Bad Breath Halitosis Forum

Hello all.

I am new to the forum, but have been lurking for some time.

Here is my story, and I need some honest feedback, because I am on the verge of doing something drastic.

So it all started about 3 years ago. I was dating a cheer leader, having tons of fun with friends, had a good job and was a college student.

One of my friends that I often hung out with started making rude comments about how I needed gum or a mint, etc.

This quickly turned into an awkward situation because it would happen every time we hung out.

I slowly began to isolate myself from him.

Soon after doing this, I developed chronic post nasal drip. I believe it started after a cycle of antibiotics.
I began having a white tongue, weird taste, and smelly saliva.

I have asked 8 of my closest friends/family for honest opinions on my breath.
Here are the quotes, in order.

Question:Does my breath smell ever?
1) "Honey, I've never smelled your breath"
2) "Dude, your breath doesn't smell"
3) "No, your breath doesn't smell"
4) "I don't think your breath smells"
5) "You don't have that problem"
6) "I have never once smelled your breath, ever"
7) "Nope, never smelled it, not once, you're paranoid"
8.) "Sweetheart, your breath doesn't smell. I would tell you if it did, honest"

These are all answers from the 8 people that I am around the most. mother, father, co-workers, and best friends.

I get this good feedback from them, but I am still sooooo convinced that I do. Some of them have suggested I seek psychological help.

The reason I am so convinced is because of the chronic bad taste, white tongue, and the fact that my saliva smells when I lick my wrist.

I don't know what to do...

Is it halitophobia or bb?

Please give me some feedback, because this is really altering my life.

................

What would it take for you to believe your breath doesn't smell bad?

ConfusingSituati wrote:Hello all.

I am new to the forum, but have been lurking for some time.

Here is my story, and I need some honest feedback, because I am on the verge of doing something drastic.

Is it halitophobia or bb?

Please give me some feedback, because this is really altering my life.

Something Drastic Like What ??
I know plenty of folks with white tongue and PND with perfect breath . Notice :: the wrist test is Bullshit . 90% of peoples spit is gonna smell .

Yesterday , I finally got a Dr to admit my breath did have 'odor' . Yes ,it can take tact to get honest info about breath .its awkward, but if everybody and their grandma says your breath is fine except 1 cockblocker , go with the majority . If anything , the stress you are causing yourself will give you dry mouth .
If you are a young dude ,its easy to get it twisted . Any comment like this can be traumatizing ,ending up in some OCD or the like . Since you been lurking , you should be aware the halitophbia can Easily be more of an issue than a minor case of acute occasional bb .

halitosisux wrote:What would it take for you to believe your breath doesn't smell bad?

The bad taste is what makes me thinks it smells.
If I could get rid of the taste, I would be fine.
I can't get over my saliva smelling when I lick a spoon or my wrist, either.

deebo wrote:

ConfusingSituati wrote:Hello all.

I am new to the forum, but have been lurking for some time.

Here is my story, and I need some honest feedback, because I am on the verge of doing something drastic.

Is it halitophobia or bb?

Please give me some feedback, because this is really altering my life.

Something Drastic Like What ??
I know plenty of folks with white tongue and PND with perfect breath . Notice :: the wrist test is Bullshit . 90% of peoples spit is gonna smell .

Yesterday , I finally got a Dr to admit my breath did have 'odor' . Yes ,it can take tact to get honest info about breath .its awkward, but if everybody and their grandma says your breath is fine except 1 cockblocker , go with the majority . If anything , the stress you are causing yourself will give you dry mouth .
If you are a young dude ,its easy to get it twisted . Any comment like this can be traumatizing ,ending up in some OCD or the like . Since you been lurking , you should be aware the halitophbia can Easily be more of an issue than a minor case of acute occasional bb .

I'm not gonna lie man, I've thought about s*****e because of it.
The taste is so bad. I can't understand why I have such a bad taste and don't have BB.

Here is my current mental state.
When I wake up every morning, I have morning breath. I think this is pretty common. So BB is the first thing that I think about when I wake up. And I have a bad taste for most of the day so it is constantly on my mind. It is all I think about. It really kills my confidence with women. I feel like my life is over. I am scared to talk to women b.c Im afraid I look like a loser chewing gum 24/7. I feel like I am so alone in this. I don't know what to do. What if the 8 people are wrong and I do have BB.

I use to date cheer leaders and be the most confident guy....now I havent gotten laid in almost 3 years, even though I have women who are constantly trying to hang out.

Also, when I go out drinking, the white on my tongue gets worse, so Im afraid to talk when I go out.

Im scared Ill never meet anyone to spend my life with.

This is so shity, bro.

We're all super-sensitive people on here. Once we've got it in our heads that we must have bad breath our lives are changed forever. And it only takes one reckless remark or gesture. We're all like ticking time-bombs just waiting for it to happen. Guaranteed there are people around who are as convinced as anyone could ever be, who will spend their entire life shut away because they wrongly assume their breath smells. This is halitophobia. We generally cannot smell our own breath the way another person could ever be capable of smelling it, and that's the crux of it really - it's the uncertainty.

I'm not now saying that you or anyone else is imagining their breath problem, but the uncertainty applies to us all and is what makes this one of the most difficult personal problems a person could ever face. In many cases just the stress and the worry of having bad breath will cause bad breath.

So much of what we go through with this problem is psychological. Some people even use BB as a subconscious excuse to avoid other issues without realising it. Like throwing a spanner into our own works to protect us of other psychological issues below the surface.

Anyway, what were your antibiotics for? could whatever the reason you were given antibiotics - or even the antibiotics themselves, have given you temporary bad breath - but that you have since been unable to let go of that fear your friend instilled into you at the time?

White tongue, weird taste and smelly saliva do not mean you have bad breath. How certain are you that these things all started after this point in your life that you think your BB started? How many people know what their tongue looked like before they started believing they had bad breath? Weird taste is what most people can say they have if they sit there and think about it. It's perfectly normal for saliva to have some odour to it, especially if we start licking things and waiting for it to dry. We all have billions of bacteria in our mouth and we all produce chemical by-products that produce a background odour responsible for some of the natural odour in our saliva. For sure, your breath might not be perfect (at close range) if you have some coating built up on your tongue, because this just acts to increase the overall bacterial activity taking place in your mouth and act like a sponge for the foul chemicals these bacteria produce, but is it causing you to have bad breath that can knock a buzzard off a shit wagon? Or are you going crazy over nothing?

ConfusingSituati wrote:

deebo wrote:

ConfusingSituati wrote: Is it halitophobia or bb?

Please give me some feedback, because this is really altering my life.

Something Drastic Like What ??
.

...
The taste is so bad. I can't understand why I have such a bad taste and don't have BB.
... I don't know what to do. What if the 8 people are wrong and I do have BB.
.

Bottom line here bud . Halitophobia If you've spent any time on this site , it is clear to you . there are plenty of of on here with both bb and phobia . Not saying a full blown shrink is in order but some CBT(cognitive behavioral therapy) can certainly help put life in perspective bud .

skunkhugs j on skype

@ConfusingSituati
My father always complains from very bad taste in his mouth but he does not have bb. He has stomach problems most of the time but no bb. But I don't have any bad taste in my mouth but I have very bb. So having bad taste does not always mean bb.
I wish I had Halitophobia instead of the real thing

I agree with ClaraO. I don't have a bad taste in my mouth, but I still have bad breath. Maybe there is no connection. I do have a coating on the tongue. All I can say is that if I scrape the coating off my tongue, my taste buds seem to work a little better.

So, Clara and Phantasist, your mouths feel fresh? You don't need to chew gum? Weird. Even though I know it doesn't really help, I can't live without gum, for myself, because I always have a bad taste in my mouth.

My opinion...it could be one of two things.

1). Your friend could have been what you young kids call frienemies(sp) and was just jealous cause you were dating the cheerleader and had your crap together and by telling you you need a mint he was just being a jerk. And now you are just being paranoid cause of him being an idiot.

2). As we all know on here our families seem to be used to the smell and don't smell it even when others do.

So the only thing you can do is get out there and see what happens. If you do have it you will know by other's comments. I don't know if you are aware that alcohol dries your mouth out and if you do have any sort of bb it will make it worse. I don't know if you have bb or not, but don't worry unless you have 100% proof.

Susie wrote:My opinion...it could be one of two things.

1). Your friend could have been what you young kids call frienemies(sp) and was just jealous cause you were dating the cheerleader and had your crap together and by telling you you need a mint he was just being a jerk. And now you are just being paranoid cause of him being an idiot.

2). As we all know on here our families seem to be used to the smell and don't smell it even when others do.

So the only thing you can do is get out there and see what happens. If you do have it you will know by other's comments. I don't know if you are aware that alcohol dries your mouth out and if you do have any sort of bb it will make it worse. I don't know if you have bb or not, but don't worry unless you have 100% proof.

He is definitely always been jealous of me. I would love to believe that he was doing it to be a jerk. He often would say, "it doesnt stink, it just smells like garlic"...but other times he would say "damn man chew some gum"....so idk

Number 2 is what scares me. What if all of the people l have asked are just immune?

Getting out there and reading reactions is hard because I know how easy it is to misread someone. =(

I want this to be over so bad.

Im already convinced that if/when I get through this, I am dedicating my life to finding a cure.

i once told someone they didn't have bad breath when they do. he asked me but i had a hard time telling him the truth. i know this sounds awful but i think a lot of people lie to save what they perceive as hurting someone's feelings (even though not being truthful is hurtful).

what about meeting someone from this forum to get an honest assessment?