• sweetiedoc said on Apr 13, 2007....

  The patient above died the next day...

• momsrock said on Apr 14, 2007....

  My mother has been a nurse for 20 years and has always said the same thing.... there is a smell and she just knows they will not make it.

• KathQuiet said on Jan 08, 2008....

  I do know the smell.  If you're attentive, which I guess I just naturally am, you smell it long, long before death really comes.  My father died very recently and the odor in his room at the care center was pungent, nearly putrid, permeating and heavy.  The thing is, I smelled death a good six or more months ago, very faintly, before any of us knew he had multiple myeloma, before he opted out of treatment.  The smell became stronger and stronger, being all but overbearing the last night of his life.  It was enmeshed in my clothes, hair and skin.  Two days after wearing the clothes, when I went to launder them, the smell was still unmistakably distinct. 

• anonymous said on Jan 30, 2008....

  No one has been able to explain to me this odor before dying that is almost always present, sometimes for days, in pt's who have terminal conditions. It does not seem to matter if the pt. has cancer, heart disease or is dying from debility related to old age. Is it related to decline in the body's ability to filter toxins and excrete them through normal venues and is offgassing them or sweating them out through the skin? What exactly causes it? The internet articles I have read speak only of decaying cadavers, not the living though dying persons of whom I speak. The stench of dead and decaying flesh is different. Whom do we ask?

• KathQuiet said on Jan 31, 2008....

  Yes, the odor of imminent death is far different from the odor of dead and decaying flesh. The operator of the home where my father died said she once smelled a strong scent of roses around a dying woman and that it lingered for many days afterward.  It seems sort of morbid to write so freely about it, but it's fascinating, to me anyway.  I also like the early warning aspect of it.  I've caught a tiny whiff around my mother - different from Dad's - shortly after my father's funeral.  I'm guessing about 18 months.  Her condition has become fragile, but she is to rally yet, I believe.  Yet I know to shower her with love and attention while I still have the chance.  

• piepie said on Apr 27, 2008....

  my husband died of cll about three weeks befor he die he had this really bad smell not from the skin but it seemed like it was comming from in side of him and when he breathed you could smell it

• KathQuiet said on Apr 27, 2008....

  Oh piepie, I am truly sad for your loss.  While the death of loved ones is a fact of life very few escape, it is not easy to bear, especially when our loved one suffers in the process.  The finality is only slightly relieved by the knowledge that peace replaced suffering.  The odor you write of is indeed that of impending death.  The woman at the private care home discussed it at length with me, noting that it is different-but-same between people.  Terminal cancer, I am convinced, has its own unique odor, common between both humans and animals.  It's a distinct inside-out odor.  However, the upside is that if we recognize it, the death odor gives us an early warning that it's time to gather close and feed the soul of the dying with good things.  Words of love, remembrances of the good things they did, stories of pleasant times together, knowledge that their soul is worthy.  Take care, piepie. 

• Carley2ca said on May 21, 2008....

  I'm glad I found this forum. I have been searching for explanations on the smell of death as well. I noticed that when my father was close to death there was an odour about him. It was just a sweet rather heavy odour, not unpleasant. I kept asking my sister but she didn't smell it. He was just about 97 and was dying, basically, of old age, there was no illness. When we went recently to visit a friend who was dying and, again, I noticed an odour. She did have cancer and was jaundiced, she died about 5 days later.

• KathQuiet said on May 21, 2008....

  Did you notice the difference between the cancered dying person's odor and the non? I think some people are more receptive to it. I knew Dad had cancer a year or more before it was diagnosed, but he wouldn't hear of it and chose to let it be anyway when the myeloma was diagnosed.

• Carley2ca said on May 24, 2008....

  This does seem like a morbid topic doesn't it! I do find it very interesting though. Yes, I found the two odours similar but slightly different, just sweet, not unpleasant. My husband's uncle passed away yesterday and when we saw him last Monday, I did not notice an odour, mind you we were only there for a very few moments. Our experience with our father's death was very poignant and special. We were lucky that he had lived for longer than most people live so we didn't have that horrible grief that comes with untimely death. We basically moved into the hospital with him and were with him 24/7. Even though we did not have time to get him into the hospice the hospice workers gave us some invaluable books to explain the process. The booklet was called Journey's End. When we finally got it (after my sister had a 3am meltdown) it answered so many questions. We realized that what we had been witnessing were all signs of the death process and it made it so much easier. Call me crazy but I think when I am done raising my children and am retired I would like to work in a hospice and help families through the process.

• anonymous said on May 30, 2008....

  I began researching this topic out of curiosity. My husband is adamant that there is a literal 'smell of death' and every time he has smelled it, death followed. Funny that I do not notice the odor, and he has tried to explain to me how it smells. He says it is very distinct, and unpleasant (maybe because he knows what it means). Six months ago my father (a Leukemia patient) came home from a hospital visit. My husband helped Dad from the vehicle into the house. Later that night, as my husband and I were talking in bed, tears began rolling down his cheeks, and he said "Honey, I didn't want to tell you, but I smelled "that" odor on your dad today. My dad died within the week.

• Anangel said on Jul 17, 2008....

  I believe the smell is like a ( sweet,plastic/rubber,menthol) I smell this smell before any animal that im caring for dies, so i keep the animal very close, my sons friend (18y/old) smelt like this before he was rushed into hospital he now has diabeties, (He nearly died) the smell seemed to clear until the other day, the smell seems to get worse when he speaks to me, i am so worried for him, as i believe it starts when the body starts to shut down, can anybody relate to this?

• KathQuiet said on Jul 20, 2008....

  Yes, I can.  Interesting that diabetes is the subject.  My older son developed diabetes just before his fourth birthday.  I had a clue something was wrong when his first taste of cotton candy made him violently ill.  It took a few more weeks of progressive symptoms before I had the awful realization that it might be diabetes, based on a public-information campaign on a paper grocery bag.  A Kaiser nurse was very callous about the situation when I called, but the pediatrician took immediate action as soon as he saw the message. 
   
  Now, for your friend's son:  18 months is a very young age and makes keeping control very difficult because he can't communicate as well the way his body feels.  Adults and older children must be very alert and watch for the symptoms relentlessly, one of which is the sweet odor you mentioned, which could be ketones, a byproduct of inefficient sugar metabolism (too little insulin) or of the body turning to its own internal stores (first glycogen stored in the liver, then other organs' cells), which can be a result of rebounding from too much insulin or not enough food.  How is the baby's control?  I hope they're doing finger-poke tests every two hours and urine dip tests twice daily, and charting the results so the doctor can analyze trends and adjust dosage. He needs to snack often to maintain a level blood glucose at a very active age, otherwise he is likely to have an insulin reaction, which can range from being ketonic, to seizures and coma. 
   
  I don't believe the baby is dying, but understand your fear. I was convinced my son was short of this world when he was newly diagnosed and also worried that they'd missed pancreatic cancer.  Luckily, Kaiser provided us the best of treatment through the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, which included people on call 24 hours a day to calm fears, answer questions and assist with home-treatment difficulties. 
   
  Diabetes is very controllable these days; my son is now 25 and lives normally with routine self treatment. He has had seizures and survived them because I knew what to do, thanks to the BDC, and because a caring friend knew what to do, thanks to listening to my son talk about his illness. 
   
  Hang in there and love that baby.  He will be okay with lots of help from grown ups who make his illness a priority in their lives. 

• anonymous said on Aug 07, 2008....

  "sweet,plastic/rubber,menthol" --- My Dad is at home on hospice. I just noticed that smell earlier today. I thought it was death, but told myself it might just be the oxygen hose, but when I took it to another room to wash it, there was no smell. I checked again and it's definitely him. His breathing is getting worse. I think he may go soon. The hospice people never mentioned a smell. Lot's of other signs, but never a smell. I am writing this while one room away from a man I love very much. I have already told him it's ok to go, whenever he is ready. I am not even sure how I feel right now. But I know what that smell is. It's also got an ammonia like quality to it... a little, anyway. Weird that this is the only place I found to express this with others who have smelled it. It stays with me now, even a room away. I want to shower it off. But, I know I will have to smell it again. Peace. DMH

• anonymous said on Aug 11, 2008....

  Wow, I think I am going crazy so this is a great help. the old man across the hall from me died and he was decomposing for a few days before I could get anyone to listen to me....anyway, now I know that smell. Unfortunately, the man on the first floor has HIV and his liver is failing and over the past couple of weeks, I am beginning to smell that odor again. It is permeating the hallway... I can only assume he is dying...it smells like bacteria to me; definitely.not pleasant... I don't know, but I am praying for him and his family.

• Nickea said on Aug 22, 2008....

  My friend babysits two two year old twins and says the one smells like death. This woman used to be an EMT (worked on Ambulances) and like many people in the health care proffesion who work with terminally ill people, she used to smell death when she worked there too. She also is in touch with things most people aren't, like spirits and premonitions and such. The father of the two year old also smells it, as he mentioned he had tried to wipe her up, but she still smelled, would my friend maybe give the girl a bath for him.. .. she did, and the smell improved, but was far from gone. The other twin, smells fine and they don't appear to have hygiene issues.. .. .. Also, my friend has a ghost in her house that she calls the "lady in the hall" and her 4 year old has seen it too. My friend doesn't talk about it to her son, the boy just brought it up on his own that she was in the hall. Also AGAIN, a picture miraculously fell off my friends hall wall one day and landed on this twin that smells like death. She wasn't seriously injured, but could the ghost, the picture and this death smell be related??? If this two year old smells like death, is she going to die??!! My friend says it's to the point where she can barely hold the kid, but of course, isn't jumping at the thought of suggesting the parents have her checked out because the kid smells like death.. .. Is there any other well known reason why a kid might smell like death??? Or is this little girl going to die?? Any thoughts, feel free to email me nicole_keating@hotmail.com I would love some feedback to share with her!

• rchmondgrl said on Aug 26, 2008....

  I just experienced the death of my father on 8/15/08...at the hospice was myself, his wife (not my mom), and my 2 brothers...his wife and I both smelled a very pungent smell as he got closer to death...even our clothes smelled of it but my brothers never noticed it which is very odd to me...it was such a unique smell, nothing i've ever experienced before but I knew from the smell that death was not far and it proved to be true sadly.

• dmhca said on Aug 26, 2008....

  I posted as anonymous back on Aug. 7th.  Well, my father passed on Aug. 7th, within a few hours of my post.  I think it is related to the body dying inside and the toxins from the battle coming out through the lungs.  I am not sure of this, but that's my guess.
  I miss my Dad deeply.  I am glad I was there for him at the end, but also wish I didn't have to be the one who noticed the smell, or the one who found him gone.  I was able to whisper prayers and "I love you" and "it's ok to go, if it's time" into his ear.  He seemed to be more at ease with that.  I hope so.  We need to beat this cancer epidemic.  We need that really bad.
  DMH
  

• gypsy0318 said on Aug 27, 2008....

  i visited my mother last night, she is 97 and in a nursing home right now for rehabilitation because she fell. while i was close to her i smelled a sweet smell and because they were doing a very good job of keeping her clean i realized that it was the smell of death. i feel very sad today.

• beachy said on Aug 27, 2008....

  rchmondgrl and dmhca, I am so sorry for your loss. I have traveled the road you are on now. I was the anonymous poster on May 30, 2008. I remember all too well listening to my father breathing in the next room, fearing that any minute I would hear it stop. In just a few short months it will be the one year anniversary of his death. This post has nothing to do with the topic really, but I wanted to let you know that while you will always feel the "void" that comes with losing a parent, time will allow you to think of your father and smile (or laugh) instead of cry. I hope you are able to begin the healing process very soon. :)

• anonymous said on Sep 02, 2008....

  I stumbled upon this site wondering if what I was smelling was something that others smell too. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who has smelt the unmistakable smell of death just prior to somebody dying. I've asked people around me when I do smell this and they report they don't smell anything. I can smell it, though, even though the person is not diagnosed with any illness. I was at a friend's birthday party and knew he didn't have long to live as I could smell death while I was there and sure enough he died within a few weeks.

• anonymous said on Oct 07, 2008....

  This blog has been very important to me. My mother died a few months ago. The day before she died, a horrible smell permeated the room. As I bent down to kiss her, her skin reeked of the putrid smell. The day of her death, the smell got even stronger. Since her death the smell keeps coming back to me at various times... I am not even in the house where she died. I am trying to figure out how to get rid of the smell, which appears to be part of my memory now. any ideas would be of help. Many thanks

• dmhca said on Oct 07, 2008....

  anonymous,

  I am sorry to hear about your loss.  You may have read my posts, so you know I went through a similar time.  I am still going through it, as my Mom is now battling cancer.
  Like you, I have not been able to get rid of that smell.  Not totally, anyway.  And I think I smell it with my Mom, even though she is doing well.  I know it's now a mental thing.  I can only wish you good luck and stay busy with other things.  I like to train a lot, that keeps me thinking about other things.  Eating well is good too.  Stay away from junk foods.  Detox a little.  It helped me a bit, although not completely.
  Sincerely,
  DMH
  

• anonymous said on Oct 13, 2008....

  Hi guys, I felt the smell of death when my father died, 15 years ago. Ever since i recognize it anywhere anytime, but the rear thing is that it is always in hospitals, funerals or graveyards. But last night i felt it on the street, walking down back to home. There was no one else near, it was terrifying. So, i think that some thing else smells like that, or i was crazy or what? It is not death flesh, because i really know that smelling, and it is not that strong, it is soft but penetrating. This is not the first time that i felt it, but when i noticed it and analyzed coincidence facts, this is not a random event. So tell me please if you have felt it like this.

• ptshiel said on Nov 12, 2008....

  hi my mom is 77 and recently I have noticed a strong and sweet pungent ammonia smell and kind of lingers... it smells bad when she speaks to me she has diabetes,high blood pressure, heart problems also has pacemaker how do you no if thats the smell of death

• KathQuiet said on Nov 12, 2008....

  Sometimes the smell is a tease, a warning, almost; or so I've observed.  Dad had it a good 18 months before he died, but briefly. and its disappearance for a long while lulled us all.  What you describe with your mom could be the death smell...but it could also be the ketone odor of poorly controlled diabetes, which can be very bad, as you know.  It's one of the worst ways for someone to go.  What I suggest is enjoying as much time with your mother as you feel inclined, getting her to repeat family stories, letting her know you love her and that her memory will live on.  Let her return to childishness in some things, if that is what she wants.  The last meal Dad was able to consume was a strawberry milkshake...

• anonymous said on Nov 16, 2008....

  I'm so glad to have found this forum. I need to get this out of my system, and I don't know whom I should speak to about smelling death. My parents and friends would think I've gone mad, if I tell them what I'd experienced. This occurred when I was invited to attend a party at a friend's house. A few minutes upon entering the house, I felt a chill ran down my spine. And I started smelling an odour that my brain instinctively associated with hospitals, but the clinical smell was more than that. It was horrid. It was like a thousand sort of toxins mixed into one lingering formula. I actually felt like vomitting. I asked around and my friends couldn't smell the odour. I even asked the host if any of his family members is hospitalised or sick and he said everyone is healthy. I decided to forget about it, thinking that it was my wild imagination and didn't give much thought about it until two years later. Two years later, which was a month ago, my friend's cousin passed away in a car accident. When I was told of the news, I felt scared because the terrible odour started to permeate my nostrils. That's when I knew it could be the smell of death. This freaks me out. I didn't know you could smell death.

• datkinson said on Nov 17, 2008....

  I think I have smelled death coming all of my life. I realized what it was about 15 years ago, I am 44 yrs old. Before someone I love dies, usually about a week before, I get a smell in my bed and around my bed. It's not something I can describe. It always freaks me out. I always tell one person and never anyone that lives in my house. I need to have my experience validated. Last week, for 2 full days, I had the smell in my room, I called my sister immediately and told her about it. My brother died 5 days later. I call it the curse, my friends tell me it's a gift. How do I know the difference? Why did God give me this ability and how and I suppose to know what He wants me to do with it? I have been right so many times that no one thinks I am crazy. I am an emotional wreck by the time the death occurs. Can anyone offer me some advise? Please help.

• racc00n said on Dec 06, 2008....

  I grew up with a lot of animals, and I recognized the smell of death before I even hit puberty.
  
  I also recognized that smell before my grandma was admitted to the
  hospital; in the hospital, the smell of bleach was so strong I couldn't
  smell that "pungent, sweet smell."  But I swear I smelt it and
  felt guilty and disgusted about it before my grandma was admitted.  She
  died within a few hours.
  
  Then nothing died around me for a while.  I left my family when I
  was 16.  I got a small rodent for companionship; but then I went
  away for Christmas and left my pet with plenty of food and water for
  two weeks.  Unfortunatelly; it chewed through the water bottle and
  got very very dehydrated by the time I got back.  It was breathing
  weakly and quickly, and I can smell that strong, pungent, sweet smell
  off her -- she died within a few hours.  As I was a teenager by
  that time, there is no mistaking it.  I was taken aback;
  shocked.  It's the same smell that I get from my own menstral
  blood mixed with lightly purfumed pads.
  
  I'm now an adult, and I've worked in a very busy emergency animal
  clinic for  3 years.  On top of death, I have discovered that
  I can smell ketone, which many vets in my clinic can smell. 
  Sometimes, before we even order bloodtest, I can just tell that an
  animal has been diabetic and is suffering from ketone acidosis.
  
  
  

• slade4422 said on Dec 06, 2008....

  My Fiancee has this death smell. She has had it come and go for over a year now. Sometimes when she sweats,sometimes her breathe, and all over. This really worries me. Sometimes it's so strong it's hard to be near her.Can someone please give me some insight.

• dmhca said on Dec 07, 2008....

  There seem to be two different "smells of death" being discussed here. One is ethereal and one is physical. What I experienced with my Dad was a smell from the body actually passing. When the body is so gone inside, it builds up toxins and releases them through the breath and pores. It's not a sign that death may be coming some day... It's the body actually shutting down. It's very disturbing because you definitely know what's coming. The other smell is something I am not familiar with. Smelling a bad smell from a seemingly healthy person and then having them die in an accident or something is not what I experienced.. Not to discount what the other people are saying, it's just two different things. So, I think it's best to clarify.. What I was looking for here, was people who had smelled this physical smell... To make sure I was not imagining it. I have since found other caregivers who have had the same experience, especially with cancer patients. Good luck... and peace be in your heart.

• datkinson said on Dec 07, 2008....

  I agree with anangel on July 17th. The smell I smell is sweet, rubber, plastic. I do not smell menthol. I only have the smell in and around my bed and never in the presence of the person that is going to pass. I posted my first comment on here about this matter on Nov 17th. As I stated, my 47 year old brother died on Nov 9th, 5 days after I smelled the smell in my bed. I knew someone was going to die but did not know who, I never know who it is going to be. My brother died from a narcotic overdose. He was not suffering from a terminal illness. I had not seen him in about 6 weeks. I know the physical smell that some of you describe. I had a cat that had a terrible odor to her one morning and my husband took her to the vet for me, her kidneys had shut down and I think the smell was all the toxins building in her system. We had her put to sleep the same day. The smell in my bed is very different. It always scares the heck out of me and all I can do is just wait on the phone call telling me who passed. Can anyone offer me some insight about this?

• slade4422 said on Dec 08, 2008....

  Well when I know someone is going to pass There is something I can feel as well. This is not what I meant. My fiancee off and on for the past year gives off what I call corps smell even though she is a very clean person. The smell comes from her sweat and her breathe and sometimes it's so potent that it comes even though she has just brushed her teethe and bathed. This is a physical smell. She does not smell it but I assume this is because it is coming from her.I have been pagan most my life and believe me, I do not speak of the ethereal .

• anonymous said on Dec 27, 2008....

  There is a smell called fetor hepticus that I frequently smell when someone is dying.

• anonymous said on Dec 30, 2008....

  I am a hospice nurse and can definitely relate the the odor that the body produces as it shuts down. If I smell it, death is usually anywhere from that day to a week away. The best description I could find for it is this: It's called fetor hepaticus and is a late sign in liver failure. Other possible causes are the presence of ammonia and ketones in the breath. The breath has a sweet, faecal smell to it. Some of you have mentioned smelling this sweet smell on younger, seemingly healthy people. In my experience, diabetics also emit this smell if their sugar levels are way off - their body emits ketones in the breath. I would definitely have their sugar checked!

• anonymous said on Dec 30, 2008....

  My grandmother is on hospice care, and today i think i smelled "the smell" kinda like strong urine but she has a foley catheter so i know it wasn't urine. we think she had a stroke this morning but aren't sure. im not sure of anything, i just know she doesn't look good right now. i have read many of your posts stating that people passed within the week of smelling death. If thats the case i hope thats not what i smelled although her hospice aid and nurse both say they smelled it too. may god be with her and let her go peacefully without pain.

• dmhca said on Dec 30, 2008....

  What I smelled with my dad was not really urine smell. Very Very pungent, disturbing. You would know, it's not like a normal bodily odor. I know what you are going through, though. I went through it with my Dad. You should take heart in knowing you are not alone. It is not easy, but you get through it in time. The main thing is that your loved one not suffer. My Dad suffered for a few weeks. We did what we could. But, we always second guess ourselves after. I am still not over it. Wondering if I did things right. If I could have helped him more? Lots of questions and doubts. Try not to fall into that trap. But, if you do, know you are not alone and others are going through the same thing. We had to be very hands on in my Dad's medical care. So it was really tough, emotionally. May God bless you and your Grandmother.

• anonymous said on Jan 04, 2009....

  When my mother in law died, my husband could only smell this awful smell after she passed, I was with him and I couldn't smell anything. When my dad died, I smelled this awful smell, and my husband sitting beside me ,couldn't smell anything.. has anyone else had this happen..It smelled like bad breath smell 10X worse than bad breath..

• dmhca said on Jan 05, 2009....

  Yes, for some reason, no one other than myself could smell it. Just before the end, a helper started to smell it also.  My sisters, Mom and wife all missed out on it, lucky them.
  For some reason, some people don't pick up on it.
  

• anonymous said on Jan 05, 2009....

  Datkinson & all, in reading your post I felt a tremendous sense of relief in the knowledge that I am not alone. I have had what those close to me and I call "white lady dreams" since I was about 5 yrs old. Typically 3 days before someone I know dies, rarely a week, I dream of the death. Unlike other dreams I may have of death, a woman dressed in white robes with long blonde hair speaks to me or is present when I dream the about the moment of death. I dubbed her "the white lady" as a child and the name stuck. Many may think it a subconcious reaction to a loved ones known illness or hospitalization, however that is not the case at all. I am 30 years old and have had an unnatural number of very close friends die without warning, usually car accidents. I even have such dreams when an animal dies, either my own or that of a loved one. As a child, the dreams terrified me. As an adult, one who has attended far too many funerals, I have come to see the dreams as a rare gift. I view death as just as much a part of life as being born, not an end, only part of the journey. (I often dream of the deceased after their death in which they let me know if they are in a better place, or they tell me things they want me to know or to pass along. In dreams where they want me to pass along info, I never understand the message until I relay it and the other person explains it to me. Not all of them come to me after death. I have taken it as a sign that they did not make it to the better place.) But without the dreams I would not deal with death as well as I do. I have burried close friends and relatives, as well as children. I would have lost my mind a very long time ago without the dreams, so they are a blessing. Perhaps this is why I chose to work in a nursing home. I have literally felt the personal fear that one may feal prior to death via my dreams and realized I could help patients with the transition through true compassion. Btw, I can also smell death. Once you have smelled it, the smell never leaves your memory because it is so distinct. Datkinson, maybe your premonitions are a gift as well. One that you could use to help others through the transition...think about it bc everything happens 4 a reason; coincidence is an illusion. Good luck and God bless! -clt-

• Canala said on Jan 11, 2009....

  I'm not glad to have the ability to smell death. Yet it has come to me many times. I have wondered is it a gift or a curse? I feel like the Ghost Whisperer. How or should I tell loved ones of the dying? It's more than the nursing home smell it's deeper darker and hits you in a second. You just know death is coming. TES

• suzyq said on Jan 18, 2009....

  Hi! I'm glad to have found this post. I've been somewhat psychic all my life. Lots of supernatural experiences. I have been able to smell my dead mother-in-law for a few years. First I thought something was burning. I'd look all over the house and yard for a fire. No fire. Then I realized it smelled like cigarettes. My mother-in-law was a BIG SMOKER! I always hated the smell. But now, whenever I smell that cigarette smell (we don't smoke or allow it in our house), I tell my husband," I smell your mother". He can smell it too, even though he is not psychic. I even smelled my beloved dead dog. I smelled a "wet dog" smell a lot after he died. I had been dreaming about the dog, and seeing glimpses of black (the dog was black) out of the corner of my eye for a while. My husband and neighbor both smelled the cigarette smell and the wet dog smell one day at the same time I did. But now something more disturbing has happenned. My husband is extremely ill. Last evening, I smelled a rotting flesh kind of smell. I looked all over the house for a dead mouse or something. I didn't find anything. My husband and grandson both smelled the same smell when I did. It scares me that it might mean my husband's iminent death. I've known for a long time that he won't be around long. Everyone who knows him and his Dr.'s indicate that they think he doesn't have long. I know it will happen, but it really scares me. Why do I have to be so cursed with all this supernatural stuff? Thanks for letting me vent.

• tinkerbell said on Jan 24, 2009....

  glad i foung this site. my sister died last  november from cancer  and yes i do remember getting a weird smell in her room a few hours (or less) before she passed. my mother had said those words, thats the smell of death, it was a very strange smell nothing like i smelt before, at the time i thought it smelt like a pampon mixed with a very wet babys nappy, no offence guys. never want to experience that again watching someone literally die before your eyes (long story) life is so cruel  

• KathQuiet said on Jan 24, 2009....

  tinkerbell, I sure understand the pain of watching of someone die before your eyes. Dad was such a strong man, so vibrant and active until the cancer took hold, then he withered away to a husk of himself, seeing things from the past actively as if they were happening just then. It broke my heart, but I went along with them to make him happy. I found the smelling of his death a blessing, because it warned me to make some of his last moments special as I could. Not only did I go "back in the ship's galley" with him, I also got to sing to him and to tell him he was a good father who was appreciated and would not be forgotten.

• datkinson said on Feb 02, 2009....

  Canala You can tell who it will be? I don't ever get that knowledge. I think my ability is a curse but people close to me want me to see it as a gift. I am not sure they would think it's a gift if they could smell it themselves.

• anonymous said on Feb 18, 2009....

  I smelled this odor for the first time in 1998 when my husband, age 41, had a massive heart attack, died, and was shocked 17 times and brought back to life. He had this smell about him for the next 2 years and then passed away. I managed to finally block out the smell and had forgotten about it until last October 17th, 2008. My brother, age 46, had a heart attack and they done a triple bypass on him and he is doing good, but he still has that smell about him and it worries me. I smelled it again the other day. My Dad passed away on Valentine's Day and at the funeral visitation, when I was approaching his body, I smelled it again and immediately thought about my brother and it raised my worries even more. It's such an odd odor that you can't really describe it to any one. I've tried to explain it to my sister and can't. I don't like being able to smell that odor because I know what is coming and I don't like knowing. :(

• Sandy said on Feb 18, 2009....

  I posted the post above anonymously and decided to join the site.
  I wanted to add something...
  
  The smell, to me, is nothing like that of a dead animal. Unfortunately, I have smelled dead animals before. The smell of death on a person is totally different, to me, and it creeps me out. Especially when the person is still living.
  

• datkinson said on Feb 18, 2009....

  I know when I go to bed at night, I usually pray that I don't wake up with THE smell in my bed in the morning. I don't like knowing. I am rarely wrong when I give advise or when I tell how a real life story is going to end, I wonder what I know that others don't. It makes me uneasy but those around me know that when I say it, it's going to go down just the way I said it was. It's like universal knowledge of some kind. Why me???

• Anangel said on Feb 18, 2009....

  Sadly i am having to let you know the smell that i spoke about on the 17th july 2008, has become true my dear friend has died only yesterday, 2 weeks before his 19th birthday..It breaks my heart to have known this was going to happen,

• Anangel said on Feb 18, 2009....

• datkinson said on Feb 18, 2009....

  I am so sorry "anangel" for you loss and for what you have experienced since July 17th.

• anonymous said on Feb 19, 2009....

• npyx said on Feb 23, 2009....

  i'm sorry for your losses people. no offense, but get a grip already. the people you talk about are sick people. they are probably getting lots of treatment, using lots of medicine, they're spending hours in certain places like hospitals. why do you act like you're having some kind of mystical experience on this "death smell" garbage? if you want to feel special, try to make them feel better while your loved ones are showing signs of defeat.

• anonymous said on Feb 23, 2009....

  why are you reading this site if you are not looking for answers your self??  How and what treatment could have been used for a blood clot on the brain that had been undetected for the whole of my friends life.. also one more thing,In what way would anybody even want to feel special..?! 

• anonymous said on Feb 23, 2009....

  We are all here looking for something we don't understand. If you (npxy) aren't here for the same reason, please find another forum.

• npyx said on Feb 24, 2009....

  i see you're so hospitable. well the thing is, you don't want to understand. you want it to put things in a mysterious character. you are not searching for answers. all you say is how it's extraordinary, how special. that's all i mean. sorry if you are offended.

• anonymous said on Feb 25, 2009....

  I was in an accident almost 2 years ago had several internal injuries worst of which was a dissected aorta they had to wait till surgeons repaired torn colon due to the feces i guess before being able to take care of aorta. Was told it was the worst dissection that they had ever seen including on people that didnt make it. I was not expected to make it, thank god i did, but i can remember a distinct smell, not putrid but distinct. didnt think anything of it just figured hospital smell. i've been in hospital 4 more times since for vascular surgeries, and am now getting around pretty good considering. the past few days ive been smelling that distinct smell i remember. I am not claiming death smell cause i wouldnt know but it was enough to get me lookin around, was just kinda thinking possibly old injuries resurfacing.hmmmm

• momglynis said on Mar 05, 2009....

  Im so confused about 15 years ago my grandma passed away I remember going to hug her and wipe her face and literally had to leave the room the smell was so bad I went outside and got sick. I didnt know what that was till just recently. Im really scared because my dad has been sick for a while now is not breathing well a lot of fluid in the lungs been in hospital for a few weeks and this last Monday I smelled that smell again. I have never said anything to anyone because I didnt know what it was. Yesterday while sitting with my dad my brother said he needs to be washed he has a smell. I finally asked do you know what that is and remember it with grandma? He said he thought thats what it was, but didnt think anyone else noticed it. When I smelled that with grandma it was very strong and she passed that night. With my dad its not overly strong I guess Im just wondering how long once you sence that smell, when does death follow. I know noone can tell when it will happen but I wish I knew. The Doctor had said he only had about 2 weeks left in him and he has hung on for almost 4. I dont know if thats bad or good. This may sound crazy but I think he is waiting for everyone to be here I came from outta state and my other brother will be here soon and we told him that he was comming can he be waiting for him? My dad is in such pain and breathing very shallow. Im so confused.

• gypsy0318 said on Mar 05, 2009....

  your father is waiting for everyone to be there. this will make him and everyone feel better. my mother passed away four months after i smelled the smell. she passed after she had seen almost everyone from our family, which totals 50 for immediate family. she mostly waited for her sister who is 95 and lives in another state. she died one hour after she was visited by her sister. i was there with my daughter, granddaughter, and great grandson. we were five generations together at her end. she smiled just before she passed. i miss her very much.

• radomamm said on Mar 06, 2009....

  I just lost my beloved mother a month ago. On the night she passed, I smelled distinct sweet smell and could not figure out what it was. The smell got stronger as she got closer to her death. Now I know what it was. I was in denial of her immenent death. I did not want her to go, but yet I could not bear her suffer. She was 89 years old and lived a full life. We were very lucky to have her this long. She died peacefully of late stage congested heart failure. If I had known what that smell was, I would have told my mom a million more times how much I love her and appreciated her. I miss her terribly. For those who still have their mothers, show and tell them how much you love them and appreciate them as no one kknows when they are taken away from you. ..................I LOVE AND MISS YOU MAMA..........................................

• KathQuiet said on Mar 06, 2009....

  Anangel, I am so sorry for your loss. I've been out of the post a bit; coming back and reading yours just broke my heart. You did have time to love, love, love your friend, though, please, right? 19! My God.

• KathQuiet said on Mar 06, 2009....

  I hope npyx and his anger are gone.  The truth is that not everyone smells the odor of dying.  It's also not the same amongst people.  The woman who runs the care home where my father died tells of a patient she'd had years previous, a devout and very goodhearted person, whose smell of death was very floral.  Dad's was quite pungently not floral, not quite fetid, but overpowering. 

• anonymous said on Mar 11, 2009....

  i had a dream last night about a friend who died about a week ago. i was freindly with him in school, hung out with him a couple times, but wasnt terribly close with him. he died in his car, and thats where we were. he came and picked me up and he and i both knew he was dead. i asked him things like whats it like being dead, who do you see, who can see you ect. it was a truly weird dream. but in the dream i smelled a sweet corpse smell coming from him throughout the entire time i was with him. i've never smelled it before but it added to the eeriness of the dream. also i thought he was going to purposely crash the car a couple times, and at one point we were driving on the wrong side of the road, and at another point we were flying high up above the street. we took pictures and he showed up as a ghost in them, i kissed him goodbye and his lips were dry and tasted sweet, like the smell. the whole thing was bizarre. and i havent found anyone smelling this smell in a dream, only in real life.

• anonymous said on Mar 14, 2009....

  I have been able to smell death for as long as I can remember. My mother can also smell death. I can smell death sometimes up to three or four days before someone dies. My cat died today and he was relatively healthy, but I could smell that he was going to die. Normally I do not have a good sense of smell and my husband makes fun of me because I can never smell anything. Whenever I smell death I ask him and he can never smell what I smell. I decided to look up the smell of death because I have told friends and they think that I'm crazy. It comforts me that my mother can smell it. My grandmother, mother, son and I also have dreams that ultimately come true. I always thought that the smell of death was just being more intuitive.

• rchmondgrl said on Mar 15, 2009....

  npyx i don't understand why you are here...i am here a second time...my dad died 8/15/08 and now my mom is in final stages of parkinson's...i'm not looking for mystical answers...just something i wanted clarification on...wasn't that experienced in losing a parent or being at the bedside of someone dying...wondering why i could smell it but my brother's could not...not trying to be rude to you and please do not be rude to me, things are hard for me right now and no, i do not smell that smell around my mom...perhaps not everyone goes thru that...i was actually relieved today to see her and not smell that

• anonymous said on Mar 17, 2009....

  I have been smelling this smell similar to when you walk pass a trash bin, Or when a waiste truck passes by on their way to dump trash. I seem to smell it when i'm around crowds of people, like a crowded bus,bank,store etc. My body use to give off this sorta smell when i would eat to much candy, I'm thinking its a bacteria build up.

• -clt- said on Mar 17, 2009....

  I am so sorry 2 hear of all the passings since my last post (-clt-). I have smelled the smell of death for as long as a month b4 a person died and as little as an hour b4 they passed. I know that those who had the smell longer, and it becomes stronger over time, tended 2 be hanging on 4 a reason. Usually waiting 4 family or 2 finally find peace with the inevitable. When I worked at a nursing home, one of my patients smelled that way 4 a month b4 she died. Her room was right across from the nurses station. At first u could only smell it in her room but after a few weeks that's all you could smell once you entered that wing. She didn't want 2 die until she had her entire family with her. During her last few days she refused 2 sleep because she knew it was coming. She would close her eyes and doze off but never fully relax. I would sit by her side as often as I could and tell her to relax and that it was ok to go. She finally passed on her 100th birthday. Her entire family came 2 see her. They were crammed in her room and flooded the hallway. They brought balloons and flowers. After she saw each one of them, she closed her eyes 4 the last time. In all my years I cannot recall ever seeing anyone as relaxed and at peace as she was when she finally closed her eyes. I hope that when I die I am as at peace as Elsie was. -clt-

• anonymous said on Apr 04, 2009....

  About 14 years ago I experienced the first smell of death. I was with a friend whose father had just died, and ended up waiting in his room with her for almost 2 hours. After leaving the room I continued to smell it. I had to shower, but even then the smell was still in my nose. I ended up using Vicks to get rid of it....Since then I've lost 2 husbands, & experienced the same smell each time. My mother just passed away & while in her room I never noticed the smell....about 2 hours later she had obviously declined & when I bent down to kiss her, the smell was there. I mentioned it to the Hospice nurse & she knew what I was talking about. I also knew beyond a doubt that she would be gone, and she was about 24 hrs later. I had mentioned this to a friend & she found this posting. I'm just glad to find people that aren't health professionals that have experienced it. It is definitely a sweet type smell, but something on the sour side too. It is unmistakeable.

• anonymous said on Apr 09, 2009....

  I came upon this while searching for "cancer, odor." I received a call from my mother's nursing home today--she is in on the east coast, I am in Texas. The caretaker mentioned that she has a foul smell about her, but not related to a dirty diaper or the need for a bath. Might this be The Smell? The caretaker also stated that my mother has gotten significantly weakter in the last 3 months and can no longer stand on her own. Thoughts? And Easter blessings to all those who have lost loved ones and are in pain now ...

• buddahlina3 said on May 02, 2009....

  I can smell death. The smell is very putrid. But i have no idea why i can only smell it and know one else can. I have told only very few of my cvlose freinds and some think im crazy, i thought for a while i was going crazy because i am only 16 its hard for me understand what is going on. But now after this forum, i understand now

• -clt- said on May 02, 2009....

  Several weeks ago while watching CNN Headline News I saw a report on how scientists were training dogs to smell cancer in patients. The demonstration showed how the dogs detected the correct smell every time they were instructed to do so. I looked into it further and found that a dog's sense of smell is hundreds of times stronger than that of a human's. I believe it's completely possible, or more likely probable, that those of us who can smell death have a stronger sense of smell than those who cannot smell death. For example, my husband calls me the human barometer because I can smell rain, my absolute favorite smell, hours before it rains without seeing a weather report. As an aside, I am also legally blind and do not believe that other senses get stronger after losing one. Instead I think we rely on them more than before. Now, back to my hypothesis, what does everyone else think? After all, science has found super tasters, maybe we are all just super smellers?!?

• grievinggrannync2md said on May 04, 2009....

  I am so happy that their are other people out there who have noticed that smell. Back in January my grandmother passed away from acute leukemia and while she was in the hospital that smell was present. My mom told me that weeks before she was hospitalized she complained of her breath being bad and she kept washing her mouth out. While she was in the hospital the smell was faint for a day or so and then on the night before her death it was so thick that you could smell it outside the hospital room. I will never forget that smell as long as I live, it remained in my skin and clothing for what seemed like weeks. Sometimes when I am asleep I swear that I can smell her and her breathing in the room with me, just as she was in the hospital. That was the first time I had ever seen someone transition before and I must say that it is a sweet but draining experience.

• loolipop said on May 19, 2009....

  I could smell an unusal smell when i was sat with my dying dad,he had pancreas cancer he was 67yrs,the smell i can only say was not pungent but made me feel a bit nauseous it was a bit like used teabags!! Then i was talking to someone i know who has liver cancer and is waiting for chemo and i could smell the same smell,what is this smell?

• one_wired_kitty said on May 21, 2009....

  I worked as a nurses aid ... I know of said smell ... said smell would linger around my residents before they would go.

  Very sad.

• Sjpowell said on Jun 10, 2009....

  I have smelled a peculiar odor for about 3 months. No one else smells it. I smell it at home, work riding in vehicles and standing outdoors. I first attributed it to a new chemical for ac filters, but no one else can smell it. It has an undertone of bleach , pepper and a mixture of floral. Sometimes it is very strong and lingers around me. Other times it is faint. I discarted all artificial fragrances in my house and checked my ac/heating filters. I have a heart disease maybe it is me and I am dying. However, my mother has the same heart disease and last night she opened her bedroom door snd the scent was overpowering. I asked my medical Dr. and he said he soesn't smell me (and he has a sensetive nose). I have tried to remember what embalming fluid smells like. Maybe someone is trying to contact me. I smell it now.

• Gaillynn said on Jun 12, 2009....

  I'm so glad to have read some of these posts. I think some people don't smell this. And maybe some smell it as rancid and others sickly sweet. I smell it as sickly sweet. After being next to a woman who had a heart attack in a 7 11, I smelled this smell, sweet and sickly. It lingered on me and in my car. To be honest I'm not sure it ever left the car. That was my first major experience with it and from that point I can smell it on people who are ill, cats who are ill, and in the homes of people who are dying or who have died. Again, to me it's sickly sweet. Faint. But lingering and impossible to get rid of. It does seem to indicate death or at least a very serious illness. Interesting, some people don't smell it. It has to be something breaking down in the body. It's not a decaying smell. That's a smell of death that comes from being dead and decaying. What I'm talking about is a smell that comes from the alive and dying, and which lingers where they have been. Bed, shoes, bathroom, clothes. There is a slightly mystical aspect to this though, even though I do feel it's a physical by product to a bodily breakdown. Once you get really familiar with the smell, you can sometimes smell it way in advance to the person getting ill. It's in a very small trace that you get just a whif of. And sometimes it comes to mind when you think of someone. That's a bit mystical? Unless we are picking up something subconsciously first. I don't know. It's very distinct though. And once you do identify this smell, you'll recognize it from that point out. Quite often sadly so. My dad just died of cancer, and I could just kick myself for ignoring that smell on him. He had the smell all right. And so did his condo. Very much so. He was diagnosed on the 9th, and passed on the 26th. It was a fast decline.

• Trevorz said on Jun 13, 2009....

  I work in a nursing home and there are moments when staff say to each other 'can you smell death?' Some people are closed off emotionally from others and they don't seem to notice it. The odour is unmistakeable, and I got used to it when my grandad died 20 years ago. Some members of my family still say 'I smelled Grandad again yesterday - he was visiting us'. I smell these 'visitors' in the nursing home as the spirit seems to linger in a confused way as they are so intoxicated with pharmaceuticals at the time of death. To me, the scent is of a flower-festooned body on an Indian cremation pyre. So, what we are smelling is probably the soul or some astral entity partially materialising in the physical. After all, the living have this same spirit inside us, but it is comfortable and has no need to leave the body and cause an aroma. Before death people see their deceased loved ones in the room. I know that this happens. The deceased will visit family members after death. This whole phenomena of life and death is so special that we shouldn't label it as unpleasant. We need to open our hearts to the reality of human existence and accept all phenomena as natural.

• maxman2 said on Jul 09, 2009....

  Right before my mother dies of lung cancer I could smell something like wet newspapers. That is the only way I can describe it. Anyone else?

• anonymous said on Jul 24, 2009....

  I am the caregiver for a 99 year old beautiful lady. She fell and fractured her hip about 6 weeks ago. This lady is the most well groomed person I have ever known. She has been bedridden for this 6 week period. She has started seeing strange people in her room and a couple of times it has been so crazy I was sure she was leaving us, but she always rallies. This week She has had horrible breath. I mentioned to the nurse yesterday that I think she isn't cleaning her teeth the way she usually does. I watched yesterday and everything is being done the same way as always. There is nothing sweet about this smell It is the smell of something that has already died. I mentioned it to the hospice nurse today and she said it is just bad breath. I know this person and have known her for 25 years, it smells like something rotting. Could this be the smell of death?

• ima said on Aug 08, 2009....

  I experienced the smell when our mom passed away this spring. What I observed was definitely not from her breathing, it was from her skin. Definitely not a bad odor at all, just different. My sister and I sat on each side of her bed and held her hand almost constantly for about 4 days before she passed. The odor was faint but definite on my hands after I held hers. My sister did not notice it at all, even after I mentioned it to her. I tend to think it's an odor caused when the body is shutting down. She hadn't been able to eat for a while but did not have I.V.'s etc. There was also kind of a waxy feeling to my hands after I held hers for a long time. Sort of like a lanolin coating on my hands and her skin definitely had that waxy feel. And the odor was on my hands from holding hers. I would say those who said they smelled a foul odor or an ammonia type smell or something from the breath definitely did not experience the same thing I did.

• Junelle said on Aug 14, 2009....

  My mom was in a nursing home and declining . I first smelled this odor I cant place it . It is not pleasent I smells rather ashey. It was in my bedroom i thought it was a mildew smell because i was having a problem with a leak in my ceiling from my apt. Then I smelled it in my car and when i visited my mom two weeks before she died i encountered that strange odor again. Then after she died it continued and stopped. I recently took a trip to california and i smelled it in my motel room in the car i rented and the plane coming back to az. The onlly thing i can think of is that it is my moms presence. They say the death smell can stay a year.

• anonymous said on Aug 20, 2009....

  My mom has been in a hospice home for four days now, she has pancreatis and a failed liver. I walked in this morning, and had to turn around immediately to gag and compose my self. It was the most awful smell, that is like no other. As I approached her I could smell it on her breath. She is not on any medication, other than some pain meds (light), there is no medication that will help her at this point. But, it is a real smell that is like nothing else, and you WILL NOT forget it once you smell it. I think it was a real slap in the face sign for me to be prepared. I feel the pain of the people here, and I can relate.

• Trevorz said on Aug 21, 2009....

  I posted a while ago, and I am grateful for info gleaned from posts since. Furthermore, I've found some useful ways of removing 'that smell' for us who work with the dying. I use an American-made 'Seventh generation' laundry product, and add my own tea-tree oil drops to the warm or hot wash. Then I use vinegar instead of softener (same result incidentally) and then dry in the air, not in a dryer. I've also found that for some reason using scented products seems to attract further scent (as a man I generally avoid scents). Like attracts like is an ancient maxim worth remembering. Keep your body and clothes as pure of artificial scents as possible, and wash with pure soap or sorbolene-based products. Eat a plain, macrobiotic diet with brown rice, root veg etc. and minimal meat, and you will find that the mind can tolerate disturbances where it once would not. Blessed be!

• gljenkins0124 said on Aug 21, 2009....

  Thanks for the laundry tip, because the scent I smell does linger in clothing and bedding, even after it's been washed several times. It's such a strange chemical this scent. I'll try your suggestion, as I kept some of my dad's coats and sweaters but can't get that scent out of them.

• yoopermary said on Sep 06, 2009....

  My mother-in-law spent three years here in my house after her debilitating stroke before she died. Nurses and aides were here daily. One of them was a young fullblooded Ojibwe woman and she stopped by after Gladys died. She advised burning cedar to drive off lingering spirits. I kinda don't believe in spirits but what the hey, it seemed like it couldn't hurt. I burned cedar boughs and afterwards the air in the room seemed clean and cheerful.

• missmac28630 said on Sep 08, 2009....

  My husband and I rented this house and in one of the bedrooms it smelled like an old man with body odor. It was renovated, as my husband done the work in lieu of rent. He took out the floorboards, replaced them with new ones, and we completely done the ceiling and walls. We had new carpet installed. Still, that odor lingered. One my hubby's friends use to work at the funeral home and I asked him what it was. He said, "Someone's died in here" and sure enough I found out that the old man that lived there previously had cancer and died in there. That was a very creepy smell, though. It was like a sweet body odor- the smell you smell in rest homes or terminal wings of hospitals.

• Trevorz said on Sep 08, 2009....

  Sometimes burning frankincense resin can help. In ancient days it used to be burned to remove the stench of humanity (including death) and to purify the air of lingering spirits at funerals and battle sites. As is often the case, a perfectly good pagan custom is hijacked by the mainstream religions and turned into something of their own, as is the case here - we find frankinsence burned in RC and Anglican rites - possibly for the same purposes, especially at funerals. I heat a tablespoon on the stove-top and add a small crystal of the resin, and walk the smoke through the house - good for when moving house. Do it to remove your own remnants of scent when you move out, and clear the air of a new home before moving anything in. Similar in spirit to the venerable Ojibwe woman's advice above.

• anonymous said on Sep 26, 2009....

  My Mother passed away back in 1998 of lung cancer, I do remember a odor that I was not sure of, it was strange to me. Just two days ago my sister dies of the same lung cancer. When I walked into the house and set beside her I could smell a odor like strong urine, was thinking that it was the bag hooked to her. No one else said anything about the smell so I thought it was just me. My daughter reminded me about the odor when my mom was dying..All I know is you have a strong need to leave the house and get fresh air, that is the way I felt about Mom and my sister, like I needed to get fresh air.......It is so confusing to me, I do not want to look like I know when death will arrive, because I don't, all I know is that I didn't like the smell I was smelling and had to leave the house, it was over powering to me and I needed fresh air......My prayers go out to all of you that have gone through this and the ones that still have to endure............

• sassy_n_u_2009 said on Sep 26, 2009....

  My Mother passed away back in 1998 of lung cancer, I do remember a odor that I was not sure of, it was strange to me. Just two days ago my sister dies of the same lung cancer. When I walked into the house and set beside her I could smell a odor like strong urine, was thinking that it was the bag hooked to her. No one else said anything about the smell so I thought it was just me. My daughter reminded me about the odor when my mom was dying..All I know is you have a strong need to leave the house and get fresh air, that is the way I felt about Mom and my sister, like I needed to get fresh air.......It is so confusing to me, I do not want to look like I know when death will arrive, because I don't, all I know is that I didn't like the smell I was smelling and had to leave the house, it was over powering to me and I needed fresh air......My prayers go out to all of you that have gone through this and the ones that still have to endure............

• anonymous said on Sep 26, 2009....

  I visited my mother today - she is a terminal cancer patient, with bowel, mets to the liver, lungs lymph system. She has had an extra year than was expected. Today when I kissed her as we were ready to leave THAT smell was on her. She is not having medication at this time - all those have been stopped now. She currently has vitamins and a diuretic and an injection for blood thinning. I smelt this smell a year ago when the cancer was raging, but it left, now I smell it again. I feel this is the time I will be contacting my sisters to get them to make ocntact with her, as time may be very short.

• christa30 said on Oct 02, 2009....

  Thank you for posting this. I thought I was the only one that could smell death. My family makes fun of me because I can smell it before an living thing passes and always could since I could remember, I am so glad I am not the only one. I call the smell bittersweet and the smell makes me sick. I really hate the smell. To the lady that can smell rain, I can to before it rains and I do love that smell also:)

• ladybug67 said on Oct 28, 2009....

  My mom is still living and had her appendix rupture in June and had to have surgery. She is completely healed according to her doctor. The healing process took two months and she is getting ready to have a hip replacement done. I smell a strong smell of ammonia and something else when her door is open to her room it penetrates throughout the house (It smells horrible) I am afraid it smells like death to me and I say this because it smells like a nursing home. She is very sensitive to anything you say to her so I have to be careful with my words. Is there anything I can do and should I be worried? ladybug67

• Trevorz said on Oct 28, 2009....

  Just to ease your fears a little - most, if not nearly all elderly folk in homes and hospitals have an altered thermostat (whatever the technical term is!) and they have windows shut and heating on high for extended periods even in the heat. They still feel cold despite this. There is a horrible feeling of staleness in the air of their rooms because of this, and it may account for one of the nasty smells? Fresh air is helpful, though it is near impossible to convince a frail 90y/old that her room is stifling her.

• anonymous said on Oct 29, 2009....

  my mum is very ill in a nursing home. She is 89 has breast cancer, parkinsons, high blood pressure, and is presently not eating and taking minimal water. Last night when i visited her, I smelt on her breath and on her skin, a smell I have only smelt once before- on my father who had cancer, just before he died. I asked the nurse but she said she had no experience of a "death smell" prior to death, but I am convinced. I hope this is an indication of Mums nearness to death, because I feel she is suffering now, not through pain, but the mental torture of not being able to speak, eat, move or do anything in a dignified way. I see her crying when she has water dribbled into her mouth and she struggles to swallow. I just hope for her sake death will come soon

• anonymous said on Nov 01, 2009....

  After all, death is only the division between our physical body and our spirit and mind. Our existence here in this moment, is only a passageway to the undeniable absolution from our pour acknowledge of the universe and its infinity.

• mystical_rains said on Nov 05, 2009....

  I know the smell of death in hospital rooms as people who are elderly's body processes begin to cease and their kidneys make less urine. I have noticed that it takes on a brownish color before a person who has a catheter passes on. I have noticed it in different ways over the years in people who are dying. I cannot describe it and yet I cannot ever forget it. It smells of like something beginning to decompose with a perspiration (not like B.O. stench) like tinge to it. I am not sure if it makes sense because it is as though there is something that is common in it among the people I have watched slip away but there is a personal kind of element to it as well. Almost as though if the person is close to you, you notice more of the physical characteristics of pallor, breathing and what I would even call a death rattle in the last breaths they take before expiring. The smell is unmistakably the same but with a different nuance that I would call unique to that person somehow.

  I also have noticed when my husband and I have gone to the mausoleum where my mother-in-law cremated remains are kept in a niche, that there is a distinctive smell there. Other people tell me that it's mildew but I know it to be the sickening, nauseating smell of decay. They say that you cannot smell the decomposition that takes place because of the marble slabs but I know what I am smelling is death. Come on, there are caskets slid into a space and the 'marble slab' has not been put into place yet. I know that smell! I don't mean to get gross but once when I was with my daddy when I was a kid, we went raccoon hunting at night and came to a field of cows. We were near a creek that ran through the field we were in and suddenly he said to me "You smell that'? I told him that I could and it was the worst smell I had ever smelled in my life and I was about 10. He told me that we were down wind of a cow that had passed on and we were smelling it. I smelled that in the mausoleum later in life and every once in a while when I have been with people who are dying. It's a bit unnerving to smell that odor and know what is coming next.

• tskfrc58 said on Nov 05, 2009....

  Twice in my life have i noticed that smell...and i would describe it as yes, both sweet and unpleasant at the same time, sort of like wet, mildewed and week-old grass from under a lawnmower that hasnt been cleaned properly.
   
  The first time  i didnt really understand what it was i was smelling, as it was in the presence of my grandfather back in 1995. I was stationed down in north carolina with the US Marines and had come home on leave around june. I had lived with my grandfather for several years before joining the marines, and never did i notice anything near to what that smell was. My grandfather was actually on the mend from a pretty bad car accident over the winter that messed him up a good bit...fractured ankle, collapsed lung and several broken ribs. He was pretty mobile by that time, and actually told me he was feeling better than he had in years (long time asbestos and emphesema from welding 30 years at Electric Boat in Groton, CT).
   
   I ended up going back down to NC at the end of 2 weeks, and shortly after i returned...another two weeks...my mother called me to tell me my grandfather was dying....apparently the doctors had missed something in his colon from a previous colonoscopy...and he had terminal stage cancer of the colon and liver. The marines refused emergency leave for me, so i was not there when he died. from what my family tells me he was jaundiced, but died peacefully.
   
  The second time, and the reason i came searching for something to reinforce my sanity, was earlier tonight. My wife and i care for her father, who is 79, a diabetic, and has been recently ill...we arent sure if its a stomach bug, the swine flu, or what...but he hasnt been out of bed more than a few minutes in the apst two days. Tonight he fell trying to make it to the bathroom and has been nauseas and vomiting. he refuses to go to the ER, but we got him to agree to go to his doctor 1st thing in the morning.
   
  i myself and running a fever, bronchitis, and likely was exposed to the swine flu yesterday morning as i work in a public location where one person who actually has h1n1 was in our waiting room all of eight feet from where i was working. The fever came on in the last few hours, and im off to bed here shortly, but that smell was entirely unnerving....and no it wasnt soiled clothing, he had a urine container handy for just such situations....but that sweet-rotten smell was heavy in the air in his bedroom, and its scaring the hell out of me.
  -Justin in WV

• tskfrc58 said on Nov 05, 2009....

  Yes..i mstill awake...and did a little digging around on the topic of "Fetor Hepaticus" that someone posted further up....guess it has something to do with liver failure and the way the body excretes the stuff the liver is no longer removing. It makes sense to me now with my grandfather's liver shutting down with his cancer...and im hoping to hell that thats not what my wife's father has, but that smell jogged my memory of my experience 14 years ago...and im still worried about it.

• Tryingtounderstand said 13 days ago....

  I too can smell death. I have for years now. As I get older it seems to get more defined. Never knew why. I can be any where not just in a hospital. I also can sense death with people that are close to me somehow. Not sure whats up with that. But every time I sense or smell it, it happens. With the smells when I walk close to some one or within their smell area I can tell who it will be. But with the sense, if its someone close I can't always tell. If the sense is strong I know it will be really close within my little group of friends or family. If its not strong it is usually someone that extends outside of that group, like your friend's uncle died who I knew but real well, etc. It's very strange, never done much research on it before. I just lost my Dad and buried him yesterday. And I sensed he was going to die when he went into the hospital and I wasn't at the hospital yet. And as soon as I entered the room I could smell it. I knew what was going to happen and seen what was happening and tried to get the doctors to listen to what I was telling them. They were giving him to much strong medicine for his age of 79 which was shutting his kidneys down. He went to the hospital for a broken ankel. To say the least he died. And I knew when I first walked into his room he wasn't coming back. I don't know it this ability is a curse of a blessing. Maybe some day I will find the answer and learn how to use it as a blessing. NC

• anonymous said 2 days ago....

  Ok so I am not insane. I just wanted to start with that. For the past 3 or 4 months off and on I have been smelling this. On me. I have asked everyone and they dont smell anything different about me. I do. Truly I am not insane. It smells like death. Not decaying flesh. It is a kind of a ammonia and sweet smell all at once. Not pleasant. Sometimes it is so strong it gags me, literally. My pillow that I sleep with at night most nights gets thrown to the floor because the odor on it is so strong I cant sleep. Ugh, I know how this sounds. I dont even know why I am writing this except I guess I feel the need to vent. It isnt because I dont shower Heck, tonight I showered for 40 minutes and as I was drying off the odor was so strong it almost made me vomit. It had gone away for a few weeks so when it hit me that suddenly that strong it surprised me. I know there is probably a chemical change happening in my body to explain this. Unfortunately my husband and I both lost our jobs 6 months ago and with that we lost our insurance. We both have new jobs but no insurance. The smell of death isnt new to me. I smelled this same odor on my mother as I watched her die. I dont believe it is anything other than a chemical change and some people can smell it better than others. Just like I could always smell when my children were babies and they had a fever before I even took their temperature. This is NOT the same smell. Has anyone else experienced this same smell on themselves? I mean other than when they have been around someone else that was dying.

• Trevorz said 2 days ago....

  Hello, It's unlikely you are smelling yourself. My theory is that it is the Soul when it leaves the body temporarily (or one part of it) that we perceive. It starts to explore the new world it is about to be born into. Our body is the womb for giving birth to the soul into the next life. I believe that the soul likes to depart and return when it feels that the current 'host' is about to deteriorate unto death. If you knew your home was about to be demolished wouldn't you go searching for somewhere else to live? And perhaps for sentimental reasons you would go back to the site and think 'that's where I used to live'. You are always you whether or not you inhabit the same body-host, and once you realize that you are ALWAYS you forever, and that you can't just fall out of the Universe, things seem to look up for us as a life-form - and not even with the help of religion! We can live our own ancient lives without being told what to do, and soon everything seems wonderful and serene, and fear vanishes. Embrace the death process wherever you see it, and always reassure the dying.  It's not as seriously miserable when you look at it from my perspective!

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