear wax, not as sure about this one though.

1 Like

Same here, no ear wax, nasal mucous, sometimes dry and flaky

2 Likes

My body odour is returned earlier this year and I noticed my earwax had come back into production.

Both increase and decrease with my condition. Strangely, I get more body odour on my right side than my left.

1 Like

Here is some interesting information on genes related to odor / earwax production. ABCC11 is one of them and possibly why many of us have odorless underarm sweat and changes to ear wax production.

“Individuals expressing the mutated form of this protein display a non-malodour phenotype
due to malodour precursor compounds failing to reach the axilla. The wild-type ABCC11
allele is prevalent among Europeans and Africans with the mutated G583A allele
widespread mainly in individuals of East Asian descent, particularly Chinese, Korean and
Japanese populations. The phenotypic effect of the G583A SNP was verified by Harker et
al. (2014) who associated a significantly lower axillary odour in individuals homozygous
for the mutated gene, which was biochemically connected to an almost complete absence
of the malodorants”

Study reveals structure of protein that transports body odor precursor. Funny that pharma is actually researching ways to block odor, perhaps another use for finasteride once they discover all of us who are affected…

https://cen.acs.org/analytical-chemistry/structural-biology/Study-reveals-structure-protein-transports/96/i29

Daniel Bawdon PHD seems to be the expert on the matter. He wrote his thesis on it.

Postdoctoral Research Paper on characterisation of the biochemical route to malodour production

3 Likes

Yup, I have this side. :sob: Good description of it too ha

I believe my body odor changed remarkably too, but almost opposite from previous posters. It’s much STRONGER (I first thought my new brand of laundry detergent was crap) and DIFFERENT (or does it just seem that way because it’s stronger?) WITH A MORE MANLY SCENT (if I go by the above quote and interpreted it well). The fact I can’t seem to get it out of my clothes suggests I’m producing more sebum (I’ve always had oily skin, can’t tell the difference).

I first noticed the change around the time I quit finasteride (I don’t know whether that was shortly before or after quitting finasteride, but it was around that time). After would make more sense i.e. a manlier scent but a stronger/different one because the hormones/neuroactive steroids in my body were irreversibly changed versus my pre-finasteride days.

I only realized the possible link with finasteride now, 2 years later, when i stumbled on the above quote myself. Then I googled this forum to see if anyone else had reported this symptom, and that’s how I found this thread.

2 Likes

i noticed the same thing, especially the body odor.
i have less body odor after the use of fin (armpits dont smell that bad when i wake up).

Dont know if this is a good or bad thing.

2 Likes

The symptom of not smelling bad is a good thing, but what it means is probably less good. I believe that it is a sign our androgens aren’t functioning properly.

2 Likes

This has maybe been mentioned, but to be more specific.
Maybe there is a scenario where everything is in place, but the bacteria.
You could almost look at hormones as a growth factor for bacteria, or suppression of, a window of opportunity for something lost, and something less desirable takes its place.

Causes of Body Odor: Body odor, or B.O., or Brohidrosis typically becomes noticeable once a person hits puberty, usually 14-16 years of age in women and 15-17 in men. Body odor is often blamed on our sweat, but our sweat is not actually the direct cause of the odor. The odor itself actually results from the metabolizing of bacteria on the skin of different areas of the body. The bacterium breaks down the sweat into acids that cause the smell.

Sweat itself is odourless; it’s simply the bacteria breaking down the protein in it that causes the bad smell. Two different acids usually cause this smell: propionic acid and isovaleric acid.

The acids that are produced in these areas, the culprits for producing the smells, are commonly Propionic or Isovaleric acids. Propionic acid is found in sweat, and is processed by a type of bacteria found on sebaceous glands called Propionibacteria. Isovaleric acid is commonly found on feet, processed by the bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis, which as we have learned is also found on some types of cheese.

3 Likes

Thanks for thoroughly grossing me out while eating cheese and crackers reading this.

Was just speaking with someone yesterday about the loss of BO for some of us and this point came up.

2 Likes

Whats interesting is you could probably isolate propionic acid or propionibacteria being distinct from the other acid/bacteria (and smell) found mostly on the feet.
So I would maybe be looking at propionibacteria or propionic acid more so when it comes to general body odor.

My body odor smells like a mix of cat piss and vinegar. It’s absolutely putrid. It also has a slight “sweet” smell to it, like an old guy.

3 Likes

I saw in interesting article regarding body odor today, and it states that:

“Your cluster of 50 MHC genes forms the underlying genotype for your body’s immune system. The phenotype—how those genes express themselves to the world—is emitted as your body’s baseline scent.”

The fact so many of us have had body odor changes is no coincidence. Some others claimed antibiotics have helped them, and more claim to have a stronger immune system and have not gotten colds, or as many of them since PFS (myself included). This seems to lend credibility to PFS possibly being an immune system issue.

There are also some similarities in our condition with some other autoimmune conditions like myositis or Lyme disease, which include symptoms like muscle loss and fatigue,

Given the article states there are a cluster of (only) 50 MHC genes involved, it’s got to be easier to research those than the thousands mentioned in other studies.

Have any of us have gone to an immunologist? And if so, how many have mentioned body odor changes to them?

5 Likes

I have strong body oddor changes. Un fact my current body oddor is like old men oddor.

Boddy oddor is primary related to hormones levels and genes. Since finasteride has altered the genes expression and hormones, boddy oddor as result. I dont think this related to inmune system.

1 Like

Would love to explore this more

1 Like

my body odour and ear production definitely changed after pssd. i still produce sweat but it rarely smells. also my right ear barely produces any earwax. however in my experiment with fecal matter transplant, my body odour picked up again, along with my right ear producing a ton of earwax. during this time my acne was all over my back, it was insane. this was also followed by feeling a sense of optimism and bliss. i was also sleeping very well. i would wake up in the morning with a feeling of bliss. it’s like my body has since went back into a state of feeling bad, despite continuing the fmts. i am sharing this because if my progressed continued like it was, i would have recovered very quickly. also this experience shows that there is no permanent damage. we are just malfunctioning. hope this could help someone

1 Like

also another thing i noticed was my eye boogers have been almost non existent since pssd. but i was waking up with these crusted all over my eyes. i honestly had a feeling there was permanent damage to the body at one point. but this experience shows quite the contrary

2 Likes

My symptoms fluctuate. I slept comfortably a few days ago, but I woke up from panic today. My ears didn’t secrete any earwax for a while, but yesterday I took out some viscous secretions. I bet they are completely different from the earwax in my healthy period

2 Likes