Loading...
It isn’t often that the fragrance of a medication causes a reaction. But added scents can sometimes be irritating, and one reader found that the aroma of testosterone gel was unbearable.
Q. My husband recently had to switch testosterone gels due to a change in insurance coverage. The new product was a generic testosterone.
After he used it just one day, our whole house smelled like floral-scented dryer sheets. It took me a day to figure out that the culprit was the chemical pentadecalactone.
I’m asthmatic and the smell emanating from my husband’s body was overwhelming. Everything he touched stank: the bedclothes, his clothes, the furniture, even my clothes that he folded! My eyes, nose and throat have been severely irritated from the smell.
He stopped using it immediately and after three days the smell is finally dissipating. Have you ever heard of such a thing?
Pentadecalactone
A. Pentadecalactone is sometimes used in cosmetics as a fragrance because its aroma resembles that of musk.
Not everyone finds the scent offensive. Some people seem to like it and describe it as a sweet, woodsy, powdery fragrance. (Perhaps that’s why it reminded you of scented dryer sheets.)
Surprisingly, almost 10 percent of people can’t smell it at all (Chemical Senses, Dec., 1977).
Your husband will want to ask the pharmacist whether this ingredient is included in any other testosterone gel he might use to boost his hormone levels. Hopefully he will be able to find a product that works for him without irritating you.
C
I (40F) use the gel on myself, and I am totally in love with the smell and sniff my own arms about 30 times a day. I’ve noticed other women seem to smile more around me lately and seem to want to chat and flirt more. I only take a tiny bit to balance my hormones, but I’m thinking about switching to a less concentrated gel so I can get more pentadecalactone.
Random fact: Sparrows that have higher pentadecalactone concentrations have more offspring ;)
K
I LOVE it, absolutely love the smell, and so does every woman I asked.
brad
New Hampshire
This stuff smells DISGUSTING !!! I used it for about 3 days, and couldn’t stand being around myself. It was making my wife nauseous, so I stopped. It stunk up the whole house, and took 3 or 4 washes to get the stench out of the sheets. After a lot of battling, I was able to switch to Androgel. They should ban this garbage.
Danny
CA
Changed my insurance and got a new batch of generic testosterone gel with the Pentadecalactone fragrance. The whole house stunk like perfume. The smell was so strong and offensive my dog would not sit next to me. My wife and daughter commented I was stinky, and my wife got nauseated. I experienced a headache and wheezing within 30 minutes of applying it.
I showered to try and get the smell off. After scrubbing my body three times I could still smell it. I can’t believe this made it to market. I called the pharmacy and complained of headache and wheezing, and they noted on my record that I cannot tolerate this formula. They told me to talk to my doctor to get a different prescription.
Mark
Washington, USA
After more than a decade on generic testosterone gel I got a batch with the Pentadecalactone. It smells terrible!!! I was able to work with my pharmacy to find a generic gel that did not have the fragrance in it and to flag my account so that only generic gels without the fragrance are ordered for me.
I too am having difficulties getting the smell out of the clothes that I wore for a couple of days while wearing the offending product. My next step is to try Oxiclean to see if the peroxides in the cleaner will change the nature of the Pentadecalactone
Robert
Fort Lauderdale
I started using the Gel 8 days ago and have literally been touched by seven different women ecstatic about my presence. They ask what am I wearing? it smells fantastic. I can’t believe it!
I’m now cruising the malls looking to attract my next wife!!
Chris
PA
BULL!! Anyone who says they enjoy that smell or can’t smell it is a LIAR. It is so strong and so offensive. My eyes water, and I get massive migraines. It smells like I rubbed it on dryer sheets, and it goes on EVERYTHING. I’m fighting with my insurance to get back on androgel. It’s a DISGRACE!!!
BOB
CHINGFORD E4
The old Testim gel was virtually odourless apart from a slight alcohol smell as it evaporates. It was supplied in a small tearable sachet They have changed their manufaturing and are now putting the gel in things that look like tiny toothpaste tubes. This new gel has an horrendous smell. Currently there are big supply problems with the gel. I suspect that this is because so many people have complained about the horrible smell and they have had to think again. I have asked my GP for an alternative.
Probably some of the commenters have got the old sachets from chemists and have not experienced the terrible new version.
Nancy
UK
I would like to know how to get rid of the smell. It permeates all the fabrics my father used even after he has not been around for three years. My entire family can’t stand the smell. I have washed sheets in both cold and boiling water and have aired and vacuumed the mattress. It is still on the leather furniture despite having repeatedly used leather cleaners.
Any ideas?
Joe
Charlotte, NC
I was concerned about the smell after reading this blog. I started using it three weeks ago and the smell is so mild that I stopped noticing it. I am a guy who doesn’t wear cologne regularly and gets bothered by perfume. My better half has yet to state anything negative about the smell.
I was in the company of all women in close quarters this past week and not one said a word! I literally have to raise my t-shirt to my nose to remember which shoulder that I applied it to in the morning! I am a cough-variant asthmatic and the scent does not trigger me. I must be using a newer batch or something.
Kolby
SDCA
My question is, why do they have that chemical in the gel?
Chris
Trust me. You are not using the same stuff.
Val
CA
My husband started on Testim generic and within 3 days the smell was disgustingly overpowering. The whole house reeked, and it got so bad I couldn’t be in the same room with him. He asked people at his office and most of them couldn’t smell it at all, or said it had a very faint odor like a lotion. To me it was a nauseating, overwhelmingly cloying sweet odor that gave me headaches and made me want to vomit. I have NEVER encountered anything like this before, and it seems to be rather rare for someone to be that sensitive to it. There are other products without pentacaladactone that are not stinky! He stopped it after about 4 days, and the clothes worn during that period are now on round 3 through the washer as I try to get the smell out.
Denise
Florida
I agree, my husband also used the testosterone gel, and the scent was both offensive and overpowering. I don’t know if they’re all like that, but now I can smell it on other men, sometimes, too. Probably not what they want.
Jennifer
Winston-Salem NC
My husband went on that also and it made me gag! It smelled so bad. Worse thing I’ve ever smelled! Everywhere my husband sat, he left the smell. My adult sons even commented on the odor. Looks like they could put a better smell in the generic form of testosterone. My husband quit using it and started getting shots instead.
SunRocket
Cary, NC USA
Best deal for us was to get a liquid testosterone Rx from the urologist and have my wife give me the shot. The urologist’s nurse showed my wife how to administer it. The testosterone (10 ml bottle) costs about $45 and lasts 10 weeks (2ml every other week => 10 ml which is one bottle).
So it is MUCH MUCH cheaper and there is no scent. My bride was a little squeamish at first, but now says she loves poking me every other week and says she wished she’d been a nurse.