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Intermittent fecal/sulfur breath odor
Digestive Health | Last Active: 2 days ago | Replies (223)Comment receiving replies
Wrestling with the same problem, possibly precipitated by a course of azithromycin a few years ago (though possibly that was just coincidental). In any case, the one thing that works like MAGIC is crushing a quarter of a metronidazole tablet in a few ML of water and gargling with it. Problem eventually comes back after a few days or weeks, which leaves me frustrated at not being able to address the root cause, but at least it's something. And of course I would love to know if there are any long term affects from rinsing with something as potent as metronidazole...
Replies to "Wrestling with the same problem, possibly precipitated by a course of azithromycin a few years ago..."
I finally solved the mystery! TLDR: tongue scraping is the cure, but you're probably doing it wrong.
To recap, I've had the same problem the original poster describes for a year or two. Sulfurous breath that could knock a buzzard off a dung wagon. Tried everything: brushing my tongue more, scraping my tongue, clearing my tonsils of stones, changing my diet, etc. As I mentioned in a previous post, gargling with a suspension of metronidazole worked like a charm, but wasn't a permanent cure.
I started to look into the chemistry of the VSCs (volatile sulfuric compounds) that cause the bad smells, and was intrigued to learn that while saliva has fairly neutral pH, the stuff on the back of your tongue is quite basic. So I thought maybe I could "burn" it off with some more acidic stuff like vinegar or sauerkraut. This was a dead end, but it got me thinking more about the gunk on the back of my tongue.
When I'd first tried scraping my tongue months previously, it was so uncomfortable that I figured I was doing it right. A few painful and gag-inducing passes with a scraper, and nothing changed, so I figured scraping was pointless. But now I REALLY went after it. First, you have to scrape HARD, as if you were stripping paint off a piece of wood. You aren't taking off a film, but abrading the tissue. Second, you have to use a piece of cloth to grasp the tip of your tongue and pull it out of your mouth. This is less about exposing more tongue (though that's good too), and more about preventing your tongue from taking on negative curvature (like a saddle), which is what happens if you just stick it out intentionally, and which prevents the scraper from making flat contact with the center-back part of the tongue.
Anyway, a few days of vigorous scraping left my tongue fresh and pink, and the smell is completely gone.
Good luck all!
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Welcome, @shongololo. I’m glad that you’ve found something that helps to alleviate the symptoms. It is frustrating to not find the root cause of a medical issue. What tests or investigations has your medical team ordered to try to find the root cause?