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Woman left showering four times a day due to rare condition that leaves her smelling like fish

Awoman who was diagnosed with one of the world's rarest conditions which leaves her smelling "fishy", said she uses an entire can of deodorant in order to mask her body odour.

Kelly-Fidoe-White first became aware that something was wrong when she was around six years old and noticed her pee smelled like fish. She then began to develop a strong body odour when she went through puberty and decades of name-calling followed.

The senior night radiographer from Oldham was told she had Trimethylaminuria (TMAU) which is also known as "fish-odour syndrome" in 2015. The condition is so uncommon, it has only been recorded 100 in medical records but doctors believe the real figures might be a lot higher.

Read more: Yorkshire GP patients miss 1.1 million appointments in a year as doctors left waiting

Before her diagnosis, she often showered several times a day to try and curb the smell, not realising that this would only make matters worse. Kelly, 41, said the condition has caused her mental health to deteriorate and she would often stay at home in fear of other people noticing her scent, the Manchester Evening News reports.

"People call it a curse, and I can see why. To sum it up in two words, it's confusing and isolating," Kelly told NeedToKnow.online.

"Confusing because people generally don’t like to confront body odour issues head-on so when you ask them outright they tend to tell you they don’t smell anything, but unfortunately you will then get the odd person who talks about it behind your back, rather than dealing with you face-to-face.

"As a healthcare professional, to be asked if you know you should be using soap when you wash, is really upsetting."

Over the years, she's tried to find ways to cope with the condition such as by changing her work uniform twice a day and using whole cans of deodorant to cover her scent. Unfortunately, other people who are unaware of Kelly's struggles often believe it is down to bad hygiene.

Kelly said: "It has absolutely nothing to do with personal hygiene. I could wash every hour of every day and it would only be a short term fix. In fact, it is common for sufferers to smell worse after a shower because the pores open more due to the warm water.

"It's isolating because you don’t want to offend people with the smell so you are constantly thinking, 'Am I sweaty? Am I over-warm? That person is coughing, is that because of me?' If you let it, the condition can begin to take over your thoughts.

"I developed severe hyper-vigilance over people’s reactions to the smell. The worst part is feeling like you're going crazy from it."

Some trolls also body shamed Kelly by saying the scent was due to her weight and at one point, her mum was forced to visit her work with a fresh pair of clothes after someone complained to management about her smell.

She said: "It has nothing to do with weight, which was thrown at me a lot. In fact, my smell was worst when I was at my lightest."

In a bid to improve her body odour, Kelly also changed her diet and cut out choline rich foods such as liver, kidney, beans, peanuts and cruciferous vegetables. However, this in turn leaves her with low choline levels which can contribute to the risk of developing neurological conditions such as fibromyalgia and Parkinson's disease.

She said: "The whole condition is counter-intuitive in its treatment because your first thought is that it is BO [body odour]. So you wash more, use stronger soaps, wash your clothes using soda crystals etc etc., apply more perfume and body spray – all of which makes it worse.

"I ultimately learned that the skin needs to remain at its natural pH of 5.5 as acid breaks down TMAU as it comes through the skin – soaps, bleach and soda crystals are generally alkali."

Sadly, there is no cure for TMAU, leaving those living with the condition with little option other than cutting out certain foods and supplementing specific nutrient levels. Kelly also signed up for therapy and counselling to deal with the decades of bullying she was subjected to.

"Currently I believe I am relatively symptom-free. This is due to a combination of supplements scientifically selected to reduce TMA production and boost TMA oxidisation and some lifestyle modifications," she said.

"It’s difficult because once you are labelled as someone with a BO problem some people do use it as a stick to beat you with if they don’t like you. I want to give a voice to my fellow sufferers, who suffer in silence because of the stigma attached to BO."

She added: "People are generally scared to speak up for fear of being ridiculed. Unfortunately when people do it can be difficult to get specialist treatment as the smell is often intermittent and GPs tend to not refer based on the individuals testimony alone.

"I have found a community online, which is substantial." 

Reference: Yorkshire Live: Olive Loveridge-Greene & Sophie Halle-Richards & Victoria Schee