Pick-a-name

She died of cancer (spread to her bones from breast).

BohemiMamaof3

My Abrother has that smell, though it does leave when he's in a sober period.

guyinNC

Isn't it called Ketosis??? I may have mispelled that word. My wife had that smell too. I have also heard that people who go heavy on the atkins diet ( all protein diet) can give off that smell. Something again on how the liver / kidneys process what we eat or drink.

blizzard77

guy,
Ketosis is an abnormal increase of ketones in the body in conditions of reduced or disturbance of carbohydrate metabolism, as in uncontrolled diebetes mellitus. That's why some people on the adkin's diet may experience this because that's the goal for the diet for your body to go into ketosis so you burn fat not stores of sugars. That's a bit of my nursing knowledge for today. I guess that education did pay off.
I think the "alcohol" smell that sweats out of the pores is because your liver slowly looses functioning, is unable to filtrate all of the alcohol so it has to come out in other ways. My AH is 6 mths sober and I do not notice that smell anymore...then again we don't share a room so what do I know? Ketosis, is more of a sweet distinct smell usually on the breath of someone in ketosis. That's my 2 cents.

Pick-a-name

It's a different smell in AH's case....my son had that smell (it can be diabetes but in his case it was his heart...beating way too fast). They do smell somewhat similar but ketosis smells metallic (to me) and the alcohol one is heavier,sweeter and oily...at least to me. I don't doubt that ketosis can come into play. AH's blood sugar would (does) evidently get very high due to drinking.

velvet

mfisher...up above....has got it right.
It is a horrible smell. I work a second job, at a drive thru/gas station...on the Saturdays, when I open up (6 a.m.) I get alot of guys coming home from an all nighter and I can smell that smell from across the counter.
My ex is an alcoholic and I remember the smell very well.

robina

Whenever my daughter drinks heavily, she reeks of alcohol from about 4 feet away. I believe it actually comes out of her pores - its not on her clothes or anything.

BSPGirl

What caught my eye in the this thread is that someone who had too much to drink as allowed to drive back.

Marte

Pick-a-name

Marte: you are probably correct.

It was a few hours later; but I thought, as we were on the freeway, that I was back to my old ways (although he did not seem impaired in the least;not that it was necessarily true). I smelled "the smell" the next time I got into the seat to drive my car.