Chronic Bad Breath

[victim00]

Hi, does anyone have the same symptons as me? i have bad breath constantly, especially after eating, have tried ways like brushing, cleaning tongue. seen a dentist on it, doesnt seems to be dental problem. however, i always seems to feel a lump in my throat whenever i swallow, seen an ENT on it and he said i may have allergy problems and producing too much mucos .... wondering does having too much mucos in the throat gives bad breath problem? on medication first before going to do a allergy test next. anyway i lick the back of my tongue on my hand and there is a smell after it dries up but when i use my finger around my teeth (the gums part), there is no smell at all .... i believe my bad breath is coming fr the back of my throat and tongue .... maybe there is too much bacteria hidden on my tongue, but then tongue scrapping alone does not help, i still get bad breath in the morning even after i brush my teeth .... i think its a really serious problem and its affecting me a lot .... im always thinking, is there really NO cure for bad breath .... i really envy those with clean smelling breath, it seems like all those around me are not affected by bad breath problem at all, why am i the odd one out? anyone care to give some advise

[trylon]

Hi,
I know what your going through.Believe me.
I saw your post and thought I would respond. I too
have suffered from a chronic bad breath problem
for the last 15 years.I am 36 years old.First of all,
your not alone.There are MILLIONS, not thousands,
millions of people with the same problem.All you have
to do is check out some old boards here at healthboards.
There was a series called "bad breath has changed my
personality" which spans 3 years, hundreds of pages and has
hundreds of posts from people just like us.My symptoms
are very similar to yours.I have foul breath, yellow crud
on the back of my tongue, lump in throat and alot
of excess mucus. Heres whats happening.Excess mucus is also refered to as post nasal drip.Your sinuses and throat (like mine)are producing too
much mucus.The mucus sits in the throat and also collects
on the back of the tongue.The normal mouth bacteria(which everyone has)
feed on protein rich mucus and produce the horrible odors.
It seems like many people with the drip have horrendous
breath.I asked my doctor about it. He said "absolutely,
post nasal drip and bad breath go hand in hand".
He told me that its a VERY common problem.
There is no "cure" for bad breath.If there was, people
wouldnt be spending billions on gums, mouthwashes etc.
Again, you are not the odd one out.There are millions of
people dealing the same dilemma.
Post naasl drip is not a serious health problem.The biggest issue
is finding out what is causing it. In my case, I quit smoking,
hoping that might help.The jury is still out on that one.
If you want, we can talk
about possible solutions.They wont totally work, but MAYBE
they will make it more tolerable for you and those around you.
Let me know.

[Susannah]

You might have some tonsil stones. They always felt like a lump in the back of my throat until I could get the out. The first time I had them I didn't know what the heck was going on, just had a constant lump and bad breath. Then, they started coming out. Now, I know when I have one and can kind of suck it out or push it out with the end of a toothbrush. There are lots of threads on them here, you might want to see if it might fit with what you are going through.

[tina76]

I was thinking the same thing.... Tonsil stones. Do you use a mouthwash? If not I would go out and get a strong anti-bacterial mouth wash and use it as much as you can.

[victim00]

hi trylon, thank you for the response ... so have u, same like me, seen an ENT on it or any doctor for that matter? now i truly believe that there is no cure for b.b ... its saddening to know that but then what can i do, im just the unlucky one i dun knw wat else can i try, i believe its got to do the overload of bacteria in my tongue and throat bec usually when i wake up, i get heavy b.b, but subsequently after i brush and scrap my tongue, the smell is not tat bad but its still there, anyway what had u been doing with ur b.b? do advise me, i do not hope to cure it completely but just wana knw hw to control it so ppl wont sense it unless they talk real close to me ...