Archimonde wrote:Do you ever have days with BB? If yes, how often?
I can't answer that question for sure Archi because honestly I don't know. I cannot smell my own breath, and therefore I cannot know unless someone tells me directly. What I can tell you is this.
Before I was treated for Candida:
1.) I was directly told by 3 people that I had bad breath. (Also my mother told me after I was treated for Candida that she had noticed I had bad breath before, but she never said anything to me about it.)
2.) I heard numerous comments indirectly from people regarding my bad breath. One day I said hello to a person that I knew, and when I walked away I heard him say "You need to learn how to use a toothbrush." Also, one day my manager offered me a piece of chewing gum as soon as I came into the office. As soon as he offered me the gum, a fellow co-worker said "How about you give him 2 pieces." Another co-worker used to say "Someone's got dragon breath" when I was around with other co-workers. The list goes on and on.
3.) Whenever I used to sit next to people on the subway or bus, or anywhere for that matter, they would cover their nose or move away, without me even speaking! The bad smell was coming through both my nose and my mouth because the Candida was in my throat, and when I breathed the bad breath would escape through whichever hole I was breathing out of. It got to the point where I would hold my breath for periods of time whenever I was in public places.
After I was treated for Candida and changed my diet and fitness habits:
1.) No one has directly told me that I have bad breath since then. After my treatment, I had my mother smell my breath for 2 weeks straight. I made her smell my breath so much that after the end of the 2 weeks she was fussing at me about making her do it! She said she couldn't smell anything.
2.) I do not hear indirect comments as frequently as before regarding bad breath. Of course, sometimes I do hear people talking about something smelling bad, but I have to remind myself, I live in Bangkok now. This is a big, dirty, polluted city and there are many smells when you walk outside on the street. Every time someone has made a comment about a smell, I can usually smell it too and the source of the smell is usually apparent such as trash on the street or the sewer systems here or the street vendors selling some kind of stinky Asian food around every single street corner.
3) When I take the subway or the bus, people do not move away from me anymore. Furthermore when I sit next to them, they do not cover their nose.
4) And finally, people do not put their hands to their noses when I'm speaking as much as they used to. Does it still happen occasionally? Yes, sometimes, but I honestly think it might just be the natural habit of some people to do this. I try not to read too much into it.
As I've said, having bad breath for such a long time has left a psychological scar on me. I still worry about it. I still take steps to prevent it, I still pay attention to the actions of people around me probably more so than others. But the important thing is
I DO BELIEVE that one day I will be freed from the psychological burden and not think about bad breath at all anymore.