Do alcoholics smell (and I'm not talking about booze--stupid question)
 

I was wondering if drunk people or alcohols emit a bad smell or odor when they sweat.

My "husband" told me today, while fighting, that I used to have a funky smell while I was an alcoholic. He wasn't talking about me smelling of alcohol or anything--just said that will I regularly smelled.

Note: I had good hygiene and didn't weigh very much. Not being defense, just curious whether or not this is true or just being used as a stupid line.

short answer - yes. when we put more alcohol IN then the body can naturally process:

If you drink a large (250ml) glass of wine, your body takes about three hours to break down the alcohol. If you drink one pint of beer, your body takes about two hours to break it down. One pint of strong lager is equivalent to three units, so this will take longer.

this means the body has to find other ways to eliminate the excess. much of it just sits and ferments. basically we are pickling ourselves, literally.

our skin is the largest organ of our body, and is where a lot of "stuff" gets released.

I remember my sheets smelling bad after sweating all night. :(

There's a substance our body produces when we drink in excess, it has a chemical smell

Yes. It's NASTY!

Yes!

The sweat and/or odor of a heavy drinker smells like that half can of beer that sat in the garage for a week, with a hint of old urine

yup. when i was drinking heavy i smelled horrible. even could smell it. i would take a shower as soon as i got up trying to wash that gross stench off, but of course it just stayed there. when things got really bad that smell would stick around a few days in to detox.

nasty.

Not a stupid question - definitely true! Another factor in addition to what's been mentioned is that alcohol messes up the balance of pH in our bodies, which can result in candida and horrid breath and more (you can imagine). A friend once told me he literally had the smell/taste of feces in his nose after a binge! Probably his stomach processing all that poison and liver forced to work overtime. So gross...

Binges used to turn my tongue white-yellow. And I'm sure I didn't smell very nice.

Yes, definitely. I also think it's why even though I was a binge drinker on weekends all I had to do was drink one beer and my husband could smell it a mile away. I think JScatt's description covered it.

Another yes from me. I workout and sweat easily in general (I am not heavy- it is definitely a family habit, ha) and it is a different smell entirely now that I "sweat sober" than when I was drinking!!