Diabetes and body odor.

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Diabetes and body odor.

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My husband is a type 2 diabetic who does nothing to help his condition. Consequently, his blood sugars (only tested when the doctor does it) are always in the mid-200s. He spends almost all day in a small room watching TV. Sometimes the smell in there is overwhelming. It's difficult to describe. It's acrid, somewhat metallic, and sour, is the best way to describe it. It isn't like what one would call BO from not bathing or being hot and sweaty.
Anybody know what this might be? When I look it up, I usually get info about not being clean or having fruity-smelling breath. That is not the issue in this case.

Diabetes Diet & Nutrition Poor Hygiene

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Most likely he is “spilling ketones”. Diabetes when out of control will do this as your body is trying to process sugars but can’t as body not producing insulin, so instead you body pulls fats to process & it’s the fats that’s giving off the odor. It can lead to DKA which can be a medical emergency, as it can lead to diabetic coma . You can test his urine to see the degree of it. There’s lots of info on line on DKA and how to deal with it. But if he won’t permanently and religiously watch his meds and change his diet, it probably will not matter as his diabetes will stay out of control.

The smell can seem alcohol like, so if he gets pulled over by police often gets assumed under the influence. It’s also described as the smell if you try to make candy and mess up the recipe at the hard ball stage…. It’s not sweet smelling but almost acrid burn smell cause it’s fats and whatever tiny amounts of insulin getting processed.

ketone spill will be in his urine. So if he dribbles, it will get on linens, and clothing. Maybe even the chair he always sits in and outside of the toilet bowl. Using bacterial cleaners may not be what you need cause it’s not bacterial but fats which are oily that’s causing the problem. Original blue Dawn would be better as it’s a surfactant designed to cut grease which are fats. Old school Castile soap bars are also surfactants.

Adding drinks with electrolytes will help balance out his ketones somewhat…so maybe try switching to couple of glasses of pedialyte ea day. His doctor absolutely needs to know what his urine strips are showing for insulin levels. As his meds may need to be adjusted.

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Not to be uncouth, but is he gassy? If he sits in a small room all day and farts frequently, it's going to quickly become unbearable, diabetic or not. His diet, which it sounds like he doesn't watch, can contribute to the odor being very sour. I'm a T2 diabetic, too, and even when my glucose is too high, body odor is not a problem. I'm seriously willing to bet that this is a diet issue.

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Not a fart smell. I know those when I smell them. :-) I've been trying to track it down, and I think it might be the disposable underwear he is wearing combined with the fact that his urine is probably full of sugar, because his blood sugar is high and he takes those meds that cause one to excrete the extra sugar in the urine. (sorry if this is gross) Now I'm afraid he will get a fungal or bacterial infection from this.
I can't get him to do anything to help his condition. It's very frustrating.

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Go buy a tester machine and test his blood sugar.

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We have one, and it's like pulling teeth to get him to do it. He is doing all the wrong things, and I can't get him to do the right things.

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Oakie, read this WHOLE article from Cleveland Clinic.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/17865-body-odor#:~:text=If%20you%20have%20diabetes%2C%20a,toxin%20buildup%20in%20your%20body.

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I'm not sure the link sent me to the exact page you had in mind. I do appreciate the help, though. I just can't figure out what the smell is like. He has had blood tests recently, and his kidneys are OK for person his age. Not perfect, but OK>

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It sounds like diabetic keto acidosis. It makes his blood acidic.

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Thanks for your reply. I wondered about that, too, but he doesn't have any of the symptoms. He is a type 2 diabetic, btw.

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Diabetes and body odor.

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