Hands smell like garlic. No joke.

[sweettems]

I've had this strange problem pretty consistently for the past year or so. My hands will have a strange orde. It smells very much like garlic. Though it comes and goes, it doesn't tend to completely go away, at least not for long, and it often gets very, very strong. So much so that I will notice it when my hand is still a foot away from my face. It's weird, and it's gross. I've tried going without garlic, onions, etc. in my diet, but it doesn't make a difference. I don't smell it anywhere else on me, just my hands. I'm hypothyroid, so I take medication for that as well as Glumetza and Spironolactone for too much androgen. I wondered if it was from our water, but again, it's only on my hands. I've got all sorts of other problems, but they all have general medical reasons. This doesn't, and my doctors have no ideas, and just tend to ignore the issue.

[gingerke]

A related discussion, garlic smell on hands was started.

[Red_Star]

Netdoc states thiazide and spironolactone containing diuretics should not be used if you have a sulfur allergy. Sulfur based medication looks to be the most likely cause of your garlic odor.

Causes of garlic smell:

* Foods in the onion (allium) family, including onion, leek, garlic and chive, contain pungent sulfur compounds that permeate through skin pores.

* Certain sulfur-based medications, including dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), can cause body odor and bad breath similar to garlic.

* Emotional stress - apocrine glands secrete an oily sweat when a person is suffering from anxiety or emotional stress. Sulfur producing bacteria thrive in these fatty compounds and produce a chemical by product that smells similar to garlic odor.

* In large quantities, cumin may cause garlic like body odor or bad breath

* Excesses of selenium are secreted in the urine, and the selenium-containing molecule dimethyl selenide is excreted during respiration. This molecule gives breath a garlic odor characteristic of selenium toxicity.

* Arsenic poisoning - garlic breath

* Organic phosphate insecticides - garlic breath

* Thallium poisoning - garlic breath