I Have an Embarrassing Problem

Let's talk about something embarrassing. I stink. As in, I have been suffering from some serious body odor issues. This has been going on for about 6-8 months now roughly, that I just can't seem to battle the body odor. In the past, there might have been a day every once in awhile where I was especially stinky after a workout or something, and it would go away with a shower. No problem. That's normal.

What I have going on right now is not normal. My armpits ALWAYS smell. Even after scrubbing (and scrubbing and scrubbing) in the shower, I get out and can still smell myself. I started using Native deodorant almost 4 months ago, and it has helped considerably, but there is still always an underlying smell. And Lord help us all if I happen to forget to put it on immediately after getting out of the shower. Within an hour, I STINK bad. It's pretty ridiculous.

Have you ever been around someone that smells especially rank? I'm not talking about at the gym where it is to be expected to some degree. Although, I do remember when I worked as a personal trainer at an athletic club, there were a few special circumstances where particular gym members had overwhelming body odor, so bad that you couldn't stand to be in the same room as them. Our manager had to have embarrassing conversations with them because it was turning away other members.

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Well, crap!!!! This was NOT supposed to post earlier! I just came back to finish, only to discover I managed to publish it instead of save it. Facepalm. So here's part 2.

There's been a few times I've been around someone that was having a particularly smelly day. Not enough to make you gag, like the few occasional people at the gym, but enough to make you wonder if they forgot their deodorant that day. I always wondered if they knew they had B.O. or if they were oblivious. Now I'm of the mind that they probably knew. 

This is a sensitive subject for me because my grandma is one of those very smelly people. It makes me feel awful even writing that, but it's a real problem. My grandma lives in an assisted living retirement home. Everyone in my family (accept for my mom, because she is a saint in this regard) has a hard time going to visit her because her room smells so powerfully bad. The last time I visited her, it was during dinner and she was in the cafeteria. Usually that's the best place to visit because we aren't stuck in her tiny, smelly room. But on that day, she smelled so bad it was enough to make your eyes water and knock you over. It was all I could do not to gag in her face when I gave her a hug! I have no idea how her table companions could stand it. My sister and my aunt were with me that day. It was very upsetting how bad she smelled. My aunt followed that visit up with a call to the facility to find out why she wasn't being taken care of properly. Come to find out, she had been bathed THAT DAY! And she still stank so bad. I have a real fear of this happening to me. 

I've always thought that body odor came from a lack of good personal hygiene. I'm now coming to the realization that sometimes it truly doesn't matter how well you shower, how much you scrub, and how much deodorant you wear. Some people truly just have a major B.O. issue. Turns out I'm one of them.

I'm pretty sure this is a hormonal thing, and has to do with being perimenopausal (self diagnosed). I am hoping to get a doctor's appointment scheduled by the end of the week. I just need to decide where I'm going and find out who will see me. The fact that I don't ever go to the doctor very often, combined with all the moving we've done in the last 4 years, means that I don't really have a regular doctor. I need to buckle down and make some phone calls.