Bad Breath Halitosis Forum

I've struggled with bb ever since I can remember. I have only one non-work friend who visits me every couple of months. I have learned to some extent to not be lonely and not crave human company, I had to because my human interactions always depend on how confident I am that my breath is not smelling.

As a result my verbal skills are underdeveloped, even though I am fairly smart. I am doing a Ph.D. in Engineering, working mainly from home, but when I do have to go out to the university I always I have anxiety about my breath.

I live with my parents and grandparents, and I have learned to say quite a lot with my facial and body expressions so that I don't have to even open my mouth.

So a couple of years ago I read that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is pretty good for oxidizing away bacteria and foreign material in the mouth, so I started using 40-volume H2O2 which I diluted with water from 100 mL to 140mL. It foamed quite well and 'livened' up my mouth, even if for just under an hour. I really thought that after using such a strong oxidant that my mouth should not produce smells due to bacteria.

I floss really well, I even use garment thread with more of a grip and resistance than dental floss, so I really get the channels between teeth squeeky clean and try to go into the folds between the teeth and gums without producing blood.

I really really thought that this routine would properly clean my mouth. I also brush my tongue so deep that I almost gag. But I never did the finger in the mouth and then smell it afterward test, I just hoped for the best. Big mistake.

The H2O2, for some reason, does something to my mouth that makes it smell like hot sh*t. That's right, hot poop, imagine smelling that, that's how my breath started to smell like after about an hour. I could, of course, not smell this, but in hindsight I did taste a sourness in my mouth. But, genius me, thought that the H2O2 killed all the sulfur and bb-producing bacteria.

So there is one fellow researcher at the University that I went to see late one day, without having had a chance to eat anything yet myself, and I rinsed my mouth and gargled with H2O2 that morning. So as I open my mouth the guy is totally taken aback, looks around, and asks "Something really smells like shit." Then it hit me, of course, my f*cking breath, which I though smelled like nothing. And that guy is actually really courteous and would never say something like that unless he is really pressed to.

So that hit me really really hard, in an emotional way, like I'm sure many of you have been affected too. And then to retrace my steps, all the people I have interacted with since using H2O2 in this way, and no one told me anything, but in hindsight they showed it in their faces. Oh dear, I'm trying to be strong and logical and unemotional about this, but this is so hard to bear. I know I can't change the past, but I can change the future.

So in any case, I started using the finger test on my mouth throughout the day, and there is definitely something fishy going on in my mouth. I had myself tested for abnormal causes of halitosis when I was a child, but they could not find anything, and I believe my tonsils are removed.

I get sh*t sulfur breath even after thoroughly cleaning and bleaching my mouth. And the only way I can now get close to interacting with people is to suck on a live Fisherman's Cherry Menthol sweet, but within say 15 minutes I can feel my mouth going all dry and sulfury and sour, then I have to eat another sweet to even think of talking to people.

I do not know what is normal. I thought it was normal for a mouth to go bad somewhat, because shops sell so many breathmints! But honestly, I always wondered how people kiss each other, if I can't even keep my mouth smelling decent for 10 minutes. Of course, you may have guessed, I am a 28 year old virgin. Never french kissed anybody, wouldn't dare to.

Doing the finger test after a mouth watering meal: finger smells like nothing. Doing the finger test 30 minutes afterward: finger smells like shit. God I hate doing the finger test and smelling shit. I don't know how people can stand me.

So I do thoroughly rinse my mouth after using H2O2, to remove all traces of it. H2O2, for some unknown effing reason, exacerbates the smell of sh*t to something ungodly. But even when I don't use H2O2, my normal bad breath problem remains.

The only way I can cope is to keep eating to produce new saliva. But this is not always possible. I don't think that my situation is normal, and it certainly is not livable.

So has anyone else had this experience with H2O2, when it clearly promotes the smell of feces?

I noticed the same with it so I dont use peroxide. There is a burning sensation and then the smell seems worse after a few minutes. For me, sucking on a lemon for as long I can helps or at least I have more confidence with it more than anythin. I think it is because I am increasing the ph level in mouth. A user started a thread here about how ph level plays an important role. She brushes her teeth with aspirin. I tried it but I cant say it helped me, but I can say lemon helps.

John, have you tried the same procedures using chlorhexidine instead?

Not a single person has even replied to my posts about using chlorhexidine through a hydroflossing machine to irrigate your gums. Even if you have no sign of gum disease or anything wrong, give it a try. If you ever get odours when you floss, irrigating with water alone will help get rid of that odour for a day, but with chlorhexidine it completely nukes the bacterial colony under the gumline. It's just ONE of the bacterial hiding places but it may be the most important of all to clean out to prevent rapid re-population and resumption of bacteria and bacterial activity throughout the rest of the mouth and throat.

H2O2 is probably only neutralizing the odours in your mouth and probably having minimal impact on the bacteria there and on your tongue, especially in the hiding places like the tonsils, tongue and gumline. It only takes minutes for the resumption of sewage production to infest your mouth again.

One other point to make, is that you may have some kind of metabolic cause to your "shit" breath, such as TMAU. As an oxidizer, H2O2 will oxidize any TMA inside your mouth into TMA-oxide. TMA will be found in your mucus and saliva if your blood-TMA level goes above a certain threshold. That might explain why you get an immediate improvement when you rinse your mouth with H2O2, only for the "shit" to return within minutes. This is pure speculation - the only way to find out for sure is to get tested for TMAU. Even if you're borderline, you may not suffer with body odour, but it's quite feasible that it can make your breath smell at borderline levels which have resulted in a negative TMAU diagnosis.

Yes I have definitely experienced this! My bb is typically a sour/metallic kind of smell but when I rinse with Hydrogen Peroxide, it turns into a fecal smell. So like you, I started rinsing my mouth out thoroughly with water afterwards. But I think I may stop using it all together at this point though.

seanlee1980 wrote:I noticed the same with it so I dont use peroxide. There is a burning sensation and then the smell seems worse after a few minutes.

Yeah exactly, when I feel that burning sensation I know shit is going down, or up in this case. But I think that if I have a clean mouth to start with, then this happens to a lesser degree.

Halitosisux, thanks for the very helpful comments. No but I'm going to get Chlorhexidine and try that.
I do not exhibit the classic symptoms of TMA, but I do eat red meat regularly.

Yeah, seanlee, I now rinse with water and brush everything afterward, makes a big difference.

So I really went to town on my mouth the last couple of days, flossing, rinsing and gargling H2O2, then rinse with water, then brushing teeth and tongue thoroughly, full width of the tongue and as deep as I can bear.

And I have to come clean here as well, I don't not take as good care of my mouth when I stay at home and work. I do brush my teeth, but I don't floss in those cases, because the garment thread cuts into my fingers and it is an uncomfortable duty.

So what I realized is that if I go a couple of days with unflossed teeth, then my mouth degrades, naturally, and I tend to swallow the putrid saliva and it ends up in my deep nasal passageways. I am totally oblivious to this, of course, being like a frog in slowly heating water. And so I realized that it doesn't help to clean the mouth and teeth properly, if that old saliva and mucus is not given enough time to be ejected.

So in any case, when I clean my mouth properly, I tend to really notice that old mucus and naturally want to eject it, my mouth starts salivating when it is clean, and after blowing my nose and summoning those deepest layers of mucus through the mouth, then my nose suddenly seems so clear and my mouth is salivating nicely.

In this condition I am usually acutely aware of taste and smells in my mouth, and I can notice much better how my mouth degrades. The finger test after about 2 hours is really good, no sour smell. But then afterward my spit starts to turn sour, then I have to eat to generate new saliva, then the finger test is ok again.

So my laziness is a big factor with my problem, I know I can take better care of my mouth, much better care. I have promised myself to thoroughly floss and clean my mouth everyday, whether I am to be alone or go out. I know this sounds so lame, I mean everybody has to do that. It has just been so comfortable to not do it every day.

A big realization for me today was that I have to keep my mucus clean by keeping my mouth clean, otherwise those shit smells will surface even if I did clean my mouth on a particular day.

It would be so easy to blame something that is out of my control, but I take full responsibility. I'm really going to try and get in touch with my mouth now, doing finger tests all the time, using less breath mints when I can to get accurate measurements.

ALL MY FRIENDS HERE ,

I STRONGLY STRONGLY REQUEST YOU NOT TO USE H2O2 OR HYDROGEN-PEROXIDE AND SPECIALLY THOSE WITH TYPE 1 HALITOSIS .
BY USING IT , YOU ARE MAKING YOUR TONGUE SURFACE MORE AND MORE ROUGH CAUSING MORE SPACE FOR BACTERIA RESULTING " INCREASED BB "

its up to you , i had to tell bcoz i care for all of us .i used it for 3 months and found that it ruined my whole tongue .

U CAN DO VERY RIGOROUS SALT WATER GARGLING AND RINSING INSTEAD OF USING PEROXIDE