underarm odor on my surgery side

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BTDT!  That was a huge part of my discomfort after SNB...couldn't use deo at the time because it was too close to incision, it hurt when I tried to wash it, couldn't shave.  Then I started chemo before I was healed so I felt really ooky!  I knew my hair was going to come out soon but it finally healed up enough that I ever so carefully shaved and now I can wear my deodorant!  And now I don't have to shave, lol!  For the time being at least.

Yes, Day - ER/PR+ HER-2 neg... I find this fascinating!

Hi Day - I agree with the 'sweet' smell completely......I had the smell BEFORE I was diagnosed on each side so the smell was not due to treatment. My sister is a nurse and I asked if she could smell the difference between my left and right side just before I was diagnosed the second time. I gave her an item of clothing which had been in contact with my underarm area - she said the difference in smell was 'obvious' but not a bad smell - just different. I am very aware of the smell through the day even though I wear deoderant and have two showers a day! The first time I smelt this was just before my first diagnosis and it disappeared after my surgery. But this smell is persisting - even though I had a bilateral mast in Dec 2011. Interesting. By the way, I am fully TN so I am not sure if this is related to hormone sensitive cancers at all.

I have zero odor on my sugery side.  However, my other armpit smells like cat pee. Sorry to be gross, but it really does. Is that the smell you are talking about?  I can't remember if I had this smell on the other side before cancer.

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Hi mnkid - please let us know what the doctor says! I have to say that my under arm odour on the left side is persisting - even after my bilateral mast recently. I will just be vigilent for now....I really do think there is a connection though.

Hi mnkid - I think your doctor interpreted this as cancer blocking the ducts under the arm in which case invasive cancer would be implicated. But the research on under arm odour and ear wax does not indicate this at all. It simply states that all these functions are related in some way.Interestingly I was discussing this with one of my colleagues at school two years ago (before I was diagnosed with breast cancer the first time). She has a doctorate in Biology and said that she had heard of a connection bewteen ear wax / under arm odour and breast cancer but more research was needed to understand the connection. At the time I was suffering from 'buzzing' in my ears (she was not aware of this). I was found to have very bad ear wax in my right ear just before I was diagnosed with BC on the right side. I still think there is a connection .

I had a horrible odor under my arm for 2 years before I was late diagnosis. My doctor said the odor under 1 arm was normal, not to worry. I never had the odor before so I know there must of been some connection to the late diagnosis stage 3C.  After chemo. masectomy and radiation the smell went away for a year. Now it is back. I'm sure it's most likely a brewing reaccurence but the tests and blood work don't see it right now.  That happens unfortunately. There is a reason for the odor to reoccur just like the reason it occurred in the first place was from the breast cancer.  It makes sense. The odor is on the same side the tumor was. Most likely the cancer is in the lymph nodes under the arm. I have never met anyone say that they learned that their odor was okay or went away. This is nothing to be calm about. Peace.

This is really interesting!  I've also had a change, but am too in the opposite camp - my bc side has absolutely no underarm odor at all.  My non-bc side hasn't changed.

I've always had a problem with ear wax as well, just washing my ears with a washcloth does not get it for me.

I'm so glad I found this thread! I thought I was going crazy! 😱 Since having a lumpectomy and SLN biopsy on the right three weeks ago, I have developed a pungent "man-like" smell on that side. I don't use anti-perspirant because of the aluminum and shower once or twice a day and my left side is normal. No smell. My right side, even after a shower and good cleaning, the smell comes back quickly. 😟 I've mentioned this to my surgeon's nurse practitioner and she had never heard of this. I'm going in on the 27th for a follow up and will mention it again. Thank you everyone for contributing on this thread! I feel so much better and am relieved I'm not the only one. 😊 Hoping it goes away soon like it did for some of you! Peace!

Hi

I am new to this forum but have recently had a mammary duct blockage and removal of duct..which they thought would be cancer. This continues to cause me problems and hence I go back for surgery soon. My results came back as benign but I also have a smelly armpit on the surgical side. I did not have any of my glands/ nodes removed except for a ductal gland. I haven't mentioned this to my doctor but will do so this Friday when I go back for a review.

Antiperspiraant does NOT cause breast cancer. The worst thing it does is--if you don’t wash it off daily--irritate freshly-shaven or radiation-inflamed skin, possibly clog your pores and cause a reaction akin to prickly heat, or if scented set off respiratory problems in allergic or MCS people nearby you. Wash it off daily, use unscented, and wait at least an hour after shaving and you should be fine.

And sweat plus ear wax doesn’t cause cancer either, nor is either phenomenon a harbinger of breast cancer. There may be a gene which produces both odd-smelling sweat and copious wet ear wax, and it may be associated with a genetic mutation (or a not-yet-confirmed variant-of-significance) that is predictive of an increased risk of breast cancer. Those without such a gene who have both symptoms and then get diagnosed with bc can chalk that up to coincidence. Shit happens, and often for no damn good reason.

Which leads me to reiterate: Dr. Google is a quack at best and an idiot at worst. The Internet (and search engines) do not filter for credibility--they let all ideas in the door equally, without regard to the validity of the source. Thus, the N.Y. Times and New England Journal of Medicine get equal billing with those wacko sites that contend Justice Scalia was smothered with a pillow, Katy Perry is really a grown-up Jonbenet Ramsey, the government can spy on your thoughts by using your tooth fillings as antennae, Elvis is still alive (and hanging out with Jimmy Hoffa), and breast cancer is caused by wearing antiperspirant and underwire bras (or bras, period).

The fact is that messing with axillary lymph nodes, whether by surgery or radiation, can also inadvertently affect nearby sweat glands. Lymph fluid contains proteins, which can degrade over time and develop odors if stagnant. Apocrine and eccrine sweat have different odors and different triggers for secretion--apocrine is relatively odorless and produced in response to temperature and exertion; eccrine is the more pungent one, secreted in response to emotional and physical stress and hormonally influenced. Before puberty, we don’t notice how our pits smell because the body hasn’t begun to crank out the estrogen & testosterone (yes, women do make some testosterone) that make eccrine sweat stinky. And those of us who’ve had the "doors slammed on the estrogen factory” via chemopause, tamoxifen or AIs have more unopposed testosterone circulating--especially if we take AIs, which inhibit the aromatase that converts testosterone and its precursor androstenedione to estradiol, and therefore our eccrine sweat smells ranker.

Hi Liz-

We're sorry you're experiencing this! And we're sorry your plastic surgeon didn't take your concerns seriously. Hopefully your surgeon will have some answers!

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ChiSandy

Just letting you know that someone appreciates your post. Sadly, you seem to be a voice crying in the wilderness.