Overwhelmed...where to start?

[hopeful]

I'm so grateful to have found this website. It's so hard to talk to anybody about bb because I feel so much shame and embarrassment over it even though it's completely out of my control. I've read a lot of older and current posts and am confused. If anyone could offer some clarification, I would appreciate it so much.

I know my bb is bad. People always put their hand to their noses when I talk. I've just come to deal with it even though it's totally depressing. I tried the tongue lick thing and the smell is always sour. I've had bb for as long as I remembered. I think the first time I was told that my breath was bad was when I was 12 or 13(I'm 25 now). I've always been able to hide it(kinda, but not really) with chewing strong gum but things have really gotten worse as of late(gum seems to make it worse). I don't know what's going on but to have everyone you know back off once you start speaking leaves one feeling very lonely and horrible. So that's my situation.

I know you guys aren't doctors on here but I think you could help me narrow down things after hearing some of my symptoms. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
- I have great teeth so that's not the problem.
- can chewing gum make your breath worse(I've been chewing gum for the last 12
years of my life)
- I live in a very polluted city(Asia), does this affect bad breath(it seems like it's been getting worse since I started working here 3 years ago...before that I lived my whole life in a small city in North America)
- my nose get clogged or feels like it's clogged all the time(sometimes sticky, clear mucous comes out of one side or the other and sometimes nothing comes out, even though it feels clogged). I can blow my nose over and over feeling like I'm not breathing clearly(something clogging up my nose) and nothing will come out.
- whenever I chew gum, my nose gets clogged not long after(is there a correlation between chewing and my sinuses)
- tongue cleaning seems to do nothing for me
- the smell is coming only from my mouth as far as I know
- I'm almost positive I have post nasal drip, like a clump of something is stuck in my throat and I really have to force it down(horrible feeling)

I had pretty much given up on finding a solution until I found this site. I wasn't aware of any of the probiotic, spirulin, chlorella, polyps, h.pylori, K12(what is this exactly) or tonsillectomy terms related to bb. I'd knew from some earlier research that there was a probably a tie in with my sinuses since my breathing is not so good. So where should I start? I'm in Asia so seeing someone who speaks English and can really understand my situation is difficult. Should I get some probiotics(can I just get this anywhere? I'll have to probably get it sent over by my mom) to start with? Should I see an ENT? I just feel so overwhelmed with all the information and don't know where to start. Please help

[noptical]

Hello and welcome to bbh
1. Yes, some people feel that their breath is worse when they chew gum (not me)
2. Yes it could make it worse I suppose. Bad breath for a large part has to do with the respiratory system. Any malfunction could worsen it.
3. This sounds either like allergies, deviated septum or both. Allergies can thicken mucous secretions and thus make it harder to breath and so does deviated septum. The septum is the cartilage that separates your nostrils. When its deviated it can cause post nasal drip and problems in breathing. Mucous should always flow and never stay inside and block your breathing. This causes sinus infections (and probably others too) which cause bad breath. Now, things you have to do:
a. Go to an ENT (ear nose throat doc) and have your nose and sinuses examined. Doc will tell you if you have problem and if you need surgery.
b. Have him look on your tongue, if there's some kind of infection (candidiasis etc) he will prescribe you meds.
c. Have him look your tonsils, if you have surgery for deviated septum you better also have those removed.
d. When you finished with your ENT, go to an allergist and check yourself for allergies.
e. A visit to gastroenterologist would be good too.
4. Yes I'm pretty sure there is. I remember reading somewhere a tip about how to unclog your sinuses and make mucous flow. If I recall correctly it involved doing some kind of movement with your tongue and I also remember it mentioned the mouth palate or something, however I tried it and it didnt work but it Im pretty sure theres some relation.
5. If your tongue has white gunk on it that stinks, use a TUNG brush along with TUNG gel (5$+5$=10$ both). It is by far the most effective and easiest way to clean your tongue. No tongue scraper helped me while TUNG brush works wonders.
6. Sometimes I feel that the smell comes only from my mouth too because I cant feel any smell coming from my nose when Im home. However staying for a while outside home I can feel something coming from my nose and it sometimes feels a little like something burning. Hard to describe.
7. Yes me too especially when I go out, it starts after a while (thats why i think its my allergies and I have 24 of them). Or when I wake up in the morning I feel it flowing down my throat and it sucks.
8. K12 is supposedly a probiotic, that is, it contains living "good" bacteria that people with good breath normally have, and we, sufferers have little or dont have at all because our mouth flora is imbalanced and the "bad" bacteria that are the cause of bad breath have taken over. So this supposedly introduces that "good" bacteria into your mouth to rebalance it and restore good breath. However, K12 is sold by Dr. Katz of TheraBreath. TheraBreath is a company that sells anti-badbreath products that rarely work and when they work they last for a while. Now after a while, Dr.Katz (who is just a marketing figure) introduced the K12 into his range of products and touted it as a "breakthrough" and that it will cure us from bad breath etc while at the same time selling his old products promising temporary relief (oh the irony...). Why sell a one time cure when you can sell an expensive set of moutwashes, toothpastes etc each month for each customer for a big price? That's life-long and not one-time customers for them (if at least their products worked...)
Anyway, the bad breath industry being a huge market with millions of potential customers and lots of ignorance (=easy money) spawned also many vultures that try to steal as much from the clients/sufferers as they can taking advantage of their suffering, before the world gets more informed and less ignorant on the issue. Just like with every new market, ignorant and desperate customers + sly businessman = $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$). So beware, you'll hear about lots of products promising relief from the self-called bad breath "experts" which none work. Dont try any of those ads you see on the net or what those "bad breath bibles" promise or even "cure your bad breath using 2 cheap home ingredients". They're completely clueless and cant cure (or dont want) so stay away from them. Try a product only if you read it here. Also if you search the net for bad breath, you'll most likely end up at one of the katz idiot's hundred clone sites with different names selling the same products and sometimes contradicting themselves... I hope he rots in hell.

[KC]

Hi hopeful, nice to meet you here. I'm living in Hong Kong. Where are you living now?

I used to chew gum but it seems that it worse my breath. Whenever I chew gum, people have more negative reaction.
I dun have sinus or tonsils problem. But for your case, you better see ENT first. Hopefully you are not living in HK. Doctors here like to give you antibiotics no matter what kind of illness you have

KC

[hopeful]

Thanks so much for your response. I've been meaning to see an ENT for awhile now but have been putting it off for one or another reason. I think I'm just scared that whatever I'll do will have no effect. The first step I have taken since my initial post was to get my mom to pick up some 1)chlorella 2)spirulina 3)probiotics for me from home(Canada). Step #2 would be to get in to see an ENT(need a referral from a regular doctor first in this country...same as many others I imagine). I guess I'll go from there after that. I've saved up some money working abroad the last few years so at least if I need something major and big dollars are involved(some kind of surgery), I'll have that accessible to me. Thanks for the heads up on Dr.Katz. I'm aware of him and have ran across his products many times on the web and don't intend to buy any of his products. I've tried oxyfresh in the past and didn't find it helped. Any other comments would be appreciated.

I'm not in HK but am in Korea. It's very polluted where I'm and I know that my breathing has suffered since I've been here(although I suffered from bb back home too where there was minimal pollution).

It's so frustrating and embarrassing. Glad to have others who can relate to this horrible situation. Thanks guys.