Bad Breath Halitosis Forum

Hi,

I have severe bad breath breath which is getting worse. People several feet away are moving back as soon as I speak.

History:
I had fess nasal surgery years ago and my middle turbinates were completely removed and left Maxillary antrostomy was done and deviated septum was fixed it was mild. But bb didn't improve. After that I went to multiple ENTs all said everything is ok.

Diagnosis:
Years later I started doing nasal rinse and I noticed a fishy odor inside the nose. I post that symptom to ents and most of them said atrophic rhinitis. Then I consulted one ent who said same looking at my ct scan as middle turbinates are clearly missing, fishy odor, septal perforation. He said klebsiella is common in such cases.

Symptoms:
Fishy odor in nose noticable to me only when doing nasal rinse.
Bad breath - strong, I can't smell much but others can
White coated tongue
Post nasal drip, thick mucus clear/cloudy
No crusts though

Treatment:
Rifampicin 300 twice daily
Nasal rinse 4 times daily(salt + soda + sodium borate)
Multivitamins and antioxidants

27th day of treatment today but symptoms still persists. Only slight improvement in nasal odor. Doctor told me to continue the medicine.

Anyone here know how long it takes to fix the odor? I saw in YouTube that rifampicin 12 weeks. But not much improvement is very frustrating.

And before all those procedures and excisions—did you have a problem with it then? Maybe the cause lies elsewhere.

But I don't have any other health issues.

tirth.diallo wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2026 3:58 pm But I don't have any other health issues.

As is the case with most people with bb—on the surface, everything looks fine, yet the illness persists, and no one can explain why or what is actually going on. The worst part is that you can’t even start treatment because there’s no diagnosis. It’s a hellish disease; honestly, I’d rather have diabetes or something else instead of this.