Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

Smell Of Withdrawal

I've noticed the last few times I've gone through any sort of withdrawal that there's a smell that is associated with it. I can't tell if it's in my head or not but it's strong and always the same. It's not sweat or anything I've smelled any other time. Has anyone else had this happen to them?
32 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
Yup. Funky smell. It lasted for about 5 days. There was a joke running around here for a bit about putting Secert in every palce you could. Just part of the detox.

Terry
Helpful - 0
495284 tn?1333894042
COMMUNITY LEADER
Yep......hard to explain isnt it!!!  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I think it smells like sour milk. Yuck!! I used a lot of perfume and antiperspirant during those first days..
Helpful - 0
424675 tn?1260541350
OMG!! I get that too when I withdrawal... Its bad when you cant stand your own smell!!! pee uuuu!!!!!  I think it must be the way the narcs smell and now its oozing out of the poors... ALL of em!!!  scrub a dub dub!!!!
Helpful - 0
736475 tn?1281259327
glad it's not just me! lol
Helpful - 0
495284 tn?1333894042
COMMUNITY LEADER
It was a tin metal toxin smell.........nasty!!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
DEF A WEIRD GLANDULAR ODOR
Helpful - 0
401095 tn?1351391770
yep...know the smell...weird smell..not really yucky but not pleasant either...drink lots of water..it helps
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Yeh, Iv noticed that to its wierd smell its all the chemicals coming out through your pores also whats happening is you are getting all your senses back that have been dulled for so long, when Iv gone through it after bout 4/5 days can taste stuff more and smells are all stronger even looking at the sky, grass, flowers everything is enhanced because its all been numbed and dulled for so long.  Suddenly everything is noticable just think how much you have missed thats what kept me going when I wanted to give up and go back, your'e doing so well. Small steps and victories, keep going just think how much you have to look forward to and make up all that lost time.
All the best.
Helpful - 0
897400 tn?1303329148
I kept asking the nurses in Detox if they smelled something funny. They couldn't smell it. My sense of smell went through the roof when I started tapering off. Some people have visual or hearing sensitivities and others have it in the olfactory senses. I still have overly sensitive sense of smell and things don't taste right.
Helpful - 0
401095 tn?1351391770
ok...i am gonna be candid here..so forgive me if u r faint at heart lol!  this is not a "re-awakening" of the senses type odor..no more detail but places i do not like to have an odor were just exuding this weird odor...like mentioned..it is not a sweaty odor..more like acrid if i could describe it which i can not...i would wake up at night kinda sweaty and this odor was on my gown etc...but when my underarms and privates r a bit "acrid"  i know sumpin is up!  lol   i am sure it has to do with ur body ridding itself of the chemicals we have ingested...but it is a distinct..strange odor..ugh
Helpful - 0
1198705 tn?1277215574
What you smell is acetaldehyde
see......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetaldehyde
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
To funny to see your post, I was going to ask the same thing. I always just thought it was some weird sweat. The worst for me is my sense of smell. For me it is extreme. Cooking odors will smell like some completly unrelated thing or like nothing I have ever smelled. Half the time I think the house is burning down. Seems to be a common problem!
Helpful - 0
699217 tn?1323438700
lol, yes that is what I thought it smelled like also.  Something burning.  I kept sniffing and looking around, thinking a cigarette was burning somewhere I couldnt tell where, and food cooking was gross too.  I knew it was some chemicals coming off me, and just couldnt stand that smell at all.  Sure dont miss smelling that one!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have had he same experience. It seems as though that smell lingers in clothes, and bedsheets. Additionally, when this chemical is coming out, it makes me feel panicky and bats**t crazy. I have found that a shower helps with those feelings, it seems to remove this noxious chemical from my skin, and the crawling feeling is gone for a while. This go around I am taking abouit 5 showers a day, and I am less crazy for a few hours each time. Dont forget to brush and rinse your mouth out.... you'll actually see you are spitting out grey water. You will feel the waste chemical coming out of your mouth and nostrils and even your eyes and crawling out to neighboring skin.

It's really awful crap, man.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i am going thru detox now at home alone. a very clean person and i stink.i got hooked on my wifes ocycotin abot 2 years ago. now she is out for a few days and that means so am i.she has been on it for over 15 and is having an easire time with out it
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My husband is 67 and an alcoholic.  He drinks copious amounts of alcohol - beer, wine, scotch, just about anything - daily, beginning at about 6:00 PM and all day on weekends.  Recently, I started noticing an odor coming from him. It's not the alcohol "sweet" smell that others have mentioned.   It's a dirty, "sour" smell, even soon after he showers in the a.m.  Does anyone know whether this is a known phenomenom with alcoholics?  He has kidney issues.  Could the odor be related to the failure of his kidneys to cleanse his blood properly, i.e. build up of waste products in his body?  
Thanks.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
It's not the smell of WD so much as what you smelled when WD. For me it's my kids shampoo. Everytime I give them a bath I smell it and takes mr right to that feeling.
Another one for me Old Spice body wash. Instant wd feeling when I smell.

For me it's because I smelled those things when having bad wd
Helpful - 0
1456870 tn?1304129806
Maybe the addict in me was acting up.  but, I blamed it on my smallest ones head. I Got irritated that she didnt get a bath. So now once again I need to say sorry for placing blame where it didnt belong. It was me all along that smelled like some sort of french cheese. Note to self:  If ever again, I smell like bad cheese because I am detoxing, place blame on the one who stinks. Oh wait a next time wont happen.  Ill just have to stopp blaming my kids, when I cut a nasty.  >>>>>>>>funny post>>>>>>>> but a good question.
Helpful - 0
1444453 tn?1287103137
Yeah, I agree with that!  For me, it's burnt microwave popcorn!  During the first day of my detox the BF burned popcorn in the micro and the smell stayed with me for days!  I thought I was going crazy.  Also, the smell of anything sweet after the first three days started to make me sick.  
Helpful - 0
417564 tn?1287982827
I have to laugh (which I appreciate very much) - a couple of days ago my fiance was like 'I think I smell you'...I said 'yea, I know' and we just laughed...what else can you do?  I am a clean person but you cannot tell by smelling me during the first couple days of withdrawals...lol  Showering helps for approximately 4 or 5 minutes.
There are several odors that I still associate with methadone withdrawals from 2.5 years ago.
Helpful - 0
1200909 tn?1306815081
When I was coming off Suboxone I kept smelling something like fingernail polish remover. Nobody else smelt it and I thought I was crazy but maybe it was the WD's?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I may not have been clear enough when asking my question.  My husband is, unfortunately, not going through withdrawal.  He drinks every day. He has never taken  any kind of drugs; the only substance he has ever abused is alcohol. The odor coming from him is noticeable by anyone who gets near him, although I don't know if he smells it himself - he doesn't have a highly developed sense of smell. He doesn't exercise, so it's not sweat...

I should probably ask this of a physician.  Can the odor be the result of toxins building up in his system as a result of his kidneys not functioning sufficiently?  In other words, if the waste isn't being removed by the kidneys, through his urine, can it come out in other ways - through his sweat/skin?

Thanks!
Helpful - 0
1428440 tn?1287390379
Everyone sure has a lot to say about smell. Oh my I think my house has been smelling weird but maybe it is me, because it is every where that I am.
Helpful - 0
2
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Addiction: Substance Abuse Community

Top Addiction Answerers
495284 tn?1333894042
City of Dominatrix, MN
Avatar universal
phoenix, AZ
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Is treating glaucoma with marijuana all hype, or can hemp actually help?
If you think marijuana has no ill effects on your health, this article from Missouri Medicine may make you think again.
Julia Aharonov, DO, reveals the quickest way to beat drug withdrawal.
Tricks to help you quit for good.
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.