Unusual bad breath and possible cause

[meerkat]

I have an unusual bad breath problem, and possibly a self-diagnosis of what the case is.

I've always thought of it as 'explosive bad breath'. I'll be sitting there, not having had bad breath all day, then within the space of 10 minutes i've filled the room with malodor, the just as quick its gone again (though the odour in the room may linger). The whole episode lasts no longer than about half an hour. It typically happens a few hours after eating. Sugary or acidic foods are among the worst triggers.

Now a little dental/oral health history, my oral hygine is good, i've never had gum disease, never had tooth decay, never had a filling or crown or any kind of decay. I have had 6 extractions including 2 widom teeth for overcrowding reasons. My dentist tells me there are no problems. I do however have a very persistant tongue coating, and reduced saliva flow - these were I thought the explaination to my bad breath. I also had cryptic tonsils with tonsil stones but I had an ENT remove them a few years ago.

And some other medical history, I have had problems with my digestion for over a decade, I had all sorts of blood tests, an endoscopy, a gastroscopy... the gastroenterologist ruled out any major disease, no cancer or crohn's disease etc and he did what often is done in these cases: he diagnosed IBS. Right from the start I thought this was a misdiagnosis, but there was nothing I could do - my medical journey with him was at an end.

Fast forward a few years and I start to devlop neurological symptoms, the GP refered me for a CT scan and blood tests, the neurologist concluded the problem was B12 deficiency. The GP tells me to take B12 supplements for the rest of my life.

I'm also experiencing other other nutrient deficiencies resulting in hair loss and skin issues. I start taking a multivitamin and a vitamin C supplement, and this seems to keep my skin and hair healthy. I get prescribed 1 month of doxycycline to treat some foliculitis, during this time my digestion improved dramatically and my bad breath is gone, but the problems gradually returned after some time.

Some other symptoms, when my bad breath issues are at their worst I often get a loss of appitite and some mild nausea.

Add all of this together and what do we come to? I suspect SIBO. What do I do with this suspicion however? I'm in the UK and I don't think its a well known thing here, how do I approach my GP with this? does anyone have experience of SIBO diagnosis and treatment in the UK? Does this sound plausible or am I barking up the wrong tree?

[Ghana3]

Doxycycline is a strong anti biotic but kills a wide range of bacterias from Acnee To intestinal & even IST infections, but im not surprised it gave you some relief thats what antibiotics does To us Chronic BB sufferers; but BB eventually comesback couple days or week after completing the treatment

[meerkat]

Yes, sadly i don't think antibiotics can be a cure. antibiotics can temporarily remove the overgrowth but if the causal factors are still there the overgrowth will happen again.

Bad breath is always a frustrating and confusing condition to me. I know plenty of people with a much less rigourous oral hygiene routine, or much worse dental health, yet they don't have bad breath, even if they smoke and drink coffee/alcohol. Yet I seem to be cursed with it no matter what i do or what I avoid.

Brushing the tongue seems to help, but for me the coating comes back so quickly it feels like a sisyphean task. I have to brush my tongue at least 4 times a day to try an keep it in check.