Shattered The Foul Body Odor That Almost Killed Me

The Foul Body Odor That Almost Killed Me is a candid and deeply personal account of one woman’s struggle to obtain proper medical care for a rare and incurable condition called Trimethylaminuria-TMAU (Fish Odor Syndrome).

Plagued by a terrible body odor that was not only embarrassing but also made it difficult for her to hold a job and provide for herself and her children, Carry Wilson sought help from numerous physicians across several medical specialties. Despite the findings of her own research, medical professionals repeatedly dismissed her concerns and assumed she was suffering from a psychiatric disorder rather than a physical medical condition.

Desperate, isolated, and depressed, she was hospitalized several times with suicidal thoughts—a history that only seemed to make it more difficult for her to receive the medical attention she desperately needed.

The Foul Body Odor That Almost Killed Me offers insight into troubling gaps within the medical system while also assuring people facing rare, misunderstood, or invisible conditions that they are not alone. Ms. Wilson’s story is both heartbreaking and inspiring as she recounts the events that unfolded over seven years while she fought to prove that her condition was real and searched for a way to manage it.

Of course, having a foul body odor cannot physically kill you. But when it is combined with years of unanswered questions, repeated dismissal by doctors, isolation, humiliation, and depression, it can lead a person to a very dangerous place—including thoughts of suicide.