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.

casey101 | @casey101 | 14 hours ago

In reply to @kim1003 "I understand how you feel. It’s a nightmare" + (show)

Wanna message me. I need someone that understands so bad. I just can't do this anymore.

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | 14 hours ago

In reply to @casey101 "No. I'm gonna try to get antibiotics through an online doctor. It's too embarrassing. Do you..." + (show)

@casey101, a doctor will understand. Don't be afraid to go in person to a consult to be properly evaluated and diagnosed.

samclembeau | @samclembeau | 9 hours ago

This sounds like a gut issue. Can you think of how your diet changed for those 6 years when it was not a problem. Then if you keep a food diary and ask your dad to monitor you, you may find out what is causing you problem. Don’t assume that because it has heath benefits that it benefits you. I.e.:Garlic is very healthy, but many people cannot eat it without getting odiferous.
You should not be embarrassed to talk to a doctor, especially a gastroenterologist. They deal with this with other people on a regular basis.
You are not alone. Most of us in this thread have had similar issues or we probably wouldn’t be reading it. We are all looking for answers. Sometimes it takes a long time to pinpoint what is going on and sometimes you may hit the right answer quickly….which I hope for you.
Don’t give up without giving a real systematic search. Please. You may be the one who can help the next person who reads this.