Sulphurous halitosis, wind, strong nasty taste

[wtafisthissmell]

Can anyone shed light on my symptoms?

For a few months now I have had bouts of the most evil halitosis, with matching farts.

It smells like sulphur / rotting feet / something that died. My DC are aghast and have told me how bad I smell. When I had a brief chat with their teacher recently I could see him recoil and turn red... I have a burning / metallic taste in my mouth, in the plaque on my teeth and on my tongue.

My diet is low sulphur low sugar, low-ish fodmap, high fibre. I religiously avoid sulphites, ie orange squash, sausages etc. I drink a large amount of water, peppermint tea, fluids generally.

I have been tested for helicobacter pylori, and have scrupulous dental hygiene - floss daily, have dental hygienist after my 6 month dental checkup. My gums are very healthy. At the moment I am cleaning my teeth 6 to 8 times daily but the stench, and horrible taste, persist.

I am taking Pepto Bismol (Bismuth binds to sulphur) 3 times daily, it isn't making a significant difference but I think it would be worse if I didn't take it IYSWIM.

I don't drink alcohol or smoke, and am in fine health otherwise. I recently had a colonoscopy (small, non problematic, polyps removed, gut seen to be in good condition).

This is utterly awful to live with.

Any thoughts?

No idea but what about a referral to an ENT consultant if your gut is fine. Could it be infected tonsils, sinus, tonsil stones?

Giardiasis? I seem to remember that causes eggy burps

Could your GP take a tongue scraping and check for infection, thrush etc?

Like poisoned I wonder if it’s giardia. Had you been abroad recently prior to it starting? I had it in Nepal, but know someone who got it in the Canaries!

Eggy burps.

Is it all the time?

Sausages give dd 2 them.

Doesn't giardia cause explosive diarrhoea?

DH caught it in the Canaries. DS caught it from him due to being very young & holding on to the toilet seat followed by pour hand washing (that's what we assumed anyway). He had a bit of an upset tummy (not explosive!) but his farts were disgusting - he could clear a room with one.

Poor

Thank you all for your replies!

I don't think it's thrush, or an ENT issue it appears to be related to diet, and is very much affected by diet. I have had sulphurous wind issues since my late teens, and control this with low sulphur diet - definitely no sausages as they are rich in sulphites as a preservative, no wine, cider, orange squash for the same reason.

I am not constipated, and make a big effort wrt to this. I am also gluten free, which helps my gut in general.

My eldest DC has rather pongy wind at times, which seems to coincide with my issues. Our GP said that helicobacter pylori will often be present in other family members. DP also has phases of sulphurous burps, but these are different to my symptoms.

I will ask GP about giardiasis - thank you for the tip. I will also get a second test for helicobacter, although my symptoms aren't the best match for either of these, it may be an atypical type so I won't rule it out. Sadly I haven't been overseas 🙂

I smell and taste vile, it is utterly rank.

Talk to a doctor and maybe a dentist? My DH goes through bouts of bad breath - usually means a root canal is on the way. Poor thing has had about 4!

I'm trying to think what else causes it in our house. We call it "dirty burps" and it's all diet related. It's not often though, its occasional.

What about keeping a food diary and marking in when it's bad?

I have no dental issues, our surgery are pretty good at providing a hygienist appointment with every checkup, and my teeth and gums are in good condition.

I don't ever have diarrhoea, or reflux / acid / heartburn issues. Never ever have stomach upsets - just this awful smell, like something died, rotted, and didn't go to heaven

This has been happening for about 8 months now, and this episode has lasted about 10 days and shows no sign of abating.

I will breathe over my GP tomorrow and see if they can suggest anything else

Maybe a referral to gastrointestinal dept?

I had this after Christmas turkey that we had eaten until at least new years. Maybe not that long but still too long. It came in bouts and my symptoms where similar to yours and lasted months. Brutal!
Eventually I consulted doctor google and concluded it was giardiasis, but I never got checked out and it went dormant or left my system. It was quite bad though.

Check your tonsils. You may have tonsil stones. They don't account for the wind, but they do cause bad breath and the horrible taste in your mouth.

Have you checked your tonsils for tonsilloths? And have you recently added anything to your strict diet that you dont usually have? Sometimes these symptoms can be caused by milk cultures if i remember rightly, i will attempt to scour google for where i read that... hope youre okay x

Have you had any blood tests done?

Wind wise it's related to hormones for me. I would get it before my period, actually woke ex up one night when I was sleeping No sore throats or hoarseness in the morning that you would get with silent reflux?

Is your diet heavy in onions? Or garlic?

I would also investigate tonsil stones?

Yeah, onions and garlic can be very sulphurous.

Thank you all again for the suggestions.

My tonsils are fine, my diet is low on sulphur, so no onions, garlic, or honky cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower or sprouts!

I will ask for a giardiasis test, another helicobacter pylori test, and blood sample to be taken.

If it is none of these things... Any further ideas?

No sore throat, no discomfort or feelings of stomach upset. Baffling. And horrible.

Just wish this would go away

Diet is regular, I have a good feel for what I can and cannot eat, and our meals are cooked from scratch so I am aware of what is being consumed.

Also not period related