For diabetics, you may be familiar with the "fruity" or "metallic" or "feces" breath in the morning (and throughout the day). This is very hard to live with, and let's face it - brushing your teeth and Listerine just aren't working. Also, do any of you diabetics tend to have a sweet-smelling or "fruity" sweat when you workout and excercise? What causes this anyway? Just curious, are their any breath remedies for diabetics that block the fruity/metallic smell (which I'm lead to believe is in the saliva), and are there any answers/treatments to the "fruity" and "sweet"-smelling sweat to persperates during a workout.

Thanks in advance.

- Dodger66

Typically, "fruity" breath in someone with diabetes is caused by ketones. Ketones occur when the blood sugar has been too high. I used to find that when I exercised with a blood sugar over 250 the breath would get even worse. That doesn't happen to me anymore. Good control is what can help get rid of this.

Cora

I know blood sugar can be difficult to control sometimes. Is there a way to remedy the "fruity" or "metallic" breath/sweat smell without the use of insulin? Any specific meds or pills, whether over-the-counter or prescription?

Dodger,
If your blood sugar is running so high that you constantly have ketones, you need to see a doctor immediately and you probably need to be on insulin.

While the fruity breath itself may be just an annoyance, the long term damage that is done to the body when blood sugar runs high and ketones are produced is more than an annoyance...it can even be fatal.

Diabetics who know they produce ketones should always test their blood sugar before exercising and, if it's 250 or more, should not exercise until their blood sugar is much lower. For some reason, when ketones are present with high blood sugars, exercise will actually make the situation worse.

Ruth