Post Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by my BB.

[peaceseeker2007]

I had the tonsillectomy on 3/12/07.

I still do not know if I am BB free.

I truly believe that I am suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The Trauma I am experiencing is a result to the following reactions to my BB:

1. Sweaters pulled over the nose
2. Pregnant woman actually pinching her nose shut when speaking to me
3. Coworkers opening the windows of the car to "get some air" on an extremely hot day
4. Person sitting in front of me on a bus throwing their hands in the air and loudly "whispering" to the person next to them that they can not take it. I knew it was me because the very good friend I was sitting next to had her hand over her nose during our conversation. We had wine with lunch that day
5. 3 year old niece who loves me telling me that me breath smells like pooh pooh and even covering her nose or scrunching up her face when I spoke to her
6. THE BEST ONE...I went to get a colonic and the woman, who smells crap and ass for a living
kept 1 finger under her nose during our conversation both before and after the procedure.
When people hold 1 finger under their nose..there is no room for misinterpretation.
**And many many more..............

So many people were not cured after their tonsillectomy. I maintain that we all must go through a personal process of elimination to find a "cure".

Here's my list:
1. Stopped milk/dairy
2. Stopped caffeine
3. Limited alcohol
4. Not eating meat until dinner (I talk for a living, absolutely no meat during work hours)
5. Purchased Memory Foam pillows and mattress pad (stopped my Post Nasal Drip) I must have been allergic to dust mites. Mites can not penetrate Memory Foam
6. Got 4 wisdom teeth removed at the same time
7. Had painful deep gum cleaning called scaling (cleared up my periodontal disease)
8. Tried every fresh breath scam sold in the USA*** SMART MOUTH DOES NOT WORK**
9. Taking Probiotics (got my bowels moving, constipation no longer an issue)
******Surgery was my last attempt********

I know, I know...all I have to do is just ask someone. It sounds so simple but I am afraid that what is left of my sanity will be lost if I am disappointed yet again.

People are still leaning in to speak to me (like never before) but I am still leaning back, stepping back and turning my head when it is my turn to speak. My friend waitingforrelief was right in saying that it would be a shame if I am doing what I have always done for no reason.

John even gave me a beautiful script to aid me in asking someone about my breath but I haven't found the courage to use it . My 3 year old niece was here this Sunday and I even avoided speaking in her face because I am so afraid of knowing that nothing has changed for me.

Can anyone relate?

[succ]

Not exactly the same but.. : In 8th grade, when I became aware of my bb and bo problem, and smelled something bad I thought it possibly couldn't be me, but well it was me ofc. And when few of my friends were touching my back and then touching each other with "ewwwwwwwwww" effects, and in any similar situations I've been in, I've become so scared and frozen and anxious that I remember hardly nothing. From my 8th and 9h grade, I remember only few bad and few pleasant(thank god) memories. I felt severe physical symtoms also, though I can't tell if it was because of the mold or stress.

Have you read this? You probably have but here's the link anyway:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-traum ... s_disorder

[waitingforrelief]

hi pseeker,

i am sorry you are not feeling well. i can't totally relate because i'm not cured , but i can relate to the fear for sure. it sounds like the reactions that you were getting were quite severe. to live day-to-day like that must have been such a nightmare.

however, the ONLY way to beat this is to ask someone. i know you have fear that it might still be there. but in the end, knowing is the only way to help yourself. but if the past reaction that you got was that severe, i'd think that it must be quite DRASTICALLY different now that people are leaning in to speak to you? so in the worst scenario, even if you're not totally cured, the odor must be A LOT less.

if you still have a little odor left, there's got to be ways to help. there's this lavoris that is a possibility. austuser is someone who finds temporary relief from different products. maybe if your odor is reduced, what he does might help you as well. and i'm sure there are a few others who have measures that they use in battling temporary odor.

if you don't hvae any odor left, for crying out loud, go out and live. how long have you lived with this? even if the odor is just lessened, go and live. don't let this cripple you. the only person who can help you is you. you might go through a mourning process of grieving what you've lost in your life from bb, i am guessing, and do that. but really - LIVE. don't impose that prison on yourself anymore.

[Busted]

Hmm, have you tried smelling it yourself? I'm not sure if this works for any of you guys, but here's what I usually do:

1. Stand really close to something, I recommend a mirror in the bathroom or something.
2. I breathe out through my mouth and breathe inhale through my nose.
3. I keep repeating step 2 until I can actually detect an odour with my nose

I'm sure that what I smell isn't exactly others smell, since I think the odour isn't that bad. But usually when I smell somethin by doing that trick, I always get reactions from other people afterwards when I talk to them and they are similar to the ones you described peaceseeker. But then again I always get reactions, I think there has never been one time where someone didn't cover their noses or hold their breath when they were talkin to me. So I'm pretty much use to it and it isn't very hard for me to tell when i have bb or not, since I always have it.

If you ask one person about whether your breath smells or not, you have to keep in mind that a lot of people don't want to hurt our feelings. So even if it did, they are still goin to say no. I'm not sure if it's really helping us, since some people are really goin to think they don't have bb anymore, ignoring all the reactions they get from others, until someone actually offers them a mint or gum or tells them about it.

[noptical]

First thing check if any of the symptoms has lessened (pnd, white coating, dry mouth)