# Unwanted odors and my gag reflex (TMI for the faint-hearted only)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unwanted-odors-and-my-gag-reflex-tmi-for-the-faint-hearted-only/431085>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 24, 2007, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unwanted-odors-and-my-gag-reflex-tmi-for-the-faint-hearted-only/431085 "2007-12-24T02:39:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unwanted-odors-and-my-gag-reflex-tmi-for-the-faint-hearted-only/431085/1 "2007-12-24T02:39:43Z")

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The older I get (I’m 62 now) the more intolerant I am of unwanted odors. I started noticing this in my 40s, and it’s gotten progressively worse. Now I can’t go into a public restroom without starting to gag, and people’s various bodily odors have the same effect. Even when being intimate with my SO, I start gagging if he farts (not if I do) or if I encounter a smidgen of poop (his, not mine). I hope this isn’t a “normal part of aging,” because I have more important aging issues to worry about.

Strangely, I started noticing this around the time I stopped having casual sex . . . and there were \*\*\*a lot \*\*\*of odors involved with that. Have I simply become desensitized?

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2007, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unwanted-odors-and-my-gag-reflex-tmi-for-the-faint-hearted-only/431085/2 "2007-12-25T05:39:52Z")

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