Bad Breath and the Process of Elimination

[Sevenfold]

Hello,

I've suffered with Bad Breath for the last three years of my life, coming on four years. I do not know officially when it started or how it happened, or like most of us, what the source of the problem is.

Nothing is worse than not knowing the problem you need to fix and it can be difficult to keep on with your life. your job. your relationships. Everything suffers and as a result, you suffer.

I had a flourishing social life with many girlfriends on/off, was financially stable and envied by my cohorts due to my mostly successful life both financially and relationship wise.

The other night, to make a life story short, I finally snapped, but not to become angry but to commit to myself that I must fix this problem or watch everything crumble beyond repair.

The old life
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The old life we had is gone. We can start anew if we can overcome our problems. We would find a life better than the one that was there before it.

Many of us have had 'gaps' where we thought we fixed our problem -- or even actually fixed our problem -- but it came back. Do you remember that day(s)?

The world was a possibility and the fear you knew was nothing more than a second thought in your head. There was only more living to be done to make up for the lack of life that had consumed you.

We cannot go back to how things used to be. The fear that made you act shy. The promotion you were too afraid to ask for. The job you were too afraid to apply for. The girl you were too afraid to interact with the way you would were your breath problem not there which affected his/her opinion of you.

We cannot go back to the way things used to be.
Imagining something you cannot have will only make you long for it. Instead, imagine about what you should be doing to fix the problem. Your brain is wonderful and if you paint a image of a world, you will shape it.

You cannot go back to the way it used to be. There is only starting anew.

Your friends will not understand.
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They don't understand the turmoil. The depression, the longing to be your true self. The meaning behind your reawakening. The plight that haunts you every second of the day, even when you are asleep.

They can only imagine. Try to understand. Even if they admit your breath is bad, they will not understand in depth how chaotic that is. My grandmother said that's not a big deal at all. I wanted to punch her in the face. (not really, but you get me. I was pissed.)

This is your mission. Your life. No one cares about you as much as you do. Your problems are immediate to you. Your problems are yours. Ever heard a friend complain about a problem? You don't feel that pain they do. You simply see the picture.

Your friends will not understand. Only people who suffer similarily will feel the pain and understand your plight.

You need a plan for narrowing down the problem.
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Many of us shot blindly in the dark. Anything from upside down sinus flushes to placing strange devices in our mouths and down our throats, to brushing the very enamel away from our teeth like myself, to flossing away your gumlines to red, to swallowing listerine, to swallowing this green stuff that only works so long.

The risks get higher and higher..All of a sudden, shooting things up your nose is no longer strange.

Scraping your tongue with a knife is no longer strange. It's so normal that when other people see you doing it, like your roommates, they think you are so unusual.

Look. If this is something we could fix on our own, we wouldn't be here any longer except to support the community. Ever see people here who solve their problem? Like myself, they would be gone. They have a life to live now.

You must write down. Type down. Every aspect of the problem. You must think about the PROBLEM almost as obsessively as you think about how it makes you feel or what you lost because of it. Think about the PROBLEM.

After you write down every aspect about the problem (smelled through nose. smelled only through mouth. or both. happens after x. seems worse when y. seems less when z.) you can more subjectively make a thesis on what factors may be influencing the problem.

It will help you to think clearly about it instead of being so drawn by the emotion. Writing it down will help you feel better, as it does when we make a post on the forum. It gets it out in a healthier and more productive way than beating yourself up by obsessing about the problem.

Your relationship with your doctor
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This is where many of us fail.

Consider your doctor's situation. His job is to listen to people complain about their problems in which he may not really care about. Day to day, he becomes desensitized to the constant rambling until he gets to the point that he's only listening to the core of the problem.

That's why it seems like he's not listening when you communicate with him. He wants you to get to the point of what's wrong with you so that he can FIX it for you. He's not being a dick, he needs to know what's WRONG so he can help you.

You need to build a good relationship to him and describe to him, in short detail and without complaining as much as possible, why you are here. What you think should be done about it and why. That's how *people* are. Why should he run this scan on you because you went to a site?

Help him to understand why you think that and ask kindly to have that done and that you want it done because it would make you feel relieved that you tried after suffering for so long.

Explain to him that process of elimination is very important for a alternative problem such as bad breath. Explain that you want to help him find the problem as much as you can and this is only a means of helping him to do so.

Thank him for his time. Thank him for listening. Thank him.

Some doctors may not care. Say nothing. Change doctors. Try again. Stay cool - It's not his fault nor is it yours. Keep trying.

Process of elimination
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You have to commit to this problem or forever hold your peace. if you feel bad about it, you must fix it or succumb to that feeling as long as you prolong action.

Start where it makes sense. Don't get a colonscopy if you know you have stomach problems. Things like this.

Finish what you start. If you pull your wisdom teeth, like myself, I pulled the ones that grew in. the second pair needed surgical removal. Discouraged that it didn't help. I went on to the next thing.

No. I am going back now to have the teeth surgically removed, teeth re-evaluated at another dental office and seeing a periodontist as well.

This. Is. Your. Life. Why wouldn't you obsess over fixing the problem as much as we obsess about the despair we feel? You must consider all possibility and know when to give up on self-help. You need to know if something is WRONG.

If you think you have a hiatial Hernia, go find out. If your doctor won't do it, kindly explain to him why that is that you want it. That you want it anyway, kindly. Ask for the test you need to narrow it down. But don't do it eratically, do it in steps. Think about yourself. Do the best for yourself.

Teeth/mouth. Sinus. Throat. Stomach. There are many tests and diagnosis for each. Don't let one test define. Why not quietly double check elsewhere so you know for sure?

How you feel and your social life
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You can't turn your feelings off and it hurts to know things could be better but you can't give up on living. At the same time, it may be best to not socialize.

What I mean by that is, devote your time to making a plan for this problem and save the best for last. Workout. Play video games. Read books. Educate yourself. Read self help books. Start saving money. Work more. Anything. Don't train yourself to know that each time you speak that a negative result will occur. Train yourself to dedicating yourself to fixing your problem. Rome will not be built in one day and neither will you.

Accept the fact that your breath is bad.
Accept that it's not your fault.
Accept that you are the only one who can help yourself.
Accept that there are still people in your life who care about you despite it. Accept that there is a way if you try hard enough to find it.
Accept that there's a possibility that there's a free life beyond it.
Accept that you need to seek the life you need.
Accept that you must start helping yourself immediately.
Accept yourself.

Logging research
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Don't look for what is not helping you and contributing to yourself pity. Help others but continue to help yourself.

Look for people who have had success in solving the problems. Save the post to a text document so you won't lose the weblink. Save just the post and only save the ones where they didn't come back and say that it failed, but the ones where they were solved and never came back.

Research more solutions and less probability.

Your mind will find what you want it to find.

If you desire to find a solution, you will look for solutions.
If you desire to find a problem, you will find a problem.
Desire to look for solutions.

Believe in yourself. Find a new strength.

We are blessed because we suffer. We are meant to be stronger, if it dosen't kill us first.

When we fix this, we will be on top.
Nothing will stop us.
And we will not turn back.

Help each other. I'll help you. Your friends will help you. Your parents will help you. Your girlfriend will help you. There is hope.

I just wanted to remind or help everyone that we should pull ourselves out of despair.

To snap out of it and to grab your fist and dare to dream. You can't succeed without setting goals.

Set a goal, step by step, to fix this problem.

Set a goal to dream.

M

[Bazy]

[Phantasist]

A New forum record!
The most words used to say what we already know.

[OneDay111]

Thank you for this.