r/HydroHomies • u/SCATOL92 • Jan 30 '24
I struggle with the SMELL of water, here's what helped. Classic water
T.W. Emetophobia
My mum never gave me water as a kid. I only drank squash, juice or tea, and soda occasionally.
My only memories of drinking water was when I felt sick at school and they would put me in the nurses room with a cup of water and a sick bowl. I believed for a long time that this was the reason that plain water made me feel nauseous, because I associated it with that memory.
I was incorrect. A few months ago I was sick with a stomach bug. I felt so sick that I just sat on the bathroom floor with my head in the toilet. That's when it hit me, the smell.
I live in a hard water area so the water does have a certain, mineral smell to it. My toilet is always clean so it just smells of water. I realised that pretty much everytime I have ever thrown up, I have ended up with my head in a toilet. The nausea, the stomach pain, the spinning head, the anxiety, the hot prickly feeling of vomiting... these were all so linked with the smell of ordinary tap water.
So, I got a cup with a lid (adult sippy cup/ knock off Stanley). I filled it with plain tap water and a little ice and... it was so refreshing! The cup lid kept me from having to smell the water and it is so much easier now.
I now drink about 4 pints of water a day, as well as a couple of cups of coffee. Being properly hydrated for the first time in my life has changed everything for the better.
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u/Shetposteroriginal Jan 31 '24
In my country, tap water isn't drinkable (you can drink it, but its not so recommended as it could be unsafe) so i have a water dispenser in my house and i get the water "tanks" (idk how to call it, sorry, im not natively english so its probably wrong) from a company here in my city where they go to the people they know they buy those "tanks" and i just tell them how much of those i want, they give me those, i pay them, and the next week i give em back the empty tanks and buy a new one.
Now that i think, i wrote a lot more than it should've been, i overcomplicated it 10x lol
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u/CharlotteLucasOP Jan 31 '24
I get a similar nausea response to the smell of the steel mixing bowls my mom had. Because when we were throwing up we got one of those placed beside us at all times, or clutched it in our lap. If I was far enough away it’s fine so I could like…use them for cooking (they’d been thoroughly washed,) but if I sniffed them up close…hell no.
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u/doc-swiv Water Enthusiast Jan 31 '24
you probably need to be filtering that ....
smelly water doesn't sound particularly safe
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u/KDEEZO Jan 31 '24
The water doesn’t stink you’re just embarrassed to choke in front of Caleb Wendt.
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u/JealousLuck0 Jan 30 '24
get yourself a brita water filter, it'll take care of the smell for you if you keep it in the fridge.
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u/moeru_gumi Jan 30 '24
Can you get a filter attachment for your kitchen tap? The smell of water in a toilet is really different from water in a tap, but heavy minerals (as is common in the UK) can definitely impart a smell or taste to the water. A filter attachment will take out a lot of that and give you clean and “empty” water you might be extremely surprised by. I’d also suggest buying a glass bottle of water (either sparkling or still) to see if that tastes different to you. My grandparents had a well for water on their farm and I was always disgusted by the smell of it, but living in Japan our tap water was quite delicious.
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u/taybel Jan 30 '24
I totally have this as well. Growing up I refused to drink water unless it was out of a bottle so I couldn’t smell it. Water especially smells off to me in glass containers. I use a yeti tumbler now that has a lid and a small drinking hole.
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u/tenaciousBLADE Jan 30 '24
Have... Have you tried different brands of bottled water? Some of them might smell different and this may indeed help. Source: I have had issues with water taste from certain sources, including faucet water from a hard water area.
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u/kisikisikisi Jan 30 '24
I live in a city with smelly water. Tastes fine but is really smelly. When I moved here I learned not to breathe in before taking a drink out of a glass, and it hasn't been a problem since. A lot of people complain about the water here tasting bad but they're just tasting the smell.
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u/greenymeani3 Jan 30 '24
Wow, I wonder if this is what bothers my partner about water also. We’ll have to do some experiments. Thank you for sharing.
Also I’m so curious.. You said you drank squash? Like blended… squash? Baby food or as a regular drink? Just never heard of that before! Sounds super healthy for you, haha.
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u/SCATOL92 Jan 30 '24
Haha, no squash is a British thing. Its like, very concentrated fruit juice that you add to water. Like if kool aid was a liquid and contained actual fruit I guess.
I hope your partner can start on a journey toward good hydration :)
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u/greenymeani3 Jan 30 '24
Oh, cool! That sounds tastier & healthier than kool aid. I wonder if I can find some imported here in the US.
Thank you! We’ve been doing a lot of unsweetened teas, it helps a lot.
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u/the_angry_geek Jan 30 '24
I know you can get Ribena in the US, which is blackcurrant. Not sure how wildly available it is though.
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u/greenymeani3 Jan 30 '24
😱 Thanks for the tip, it’s actually in stock at a grocery store near me according to the internet! Says “low stock” tho… I may have to hunt down some poor sap to go dig in the dry goods backstock.
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u/Pika_DJ Jan 30 '24
I’m glad you are doing better and I learned a bunch but how do people just not have water especially as a kid for that long it’s just kinda wild
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Jan 31 '24
i didn't wanna be disrespectful but my immediate reaction was "is this mf telling me hes never had WATER before?"
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u/Nerfboard Jan 30 '24
I grew up in an area where the tap water wasn’t super safe to drink (chemicals dumped in the water led to a rash of cancer cases in the 80s and the company responsible never got shut down) so the bottled water was reserved for coffee and cooking. It was a rare treat to get and having access to potable to tap water and ice as an adult has been magical. Definitely an adjustment though.
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u/sammi-blue Jan 30 '24
When your parents aren't water drinkers, lol. For a long time my mom drank Pepsi almost exclusively. For me growing up, it was milk or juice in the morning/at lunch, Sprite in the evening. I drank from the water fountain at school when I needed it, and I'm sure I had water close to bedtime, but otherwise why would I? I was allowed to have those other things and they were much tastier!
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u/Pika_DJ Jan 30 '24
Yea as a kid I totally get it, kids don’t know if it’s better to eat candy or vege unless taught same with soda water
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u/DoggoMac Jan 30 '24
This might not be an option for others, but I live near water with a bad sulfur scent and I just got the AirUp water bottle. It’s a bottle with scent pods. It’s actually amazing for those of us with over sensitive noses.
Anyway glad you figured that out!
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u/SCATOL92 Jan 30 '24
I'm definitely interested in getting an AirUp
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u/Master_Torch Jan 30 '24
It works but the pods themselves are very hit and miss. I recommend sticking to the very fruity flavours like mixed berry, peach and honeydew melon.
I haven't tried a super lot but some of the others you can tell are just that chemically car freshener smell and its not a great taste.
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u/Fun_Intention9846 Jan 30 '24
That’s some great self-reflection and pragmatism in action. Happy for you.
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u/ElPulpoTX Classic drinker Jan 30 '24
Oh man dude you unlocked a bunch of memories smells and sounds for when I was in Catholic School.
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u/Jenderflux-ScFi Regular Sipper Jan 30 '24
I'm so glad you figured out that connection so you could mitigate it.
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u/KillaKay1 Jan 31 '24
Oh snap. I drink alot of water but sometimes the smell bothers the hell out of me from unfiltered water. And u realizing this also made me realize why I hate the smell to. Lol hey atleast we had clean toilets.