Many people going through chemotherapy discuss an unpleasant body odor as a side effect. And yes, the culprit is indeed the chemotherapy drugs that affect both the body and bodily fluids. The positive news is that the smell typically disappears after the last treatment.
Certain types of cancer and its treatment can change your senses of taste and smell.
Chemotherapy leaves the body through urine, vomit, blood, stool, sweat, mucus and sexual fluids.
Most chemotherapy drugs are cleared from body waste in about two days. A few drugs may take as long as seven or more days to be cleared. A variety of factors can influence how long it takes for the drugs to leave your body.
Your body odor can change due to hormones, the food you eat, infection, medications or underlying conditions like diabetes. Prescription-strength antiperspirants or medications may help.
If the enzyme is missing or its activity is reduced because of a variant in the FMO3 gene, trimethylamine is not processed properly and can build up in the body. As excess trimethylamine is released in a person's sweat, urine, and breath, it causes the odor characteristic of trimethylaminuria.
Also quantitative studies have shown that cancer patients with an altered taste and/or smell during chemotherapy have a lower quality of life [4–7]. Previous research has shown that taste and smell alterations are largely transient, and usually recover within the first three months after the end of chemotherapy [8–10].
Short, planned delays in chemotherapy for good-risk GCT patients (less than or equal to 7 days per cycle) appear to be acceptable since they may prevent serious toxicity in this curable patient population. Delays of longer than 7 days are strongly discouraged except in extraordinary life-threatening circumstances.
Most chemotherapy side effects are temporary and disappear once your treatment is over. For some people chemotherapy can cause long term changes in the body months or years after treatment. Many people feel more tired than usual for a long time after chemotherapy treatment.
Some types of chemotherapy can cause your skin to become dry, itchy, red or darker, or peel. You may develop a minor rash or sunburn easily; this is called photosensitivity. Some people also have skin pigmentation changes.
It is safe to touch other people while on chemotherapy. You can hug and kiss. But you do need to protect others from coming into contact with your medicine.
For most people, once treatment has finished the first new hairs can start to peek through at around three to six weeks after chemotherapy has finished. Some people even find that their hair grows before treatment has ended, especially those on combination chemotherapy regimes.
Unpasteurized fruit juice or cider. Raw sprouts like alfalfa sprouts. Raw or undercooked beef (especially ground beef) or other raw or undercooked meat and poultry. Raw or undercooked shellfish, like oysters—These items may carry the hepatitis A virus and should be cooked thoroughly to destroy the virus.
Doctors think some chemotherapy drugs cause taste changes because they stay in the spit (saliva) for a few days after treatment.
During a course of treatment, you usually have around 4 to 8 cycles of treatment.
Water, water, water: we know it can be difficult, but please drink plenty of water before, during and after chemo treatment. Drinking lots of water will help to flush the chemo through your system, and can also help to keep your bladder from becoming irritated.
Often referred to as cancer-related cognitive impairment, chemo brain can be marked by severe memory problems, a lack of mental sharpness, and what many people who experience it describe as “mental fog.” The chemotherapy drug cisplatin is commonly linked to chemo brain.
Why Chemo And Radiation Affect Smell And Taste. Taste buds and smell receptors have some renewable cell tissue, and chemotherapy and radiation work by stopping cell renewal.
Bacterial infections:
Excessive panties are always wet vaginal discharge can be caused due to bacterial vaginosis. The discharge is thin, grey coloured and smells like a fish. It also causes itching around the vagina. Having multiple sexual partners and frequent douching are the common causes of bacterial infection.
The best way to keep your private parts smelling OK is to take regular showers or baths, wash the outside of your vulva or penis with warm water and a little soap, and wear clean, dry underwear. Other than that, there's no need to use douches or special washes.
In addition, if you smell a strong, fishy odor, you may have bacterial vaginosis (vaginal infection) or trichomoniasis (a sexually transmitted disease caused by a parasite). Schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss antibiotic treatments to stop the infection.