Intermittent fecal/sulfur breath odor

Hi @noble77. You mention having the same bad breath problems as @laceys63, struggling to figure out if something in maybe your GI is causing it. It is frustrating to keep trying mouthwashes that work for a time but then you have to switch and try another one. I am hopeful you will find help you need as you keep trying to figure out what is going on, perhaps a connection elsewhere like your gut.

I did just listen to a podcast Mayo Clinic’s “On Nutrition” put out that you may find helpful. I learned a lot about my mouth, how it’s connected with my general health, and even where medical professionals are in terms of understanding it all (or not). You will want to scroll down to find the episode:
- “Whole-Body Care, Starting With a Smile” (01/16/2026) https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/podcasts/on-nutrition/

I would love to hear what you think about the information shared on the podcast.

Do you think you will look for a dentist and/or primary care doctor willing to help you?

@jlharsh Thank you so much for responding and the information. I will definitely watch the video and let you know what I think. Yes I would like like to find a doctor who’s willing to help me resolve the issue. I honestly think about suicide because of this. I can’t take it anymore.

whenever i talk to people i see them scratching their nose or rubbing it, i know i have bad breath but this happens whenever i just finished brushing, and gargling my teeth, and scrubbed my tongue, but i feel that the smell doesn't come from inside my mouth but from a deeper or from my stomach. Also, whenever i'm inside a car and i yawn or if i talk that people think that there's feces inside the vehicle. pls pls help! it is embarrasing. thank you

@laceys63

Is there help for poop breath

@cj123 have you had any updates to share? For the first time in my life I'm working full time in retail and it has been a miserable experience. It was a huge mistake to go into a job where I'm constantly face to face with people. I'm stuck because I need the health insurance. I had a coworker last night make the dreaded someone farted comment. I dread going to work today.

I'm not sure if my problem has gotten worse or if I'm getting more confirmation of the same problem because I now around people 5 days a week. Previously I worked from home 80 to 100 %.

As I'm waiting for my medicine and starting this journey again I figured I'd give my own experience. It's been hell and embarrasing but I don't want anyone to feel alone. I got rid of it for 6 years so have hope to do it again. I've never wrote this out so it's hard reliving everything.

But starting at 12 I started noticing people commenting on a smell. I was in middle school and remembered feeling so scared and alone. It would smell up a whole class room, people and teachers would comment. I missed so many events and would remember crying and trying everything I could not to go to school. I felt like a burden and felt like I was causing anger and disappointment to everyone around me. My dad worked at the school as a custodian so it was worst and embarrassing with him seeing this. I remember he would yell at me to see if I brushed my teeth and always looked so ashamed of me. I have a twin brother that also was in the same grade that witnessed everything. The whole thing was humiliating. On top of this I was also obese and developed social anxiety.

I remember getting up at 3am to take a bath for hours every morning. I tried baking soda, laundry detergent, dawn soap, bleach, new shoes, everything. I was just a kid so didn't know any better. I tried to lose weight so ate pretty much everything that made it worst not knowing. I remember exercising for hours, just literally trying everything.

Fast forward to high-school and it was still bad. No one wanting to sit next to me, all that stuff until maybe 18. I made changes and somewhere from there to 24 it was cleared. At 18 the changes I can think of are getting on birth control, took antibiotics for a UTI, got prescribed Vyvanse, ate every 2 hours, lost the weight, etc. There's other things but maybe if someone messages me something we can find a common denominator.

Fast forward to when it started coming back. I was 24. I got covid so maybe that changed it. I also gained a lot of weight but also gained the weight back during the time period it was gone so there's more to it.

I remember whenever I got close to someone it would always smell like burnt rubber or idk. It got to the point at 25 I quit my job for a year. When looking for another one I got one at Lowes and damn it was humiliating. I liked it at first and had so much hope until someone said it smelled like burnt rubber and someone whispered to another coworker it was me. Thinking I didn't hear. That night I did everything possible to make it go away. I always had gum, perfume, hand sanitizer there, everything. The next day I had hope going in. The manager brought a fan up to the front desk, put the febreeze things in you would put in a car fan and said "you might need this". They looked at me and laughed. They also made other comments I don't wanna repeat and I was so mortified and humiliated. I told the coworker involved that I was feeling sick. She was quick to say I could go home. They were trying to run me out. I grabbed my stuff trying not to cry before I made it to the truck. When I did I broke down in tears. My parents were happy I just got this job and I they knew I still had 4 hours left. So those 4 hours I cried not wanting to tell them I quit. So I drove around crying wanting to die, thinking about crashing. Eventually I told them and got a new job at Rite Aid a few months later.
I've been here 4 months. My parents still mentioned a sewer smell. And people have made a few comments at work with the Febreeze up front. I just feel humiliated and I'm so scared I'll get fired.

But now I'm on this journey again. I do have HOPE though for all of us because like I said it was completely gone for 6 years. 100%. And it's been as bad as filling rooms. So I definitely have what you guys are describing.

I didnt think this post would be this long. But that's my whole life experience with it. I understand the defeat, humiliation, and embarrassment. But I wanna let you know your not alone. If we can get a group chat going or something I KNOW we can figure this out < 3

@casey101 Hi your symptoms sound exactly like mine. Did the antibiotics end up helping?