My Story

[malory]

I am a 42 year old woman and have had bad breath for over 12 years and, were it not for my children, I am sure I would have committed s*****e. I browsed this website several times but always ended up too tearful to continue. I identify so strongly with those who battle on against ignorant people. We have an illness which causes psychological pain rather than physical pain but few seem to recognise it. I often wished for a physical pain or deformity instead of this continual misery. But I never gave up searching for a cure. I've always had ENT problems and glue ear/otitis media but my problems really started 13 years ago following a bout of parasites (amoeba and blastocystis) which probably exacerbated any food intolerances I may have had. As I'm half African Caribbean and lactase deficiency is not uncommon among us, I gave up dairy foods many years ago. Since then I have seen MANY doctors, ENT specialists, gastroenterologists, homeopaths,naturopaths, NAET practitioners, acupuncturists, halitosis 'specialist dentists' (the specialist dental clinic in Amsterdam confirmed my halitosis) spiritual healers and done nearly every allergy test and diet around. Over the years, I've become stronger (physically and emotionally) and have more energy and feel very healthy. I've survived my husband's affairs. I've survived bullying at work. I've survived self-loathing. To stop myself becoming bitter, I've put myself in the shoes of that ignorant person who doesn't know that his or her laughter may push you towards s*****e. I've tried to imagine how I would react if I knew nothing about the reality of halitosis and smelt someone like me (people and children say farts come out of my mouth). I've also tried to remember the moments of compassion I've seen in people. Those who deny the existence of the problem to make you feel better. It doesn't work that way but they believe it does! The worst part is the feeling that you are going around in circles, looking for answers with no support. I have met so many well-meaning practitioners who have not succeeded in curing me but only depleting my bank balance. Nonetheless, I have gained a lot of knowledge about diet and alternative medicine and have been able to help my children and others with what I have learnt. Also, I have learnt to accept the moments of negativity and to enjoy feeling really happy when I'm in a more positive mood. As a veteran of halitosis, I was quite stunned 7 days ago to have found the nearest thing to a cure for me. I will be eternally grateful to this website and others for all their suggestions. I found grapefruit seed extract was the only thing to give any relief to my sticky white coated tongue and mouth so, although I had already done the candida diet for yonks and done saliva tests, I decided that candida must play some part in my problem. I'd taken very strong antibiotics to get rid of the parasites and this may have caused a resistant strain of candida (glabrata). Anyway, I started to drink hot water as opposed to cold. My diet has been very restricted for years (no meat, fish,dairy or wheat) but I eliminated all gluten (spelt, oats,rye) for one week and then did the sinus flush (see the oraltech e-book) for 5 days. To my amazement, 12 years of despair seemed to end. I haven't slept properly since this miracle (making up for lost time?) and I wake up to check that my mouth is still fresh. I still have some post nasal drip but the sinus flush works wonders for this. I have used a neti pot and Dr Grossan's irrigator for years without much success. I still can't believe something so simple as a nasal flush could be so effective. I'm not out of the woods yet but I am enjoying every moment of what the non-halitosis others take for granted: TALKING TO PEOPLE WITHOUT ANXIETY. To anyone reading this, please don't give up. Keep searching the net for answers. Try to keep up a normal life. I've finally reduced my working days to 3 instead of 5 because of my problem but I don't consider myself defeated. My mantra has always been: I HAVE NOT COMMITTED A CRIME IN HAVING HALITOSIS AND I AM TRYING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO TREAT MY PROBLEM/CONDITION SO DON'T MAKE ME FEEL SUBHUMAN.
ps. Things I have found unhelpful and expensive: Therabreath, Breezecare, Dentyl,any mouthwashes at all with chlorhexidine. Zinc mouthwashes can't help me either.
I use hydrogen peroxide solution, oygen or coloidal silver.