Intermittent fecal/sulfur breath odor

Pineapple is bad for us acid reflux people.

You should eat bread or take a shot of liquor before seeing your doctor so they can smell it.

Yes, multiple GI and ENT doctors--both giving me scopes of my digestive track and my nasal system. Each time, the results are that I have some acid reflux and yes, post nasal drip that they can't figure out the cause so they just term it sinusitis. But nothing in the tests explains the sulfur odor. Worst of all is the doctors don't even want to address the problem. One doctor literally told me it wasn't important to her.

Since I'm social distancing and live alone, I decided to do something I've avoided for the last 15 years--eat lots of garlic. A little experimentation to see how much it affects me. Started this morning and I can now smell the fart-like odor coming up my mouth and nose.

The doctors can't or won't diagnose it but the only thing I can think of at this point is that there are valves in my body that open up or are open that should not and odors that belong in my intestines are released. I don't think it's dental related because the odors waft up even when I'm not using my mouth--talking, eating, etc. I can be perfectly still and a sulfur odor will escape. Frankly the most direct way to describe it is like I'm silently farting from my mouth.

PS adding that while certain foods will trigger my acid reflux--the sulfur bomb breaths happen regardless of what I eat or don't eat. It doesn't matter if I'm full or starving. It's frustrating that years and years of taking medication and eating to take care of the acid reflux seems to have little effect on the bad odor.

Hey everyone and thanks to everyone who has posted here. I’ve been having the same breath problem for about 12 years now (I’m 32). Reading your posts and seeing everyone trying to figure this out does help alleviate the despair. I just wanted to add what I’ve been through medically to the discussion.

Around 2016 I started noticing people covering their faces when I talked, holding their mouths open as if they were trying to breath through their mouth when I talked, saying something smelled like poop. I never pieced it together before that it was my breath but looking back even my best friend at the time would ask “did you fart?” going all the way back to 2009-2010. I thought he was just being stupid because I could never smell anything. Then I was talking to my dad, who just recently tried to come back into my life. and he asked me, “I’m not sure why I’m asking you this but how often do you go to the dentist?”

That’s when it all clicked. But if I had such bad breath, why would people talk to me? Why wouldn’t they tell me? I asked my mom straight up, she said I didn’t. I didn’t believe her because she’s always offering me gum and holds her finger under her nose as soon as I start talking.

(2016-Present) First thing I did was go to the dentist. I got some cavities filled. Had a root canal done. Asked about bad breath. The dental assistant told me she never noticed me having bad breath. The dentist said everything looked good and in his opinion it was an internal issue.

I went to my doctor. He gave me RANITIDINE for reflux and referred me to an ENT to see about sinusitis. The RANITIDINE worked for reflux, but I was still seeing the social symptoms of bad breath. The ENT stuck a long metal thing way up my nose and took a culture. He said they found some staff and gave me 10 doses of MOXYFLOXACIN. Told me to come back in 2 weeks. I went back, he asked if I was better. I told him I didn’t feel any different and I was still seeing social symptoms at work. He suggested that I was imagining it because he couldn’t “smell a foul thing about me”.

I go back to my doctor who then refers me to a GI. I get an upper endoscopy. It reveals I have a Hiatal Hernia and gastritis. They also took a biopsy because I had what resembled Barrett’s Esophagus. The biopsy came back negative for cancer but revealed I had EOE (EOSINOPHILIC ESOPHAGITIS).
GI put me on PANTOPRAZOLE and a food elimination diet. This did not help with the breath.

I recently went back to my doctor. Told him I was still having breath issues. He sent me to a new ENT. He told me to do saline sprays and FLONASE. Neither helped.

I went back to my doctor. Got a blood test for liver failure, diabetes, etc. Negative. Got a scan done to look for intestinal blockage. Also negative but did show I looked constipated.

The next things on my list are to go back to GI and ask about diverticulum in my esophagus, which is extremely rare in someone my age, and I feel like if I had that they would’ve seen it when I got the endoscopy. Also I was going to ask about H. Pylori. Now after reading everyone else’s story, I realize I have a lot more to look into.

When thinking back to that time period when I remember my best friend start asking if I farted whenever I talked (2009-2010), I started thinking about what brought this on. What changed? I specifically remember a girl I worked with in 2005-2006 commenting on how good my breath smelled when I was chewing some gum so I know it wasn’t always this way. It doesn’t matter what gum or mints I use now, people still cough, hold their nose, clear their throat.

I did date a girl from 2007-2008. We were sexually active and I engaged in oral sex with her. I’ve been wondering if maybe I could’ve received some type of STI from that. But from what I’ve read bad breath isn’t a symptom of any STI. Is that something I should ask my GI or General Physician?

Also i feel it is important for me to say, no one has ever directly told me I have bad breath and out of shame and embarrassment, I’ve never asked anyone if I had it outside of my mom. The closest I’ve ever been was I was in a group. Someone asked me a question and I answered. That person then turned to the group and said “That boy’s breath STINK!” and everyone laughed.

I will absolutely update on my condition. So I have had 3 endoscopy done, seen 3 different GI doctors, had esophageal Manometry test and they all checked out to be good. My dentist says my mouth is in good condition and does not see why I should have bad breath. The last visit to my GI doctor it seems they believe my condition to be mental, for some reason the fowl odor does not appear when I am at the doctors office, why I don’t know.. my ENT had stated that for some reason I have gastric acids in my esophagus which was the reason for me having esophageal manometry test performed.
I do get acid reflux so I currently take prescription for Pepcid once a day and this helps with the acid not the fowl smell. I am trying now over the counter remedies for cleansing see if I have any different reactions. I would like to consult with a bacteriologist at Mayo Clinic in Florida but that’s out of network for me and in my brief conversation I believe Mayo Clinic requires several thousand dollars to be seen.

I saw a new GI in March. Well, I actually spoke with the nurse practitioner and the doctor came in for a couple of minutes and diagnosed my problem as esophageal spasms rather than GERD. So off with the acid reflux meds and onto Amitriptyline to stop the spasms. I've been on the meds for about 7 weeks and once again, disappointment as I smell the fart odor here and there. Even after 15 years, I look around to see if it's someone else, car fumes and one of my cats farting, but nope, rotten egg odor is coming from me.

I volunteer and yesterday I was helping out a woman and her father. Talked with them for a couple of hours and everything was going along normally. Then all of sudden as I was talking, they both looked down and the father stepped away from me. I didn't smell the odor this time, but I knew, yep, another intermittent escape of noxious odor.

Have been checked if you have hiatus hernia?

Have you been tested for H. Pylori and SIBO? I've gotten the fart smell as well. I'd lick my lips, and smell fart. I thought maybe I used an expired lip gloss or something, but after cleaning my lips, it was still there....it was my tongue. I tested positive for both of the conditions listed above. I've been on a few rounds of antibiotics, which hasn't helped. In the past, eating only chicken, vegetables, and at least half-gallon of water helped. I think it's something genetic. It might have something to do with MTHFR gene, I've been looking into this. People with this mutation have a problem with b12, I believe. Buttermilk immediately causes a problem; anything with yeast, sulfur, bacteria, or enriched items can cause issues. This is a terrible disease!

I have had 3 scopes and I assume if I have h pylori, that is where they would have seen it.

No sibo test. I've thought about ordering an at home test. I haven't seen a gastroenterologist in years. I just got so frustrated with them and the whole process. The final straw was a doctor telling me she didn't care when I tried to tell her about this problem. Totally shut me down. She was only interested in setting up the scope procedure. My problem didn't fall into the normal acid reflux spectrum so she didn't even want to talk about it.