Hi,

I'm curious. My A has been drinking for 15 years and more (I've been with him for 15). Anyway, I don't know if it's just the addiction or what but I have seen him really lapse in his hygiene habits over the years.  It makes me feel like his mother when I point out that he maybe needs to bathe or use mouthwash, but if I don't tell him, who will? yikes..  Thing is, I'm wondering if all the alcohol he consumes is also having an effect on the smell of his breath, and even his skin.  If he bathes or after a time of brushing his teeth/using mouthwash, it doesn't seem to last.. he starts to smell funky again.  I know that sounds weird, but I figure that alcohol has to have some kind of negative effect on his insides, besides just his liver.  Am I the only one who has noticed this about their A or maybe I'm just wacky on this one..

This may sound weird, but I can tell some alcoholics by the way they smell.  I am not talking about the smell of liquor, beer or wine on your breath when you have had a few too many.  I am talking about a different smell that someone who has been drinking but isn't a 'hardcore alcoholic' will not have.  I am talking about a smell that comes from their pores or somewhere...  I can be in line somewhere (auto parts stores, for example) and pick up that smell and then look at the man or woman and they have "that look" - the look of an alcoholic that's pretty close to "hitting bottom".  Maybe they didn't drink that day and maybe they showered, but 'that smell' comes from them....  I can't describe the smell but I know it when I smell it.  Maybe it comes from growing up with an alcoholic stepfather - and his hygiene was BAD toward the end.  I don't know if 'that smell' is coming from their liver somehow or if it's the alcohol after it's metabolized or what....  *maybe I will look into that...  But anyway, my step-father had 'that smell' along with other smells that came from not bathing.

(My stepfather died from cirrhosis...  he was sober for about six months before he died.  He was dying then though - when he was sober he would take baths when he was drinking it would be months sometimes between baths - it was bad.  Like I said he was sober for about six months before dying - then his birthday came and some of his old drinkin' buddies came over and took him out and he got drunk - he died two days later... maybe he would have died that day anyway - but I think that the drinking shocked his sober system.  He went into hypoglycemic shock and died...)

My alcoholic boyfriend has really good hygiene.  Once in a while, I will catch a whiff of that smell from him, though....  Sometimes, when he is really hungover there's another smell too.  I swear it smells like something is rotting inside of him.  I hate that smell!!!!

So, no you're not alone in noticing 'that smell'!!

Love and Hugs,

Mariposa

-- Edited by mariposa at 18:47, 2005-06-02

OH YES!!!

I do believe that you are on to something here!!

Over the years the hygene has gotten bad and the smell too!!!

I change our bedding very frequently because I can't stand it!!  EEEEWWWWW

I too have to tell hubby to have a bath and brush his teeth. groose  I wont even kiss him until he has brushed.  It is bad.  So you are no the only one!

JJ

I have smelt that smell on my A.

Whe he binges which is often he doesn't bathe or brush his teeth or change his clothes.

it is very gross.

he reeks and it is hard to be within 10 feet.

before i left these were the times I was happy if he passed out upstairs on the couch, or in his chair, or on the floor. hopefully he would not make it downstairs to our be.

 

But it all just proved to much for me to bear...

Thanks.. I know this is a different smell than just plain 'not bathing' or 'not using mouthwash, etc.  It's, in a small way, reminiscent of the scent of a bar in the early morning hours (kind of musty/moldy, with old smoke and that putrid scent of alcohol that has been lingering for hours in that place). I just wondered if I was being strange here or what but I know it is a smell that just doesn't go away after a bath..   A bath or shower might hold it off for a few hours, but it just keeps coming back...kind of the same way someone who ingests a lot of garlic--it stays in your system and excretes through your pores.  I guess it's the same way with alcohol.  ick! 

Amazing that my A will shower and get all gussied up before a drinking binge.. but it would be a shock to me if he voluntarily sets foot into a tub or shower, etc. when home..  I find this really gross.  I'm glad, in one way, that he has a 'bad back/neck' and can't sleep on our mattress too often.  At least I can get a decent night's sleep that way..  I feel guilty for saying that, but it's true.

Anyway, thanks for letting me know I'm not just imagining this..

:o) Donna

I too know what you mean. It is in the pores! and the body!  Ya see, when you drink too much your body, liver, can't process all of it.  The body gets overloaded with it.  I've told my husband that, probably a mistake.  He took it as he didn't spill any.  Anyway I'm trying to say there is a smell!  A smell you only smell from people who drink too much, alcoholics, or long time drinkers.  Thanks for posting.  I've been saying & smelling it for a long time.  It's nice to know I'm not alone.

Oh yeah, They do have an odor to them that just seams to seep out of their pores. I can come home after being gone all day and my A will "be Sleeping" in the dark bedroom. I can tell if he's been drinking just by the sour smell in the room. It makes my stomach roll. I sometimes have to sleep in the living room just to escape it. My A doesn't skimp on the hygiene, yet! OMG, add that to the sour smell he already has and I might have to sleep in the car! Whitie