I had  a friend of 17 years become my roommate recently and she is post op mtf. I've noticed my house has been taken over by a nauseating odor coming from her room and whenever she leaves the bathroom. It has become so much that most the house smells of it as well but the strongest is are those two areas. I've been reading that hygiene can play a part in this when it comes to the neovagina but I'm not finding much more info. Can anyone help me in dealing with this issue? I don't want to hurt her feelings or address it in a way that will cause any tension. However i can't live much longer in this situation.

You might find this post helpful;  https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,90950.msg658861.html#msg658861

This could be a wee bit more serious that she may realise. She needs to see her Dr.

Failing that, an STD clinic.

http://www.medicinenet.com/vaginal_odor/symptoms.htm

Or... she just may have a wierd diet

Is there a nice way to approach this subject with her without being offensive? She tends to be very defensive about a lot of things :/

You might try hinting in a very tactful (and somewhat subtle, if that can be done) manner and see where that goes.

Quote from: JoanneB on November 28, 2012, 06:33:54 PM
Or... she just may have a wierd diet

that occured to me initially, especially from others in this forum.

What might give cause for concern is that some of the problems which need medical support, need it quite soon.

But as someone else pointed out, it isn't easy to find a way to say it. Might just be somehting that needs to be said directly.

I knew a woman who fit this description, she had been embarrassed about having such a strong personal odor and was in denial for so long it turned out that she had Chlamydia which caused scarring that left her sterile. I had to control my gag reflex in her presence. No doubt your house mate is aware of the fact that she's smelly, which leaves me wondering if she showers only, rather than a periodic sit down bath where the vagina gets a good soaking and spiffing up. This is a must for CIS women who themselves have self lubricating/cleansing vaginas unlike post-op MtF women who do not and need to pay extra attention to that part of their anatomy. I'll bet if you take the time, maybe over a morning coffee that you could broach the subject delicately enough by showing your concern for the possibility that she may be having a health problem and encourage her to see a doctor for a pelvic check-up.

I worked with a woman who had this problem; let's just say we all knew when she'd been in the bathroom in the last couple hours. No idea what caused it (save that she seemed clean/normal-smelling when clothed), and she was cis. Thankfully, since I only worked with her, I never had to bring it up! I don't envy you this conversation.

As an aside, no, a bath isn't necessary, but it IS required to spend a little time actually cleaning the area. Soap on the outside only, if preferred, and *definitely* pull everything apart in the shower and rinse thoroughly. The vagina itself is self-cleaning, but it does this by shedding unwanted material to the entrance - meaning the vulva is NOT going to say clean by itself, and a good rinsing is necessary to get truly rid of everything. Maybe (?) she's not used to the degree of, er, "detailed" cleaning that a vulva requires as opposed to some penises. (Brassard at least says that a post-op vagina becomes as self-cleaning as any other with time - after the first few months - but it will still have the same limitations as well, and therefore the vulva will need the same careful washing.)

Honestly, though, with a smell THAT strong, the most likely culprit is an infection. Most of those are not life-threatening, but still, she doesn't want to live with it forever. Maybe if you phrase this as a concern for her health rather than specifically about "that smell"?