🍻
TMAU and Alcohol: Why I Had to Quit (Even Though I Didn’t Want To)
Let me be real with you: I loved drinking.
Not in a frat-boy way. Not even in a party way. But in a “this numbs the stress and shuts my brain up” kind of way.
After long, exhausting shifts on the forklift, soaked in sweat, surrounded by warehouse heat and fumes, the cold crack of a Miller Genuine Draft felt like the only reward I had. It wasn’t about getting wasted — it was about getting away. From the paranoia. From the isolation. From the constant wondering if people could smell me.
But eventually, I had to stop. My name is Lifter_X, and this is the uncomfortable truth about why alcohol and TMAU do not mix.
🤢 The TMAU Effect: What Alcohol Did to My Body
I didn’t want to admit it at first, but alcohol made my symptoms worse. Not just a little worse. Noticeably worse.
Here’s what happened when I drank:
I’d sweat more. Especially overnight — soaked sheets, pillowcase swamp.
My odor got sharper. Think rotting meat mixed with burnt rubber and regret.
Digestion slowed down. I’d feel bloated, gassy, like everything was fermenting inside me.
My anxiety spiked, which made me more paranoid and hypersensitive.
Oil production ramped up. I’d feel sticky, like my skin was pushing out toxic sludge.
It was like my body couldn’t handle the overload, and alcohol just turned up the dial on everything nasty. The funk came back faster. Stronger. And longer-lasting.
🧪 Why Alcohol Worsens TMAU
Here’s what I learned after obsessively researching and tracking my own reactions:
Alcohol stresses the liver — and your liver is already struggling to process trimethylamine (TMA), the compound that causes the fishy or foul odor in TMAU.
It disrupts gut bacteria — the kind responsible for producing (and breaking down) odor-causing chemicals.
It dehydrates you — meaning any smell becomes more concentrated.
It slows digestion — which gives food more time to rot and create byproducts that worsen odor.
It lowers inhibition — and I’d eat junk food late at night, like fried chicken or greasy burgers, that blew up my system.
So every time I drank, I was basically inviting the stink to set up camp.
😔 The Emotional Side: Losing My Coping Mechanism
I won’t lie: quitting alcohol was one of the hardest decisions I’ve made.
Not because I couldn’t stop — but because it was one of the only things that made me feel normal. It dulled the anxiety. Helped me blend in at parties. Took the edge off the smell, at least in my mind. For a few hours, I didn’t have to overthink every nose scratch or cough around me.
But it was a lie. A temporary mask. And the next day, I always smelled worse. Always felt worse. Always hated myself just a little more.
Giving it up felt like stripping away the last piece of comfort. But staying in that cycle? That was just digging the hole deeper.
📊 What Helped Me Quit
I didn’t check into rehab. I didn’t go to meetings. I just slowly made changes, and gave myself permission to screw up along the way.
Here’s what worked for Lifter_X:
Topo Chico + lime: Gave me the same ritual and bottle-in-hand feeling as beer.
Activated charcoal + chlorophyll: Daily. Helped flush my system and keep odor down.
Odor journaling: I logged what I drank, what I ate, and what I smelled like the next day. Spoiler: it was never good.
Night routines: Cleaning, walking, blogging, lifting — anything that kept my hands and mind busy after 6pm.
One person to talk to: Just one person who wouldn’t judge me. That accountability saved me from a lot of “one more can’t hurt” nights.
I quit because I got tired of smelling like a corpse in a microwave every time I tried to relax. And no drink is worth feeling like that the next day.
💬 Final Thoughts from Lifter_X
If you have TMAU or chronic body odor and you’re still drinking, I’m not judging you. I get it. Drinking is sometimes the only thing that makes you feel human.
But the truth is, it’s holding you back. Not just from healing, but from confidence, clarity, and real control.
You can quit. You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to want to stop smelling like your own personal hell more than you want the buzz.
I still miss it sometimes. But I don’t miss waking up reeking, bloated, ashamed, and pissed off at myself.
That’s the trade. And for me? It was worth it.
Stay strong. Stay smart. Stay standing.
— Lifter_X Still stinky. Still sober. Still showing up.
No comments:
Post a Comment