r/badbreath

I met a new doctor today and while he was talking I noticed his breath smelled really bad. it wasnt a food smell. It was one of those internal, rotting kind of smells.

You know like when the bad breath is coming from the stomach or an abscess or a sore inside the throat. He was sitting around 6 feet away from me across a desk and I could still smell his breath from there.

He didn’t seem to realize his breath stank either. He was talking very confidently, standing close to the nurse breathing in her face (she was covering her nose too), he was breathing on me during examination, it was so pungent and it felt weird being on the receiving end of bad breath when usually it’s me.

I also felt kind of hopeless knowing that even a doctor can’t notice or solve their own bad breath issue. How is he supposed to help me solve mine?

Cured with an over counter spray. I let it get that bad and $1000 in debt of GI appointments all because of allergies. Social life on the brink. Mental health issues. All cuz of post nasal drip.

Absolutely everyone lies about my breath not smelling but everyone keeps reacting, i can’t take this anymore. I got broken up with i feel like it was because of my breath mainly and i already don’t have many friends. I feel so alone and i am so sad . I feel like i can’t work because i got bullied out my last one. I don’t have really any symptoms but white tongue sometimes . I was diagnosed with gastritis and i think acid reflux but i feel completely normal. idk what to do at this point or who to go to. i don’t have tonsils, sinus issues.

For the majority of people in here, I’d say 3 rounds of antibiotics could potentially fix it. I only took 2 rounds, and they were pretty spaced out, but they did work temporarily. If the smell returns, 9 times out of 10 it probably means the antibiotics didn’t fully eliminate the bacteria 🦠

At this point, I genuinely believe this is a bacterial issue. I’ve tried so many different things, and the only thing that noticeably made a difference for me was antibiotics. That’s why I’m considering doing a stronger/triple treatment this month to see if it clears it completely. I’ll definitely keep you guys updated.

Starving yourself is not a fix, and trust me, it’s not going to work. I’ve tried that. I’ve tried different herbs, products, mouthwashes … literally everything you could possibly think of. The only thing that has ever actually given me real relief was antibiotics.

And honestly, I hate even saying that because I know antibiotics aren’t great for your gut health. That’s exactly why you have to make sure your gut health is on point while doing treatment, and you should NOT be taking antibiotics back to back nonstop.

What I mean is:
- Do a week of antibiotics
- Wait a week or two
- Then do another round
- Wait again
- Then do a final round

I personally believe that’s how you fully eliminate whatever bacteria is causing this. I didn’t realize that until recently, but after all the research I’ve done and everything I’ve personally experienced, I genuinely believe this is some type of strong bacterial issue.

I’m not here to promote anything. I’m just telling people to go to a doctor and get properly evaluated, especially if you’re dealing with symptoms like:
- heavy postnasal drip
- yellow mucus/postnasal drip
- irritated tonsils
- frequent headaches
- severe bad breath that fills a room

That’s all I wanted to say. I’ll keep updating you guys on my progress.

Edit: I would also like to add that after my two treatments of antibiotics my breath went from room filling to just car filling so there’s a huge difference!

I’ve noticed almost all of us on this sub with bad breath have this issue of a white or yellowish tongue coating and stickiness/cloudiness in the throat. Often our tongues are red tipped or inflamed with bite marks around the edges too, and phlegm at the back.

Even when we tongue scrape and brush our tongues the coating and stickiness seems to remain for a lot of us. When I look at my friends or family members tongues they’re all pink and glossy and normal.

It’s only me who has bad breath and has this whiteish sticky tongue coating. I’ve taken antibiotics and anti fungal/anti candida meds and aside from that the doctor doesnt seem to care at all. When I talk to him about my tongue coloring he looks at me as if I’m crazy.

I’m considering trying to talk with a traditional Chinese medicine doctor because they seem to the be the only people who take tongue coatings seriously and see it as a major sign of internal health problems. I have nothing to lose at this point.

this is my first and probably my last post here ! im js 15yrs old and i really dont know what to do. i wanna end my life before the new s.y starts. i dont want to suffer again for the rest of the year so yeah i wanna put an end. im tired.

A lot of people here are scammers pushing pseudo science. Even those claiming to be cured. Do not take advice from this sub. Do not buy products promoted here.

Ça fait deux ans et demi que je souffrais de mauvaise haleine. Mon haleine pouvait être sentie à plusieurs mètres même en extérieur. J’avais un mauvais goût en bouche et c’était pire après avoir manger un truc sucré. J’avais mauvaise haleine environ 1h après m’être brossé les dents. En fin de journée, j’avais un mauvais goût en bouche , c’était horrible. Malgré une hygiène bucco-dentaire irréprochable (brossage de dents trois fois par jour, Fil dentaire, Brossette inter-dentaire, gratte langue).
Je buvais 2,5 litre d’eau par jour. On ne me voyais jamais sans ma gourde. Ma mauvaise haleine était toujours là. J’ai essayé tous les bains de bouche possibles,. Les bains de bouche ne servent à rien. J’ai testé plusieurs dentifrice différents. J’ai essayé l’eau oxygéné, le bicarbonate, la chlorhexidine… rien ne fonctionnait. Je suis allé voir un premier ORL, qui m’a prescrit du Pantoprazol, un antihistaminique et un produit pour nettoyer le nez (une solution saline). Je n’avais aucun reflux gastrique ni de douleur gastrique.
J’ai été voir un second O.R.L., qui m’a prescrit un scanner afin de voir si je n’avais pas d’infection au niveau des sinus et une prise de sang afin de rechercher si je n’avais pas l’hélicobacter pilori. Tout était négatif. Je n’avais rien de tout cela. J’ai voulu revoir cet O.R.L. afin de discuter des examens qu’elle m’a fait faire mais n’exerçais plus au sein du cabinet où je l’avais consulté…
J’ai été voir mon médecin traitant qui m’a naturellement et sans honte dit que certaines personnes vivaient avec une mauvaise haleine et qu’il n’y avait rien à faire….😑 quand on a des médecins comme ça, à quoi bon chercher à se soigner ??! Imaginez-vous que j’étais tellement déprimée après ce rendez-vous je n’arrêtais pas de pleurer. Je ne pouvais pas concevoir que j’allais avoir mauvaise haleine toute ma vie alors que tout allait bien avant d’avoir tout ça…. J’enviais les gens qui pouvaient se parler face à face sans qu’ils ne sentent l’haleine de l’autre. J’enviais les couples qui s’embrassaient sans être dégoûter de l’odeur de l’haleine de leur conjoint….
J’ai été voir une 3ieme O.R.L., qui m’a examiné elle m’a expliquer que cela pouvait être mes amygdales qui étaient cryptique. Elle m’a alors proposé de réduire la profondeur des cryptes en cautérisant mes cryptes amygdaliennes. J’ai effectué quatre séances avec elle, toutes espacées d’un mois. Mais je ne voyais aucune différence au niveau de mon haleine. J’avais toujours les mêmes réactions des gens lorsque je leur parlais, il reculaient, regardaient ma bouche et mettait une main devant leur bouche pour me parler… horrible humiliation surtout que je travaille dans le domaine de la santé.. j’avais vraiment droit à des humiliations quotidiennes !!!! Parfois c’était extrêmement dur surtout en fin de journée, une fois le travail terminé je fondais en larmes dans ma voiture ou parfois j’attendais de rentrer chez moi afin de fondre en larmes entre quatre murs.
Je n’en parlais pas à ma famille, je n’avais pas envie de partager tout ça et d’en parler car je savais qu’ils ne me serait d’aucune aide. Je préférais gérer tout ça toute seule.
J’ai finalement demandé à mon ORL de m’opérer afin de me faire retirer mes amygdales. J’étais persuadé que c’était mes amygdales qui me provoquer cette mauvaise haleine car lorsque je les vidait, une mauvaise odeur s’échapper de ma gorge et de mes doigts qui avaient servi à vidé les cryptes.
Mon ORL n’opérait plus du tout elle m’a renvoyé vers sa collègue qui m’a opéré.
Une fois les amygdales retiré je pensais que le problème était résolu mais queneni. Bb était toujours là…
J’étais réellement déprimé et je commençais à imaginer ma vie en ayant mauvais haleine et à me préparer mentalement à rater les plus beaux moments de ma vie. C’etait crise de larmes sur crise de larmes. je n’en pouvais plus !!!!
Je suis retournée voir mon dentiste entre-temps afin de faire un détartrage, je lui ai parlé de mon problème de mauvaise haleine, elle m’a expliqué qu’elle ne voyait strictement rien au niveau de ma cavité bucco-dentaire qui pouvait être à l’origine de mon bb. Je suis allé voir un autre dentiste pour avoir un autre avis, même avis, je n’avais rien … je suis allée voir une parodontiste, qui m’a rien dit de spécial concernant ma bouche, elle m’a dit que j’avais une très très bonne hygiène dentaire.
Je suis retournée voir une autre dentiste qui m’a parlé de ma langue et qui m’a dit qu’elle trouvait ma langue un peu blanche mais sans plus de précision …. Retenez bien cela !
Mon dentiste m’a traité les quelques caries que j’avais et c’est tout. Je pensais naïvement que les caries traité étaient à l’origine de mon bb. J’ai arrêté le sucre et les produits laitiers ainsi que le pain et les pâtes. J’ai même essayé l’alimentation FODMAP. Rien ne fonctionnait
J’ai testé pendant trois mois des probiotiques. Probiotiques bucaux et probiotiques intestinaux… je ne mangeai quasi rien
Donc comme je ne mangeai quasi rien, je pensais que mon transit été l’origine de mon bb. Je pensais être constipé….. un autre problème.
La fermentation de l’alimentation entraînait la remonté de gaz dans mes intestins et jusqu’à ma gorge ….

J’ai finalement été voir une gastro-entérologue, qui a pris le temps de m’écouter et qui m’a prescrit un test SIBO et une gastroscopie. La gastroscopie faite, n’a rien donné. Le test sibo effectuer, je suis retourné la voir. J’ai eu le diagnostique d’un IMO. Elle était très contente car elle pouvait me donner des antibiotiques (TIXTARE 15 jours et métronidazole 10jours) ainsi que des probiotiques extrêmement cher à acheter sur internet et à prendre pendant 3 mois. J’ai eu une amélioration pendant environ 48 heures au début du traitement. Je n’avais plus de bb. Mais bb de nouveau avant même la fin du traitement. Langue toutes blanche mais je me suis dit que les antibiotiques modifiaient mon biofilm linguale, donc aucune raison de s’inquiéter.
Entre-temps j’ai pris de la Betaine HCL, ultra levure, de la berberine, de l’huile d’origan, des enzymes gastrique aucun traitement ne fonctionnait. La berberine m’a achevé, fatigue extrême !!!!
J’ai de nouveau demander à voir ma gastro au bout d’un mois pour lui faire part de mon problème. Je lui ai expliqué que ma langue été devenu toute blanche suite à la prise de l’antibiotique et que j’avais arrêté de prendre le probiotique qu’elle m’avais dit de prendre car cela aggravais la blancheur de ma langue et bb toujours la. Je lui ai également dit que je sentais ma langue sèche alors que j’avais de la salive dessus. Elle a demandé a voir ma langue assise derrière son bureau m’a dit que c’était une mycose…. Je ne me suis jamais dit que cela pouvait être une mycose car j’avais déjà demandé à ChatGPT qui m’a expliqué que avoir le fond de la langue un peu Blanc était normal. Ne vous fiez pas à tout ce que vous dit chatGPT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elle m’a de nouveau prescrit aussi de la berberine à prendre 3x par jour et de l’huile d’origan (dosage différent de ceux que j’avais déjà pris)
J’ai d’abord débuté le traitement pour la mycose (FUNGIZONE) sans réels espoir. Au bout d’une semaine de traitement je n’avais plus de mauvaise haleine les gars !!!!!!!!!????!!!!!!
Cela fait aujourd’hui deux semaines que je vis sans Bb Putin !!!!!!! Je revis !!!!!!!!

Je voulais simplement vous expliquer qu’il ne faut jamais perdre espoir et que si vous vous concentrez sur quelque chose vous obtiendrais ce que vous voulez !!!! Ne baissez pas les bras !!!! Continuez à tester, tester jusqu’à ce que vous puissiez être libéré de cette merde !!!!

It’s been over 10 years of shame and pain . I have invested so much time and money wasted. At this point I am broke and broken .. My faith in God keep decreasing.

I am so exhausted of the embarrassment I face everyday but especially at school events. Today was my child’s orientation for high school and the constant coughing and backing away everywhere I turn is so hard to deal with. I have no one else I can ask to go on my behalf and I don’t wish to embarrass my child. During one of the information sessions we had to go into a small classroom and the minute I sat down the teacher had to turn the fan on and she started coughing incessantly. In the auditorium she wasn’t coughing as much because I was farther away. Whenever the principal would come over to the side I was sitting he would start coughing a lot and a few parents that sat in front of me moved away. I try to act like I don’t notice but deep down I’m crying on the inside😭😭 I’m just exhausted from the constant stress and anxiety. My daughter is graduating in June and there’s lot of events happening leading up to it that I have to attend. While it is a joyous time I can’t fully enjoy it with this situation hanging over my head. I jus have a constant cloud of stink following me everywhere I turn😩

There have been so many occasions when I'm getting ready to leave the house and I say to myself:

“I'm just going to relax and try to speak normally without being paranoid and constantly scanning the room” … but that never seems to work, because as soon as I enter a setting with other people — the protective program of my speaking mannerisms kicks in and I start talking away from people, acting distant, steering clear from eye contact, etc...

It's almost like a knee jerk reaction that I no longer have consciously control over. Seems like it's ingrained into my psyche that I must operate with certain behaviors in order to, at best, minimize the reactions of BB.

I've heard some people whom developed care free attitudes and mental resilience when recognizing people's reactions (maybe they operate inside environments where they're forced to talk a lot and just become numb to the reactions?)

What has been your experience with this?

Personally, I have not reached this level of indifference yet.

I have been so depressed lately that i isolated myself for an entire week. I even skipped classes to the point where i received an attendance warning. What hurts the most is knowing who i used to be.

I am naturally intelligent, energetic, outgoing and good at communicating with people. I love conversations, entertainment and being around others but bad breath has slowly turned me into someone anxious, withdrawn and afraid of social interaction. It feels like it stole my personality from me.

This week made everything worse.

I had an oral exam and honestly the questions were easy. I knew every answer but the moment i started speaking, i noticed the professor reacting to my breath. He covered his mouth and nose with his fingers like people do when they are uncomfortable. Then he started coughing, yawning and making facial expressions that completely destroyed my confidence. At that point, my brain shut down. Even though i knew the material, I became confused and unable to express myself. It felt like the knowledge in my mind couldn’t even leave my mouth. In the end he simply told me i needed to “work harder,” without realizing what was actually happening to me internally

What people don’t understand is how much those of us struggling with bad breath already suffer every single day. We obsess over oral hygiene constantly. We think about it morning to night. Yet people still react with disgust instead of patience or understanding.

The coughing, yawning, facial expressions people may think they are small reactions, but they can seriously destroy someone mentally. It makes you feel dirty, ashamed and less human.

I am exhausted from feeling judged for something I am already suffering from more than anyone else ever could

I've been suffering with bad breath for 4 years now. I'm certain it's coming from my tongue coating as my doctor told me I have an overgrowth of regular oral flora on my tongue (Didn't specify which). I scrape my tongue twice a day but it always comes back within 30 minutes. Also, If i rub my fingers on the back of my tongue later on in the day and sniff my fingers it smells like actual fecal matter. I feel like Blis K12 will help me as it could repopulate my tongue with good bacteria. Has anyone had the same experience as me? Does blis K12 work? Should I combine it with something else? Any help would be appreciated😊

Hi everyone,

I have a very specific issue with chronic halitosis that follows a weird pattern.

My breath is consistently unpleasant, but it completely clears up when I have a cold and a very runny nose. Once I'm healthy again, the smell returns.

Relevant Info:

Age: 25
Height: 5’2
Gender: Female

I have a background in dental hygiene, so my routine is very thorough (brushing, flossing, tongue scraping). My teeth and gums are healthy, but the "fresh" feeling after brushing only lasts about 10 minutes. I sometimes use gum to manage it. I already try to clear my nose with salt sometimes, but it doesn't seem to solve the root of the problem when I'm healthy.):

**History**: I’ve had a tonsillectomy, so it’s not tonsil stones. I have a deviated septum.

Since my oral hygiene is solid, I suspect the smell comes from the nasopharynx or sinuses. It feels like the heavy mucus flow during a cold "flushes out" stagnant buildup that I can't reach normally. When I'm not sick, that area might just stay dry or the mucus stays too thick and traps bacteria.

1. Could the deviated septum be causing a "blind spot" where bacteria collect, which only gets cleared out during a heavy cold?
2. Are there specific ENT issues (like silent sinus infections or adenoid issues) that present this way?
3. What should I ask an ENT to look for specifically, since standard oral hygiene isn't the issue?

Thanks for any insights!❤️

I had my tonsillectomy a month ago because of tonsil stones and bad breath.

Now, I still have bad breath. But not as bad as before. Before tonsillectomy, my breath will smell bad just minutes after gargling mouth wash. Now it can go up to an hour. But still have bad breath.

I asked my sibling what it smells like now. She says it smells like morning breath. She also noticed that my bad dbreath goes away after eating then comes back after 30 mins or an hour.

I have persistent thick and cloudy taste from throat

She doesnt have idea what tonsil stone smells like.

I do clean my tongue regularly and sip water from time to time.

I dont know if its lingual tonsil stone but my ent said its impossible to have it.

It sucks going through tonsillectomy recovery but still having bad breath.

Unfortunately mine doesn’t have an option to go online. I have to be physically present in crowded rooms during lectures. My bb is room filling and whenever I go into the lecture room, everyone acts like they just caught a cold. Everyone fucking coughs, sneezes, scratches their noses, blows their noses, etc. Their noses suddenly turn red whenever I’m around them. I can’t deal with those reactions anymore. Dropping out is also not an option for me for some reasons. Pls, I’m desperate. It was not this severe like a month or two ago. People scratches their noses before but nobody coughs or sneezes. Now, everything is out of hand. Any tricks that seemed to work to some degree suddenly became ineffective. Pls help.

!!! IT DOESN’T WORK UNLESS YOU BOIL IT !!!

My bad breath is from a tooth that’s literally rotting away in the back of my mouth because a filling fell out a few years ago and got reinfected, and I can’t afford to go to the dentist because I’m uninsured and can’t work enough due to migraines.

Take a small glass cup and fill it with barely 1/4 inch of water (1 to 2 Tbs) then microwave it for 10 seconds. You’ll know it’s hot enough when you add the 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of baking soda and it FIZZES IMMEDIATELY when you add it to the water and stir. If there’s some undissolved baking soda left at the bottom that’s fine, it means you reached the maximum saturation possible. That’s good. Set it aside for a few minutes to COOL DOWN while you do the rest of your bathroom routine. This should be your last step in your oral routine. Quickly dip your finger in it before you swish so you don’t burn yourself, people. It will taste super salty and gross, but I try to swish for a full minute before spitting it out. I also try not to drink or eat anything for 20 minutes to an hour afterwards for maximum effect. I don’t know if that part really helps, you can drink something if you want to get rid of the aftertaste. I only have to do this every other day. It works that well.

It WON’T WORK if you mix the baking soda into lukewarm or even hot water—even the hottest water from my tap doesn’t work. It might look dissolved but it doesn’t kill my bad breath unless it’s boiling hot before adding the baking soda.

Only downside is you can’t make a big batch ahead of time or keep it in the fridge. As the water cools it can’t hold as much of a saturation, so the baking soda separates from the water and crystallizes at the bottom. The remaining water is useless so you have to do the microwave thing daily or every other day.

Nothing I did worked until this. When coworkers started offering me gum or mints I knew it was really bad. My cousin sat next to me on the couch and kindly told me she can smell my body odor, but after we both sniffed my scentless armpits she was perplexed. I knew it was my rancid breath. This was while my routine was brush, mouthwash, hydrogen peroxide, then more mouthwash. I even tried diluted bleach because of some other desperate person’s testimonial. I tried swishing with clove tea made by boiling a dozen cloves in a cup of water and steeping overnight. I tried straight baking soda on my toothbrush. This was very irritating to my gums and even though I thought it was dissolved after a few minutes it wasn’t and didn’t change the pH of my mouth or make a difference.

Yes I think the root of the issue is diet and systemic fungal overgrowth leading to cavities and tons of other problems, but this is an AMAZING and SIMPLE solution for the day to day bad breath problem. I just want to help others fix it like I did. Good luck!!

A month and a half ago, I suddenly had room filling nasal odor. It was a pungent stench of general BO. My mouth smelled the same. I knew this because I have excellent hygiene and tape my mouth at night. I saw the dentist and had no issues. I was also experiencing severe congestion when the smell started.

My allergy meds didn’t work.

I tried antibiotics, nothing.

I started using a neti pot, and it helped with everything but the smell.

Then, I was given this nasal spray called Mometasone. Within a week and a half, the stench is now 90% gone!!!!!!

I use it after getting ready in AM, and before sleep.

My gratitude is immeasurable. Stay strong guys. Imma still use the neti pot bc of my chronic allergies.

My pharmacist told me that sinus issues like mine can take a long time to treat. I got my tonsils removed 3 years ago btw. I’m grateful to not feel alone in this sub.