i've been doing a lot of research on the internet and tonight was the first time i came across these terms. i've started noticing my body odor problems (mainly in m amrpits) when i was about twelve, and now i'm seventeen and it's only making my life worse. i've been reading around and i've been crying 'cause i can really relate, sometimes when i get home i'd just cry and cry because i really don't know what else to do about it. once, i skipped school and decided to tell my mom. she told me she couldn't smell anything but she brought me to a doctor anyway, the doctor gave me stuff to apply to my armpits and put me on antibiotics for a week. it didn't do anything. a week later, i was crying again and i asked my mom if we weren't going back to the doctor because nothing had changed. she only told me in an annoyed tone that im only making life miserable for both of us and i should stop it. since then i felt so embarassed and couldnt tell her how i feel even if i was on the verge of thinking suicidal thoughts.
i couldn't smell myself but i'm sure i stink because of how people around me react. wherever i go it's always the same. very rarely i can smell myself and i just feel so annoyed and desperate because i couldn't do anything about it. i practice good hygiene, shower twice a day, wear deodorant and even re-apply it during the day (which i know doesnt help, but it gives me a sense of reassurance that im doing my part). then i saw this term, Olfactory Reference Syndrome. i Googled it and found that's its a sort of psychiatric disorder similar to OCD, and its symptoms are exactly the things i do, only i had been certain that it's not in my head. now im even more confused and afraid and desperate.
sorry if this post is too long, it's just that i've never opened about this to anyone and if you have the same condition, im sure you know how hard it is especially that you feel too embarassed so you keep it all to yourself. i want to try treatments but i can't even tell my mom so i don't know how to access them. help me please :(