Bad Breath Halitosis Forum

Hey All,

I've thrown this out a few times, but I thought about it more and want to see what you all think...

Argument that bb is caused by some kind of allergic response:

1. Might explain why my bb went away for 1.5 years after a move from one part of the country/climate to another. Then it came back. To explain, my first bout of bb came after 2 years of living in the south (US), which lasted maybe 3 years, then I moved, and poof, it was gone. Then1.5 years later, it came back the same. It's been another 5 years of bb for me since. I have a friend who has asthsma who sympoms came and went after a similar move.

2. Might explain why most people with GERD, digestion problems, obesity, bad oral hygiene, PND, etc, etc don't have bb and others with same conditions do.

3. Might explain why even people with good diet, very healthy, perfect oral hygiene, etc. still have bb.

4. Might explain why bb gets worse/better for some with change of seasons. I've observed that I get many more bad reactions from bb in the Fall/Winter than Summer.

Just wanted to throw that out there to see if anybody has comments, input. Incidentally, I saw a doc for allergy testing and all came back negative. But they don't explain shit, so I don't really know what it tested for. The downer with this is, in my experience, people with certain allergies suffer their whole lives unless they can really pinpoint the specific problem.

Hank

Hi Hank,

A possible connection apart from allergies could be the humidity, which varies by location and through the seasons. Read the symptoms of Atrophic Rhinitis for instance.

thinking about it my bad breath did seem to become much lessened when I was in texas, it was 30 degrees most days I wonder if the climate had anything to do with it

Halitosisux ~ Thanks for bringing that up. After quick research on the item you mentioned, that problem can manifest itself in the throat as well as the nasal area. I read that some with the problem get relief from nasal saline irrigation. But the key is that it has to be done often which is tough for many. In my case, I'm almost certain the problem comes from the throat. So maybe I need to do the netti pot thing... Maybe also get a humidifier to fight the dryness too. It also reminded me that my problem began in the Fall (like October, November timeframe). I remember that distinctly. And if fundamentally bb is an anarobic problem, getting more warm, salty air in my throat, lungs, and nasal passages might help. I'll give this some more thought.

Greetings Hank,

Allergies could explain a lot of things, but as a cause of bad breath they're very, very low on the totem pole of possibilities. To put that into perspective, if the chance that your bad breath is caused by bacteria sitting on the rear tongue is 90%, the chance that it could be caused by a food allergy is 0.001%. In other words it's in the realm of possibility, but I don't think anyone can be honest in saying they've thoroughly exhausted all likelier possibilities.

This is, of course, unless your allergies are giving you a stuffy nose 24/7 and causing chronic sinus infections, which then produce foul smelling discharge.

I'm in agreement with the others who said humidity may have something to do with your perception that your bad breath is worse in the winter. Well I'm no meteorologist, but the winter time air does seem to be heavier and tougher to dissipate than hot summer air.

Having said that, there's nothing wrong with what you did in being tested for allergies. You should be tested for common environmental (grass, pollen etc.) and food (eggs, nuts, milk etc.) allergies. But if this testing all came back negative stop dwelling on allergies and haul it back to the drawing board.

Cured,

Those are some good thoughts and suggestions, which I will give further consideration. Perhaps I should consider more testing. But the thing that vexes me the most is why did this problem completely disappear for 1.5 years after my relocation? As I recall, I changed nothing about my eating/health habits. The bb was simply there and bad, then gone, then back again.

Hank