I wanted to share with you something that has completely transformed my life at a time when I had almost completely given up hope.
First off I'll give a little bit of info about my history with bb and all the symptoms I had. If you want to skip this part and just jump to what has worked for me then look for the *****.
I've been on this forum for around 3 years, but honestly it was making me depressed so I haven't logged in for a long time. I forgot my login details hence the new account.
So this whole nightmare started when I was around 16 or 17, or at least that was the age where I first started noticing issues with my breath. I brushed my teeth as often as I could, but I was so confused as to why not even an hour after brushing, my bb would be back in full force again. I found that it was coming from deep in the back of my throat, and that even when my mouth tasted clean, if I did a deep exhale like a yawn then I would get a really nasty taste.
I've had people tell me that my breath smells like 'literal shit' on more than one occasion, which is always great to hear
.Over time I began the lengthy process of finding my triggers and getting to the route of the cause. I noticed that my breath was worse if I ate smelly foods, like onion and strong flavoured crisps. I know this is normal for anyone after they eat those foods but for me the bb would continue for HOURS after eating. It was better (though still bad) when I ate sweet things like cupcakes, which goes against pretty much all the advice you read about bb, that tells you to avoid sugary foods. I used to have bad and good days, but for the last year or so straight, every day has been a bad day.
Through this forum I learnt about lpr, which is a 'silent' type of acid reflux that doesn't often include heartburn, and I started to consider that as an option. I realised that a lot of my symptoms were lining up with lpr symptoms. These include:
Constant hiccups or gas coming up all day, but especially after meals
Loads of mucus in the throat all day every day
Needing to clear my throat a lot
White tongue (not a common noted lpr symptom but definitely a common bb symptom)
Burning throat after eating
Hoarse voice
For me, I could live with those symptoms just fine. But the thing that bothered me the most was the horrible taste I had in my throat all the time. I discovered that this taste was to do with a mixture of stomach acid and undigested food coming up into my esophagus for hours after I'd eaten. The only way to get rid of the taste was to eat something else and then the cycle would repeat itself. This also explains why the strong tasting food affected me the most, as not only does this cause more reflux, but it is going to cause a nastier taste when it travels back up your esophagus again.
Now that I was pretty confident that lpr was the culprit, I went straight to the doctor and was prescribed ppis. I was on these for a whole year and saw absolutely no difference in my breath or reflux symptoms. It's actually really common for lpr to not respond to ppis (give it a Google and you'll see what I mean) so although it wasn't a surprise, I was still disappointed. But I refused to give up, I came off the ppis and instead started to research into how to naturally heal lpr.
Changing your diet is one of the first things that's recommended for healing reflux. As someone who already eats pretty healthy (I'm vegan so get more than enough fruit and veg) I really didn't want to have to limit myself to an even stricter diet, and being slim already means that weight loss wasn't a preferable option for me. Also with me being 22, I still want to be able to enjoy the occasional cocktail or chocolate cake. So I decided that the diet change would be a last resort option.
Finding my 'cure' wasn't a quick process. I tried loads of natural remedies and supplements for my lpr, none of which had any effect. I'll list them quickly for those who are interested:
Aloe Vera inner leaf gel, Marshmallow Root Extract, Liquorice dgl, Slippery Elm, D-limonene, Liquid chlorophyll, Probiotics: Pill form and probiotic foods (Kombucha, Kefir, Sauerkraut etc), Digestive Enzymes, Ginger Supplements, drinking ginger root in hot water, Apple cider vinegar/HCL supplements, Magnesium, N-Acetylcysteine. I also tried every 'miracle' toothpaste and Mouthwash under the sun which didn't help at all- this was before that I was sure my bb was coming from my lpr.
*****
After trying all of these supplements with no success, I came across D-limonene. It's made from orange peel and can apparently cure lpr and Gerd (there's actually a few studies that have been shown to prove this). For me, I was more interested in the reviews where people said that the D-limonene made them burp up an orange flavour. As someone who constantly refluxes up a sour taste and undigested food all day, I was interested to see if I would reflux up the orange flavour instead.
So last week I bought some D-limonene supplements and began taking 1000mg every morning with my breakfast. From the first day, I knew straight away that these were going to work. Around an hour or so after my breakfast when the nasty, undigested food taste normally creeps in, instead I was getting a pleasant taste of oranges. Not even with a hint of undigested food. For the first time in my life I was able to speak to my work colleagues without the use of chewing gum. It was amazing. I see it as like a mouth wash for my insides. After around 8 hours or so it has completely worn off, and if I was still out socialising I would need to take another one. Then I would be back to having perfect breath again. At the minute, I just take 1000mg in the morning to get me through work, though I'm looking into buying some 500mg capsules and splitting two doses between the day. If I was going out for a meal I would make sure to take a supplement out with me to stop the shit breath from creeping in after eating.
I'm now a week in so can't really speak for the long term, but in just a week my whole life has been transformed. I now walk into work and am able to begin chatting with everyone with no anxiety. The feeling of dread I used to get before any kind of socialisation is long gone. When people used to be walking towards me all I could think is 'please don't talk to me' because my breath was always that bad. I'm so glad that I don't have to face that anxiety over basic social communication any more. My anxiety over the future has also gone. I'm no longer worried about my wedding day, date nights and going for meals, which used to be my number one anxiety trigger as my shitty bb used to start around half an hour after eating when people wanted to talk around the table. That is no longer an issue for me.
Many people say that after 20 days on d limonene, their reflux is gone completely. But even if I have to take these supplements for life, I definitely feel like I've found my 'cure'.
It honestly hasn't yet sunk in that I have found a way of managing my bb and finding a 'cure' that actually works for longer than a quick brush of the teeth. I think when it does finally sink in I will be in floods of tears of gratitude. This condition ruined my life and I have finally taken it back. I will forever be blessed and grateful for that.
That's why I wanted to share my story with you guys. A lot of people have lpr with absolutely no symptoms at all, that's why it's nicknamed "silent reflux". I would love to see if d limonene works for anyone else too. Please do comment if you've bought the supplements to try!
I normally do the same! That's why I put the stars in for people to just down to 
