My story and request for BB buddy in UK (help each other)

[brightonguy]

Hi All,

I'll start with my story and then, at the end, I'll elaboate on my idea (wish, hope) for a bad breath buddy in the UK.

My story

I'm a 31 year old guy living in Brighton in the South East of England and since December 2009 I've had bad breath every day and since December it is literally just getting worse despite my efforts. I've been to three different dentists since December and same old, same old "good teeth, good gums, meticulous oral hygiene". I think the cause is oral bacteria, at least it is some of the time because I equate the sewage smell I get when I drink alcohol or coffee with milk to VSCs produced by bacteria. I've now completely cut out dairy and drink alcohol infrequently, not least because my once very active social life is all but non-existent now - I shy away from invitations more and more and consequently get invited to things less and less. Work is also becoming extremely difficult for me - a colleague talking to me from 2 feet away last week recoiled in horror when I opened my mouth to reply - I could smell it too but I kept a straight face and then agonised about it when I got home. Almost everyone who talks to me, scratches their noses when I reply even if it's 2 or 3 feet away sometimes. I've been able to smell it myself everyday for the last few months, not all the time, but it gets past my smell senses frequently. I work from home more and more, keep myself to myself more and more and although I'm trying my best to be strong about it, it's really grinding me down. Like many people on here, my friends and family will not engage with me on this when I ask them to tell me how bad it is, from what distance etc so that, ideally, I can get them to help me figure out what takes the edge off it and what doesn't. I've been on four dates this year.... with the first three dates I could smell myself on them after kissing (terrifying, so painful). With the fourth date, two weeks ago I spent five hours (!!) eating raw fruit and veg and conducting extensive oral hygiene beforehand and that helped, I smelt less and couldn't smell myself on them as much (but it was still there) - so there's hope!

Bad breath buddy

As I mentioned, I can't get anyone I know to be honest with me about this so that I can get on top of it. I'd love to meet a fellow sufferer (who lives near by ideally) who understands what I'm going through and together we could try different things, assess each other's breath (LOL, but this is the key thing!) in order that we can get a better handle on our condition and ideally find something that works. I'm a fun, cool kinda guy (less so now for obvious reasons but he's still in there somewhere) and wouldn't it be great to turn this horrible affliction into something positive? Make a friend, help each other control our problems and ideally eliminate it but I will certainly settle for controlling it so that it's a less noticeable odour. Do, do get in touch, I would be really happy to hear from you and if you need anymore information don't hesitate to ask.

Luke

[mich80]

hi ya, i'm really glad you have posted on here, i've not checked this site for ages as it kinda makes me feel more down about it all if you know what i mean, but i would love to meet up with you sometime, have you got facebook maybe we could start chatting on there or msn, i'm not to far from you either, i live in portsmouth, i'm a 30 year old female and know exactly what your going through. really hope to speak to you soon. michelle xx

[Haligone]

I'd love to volunteer, but I live in Milton Keynes and it takes ages and ages to get to Brighton probably > 4 hrs, so probably cant do.

[brightonguy]

Thanks to this forum I've already met up with one member which was a really positive experience and I've chatted on the phone to another member, again a really positive experience. My offer still stands, I'd love to meet up with others. This BB *thing* is such a big part of my life.... thankfully for the last couple of weeks I've been less consumed by it, I've been able to concentrate better at work and have dared to socialise a bit more although not to a great extent. I had a week where I thought my BB had gone, unfortunately it's back but not as bad as it has been... at least for now. I'm really keen to get control of it, understand what makes it better / worse etc etc and I can only partially do that on my own and by reading signals in other peoples reactions to me... that system is imperfect in many ways.

I really enjoy reading some of the messages from people on this forum and I have drawn a lot of strength from knowing that so many of you have similar experiences to me. I'M SO SO FED UP WITH THE NOSE TOUCHING THING THAT PEOPLE DO THOUGH I SOMETIMES FEEL LIKE I'M GONNA FLIP :-)))

[malory]

Hi there bb companion from Brighton. I'm in London but would like to exchange contact numbers or something 'cause bb isolation is no way a good thing. Malory

[compor]

hey brightonguy,

We all HATE the nose touching thing

I want to believe that as long as we keep up the cleaning procedures and follow a strict diet, BB is controllable. For now I managed to take BB-free time to 3-4 hours (by using toothpaste and mouthwash that include zinc, recommended by Dr. Aydin Murat) which is quite good for me. I can go out meet some friends. I know 3 hours is not much, but at least I can talk freely during that time, make jokes, laugh.

Feel free to add me for chat:
Yahoo Messenger id: [email protected]