r/badbreath

Even though it makes socializing really hard, i still have some hobbies or interests that bring me joy. I have a few good friends they’re very kind to me and they make me feel that I’m not that unlikable. Even people cover their nose when I pass by, I have my own life and don’t need to care what others think.

I’ve had this problem since I was 13 and I’m 20 now I’ve tried some treatments but I don’t feel them helped very much. I have my dreams and my life has to go on. I think I just need to accept it

I’m 19 years old, and I really want to have a normal life like everyone else, but every time I try to leave the house and go out with friends, it just makes me panic and break out in a sweat because I’m afraid people around me will notice my bad breath.

If only I could ask the people around me for help with this bad breath problem. But I can’t—it would be too embarrassing, even to my own mom and dad.

It seems like I’ll have to live like this forever.

People Thought I Had Nothing to Say. I Was Just Afraid to Open My Mouth.

Like many of you here, I’ve been dealing with halitosis since I was around 7 years old. I still remember when my cousins started making it clear that they didn’t want to be anywhere near me.

As a child, I started avoiding group activities and preferred working alone. I dreaded getting too close to people and always kept candies in my pocket. I even overheard classmates talking behind my back about how nasty my breath was. Those things stay with you.

Fast forward to when I got into a relationship. My ex avoided kissing me, and I understood why. Whenever I stayed over at his place, I noticed he would leave Listerine in the bathroom for me. After we broke up, I became afraid of being intimate with anyone again.

It affected my work too. My job required constant communication and collaboration, and face-to-face meetings were especially difficult. People probably thought I didn’t have an opinion or had nothing to contribute. But I DID. A lot. There were so many times I wanted to speak up, disagree, or object, but the fear was always there before I even opened my mouth. Sometimes I would already see my coworkers putting their hands near their noses, and that was enough to make me stay quiet.

For years, I learned to numb myself to people's reactions. Even with friendships, I naturally gravitated toward people who weren’t clingy or physically affectionate because it felt safer that way.

Then the pandemic happened. While everyone else complained about masks and how difficult it was to breathe in them, for me, wearing one was strangely freeing. For once, I could talk without constantly watching for an offended expression. Keeping at least a meter of distance from people became normal instead of something I had to deliberately do. The things everyone else found restrictive actually gave me a sense of safety.

Later, when I started working remotely, I became much more expressive and happier. I contributed a lot more during meetings. I could finally say what I thought, disagree when I disagreed, and participate without constantly studying people's faces or wondering whether someone was covering their nose because of me.

I also learned to enjoy doing things alone. I go to concerts, watch movies, and take myself out. If the person sitting beside me at a concert notices something, chances are they’ll never see me again anyway.

That’s basically how I’ve learned to live with it now that I’m in my 40s. It has affected how I socialize, how I work, how I approach intimacy, and even how comfortable I am simply opening my mouth to speak. I still wish I didn’t have to think about my breath at all, but I’ve found ways to live my life without letting that fear take everything away from me.

I think I can smell my own breath on others if I’m talking faced to face with them. It’s happened like 3 times now.

I’m pretty sure it’s mine too cuz I don’t see other ppl react to them when they talk, and it’s like if I talk and then they talk I can smell it? But when they talk only, I don’t smell it. So I know if it’s bad breath from them, it has to be consistent like when they talk there’s always a smell.

Anyone know what this means or had encountered this? The smell when I talked to someone last month was like egg-y like inside kind of metallic musty smell (that’s what I thought) then this time the smell is like that but less offensive and not egg-y. It’s like only the musty “metallic” smell like garbage. Not the poop smell when u don’t floss or keep your teeth clean. Definitely not sour on those two occurrences.

I don’t know if my breath was not that egg-y cuz I mostly kept a low-fodmap diet for 4 days or was it hunger breath even though I ate a full meal. Or stress? Or it’s gut-related/stomach related.

It’s not tonsil smell because I removed my tonsils and I actually had many occurrences with people with tonsil breath.