How to gauge your breath after any possible remedy...

[KeepTrying09]

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to share some information that I think is important to anyone who has tried any bad breath remedy from this forum or elsewhere. Many people on this forum have tried numerous bad breath cures, only to come back and say something like "It didn't work for me" or "It worked temporarily but the bad breath came back". But what I usually don't hear from people is how they are gauging their breath after they try a possible cure. Some people actually do say something like "Still have bad breath because my co-workers are making the same reactions" or "Still have bad breath because someone I know still has the same reactions". When trying to gauge whether or not you still have bad breath after trying a possible bad breath cure, it's important that you do it in a way that you will get a realistic answer.

Of course, the best way to do this is ask someone that you are close with or someone that you trust. A family member, best friend, or partner should care enough about you to be honest with you, even if it may hurt your feelings. But more often than not people just can't seem to gather the courage to ask anyone because this condition is so embarrassing, so they rely on the reactions of others as their gauge. In my opinion, if you are going to choose the second route as your gauge, I think you have to put yourself in a situation where you have to interact with strangers, and come in close contact with them. For example, back when I was suffering from bad breath, one of the reasons I knew I had bad breath was because anytime I took public transportation (bus, subway) people would move away from me if I sat next to them or stood near them. I wouldn't even have to open my mouth. The malodor was coming through my nose as I breathed out of my lungs, because the air that was traveling up and out of my windpipe was passing over the Candida infection in my esophagus. That's the only way I can explain the reactions I got from people even when my mouth was closed. It's also the reason I used to hold my breath for extended periods of time while taking public transport (I know, it's totally stupid, but in my mind at the time it helped).

Anyway, after I was treated for Candida, I was really scared that my bad breath was not gonna be cured (even with the reassurance from my doctor). After all, just like all of you I had gone through many trials and errors in regards to bad breath cures, and of course I had psychological scars from suffering for so long. But after I finished with my round of anti fungals, the desire to see if I was cured was stronger than any embarrassment I might have caused myself. So, I purposely got near people when I would take public transportation. I remember right after my treatment, I would get on the subway or bus, find a seat that was empty, but I would make sure someone was sitting in the seat next to it, and I would sit down there. Then I would open my mouth and breath through my mouth. Then I would pull out my cell phone and make a phone call and start talking to one of my friends. The only reason I did this is because I wanted to see if I got any of the same negative reactions as I had gotten before.

I think no matter what possible bad breath cure you try, when trying to gauge if your breath is still bad or not, you must do something similar to what I did on the public transportation. In my opinion, relying on people you already know or work with to gauge your bad breath is a flawed approach. For starters, lets say you have worked in your office for 5 years, and you have had bad breath for all 5 of those years. Of course the people you work with know about your condition. And by working with you for so long, they have gotten to the point where they don't even have to be close to you to react because they subconsciously react to you when they see you. They are reacting to you out of habit. And when you see them reacting out of habit, then you revert to the same behavior as you were probably doing before (avoiding them, standing far away from them when you speak, covering your mouth when you speak, etc.) This is a vicious cycle, a sort of self fulfilling prophecy if you will. The same can be true for any person you know. Your friends, your manager, your teachers, etc. Step back and look at it from their perspective. If you knew someone for a long time who had bad breath, and you saw them coming your direction, what would you do? Run away from them? Offer them gum immediately? Turn your head from them when they talk because you expect the worst?

Strangers on the other hand have no experience with you, they have no idea about your bad breath (or former bad breath) condition. Therefore they are more likely to give you an unbiased idea as to whether you are still suffering with bad breath or not. So if you do not want to just come out and ask someone you are close with whether you have bad breath or not, I believe the next best thing to do is to purposely interact with strangers and try to get an idea from their reactions. If you get no reactions from strangers, then it's safe to assume that any negative reactions you get from people you already know are reactions out of habit, not because you still have bad breath.

P.S. - You have to try this with many strangers, not just one. I think I purposely sat next to people on the public transportation, breathed through my mouth, and talked on my cell phone in their direction for about a month! LOL, I'm sure some people thought I was crazy, or rude, or both. But I really didn't care. It was my experiment.

[Renato]

The sad thing is when you actually talk to strangers who have no experience with you to test your Breath and you start noticing they steeping back or puting their hand on front of their faces.

So how can I think it is just psychological if I still feel bad taste in my mouth.

[KeepTrying09]

The sad thing is when you actually talk to strangers who have no experience with you to test your Breath and you start noticing they steeping back or puting their hand on front of their faces.

So how can I think it is just psychological if I still feel bad taste in my mouth.

That's exactly the reason you should talk to strangers, because they have no experience with your bad breath. If they are reacting to you by covering their noses, stepping away from you, etc., then i'd say it's safe to assume that you have an issue with your breath (as long as this is happening with numerous strangers, and not just a one off reaction).

A bad taste in your mouth does not necessarily mean you have bad breath. The only way you can know for sure if you have bad breath is if someone either tells you directly, or you pretty much figure it out by the reactions of other people.

[halitosisux]

I think that to rely on anything other than someone telling you the condition of your breath is likely to make you go even more crazy.

If you go looking for reactions by breathing into people's faces, whether its subtle or not, even the slightest negative reaction or gesture is going to convince you that you MUST have BB still. And how does anyone who isnt sure whether they have BB or not, know that the reactions they have unquestionably attributed to their breath isnt an odour from elsewhere? like body odour or their scalp or their clothes if you keep pets, or their sweat glands etc etc.

If you cant find a relative who is willing to be completely honest with you then the next best thing is a dentist. A dentist doesnt have the same pressure on them to shrug you off as a doctor has - infact they are far more likely to be honest with you if you do have BB because its in their interests to treat any potential problems that might be causing you to have BB and to sell you crap mouthwashes etc.

And if you do find the courage to confide in a friend or relative then one way to confirm their honesty is to find a way to purposely give yourself BB and then secretly use that on them. I dont know how this could be done, maybe with some pungent non-toxic glob of something placed under an upper front tooth perhaps. Ideas anyone?

[KeepTrying09]

Totally agree with you that having someone tell you directly is the best way to know if you have bad breath or not. Having a dentist or doctor tell you that you have bad breath falls into this category though, because someone is still telling you that you have bad breath. I think it's important that everyone finds the courage to ask someone directly if they have bad breath, whether it is a family member, a close friend, a doctor, a dentist, etc.

Also agree that you can go crazy if you only rely on the reactions of other people as to whether or not you have bad breath because of all the other reasons they could be reacting as you mentioned...

But at the end of the day it's still easier said than done to talk about this condition as it is so embarrassing. That's why I mentioned if you are going to only rely on the reactions of other people to gauge your bad breath, it must be from numerous people, not just a one off. Of course if 1 person out of 10 has a reaction to you, that isn't definitive proof you have bad breath. But if 8 out 10 people have a reaction when you are speaking to them, or near them, then that increases the possibilities quite a bit.

Back when I had bad breath, I can safely say that about 70%-90% of people reacted to me when I would speak to them, speak near them, or even just be near them.....

[Bishop]

I agree with you 100%. I use to know how bad my condition was by listening to a co-worker who i know can't stand the smell for a second. The problem is, he might be coming to work with a cold and coughing and pushing his nose and i will be sitting at my desk thinking it was because of my breath.

Since he can not see me I test how bad my breath is by opening my mouth breathing out of my mouth to see how he reacts to it.

For some reason I think this guy just wants to get rid of me and blows the whole thing out of proportion. I has shown in the past that he wants to get rid of me by chastising my work to my boss. I know he talks to my boss about the issue.

Thanks for the great post. You are doing a great job here. I think you should be made a mod.

[caramiamine98]

If you want the raw unvarnished truth about your breath ask a child! My daughter has never been one to mince words when it came to my breath. Of course, she’d usually complain about it in front of other people which was absolutely beyond mortifying. As embarrassing as that was I am most grateful to her for pointing this out to me. I’m not sure what I could ever have done without her.

[elliott]

Great post.

Elevators are a great place to get multiple reactions at once. That way if 5 people react at once as you began breathing openly, you have a confirmation... or you can take it any way you want.

Trains are difficult, for me, since you can't get away. I think it would make me crazy. It's taken awhile for me to stop being a 'mute', even around strangers, but now when I go to the drug store, or grocery, etc. I'm sure to talk openly to the cashier. Hey any opportunity to see what happens at the moment I open my mouth, for me is enlightening. Whether I choose to believe it's my sweat glands, hair, etc. is up to me and my judgement and experience with having bad breath.

Co-workers... forget about it. Habitual pre-reactions. You nailed it. You could be completely cured and these people will still react when they see you coming.

[Bishop]

Co-workers... forget about it. Habitual pre-reactions. You nailed it. You could be completely cured and these people will still react when they see you coming.

Especially if you have somebody at your work place who you can see clearly will love to see you fired.

[elliott]

Co-workers... forget about it. Habitual pre-reactions. You nailed it. You could be completely cured and these people will still react when they see you coming.

Especially if you have somebody at your work place who you can see clearly will love to see you fired.

LOL, oh they are the worse. Soon they start to 'create' things that you're doing wrong. And, you'll never have a chance to explain yourself, because they'll overreact to the point where, to you, it's not worth explaining.

You're sitting here with hands over your face and you really want me to explain the obvious to you? haha, I need to work, but I do not miss it.