HAMSTERGIRL:

Of course your pain, physical and emotional, matters much more than body odor. We care about you and how you feel. It would be sad, however, if you denied yourself your social activities because of anger and fear that you would offend others.

You can fix this! Not by going to extremes of two showers a day, but by a few sensible methods. I'm not supposed to shower every day, because that dries my skin too much. And yet I still perspire profusely. *sigh* What to do?

Don't know if this helps --- but I have to spray my shoes, my socks, my computer chair, with my body spray. Nothing else works. I had to throw out a pair of leather sandals because they were so smelly! I hated parting with my Berkies, but nothing would eliminate the awful, pungent odor. The lesson for me is that I can never wear sandals without socks. Is it possible your wheelchair and cushion collect odors? I wonder if Fabreze would help.

And about socks? No way can I take off shoes or slippers without changing socks. Even when I wear slip-on sandals, my socks become terribly smelly. And my feet swell a lot. So I have to wear only the most stretchy and light athletic socks, with some nice minty foot power inside. So for me it's fresh socks and foot powder every single day.

Ladies perspire. Men sweat. There should be a third category to describe people who sweat volumes, as I do. Perfume or cologne are much too heavy to mix with my body chemistry. So I use body spray. I have to apply my body spray a couple of times a day, always before going out, and quite liberally. Once I had a compliment on it, so I may never change that scent. Someone said it was like a fresh breeze came in when I walked in the door. I almost fainted from happiness. I use a cucumber-melon scent, which I chose precisely because, to me, it smelled very clean.

I even had to cut my hair extremely short, because I perspire terribly in my scalp and have to wash my hair twice a day if I do housework.

And I absolutely can't eat anything with garlic in it. Garlic will come out of my pores for days afterward. Nothing will eliminate that odor. And I can't eat onions that day if I'm going out. *sigh*

No, pleasing our public is not what matters the most. However, those of us who have special odor problems (and I certainly do) can usually find a compromise zone --- where we don't limit ourselves from going out.

I'm sorry this is additional stress for you, Hamstergirl. We are only trying to help you find a way to be emotionally comfortable when you go out. That's what you deserve.

Love,
Adieu