How to gauge your breath after any possible remedy...
Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 3:49 pm
Hey Everyone,
I wanted to share some information that I think is important to anyone who has tried any bad breath remedy from this forum or elsewhere. Many people on this forum have tried numerous bad breath cures, only to come back and say something like "It didn't work for me" or "It worked temporarily but the bad breath came back". But what I usually don't hear from people is how they are gauging their breath after they try a possible cure. Some people actually do say something like "Still have bad breath because my co-workers are making the same reactions" or "Still have bad breath because someone I know still has the same reactions". When trying to gauge whether or not you still have bad breath after trying a possible bad breath cure, it's important that you do it in a way that you will get a realistic answer.
Of course, the best way to do this is ask someone that you are close with or someone that you trust. A family member, best friend, or partner should care enough about you to be honest with you, even if it may hurt your feelings. But more often than not people just can't seem to gather the courage to ask anyone because this condition is so embarrassing, so they rely on the reactions of others as their gauge. In my opinion, if you are going to choose the second route as your gauge, I think you have to put yourself in a situation where you have to interact with strangers, and come in close contact with them. For example, back when I was suffering from bad breath, one of the reasons I knew I had bad breath was because anytime I took public transportation (bus, subway) people would move away from me if I sat next to them or stood near them. I wouldn't even have to open my mouth. The malodor was coming through my nose as I breathed out of my lungs, because the air that was traveling up and out of my windpipe was passing over the Candida infection in my esophagus. That's the only way I can explain the reactions I got from people even when my mouth was closed. It's also the reason I used to hold my breath for extended periods of time while taking public transport (I know, it's totally stupid, but in my mind at the time it helped).
Anyway, after I was treated for Candida, I was really scared that my bad breath was not gonna be cured (even with the reassurance from my doctor). After all, just like all of you I had gone through many trials and errors in regards to bad breath cures, and of course I had psychological scars from suffering for so long. But after I finished with my round of anti fungals, the desire to see if I was cured was stronger than any embarrassment I might have caused myself. So, I purposely got near people when I would take public transportation. I remember right after my treatment, I would get on the subway or bus, find a seat that was empty, but I would make sure someone was sitting in the seat next to it, and I would sit down there. Then I would open my mouth and breath through my mouth. Then I would pull out my cell phone and make a phone call and start talking to one of my friends. The only reason I did this is because I wanted to see if I got any of the same negative reactions as I had gotten before.
I think no matter what possible bad breath cure you try, when trying to gauge if your breath is still bad or not, you must do something similar to what I did on the public transportation. In my opinion, relying on people you already know or work with to gauge your bad breath is a flawed approach. For starters, lets say you have worked in your office for 5 years, and you have had bad breath for all 5 of those years. Of course the people you work with know about your condition. And by working with you for so long, they have gotten to the point where they don't even have to be close to you to react because they subconsciously react to you when they see you. They are reacting to you out of habit. And when you see them reacting out of habit, then you revert to the same behavior as you were probably doing before (avoiding them, standing far away from them when you speak, covering your mouth when you speak, etc.) This is a vicious cycle, a sort of self fulfilling prophecy if you will. The same can be true for any person you know. Your friends, your manager, your teachers, etc. Step back and look at it from their perspective. If you knew someone for a long time who had bad breath, and you saw them coming your direction, what would you do? Run away from them? Offer them gum immediately? Turn your head from them when they talk because you expect the worst?
Strangers on the other hand have no experience with you, they have no idea about your bad breath (or former bad breath) condition. Therefore they are more likely to give you an unbiased idea as to whether you are still suffering with bad breath or not. So if you do not want to just come out and ask someone you are close with whether you have bad breath or not, I believe the next best thing to do is to purposely interact with strangers and try to get an idea from their reactions. If you get no reactions from strangers, then it's safe to assume that any negative reactions you get from people you already know are reactions out of habit, not because you still have bad breath.
P.S. - You have to try this with many strangers, not just one. I think I purposely sat next to people on the public transportation, breathed through my mouth, and talked on my cell phone in their direction for about a month! LOL, I'm sure some people thought I was crazy, or rude, or both. But I really didn't care. It was my experiment.
I wanted to share some information that I think is important to anyone who has tried any bad breath remedy from this forum or elsewhere. Many people on this forum have tried numerous bad breath cures, only to come back and say something like "It didn't work for me" or "It worked temporarily but the bad breath came back". But what I usually don't hear from people is how they are gauging their breath after they try a possible cure. Some people actually do say something like "Still have bad breath because my co-workers are making the same reactions" or "Still have bad breath because someone I know still has the same reactions". When trying to gauge whether or not you still have bad breath after trying a possible bad breath cure, it's important that you do it in a way that you will get a realistic answer.
Of course, the best way to do this is ask someone that you are close with or someone that you trust. A family member, best friend, or partner should care enough about you to be honest with you, even if it may hurt your feelings. But more often than not people just can't seem to gather the courage to ask anyone because this condition is so embarrassing, so they rely on the reactions of others as their gauge. In my opinion, if you are going to choose the second route as your gauge, I think you have to put yourself in a situation where you have to interact with strangers, and come in close contact with them. For example, back when I was suffering from bad breath, one of the reasons I knew I had bad breath was because anytime I took public transportation (bus, subway) people would move away from me if I sat next to them or stood near them. I wouldn't even have to open my mouth. The malodor was coming through my nose as I breathed out of my lungs, because the air that was traveling up and out of my windpipe was passing over the Candida infection in my esophagus. That's the only way I can explain the reactions I got from people even when my mouth was closed. It's also the reason I used to hold my breath for extended periods of time while taking public transport (I know, it's totally stupid, but in my mind at the time it helped).
Anyway, after I was treated for Candida, I was really scared that my bad breath was not gonna be cured (even with the reassurance from my doctor). After all, just like all of you I had gone through many trials and errors in regards to bad breath cures, and of course I had psychological scars from suffering for so long. But after I finished with my round of anti fungals, the desire to see if I was cured was stronger than any embarrassment I might have caused myself. So, I purposely got near people when I would take public transportation. I remember right after my treatment, I would get on the subway or bus, find a seat that was empty, but I would make sure someone was sitting in the seat next to it, and I would sit down there. Then I would open my mouth and breath through my mouth. Then I would pull out my cell phone and make a phone call and start talking to one of my friends. The only reason I did this is because I wanted to see if I got any of the same negative reactions as I had gotten before.
I think no matter what possible bad breath cure you try, when trying to gauge if your breath is still bad or not, you must do something similar to what I did on the public transportation. In my opinion, relying on people you already know or work with to gauge your bad breath is a flawed approach. For starters, lets say you have worked in your office for 5 years, and you have had bad breath for all 5 of those years. Of course the people you work with know about your condition. And by working with you for so long, they have gotten to the point where they don't even have to be close to you to react because they subconsciously react to you when they see you. They are reacting to you out of habit. And when you see them reacting out of habit, then you revert to the same behavior as you were probably doing before (avoiding them, standing far away from them when you speak, covering your mouth when you speak, etc.) This is a vicious cycle, a sort of self fulfilling prophecy if you will. The same can be true for any person you know. Your friends, your manager, your teachers, etc. Step back and look at it from their perspective. If you knew someone for a long time who had bad breath, and you saw them coming your direction, what would you do? Run away from them? Offer them gum immediately? Turn your head from them when they talk because you expect the worst?
Strangers on the other hand have no experience with you, they have no idea about your bad breath (or former bad breath) condition. Therefore they are more likely to give you an unbiased idea as to whether you are still suffering with bad breath or not. So if you do not want to just come out and ask someone you are close with whether you have bad breath or not, I believe the next best thing to do is to purposely interact with strangers and try to get an idea from their reactions. If you get no reactions from strangers, then it's safe to assume that any negative reactions you get from people you already know are reactions out of habit, not because you still have bad breath.
P.S. - You have to try this with many strangers, not just one. I think I purposely sat next to people on the public transportation, breathed through my mouth, and talked on my cell phone in their direction for about a month! LOL, I'm sure some people thought I was crazy, or rude, or both. But I really didn't care. It was my experiment.