cant stand the smell of my husband

[muni]

I have been married to my husband for five years now and love him very much. However in the past few years i have not been able to be around my husband as everytime i come near him, my throat starts to tighten i start to cough and breathing becomes more and more difficult, it is as though im passing by a sewer or this is some sort of bad smell being omitted. Now the situation has become much worse and anything he comes in contact carries that 'smell' whether its the house keys that he touched or the t-shirt that he wore, even washing with powerful detergents does not seem to get rid of the smell. Even hugging the children has become difficult now as even if they come in contact with him i can not be around them as that smell moves onto them. I cant even come into my own house if my husband has been inside there is a powerful pungent smell inside. Iam not sure what to do and not sure if all of this is in my head, my husband comes in contact with a lot of people and no one else except me is bothered by it so im not sure if all of this is in my head and if it is iam not sure what i should do? is there a specific kind of term for this kind of condition? is there any medication are there other people who have similar conditions to mind? any help would be greatly appreciated

[Tim W Latsko]

Do you have allergies?

[muni]

no i have been to an allergy doctor, however i was told i didnt have any common allergies

[Faye Lang, RN, MSW]

Hello Muni,

Your description of your problems with your husband's odor is suggestive of a developing phobia. Are there other problems in your relationship with your husband or in your daily life? The most effective treatment for you is to seek treatment from a mental health provider. That person would work with you to get a complete life history and your relationship history to develop a working diagnosis and appropriate treatment. In some cases, these kind of symptoms are actually developed from childhood events that aren't expressed until adulthood. There are medications that may help short term, as well.

Good luck to you, and I hope that you will try mental health treatment.

Faye, RN, MSW