I have been on insulin for years and to me it does not have an odor at all. I have had to spray on my clothes a couple few times in my lifetime and never thought to change my clothes as it does not smell for me. Well, last week my mum and I went shopping and she kept saying she kept smelling something odd. I told her I didn't smell a thing but she was insistant that it was lingering around us, and was much worse in the car. I then thought about the insulin that sprayed on my blouse from earlier in the day and had her smell it. I thought she was going to head straight to the john from the twisted face she made! She thought it smelled awful, like dirty socks. I don't know if I am immune to the smell of it but I told her that I couldn't smell any odor. So I am wondering from other people, have you or could you detect a smell from your insulin or can you tell by the odor of a person with diabetes that they are on insulin?
So you say that insulin tends to have an odor? I have never had the experience of detecting an odor from insulin in all of my years of nursing. I never have intentionally tried to smell it to see if there was an odor, but I have drawn up dozens of insulin injections of all types but never smelled anything. As far as smelling it on anyone, I never had that to happen to me. Also in my 28 years in the health field, I had never heard anything about diabetics smelling any different than anyone else. I am not sure what anyone else’s experience would be but that is mine.