My attempt to find my cure

[jackson]

Hi,
I'm currently beginning a journey to try to fix my BB at the route of the problem.
I've had bad breath for about a decade or so at a guess? I'm 28
My morning breath is horrendous. I'd describe the smell as the same smell you get from crushing a tonsil stone!

Once i've woken up, brushed my teeth, used mouthwash, eaten something, then my 'daytime breath', although still not nice, is manageable.
With a mixture of mints, drinks and occasional nasal drops, I don't tend to get many reactions.

However, i'm sick of putting so much time and effort in, and I really want to find out what is causing it, and fix it!! I want to begin to rule everything out in a systematic way
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For a long time, I thought the problem was my tonsils, since that's what my BB smells like, and I occasionally get tonsil stones.
However, recently since i've spent a lot of time in the mirror digging around and using a syringe to blast them, I think maybe that's not the cause.
I know people who occasionally get tonsils stones who have breath as fresh as a babies!

My tongue is always a little bit coated/yellowish.
So I'm now thinking that problem could be from post nasal drip?
I've been flushing my nostrils out with saline solution but It hasn't helped the smell or the tongue colour.
Not sure what to try next to rule out PND. Anyone recommend a good spray or medication or something?

Another possibility is acid reflux.Again, I only occasionally suffer from this, so it's another long shot?
Would ant-acid tablets be best to take to rule out reflux being the cause?

Another thing I kept reading about was candida. Seemed worth a shot considering my coated tongue.
I am currently on day 5 of fluconazole medication and I've noticed
NO IMPROVEMENT so i'm guessing I can rule candida overgrowth out.

Finally, I'm considering the possibility of having had an infection laying dormant in my body somewhere??
I've been reading about various antibiotics that could help which i'm tempted to try.
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Love to hear everyone's thoughts/suggestions and answers to the questions raised in my OP

Thanks!!

[jamesmcavoy]

Who says ,people get cured of reflux with antiacids .

I think you should try acv 2 teaspoons 15 minutes before meal .this should do the trick and clear the tongue .

[jackson]

It's hard to give any advice with so little information or history to go on.

I thought I put quite a lot of history and info into the post, lol.
If anything I thought nobody would read it because it was too long!

Anyway, just about finished my flucanzole course. No change in breath or tongue so I guess I can rule out candida.

Next: I have purchased metronidazole. First pills taken last night. No change yet.
Will run this antibiotic for 7 days as suggested.

[yarahe]

hi
i tried metronidazole and the bb returned when i finish the course.

[jackson]

hi
i tried metronidazole and the bb returned when i finish the course.

Interesting. But you'd think that the fact that it cured it, albeit short term and only whilst using the medication, could give some big clues about the underlying cause!!?

I'm only on day 3 metronidazole.
This morning, I noticed my usually horrific 'morning breath' was only unpleasant. I was in shock!

I also woke up with a few small tonsil stones in my mouth which has never happened before. (Don't know what to make of that, or whether it was a weird coincidence?)

I'm gonna complete the 7 day course.
I have heard of some peeople being seemingly cured, although I expect that, like you, my breath will return to how it was before once I stop taking the drug.

[NOTANYMORE]

Jackson,

You mentioned you still get stones and your mouth smells like stones. You are flushing them out and attempting to clean the crypts which is reducing the halitosis to something more manageable. However, the smell is not 100% gone...

That is because it is impossible to clean all of the crypts as they tend to form a network deep within the tonsil tissue. Also, crypts can be found along the tonsilar pillars that travel down into the throat which you cannot visualize enough clean.

The antibiotic can greatly decrease the bacteria which forms the plaque inside your tonsil crypts. An obviouse benefit to this would be an imediate decrease in halitosis. However, over time these crypts will gather food particles and repopulate with plaque and halitosis causing bacteria.

I believe your cure is right in your list of symptoms. Get your tonsils out...All of them.

whats the old saying? If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck well then it must be a duck.

[jackson]

Jackson,

You mentioned you still get stones and your mouth smells like stones. You are flushing them out and attempting to clean the crypts which is reducing the halitosis to something more manageable. However, the smell is not 100% gone...

That is because it is impossible to clean all of the crypts as they tend to form a network deep within the tonsil tissue. Also, crypts can be found along the tonsilar pillars that travel down into the throat which you cannot visualize enough clean.

The antibiotic can greatly decrease the bacteria which forms the plaque inside your tonsil crypts. An obviouse benefit to this would be an imediate decrease in halitosis. However, over time these crypts will gather food particles and repopulate with plaque and halitosis causing bacteria.

I believe your cure is right in your list of symptoms. Get your tonsils out...All of them.

whats the old saying? If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck well then it must be a duck.

Hi,
Yes, I have assumed the tonsils to be my primary issue for quite a while.
Further research has lead me to believe that Im *may* have been barking up the wrong tree, though. I obviously still don't know.
If I didn't have post nasal drip and mucus running down my throat, then I wouldn't get tonsil stones at a guess.

I went to my GP about a month ago with a sore throat and tried to convince him to refer me to have my tonsils taken out.
He was VERY much against it and I couldn't twist his arm.
He said they were doing a good job for me based on my medical history of not having too many episode of sore throat. He said they were very small, too, and that usually only people with very large tonsils will be referred.
Going private would cost me thousands of pounds - and I couldnt be certain that it would help! It's not easy...

[yarahe]

hi
i tried metronidazole and the bb returned when i finish the course.

Interesting. But you'd think that the fact that it cured it, albeit short term and only whilst using the medication, could give some big clues about the underlying cause!!?

I'm only on day 3 metronidazole.
This morning, I noticed my usually horrific 'morning breath' was only unpleasant. I was in shock!

I also woke up with a few small tonsil stones in my mouth which has never happened before. (Don't know what to make of that, or whether it was a weird coincidence?)

I'm gonna complete the 7 day course.
I have heard of some peeople being seemingly cured, although I expect that, like you, my breath will return to how it was before once I stop taking the drug.

the clue that metronidazole gave me is that anaerobic bacteria is thriving in my body\tongue. and the anaerobic is the what causes my bb, i don't know what causes the anaerobic bacteria.

[jackson]

Quick Update:
Since taking the antibiotic my breath has been more or less fresh for the first time in pretty much forever!

It got a slightly unpleasant taste in my mouth (which I always had prior to the antibiotic) whilst I was playing basketball yesterday(dehydration?), but after a quick drink of water it was nice and fresh again.
(before the drug, water felt like it made it worse if anything!)

Haven't been able to monitor my morning breath properly yet. On the 2nd days since taking it, my morning breath was much better, but still there.
..............................................

I'm sad thinking about how i've likely only got a few days of nice breath left when I stop taking it!

Wonder if I could just take it forever! (although it would be quite expensive!)


Will update again soon

[jackson]

Haven't been able to monitor my morning breath properly yet.
..............................................

I can confirm that just 1 pill taken yesterday morning leads to fairly fresh morning breath the following morning!
Only got a couple of days left now.
When that bad breath returns, it's gonna be heart-breaking, especially having experienced fresh breath for the last week, for the first time in about a decade!!

[jackson]

Took my final pill last night.
Sad times.

When can I expect my awful breath to return? Maybe tonight/tomorrow morning?

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p.s - also forgot to mention that my tongue has remained yellowish/coated the whole time.
Neither the metronidazole or the fluconazole had an effect.

[jackson]

Even though nobody tends to reply, I want to keep updating this so that I have something to refer back too later down the line, without risk of forgetting info.

It's been about 30 hours since I took my last pill.
Bad breath has NOT returned yet. Even this mornings 'morning breath' was fairly fresh.

Not sure how long it's typically supposed to take to return. I would have guessed within a day or 2.

We'll see what it's like this evening/tomorrow morning.

[jackson]

over 3 days now since stopping medication. Breath still fresh.

I was beginning to entertain the idea that I might be an anomaly and possibly cured since most peoples BB comes back almost instantly from reading around whereas mine is still fresh.

However, I read earlier about a mother who gave her young son the drug, and his breath remained fresh for nearly a month before it returned

[jackson]

Well, I think that the reversion back to bad breath has already began
Morning breath seemed a little worse this morning, though still not as bad as prior to the antibiotic.

Was really hoping i'd be one of the 'lucky' ones who'd been cured

[jackson]

I'd say my bad breath is now completely back, a week or sa after stopping the metronidazole. I'm sad

I'm thinking about getting my hands on some more and running another course of it.
It's the only thing that's ever worked for me.

I'm also gonna try probiotics based on peoples recommendations, but I have actually tried them before and they didn't help at all.

I'm also thinking of trying the triple antibiotic treatment that people with H plyori have, in case I have that.
I'd likely have to self medicate, and teh Doctors/ UK GP's don't take bad breath seriously at all so it's pointless seeing them.

I'm really running out of ideas, now.