Justwantnormal

Hi all, it's been a while since I've posted. Not much has changed here, unless you call finding new places to hide vodka 'change'. I have a question though. Last night my AH had a horrible smell to him. I smelt it on his breath early in the evening, but then it seemed to start seeping out of his pores as the night went on. It's not the smell of alcohol, it's much, MUCH worse. I've smelt it on him before, but could never figure out a way to describe the smell. When I woke up at 3am, the smell was so strong I thought I might be sick. It suddenly dawned on me that I know the smell - it smells like the old folks home I used to visit my Grandmother in. So I googled 'alcoholic smells like an old folks home' and came up with Fetor Hepaticus (also referred to as the 'Breath of Death'). Has anyone else experienced this? It's such an awful, awful smell and my whole house stinks of it. Is this a 'GET HIM TO THE HOSPITAL NOW' sort of situation? …not that he'd listen.

thequest

I notice that alcohol can increase or change the smell of colognes, soaps and deodorants. Alcohol can also change hormones if hard core long term alkie. Alkies frequently have hang over breath. I think once they have sweet or alcohol breath their bodies are over loaded with alcohol. Alcohol can dehydrate the body which could affect smells as well. It could affect the smell of what he has eaten. I'll have to follow and check on this because I too notice a lot of smells as well with the excessive drinker.

Good Luck

CodeJob

Yuck. I doubt it would make a difference to point it out.

Mine used to get up and puke his brains out every morning and then pretend everyone gets up and yaks! Gross!! Total denial...

thequest

Could it be a dental problem. Does he bother to brush, floss etc. Sometimes the mint in tooth pastes doesn't mix with other food & drink or gum disease/cavities. Just another not good possibility.

FireSprite

Uh, what an awful flashback.... RAH's body odor used to be horrid when he was drinking. I always chalked it up to him working outside sweating all day & it was, but not just that simple. I wasn't understanding how his body was trying to detox the alcohol out of every pore. It disappeared a few months into sobriety thank GOD.... even his laundry reeked, I made him leave it in his closet with the door shut & THAT wasn't enough.

FeelingGreat

Just googled it Normal, and if it is caused by severe liver disease then he probably should see a doctor. Would it do any good to talk to him about it? Apart from the obvious danger to his health, you shouldn't have to endure it either. Any possibility of sleeping in another room? If you're waking up in the middle of the night feeling like you're going to gag it's time to get away from the immediate vicinity.

JaneLane

Just jumping in here, I have had alcoholic dependancy and the smell of my breath has been terrible during the addiction and during detox. It got better after that. At the height of detox I was brushing 4 times a day, tongue scraping twice and using a posh mouthwash twice too. I don't know about your partner, but it passed for me (thank goodness) and just seemed to be a way for my body to get rid of the gross stuff.

Duckygirl1

I think it may have to do with the individual and body chemistry. My ex never smelled like booze even after a really good bender. Alcohol is also recognized as a poison to the body. It doesn't "digest" like other liquids, it ferments badly and destroys healthy flora in the gut especially yeasty beer. There is also a high sugar factor that can cause dental problems. My boss can be smelled from four feet away. It's a sickly sweet smell like wine glasses laying around after a party mixed with profuse sweat. The warm weather is only making it worse. Ick.
.

HopefulinFLA

My XH had kidney disease, and about a year before he started dialysis his breath was horrid! Turns out it was toxins in is blood being excreted via his lungs that his kidneys were not processing. It cleared up when he started dialysis.

SadInTX

So glad you posted this...my AH tells me brushes his teeth at work.. never thought it was due to the alcohol in his system. My ex would smell so bad...I could smell him down the hall. Ugh, sorry you have to go through this.
Currently my AH quit drinking...today is day 4...the night before last the sweat from his body soaked the sheets (his side of the bed). I did not wash them...and last night he got up after trying to fall asleep and said "don't you smell this'"? (I was in the living room working on my coloring book) I said "No, I do not". He ended up going to sleep on the king size bed in his son's room...I ended up tearing off the sheets, placed down a blanket and went to sleep. I had the whole bed to myself...I did not plan it that way but now I am looking at it I DID NOT clean up his mess!!!! Yea for me!

Thumper

My ex had a sickly sweet smell about him. It wasn't his breath, just the body smell that clung to him all the time - from his pores. I can detect it in a second. Sometimes I smell it standing in a check out line or passing someone on the street or in a store. The smell of alcohol was also there but different and not all the time and more about his breath. I smelled that alcohol smell sitting next to someone at the kids' Christmas concert this year. It has been such a long time but a wave of sadness washed over me. Smell is such a trigger.

In my ex's case it wasn't a 'get to the hospital now' sort of thing. He did have some elevated liver tests but not an emergency situation. If you think you can bring it up in a way that would prompt him to make a doctors appointment than I'd say something one time only. If there would be no positive result or movement resulting from the discussion I'd just let it go. He already knows he drinks to much.

I think the breath smelling sweet is a different thing - and probably a more urgent need to see the doctor. My son was diagnosed with T1D a year ago - and his breath smelled sweet from the DKA. It wasn't exactly the same smell but close - reminded me of it.

Justwantnormal

He's already sleeping in another room. I could smell it that strongly across the hall I've had all the windows open all day and I can still smell it in the house.

Justwantnormal

Good advice, Thumper. I'll say something tonight and suggest he get checked out, but then I'll leave it alone. If my house starts smelling like this on a daily basis though, I won't leave it alone for long. This smell is so disgusting

Refiner

Could it be ketoacidosis?

BellaBlue

My AS had this smell oozing out of his pores. It was so bad - the whole downstairs where he was living smelled terrible. While he was in rehab, I washed his clothes, but they still had some of the smell. I believe it was toxins being secreted through his skin that the liver was having a hard time processing. IOW, alcohol poisoning.

redatlanta

Have smelled it before too but not on RAH. On a friend.

Smells to me like soured milk BO and turd breath mixed together. Coming out of the mouth I would attribute more to poor dental hygiene. I don't imagine flossing to be high on the list of an alcoholic - seems to me brushing becomes more of function of hiding the smell than cleaning the teeth.

Refiner

OMG! Mmmmm... NOT!

firebolt

Yeah its gross. Sometimes after I get up in the morning, I can hardly go back into my bedroom because of the smell while he is still in there.

Were going camping for 5 days starting tonight, which I love, but you know what camping means for an alcoholic.....and our tent is 1/5th the size of our bedroom.....

hopeful4

Cyrosis of the liver can also make a person smell foul