My 2 year bad breath: cause may have been discovered!

schlitter · Post by **schlitter** » Fri May 25, 2012 7:52 pm

UPDATE: see my next post

To start off, I am 21, and I think my case is a combination of multiple problems:

1. Post nasal drip/allergies
2. GERD
3. Possible dairy allergy
4. Possible bacteria/fungal infection

I had always worried about my breath, but that's pretty normal. But about two years ago, my breath one day seemed different. I could tell it was bad, and it was confirmed by my girlfriend later that night. Ever since that day, I have not had a day without bad breath. She describes it as "fart". I could only really smell it when I wore a surgical mask this summer for my internship. This sudden onset makes me think bacteria/fungus.

I've had seasonal allergies since about 5th grade, and then constant PND since about age 14. I have been using Flonaze for the last 3 years daily. It definitely helps with drainage, but I still have a mild stuffy nose all day.

When I was little, I used to eat a lot then go straight to sleep nearly every night. I now get reflux after eating sometimes, and I wake up every morning with a slimy coating on my teeth. I used to think this was normal, but I know now that it is not. I have also been getting unexplainable mild swelling in my gums that seems to move. I asked my dentist, he said my mouth looks very healthy. I asked the hygienist about my breath, and she thinks it may be GERD. I asked a doctor, and he thinks GERD as well and recommended I try omeprazole. I tried it, but it made me dizzy after about 3 weeks.

2 weeks ago I noticed that after consuming milk I get really gassy for the whole day. I went to the doctor and she thinks it is either a lactose intolerance or a dairy intolerance. This could explain the chronic PND, some of the GERD, my extreme fatigue in the mornings, my acne, and my bad breath.

So here is what I am now doing:

1. I make sure to use my Flonaze every day, morning and night.
2. I started taking omeprazole in the mornings and ranitidine before I go to sleep about a week ago. This was recommended on some news website interview ( I can't remember where) by a physician from Yale med school. So far, I already notice that I no longer have a slimy, gross tasting mouth when I wake up. The omeprazole needs about 30 days to build up the needed blood levels to be effective, so I will have to wait and see. And honestly, dizziness would be better than bad breath.
3. I will be cutting out all dairy from my diet. Even after I tried lactose free milk as recommended by my doctor, I still got some cramps, but no gas. I also get a terrible after milk taste in my mouth all day after drinking both. I may be BOTH lactose and milk intolerant. Interestingly, my mom just told me that when I was little I broke out in hives to milk, so I drank soy milk until I was about 8 (I never knew this).
4. If none of these help, I will see a doctor about a possible infection.

I feel like I'm starting to narrow it down. I'm attacking from all angles. I want to hit it hard

schlitter · Post by **schlitter** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:14 am

I've narrowed it down to either dairy allergy or GERD. I have been dairy free for about a week now, and my mouth began to taste a lot better. My girlfriend even said she could not really smell it!

But last night when I came home from studying I was starving and most places were closed. So I broke down and had some pizza pockets... I had to go to sleep about 2 hours later but I was too hungry to not eat. Today my breath feels a lot worse, and back to how it was before. But at least I've found my cause(s)!

This dairy free diet is killing me

emotional rescue · Post by **emotional rescue** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:56 pm

It's hard to cut dairy, but good luck.

Please keep us posted

schlitter · Post by **schlitter** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 7:25 am

emotional rescue wrote:It's hard to cut dairy, but good luck.

Please keep us posted

It's really hard. I would literally have cheese with everything I ate. I've already failed 3 times since cutting dairy. I'm trying to do it gradually. But I can definitely tell my stomach feels better without it, and worse when I eat it. Same with my breath. Even 4 hours later it comes back.

clara0 · Post by **clara0** » Sat Jun 16, 2012 1:55 pm

I have cut it out for 2 years up to now but I am suffering from teeth sensitivity+ bone issues, I am not sure if it is from dairy alone but my calcium level was on the lowest border in the last blood test I did and ofcourse I am taking supplements.

mike987 · Post by **mike987** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:27 pm

Good for you!

I'm actually putting milk and dairy BACK into my diet. Ever since going vegetarian, things have improved at least noticeably.. I've put cheese in the diet to try to help from losing more weight and noticed it didn't seem to have any apparent negative effect.. As of tonight, I'm going to try drinking milk too to see if I can actually put more weight back on and not look like a deprived zombie.

Carri · Post by **Carri** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:32 am

I think I have all the symptoms you mentioned. Seasonal allergic (though it's going away), good gum (by dentist), but swelling sometimes, lactose intolerant (the cramp + the gas), PND (told my ent about it).

The only thing is that I already had all that before my halitosis, except one, the lactose intolerance. I went to see a doctor and he told me to eat yogurt, I'm eating it and it's digesting with no problem. Maybe you could try (detailed explanation in my previous post, now I'm off to bed).

I hope you'll narrow it and nail that f*cker in the head very hard