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Anonymous Question Awful Smell

Anonymous Question

Anonymous Question

Well-Known Member
Messages
290
Type of diabetes
Other
Treatment type
Diet only
Anonymous question submitted:

My mam has diet controlled type 2 diabetis. She has not been looking after her diet for about 6 months and has gained all of her weight back and eats whatever she wants and drinks wine . I have noticed an unbearable smell coming of her that smells like halitosis that is coming out of her body . She says she is very tired and feels very unwell . What does this mean ? Hope you can help a very worried daughter . Thanks

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If she is eating whatever she wants, chances are that her blood glucose levels are high and unstable and will be causing her tiredness. Does she test at home with a meter?

Don't know about the smell, but I suggest she gets to the doc. Controlling her diabetes should be her priority. Best wishes.
 
Awkward situation, I once had to discuss this with my own mum, it wasn't easy. She's also diabetic by the way.

I suppose the main question to ask is how do you think she's managing with her personal hygiene? Maybe she's struggling physically, especially if she's feeling tired, or maybe she's lacking motivation if she's feeling down etc. You've known her for a long time, think about how her personal hygiene is now compared to previous years. Once you've excluded this, it's time to consider other causes...

Has she got any infections? I'm thinking about things like UTI's, intimate areas, skin and mouth/teeth. All of these have quite distinctive smells. I've smelt all of them over the years (used to be a nurse), so I got quite adept at sussing out likely problems from smells! Have a look out for things like if she's going to the loo more often (possibly a UTI), is she covering up more (she could be hiding a skin infection)? etc. What's her blood glucose like? Could it be high and causing her to have bad breath associated with DKA? (usually smells more fruity/chemical-ish smell in my experience).

I know through experience that this isn't an easy conversation, best of luck with it x
 
I've been researching kidney problems, and halitosis is one of the symptoms, a smell of urine. Unless she has a decaying tooth I should get her to the docs.
 
A bad smell from the mouth is often a sign of infection or it can be caused by medication ....support others ..see GP
A good strong mouthwash helps as well...
Best wishes ....Kat ...
 
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