sweat smells of cat pee, then later ammonia

[Hope to Help]

Hello. I was searching for information regarding strong smelling sweat and found your thread.

There were several body building websites that made note of this.

The best explanation I found was that you are eating more protein than your body, specifically your kidneys can handle.

Here is the website:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ammonia.htm

Best of luck!

P.S. As far as washing the smell away from clothing, I have had success with an oxygen based cleansing powder in very warm water.

[Unregistered]

I had the same problem some years ago. After I showered within twenty minutes my towel would smell so bad I would have to put it outside! I discovered that being on a low carb diet caused me to excrete one of the by products of protein which is ammonia. Atheletes tend to have the same problem I found out because of the breakdown of protein within the body (glucose is used up?). For what its worth thats what I discovered. went back to eating normal and the problem cleared up within days or weeks. I now have no bo.

[Unregistered]

Hi all i came across a similar question in another search, this might help:
http://runningdoctor.runnersworld.co...es-my-swe.html
And i copied and pasted the main part here :

What is ammonia and where does it come from?
Ammonia (chemical term is NH3) is a nitrogen breakdown product of amino acids in the body. Amino acids are the building blocks to make proteins in the body. If your body turn to breaking down amino acids for energy (instead of using carbohydrate and/or fat), the nitrogen atom is chemically stripped of the amino acid molecule (which is then converted to glucose fuel) and processes the nitrogen in the kidneys and forms urea for excretion. If your kidneys cannot handle the load of urea, the nitrogen is excreted in your sweat as ammonia.
Hope this helps,
Oisin

[Unregistered]

I have had this from time to time in my life as well. I am now 36 but this happened a lot to me in high school and college and I never have taken drugs, nor am I a drinker.

It usually got really bad at times of stress -- finals, performances or athletic meets. So I think it is most likely a chemical reaction caused by increased hormonal output. I don't know, but now I am glad to know that I am not the only one.

[Notmejustsomeone]

I find my sweat smell changes with my diet. But the main thing
I wanted to say here is this: try to avoid sythetic clothing. After paying
attention over many years to when and why my smell gets really strong
I've come to a point where I can tell you if there is a synthetc fibre in the fabric
just by putting it on for an hour and then sniffing my arm pits. If it's a hot day, might only need it on for 5 mins to get strange smells. If I wear cotton, wool, or silk my sweat seems normal. Hemp is ok too.. But seems to produce a different smell then all the rest.. Could chemicals in the dyes that do it. Think about what most synthetic fabrics are made from. PetroChemicals! Do you really think it's good for you to have poisons against your skin all the time? Just cause we told the way it's made makes it safe doesn't mean it is. It's been what? 100 years ( or less) since people started wearing unnatural fabrics.. How do we know what it does? Lots of otherchanges in that time. I think lots of people have mild alergies to sythetic fabrics but don't realise.
I didn't used to believe it at first. But after running lots of tests on myself, this is the answer
I came up with. I also find I get cranky and irritable when wearing sythetics next to my skin for any lenght of time. I don't know if this is the same for other people, but wanted to put itout there to think about. Haven't talked to doc about it. It's just easier not to have synthetics in my wordrobe. Especially underwear!

[taniaaust1]

i used to often smell bad (not like cat pee thou but another bad smell) but it seems in my case to be genetic as both one of my daughters and my father emits the same smell. All i can figure it must be cause we dont break down something in our bodies as well.

It cleared up a lot (i hardly have it at all nowdays) when i changed my diet and went to eatting mostly vegatables (avoiding meat). i can nowdays thou eat a lot of meat and the smell isnt like it was in the past. This bad smell become worst (not just in amount of smell but like the smell changed for the worst too) at times i was under stress.

Ive also found for bad smell using alcohol swabs can hold it at bay longer than most other things. (does this mean there is a bacterial componant to it??). After showering and scrubbing under my arms (i'd actually have to scrub with a brush under arms to get rid of it, just using soap didnt work) bad smell could be back within 5-10 mins but if i used an alcohol swab under my arms.. smell would stay away for a lot longer.

i also get a second smell at times nowdays (since i stopped getting the other one.. at least this chemical like smell is a clean one! i dont even use chemicals thou nor chemical deoderants).. that being of like chlorine coming out of my skin (i can smell like a pool). It doesnt happen often thou and this one dont bother me but just is weird.

[Unregistered]

This is a link that describes the problem you have to a tee. My sweat also smells like ammonia on occasion, mostly when I'm working hard outside or working out. The gist of the article in this link is to add more carbs to your diet, an apple a day keeps the stink away.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ammonia.htm

[Unregistered]

For the 2 athletes on here, more than likely you are completely fine. Sweat will have a urine smell when you are in ketosis. It is not a "healthy" state to always be in, but it happens a lot among athletes, especially when you are on a low-carb diet as well. It is basically the ketones (A byproduct of the liver breaking down fat) being released from your body.

Could some of these people be suffering from TMAU? I believe this is what I have & am preparing to see my doctor to confirm it. TMAU is a rare inherited metobolic disorder. I'm 47 & have told my doctor of my symptoms before & he had my kidneys & liver checked & they were ok. My sweat has always smelled like urin, I've had high blood preasure all my life & been taking medicine[Rx] for it since I was 18. I'm not over weight, but I find the lower my blood preasure is & the less liquids I drink, coupled with the less I sweat, the less persistant the odors are. I do believe some foods[dairy, peanutbutter, ect.]have a significant affect on the degree of the problem. There is no known cure for TMAU, but with a proper diet & otherwise good health, the symptoms seem to be abel to be less intense & somewhat moderate. I just want to find out what is causing my symptoms & then do the best I can to minimize them. The only other things I can think of possibly causing this problem is a bladder , liver, kidney or intestine problem or a digestive, hormone or glandular problem?

What is"ketosis"& how common is it among the general population?


Sincerely

Seeking Answers

[bigboy]

I am in the same boat as you are in . Like you I have symptoms of possible kidney disease although my symptoms are different.The message is is to go to a urologist. Good luck.

[Unregistered]

Hi! I just found this, it is taken from here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...icle784895.ece

The more androstene that a person’s sweat contains, the greater the potential for him or her to be strong smelling. It has been found that two of the 16-androstene compounds are important in this respect.

if there is a predominance of androstenone, the sweat develops an obvious smell of urine.

Androstene is a male sex hormone. Do you have acne as well?
I have had urine smelling sweat and acne pretty much since i was a kid.. I just got a book called the clear skin diet. Even if you don't get acne from the hormones you should check it out in a library or something. It sais something like "when our blood sugar spikes, we produce insulin and male hormones".. i have a problem with eating sugar.. i get light headed and almost faint sometimes after eating much sugar.. so i think there might be something to this.