1. < Digestive Health

Intermittent fecal/sulfur breath odor

Posted by pbleonar @pbleonar, Jun 8, 2017

After scouring the web, I'm certain I'm not the only person with this problem, and not the only person who's been told they were imagining it. Anyway, the issue is I have intermittent odors when I talk (yes, I've been to the dentist 10+ times-- all say my oral hygiene is on point and xrays and inspections showed nothing). The only time it's practically non-existent is when I eat an unhealthily low-carb diet. Like others online, I've had CT scans, Barium swallows, endosocopy/colonoscopy, screening for parasites (getting one more from an IDS before crossing that off my list). All showed up negative. I tested positive for SIBO, but after researching that for the past 3 years, I'm certain SIBO is more of a symptom than a primary causal problem. Furthermore, even when I treated SIBO with heavy antibiotics, it did absolutely nothing for my breath-- and yes I was cleared of SIBO after a couple rounds of work. yet, the moment I eat carbs, I still get a "did someone just s*it themselves?" comment.

I guess what I'm getting at is I'm tired of doctors just saying it's IBS and SIBO and then proceeding to do zero investigating afterwards. I want to get down to the root cause of this, but most doctors are either too apathetic or too incompetent to do anything. Are there any researchers who specialize in studying and diagnosing hard to find problems in the GI tract? Between the 3 GI docs, 2 ENTs, 2 NDs and 1 IDS, I just can't take normal doctors anymore. I want my life back and I want a specific root cause so I can work on progressing from there.

Further notes: Diarrhea actually cleared up when I ate junk food and I had zero bloating, albeit the odor remained.

Xifaxan and neomycin did nothing for the odor, nor did the elemental diet. I actually think the elemental diet made the smell as bad or
worse than before.

*******Nitazoxanide********** worked wonders for the month I was on it. Solid stools even with foods that normally cause my ibs to flare up.
It's exactly the reason I felt there was more going on to everything than just SIBO and IBS.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Digestive Health Support Group.

debkl | @debkl | Oct 21, 2021

This is one of the links I read. I found that one of the total care mouthwashes and enamel repair toothpastes was giving me terrible breath. My dental exams werw great, too, plus no GERD, PND, dehydration, etc.
https://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/story?id=1213420#:~:text=Tierno%20says%20that%20the%20bad,so%20the%20stinky%20stuff%20flourishes.

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1 reply
glamma55 | @glamma55 | Oct 21, 2021
In reply to @debkl "This is one of the links I read. I found that one of the total care..." + (show)
@debkl

This is one of the links I read. I found that one of the total care mouthwashes and enamel repair toothpastes was giving me terrible breath. My dental exams werw great, too, plus no GERD, PND, dehydration, etc.
https://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/story?id=1213420#:~:text=Tierno%20says%20that%20the%20bad,so%20the%20stinky%20stuff%20flourishes.

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Thank you for advice… like I mentioned before, I tried everything, I don’t use alcohol mouthwash at all…been to every dentist they even written letters for me to give to my general practitioner. I been to gastros, ents, had tonsils removed, sinuses removed.
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1 reply
glamma55 | @glamma55 | Oct 21, 2021

And if these helpful hints don't stop your bad breath, you might want to see a doctor because frankly ... your problem may be beyond the scope of our story.

Like I was telling you I tried nothing is working

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shawnaj78 | @shawnaj78 | Feb 15, 2022

I think I'm struggling with something similar. I hope you find something that helps and I will pray for you!❤️ Jesus loves you.

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KRF | @keetar | Feb 16, 2022

This might be a stretch but if you have root canals that get infected that might contribute. I just found I have 2 infected root canals that will require dental extraction. Requires special CT scan of teeth. Just thought I would pass this along. Best of luck to all!!

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kekom123 | @kekom123 | Feb 19, 2022

Any update? Did anyone find a cure?? I’m in the exact same situation it’s horrible

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1 reply
lovelybones | @lovelybones | Mar 10, 2022
In reply to @deweyd "I know this sounds simple but it's worth a try and not expensive or difficult. I..." + (show)
@deweyd

I know this sounds simple but it's worth a try and not expensive or difficult. I had a similar issue and I did a lot of research to solve the problem. One thing I discovered is that volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) that make the breath smell bad can be bound by divalent cations through their interaction with sulfur. When the VSC are bound by divalent cations they precipitate and are removed from the body in the urine. Divalent cations are minerals like calcium, magnesium and zinc. My problem started when I began jogging. It struck me that my bones might have constituted a strong drain on my intake of divalent cations as a result of the bone building that must accompany the impact on the bones from running. Bones have a high concentration of divalent cations. I tried taking a calcium, magnesium, zinc supplement 3x a day with vitamin D to help absorb the minerals and I think this helped a lot. I also cut way down on sugary foods, dairy and meat as these foods seem to exacerbate it. As I said, these minerals are cheap and worth a try. I hope this helps.

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Hi, I saw your post on Mayo connect under fecal breath odor. I want to try the supplements you spoke about . I believe I also started to notice symptoms when I started to exercise excessively. I remember becoming so dehydrated I had to be hospitalized. Are these supplements still working for you?

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lovelybones | @lovelybones | Mar 10, 2022
In reply to @glamma55 "Tried everything know to man. Dentist said it has nothing to do with my mouth." + (show)
@glamma55

Tried everything know to man. Dentist said it has nothing to do with my mouth.

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Hi @glam55 do you also smell the odor in your nose ? I have this problem and a doctor at an urgent care said if the smell is coming from mouth and nose then it is coming from somewhere in the body

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1 reply
lovelybones | @lovelybones | Mar 10, 2022
In reply to @jojododo "I have seen 4 GI doctors about this issue, plus ENTs and of course, my general..." + (show)
@jojododo

I have seen 4 GI doctors about this issue, plus ENTs and of course, my general doctors.

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The odor is so bad coming from my nose and throat people can smell it through my mask

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1 reply
KRF | @keetar | Mar 11, 2022
In reply to @kekom123 "Any update? Did anyone find a cure?? I’m in the exact same situation it’s horrible" + (show)
@kekom123

Any update? Did anyone find a cure?? I’m in the exact same situation it’s horrible

Jump to this post

Do you have any digestive issues if so you might look into hydrogen sulfide sibo testing which is through a specialized test that a lot of doctors don’t currently have

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