Life is changing

[mouth]

I will be 30 next month and the only person I truly trust in this world is my wife. Even my closest friend of many years will not admit that he smells my breath.

The thought of peoples reactions is consuming my life and I find myself avoiding social situations which involve alcohol.

Last night I went out for dinner with a close friend of mine and her husband and a couple of her friends, after being seated I immediately assessed the situation then moved to sit next to my wife so that the husband would be saved from the foul odours that inevitably escape from my mouth (he was probably offended thinking that I didn't want to sit next to him but you know what? that's better than him trying to avoid conversation with me because he cannot take the smell). The restaurant was authentic Southern Indian and the food was waaayyyyyyy too spicy for me. Everyone kept suggesting that the yoghurt dish was there to sooth the burning but I declined because anything creamy dairy-based sets it off like a nuclear reaction.

When someone puts their hand or finger anywhere near their mouth, cheek or nose I convince myself that they can smell my breath even from across the room. I've started mumbling and turning away from people when I talk and obsess about this 24-7. Nobody will admit verbally that there is a problem (except for my wife) but everyone's body language is very clear.

I have very recently accepted a job as an Account Manager which means that I will need to be in social environments often and meeting and training clients regularly... So what are my options? I've seriously considered not eating anything until dinner time... but that's really going to cause other problems so what to do?



After visiting the site I'm trying some of the suggestions here, like
-high doses of vitamin C (approx 1500mg)
-oh and i've ordered a Tung brush which i'm looking forward to trying
-where I live there's no milk/sugar free pro biotic, do the capsules/tabs advertised here do anything good?

Symptoms:
-Seems to react to foods/drinks
-no white tongue that i can tell
-doesn't seem to be dry mouth

Foods that I've had to give up or entirely cut down on:
-MILK (one of my favourite things in the world is cereal... not anymore
-Beer (no comment)
-Tea (coffee isn't as bad but i've still given it up entirely)
-any creamy dairy
-TZADZIKI
-Onions/garlic (normal is suppose)

-any suggestions on safe foods/ meals would be gratefully accepted.

======================================================
Hygiene
Morning:
-floss first
-then tung scrape (will be tung brush soon)
-brush with Sonicare toothbrush and sensodyne gentle whitening (also lightly brush gums, roof of my mouth, behind lips, inside cheeks, back of tounge and side of toungue)
-rinse with mineral water

Evenings:
-just brush

**Feedback on hygiene methods and products welcome**
=====================================================

This is constantly on my mind and is making me miserable, I am by nature a very sociable person. Although thinking back before my wife I can definately see how it's been present since my younger days.

Thanks for listening.

[Cured]

-Seems to react to foods/drinks

So you've given up on all those foods and it still hasn't helped, huh? Before I had my wisdom teeth out one of the oddest features of my bad breath is that it would sometimes annoy people I was eating with as I was eating, and it never needed to be any known bad breath-causing food such as onions or garlic. I always knew that my bad breath was anything but common, but that fact alone told me something very odd was up since most bad breath coincides with dry mouth and/or tongue (which don't occur when eating).

I'd be curious as to whether your bad breath becomes more pronounced when you drink hot drinks (coffee, tea), or when crunching hard foods such as cookies or toasted bread, or when sucking on hard candies or chewing gum. If so, the blame lies squarely on bacteria trapped within your gums.

I also recommend you read the topic I started about my story with wisdom teeth.

Good luck.

[Busted]

See, I find it funny how others (non CH sufferers) criticise me for not speaking clearly, putting my hand in front of my mouth or turning my head away. But as a CH sufferer, you start doing this automatically to try to avoid reactions. So funny every time.

Most of the time I just talk straight into someone's face because I'm so tired of using 5 times the energy just to say somethin.

But sometimes there are some people that you just don't want them to think about your bb...

[newnew]

I often worry about this sort of thing myself and hence tend to eat alone. I have some sinus problems (PND) and I think as I eat and breath through my nose that the smell might be coming from this area. I don't know if people eat with their mouth open, but I don't, so I know the only place any kind of smell could be coming from in through my nose.

[spygirl]

Hi Mouth. Welcome to this site. I hope you won't mind if I share my experiences/regime with you.

1. No form of yoghurt has EVER helped my bb, the effect of probiotic in there does not outweigh the horrible effect of dairy.

2. In response to no.1, I am better off with calcium supplement and Acidophillus. I also take 1-2 tabs of acid-free vit c and some different forms of other vitamins.

3. Try replacing at least 60% of your diet with fresh greens and fruits (with dairy-free dressing). This worked quite fast for me, but I started with 80%. Once you have maintained it for 2-3 months, you can start cheating and bring it down to 20% green and 20% fruits each meal.

4. Omit white sugar and flour as much as you can. To my experience, once you practice no.3 above, your craving for sweets dramatically drop to almost 0. Well, I am Asian and I can't avoid white flour/rice, I just try to control the quantity. The most accessible replacement of sugar here in Singapore is Hermesetas (the one with glucose).

5. I avoid eating dairies, eggs and high protein foods/drinks.

6. Do not omit all the bb-causing foods that you love, or else your life will be depressing. I, myself, is a coffee addict. There are days that I drink more coffee than any liquids combined. Lately, I switched to 90% caffein-free not because of bb but because it is better for my health. I also eat a lot of seafoods and barbeque ribs 2 days a week (when I don't expect to socialize the next day). Now if you are in a compromising situation and the lust of the meat got into you, eat the meat all right but don't consume sugared/alcoholic drinks and finish off your meal with fresh greens (no dressing). Do not take desserts- even fresh fruits.

7. DUMP ALL THE HALITOMAFIA PRODUCTS IN YOUR BATHROOM. The benefit of the above steps will never materialize if you don't. Especially the ones with ZINC. In my experience, these are the products that aggravated my bb and omitting them could be the biggest help that I can do for my breath.

8. I am a Christian and I pray a lot. And I am quite sure that this is the most, if not the only, fundamental step in my recovery.

[destined]

I agree. Every couple of weeks I try a new remedy and I will never give up hope. Faith, prayer, friends and this site help to keep me stronger. Don't give up.