Bad breath after surgery?

[Jacqueline B 0]

I had gastric sleeve done on March 2019... and down 63 lbs as of today. I had a TPN and Upper GI procedures done to see why Im still not keeping down solid foods. However, since the surgery no matter what I do and went to dentist and all, my breath smells awful now!! I client face and have to work with the public all day.. this is embarrassing!! Has anyone else experience this? If so.. please help me with a solution! 😔 The weight coming off is a success, however the hair falling out, bad breath and not being able to eat anything hasn’t been a good experience. Does it get better?

[Fazzini Bee 76]

I suffered from bad breath for a while. I seriously think that it's ketosis. It really helped when I got a tongue scraper. It seems that with protien shakes and things like that - they really coat your tongue.

[Chattanoogagirl 23]

The tongue scapper is a great idea, but the stomach acids are causing the bad breath. Just keep on the dental hygeine and try the Threa Breath 12 hour stuff

[catwoman7 10,981]

I've heard it was due to ketosis, too

[2Bsmaller18 436]

Can you suck on a sugar free breath mint?

[justmetj 421]

If you didn't have this problem before surgery it's probably ketosis. If you did have it before surgery and still have your tonsils it might be tonsil stones.

[Mom_of_Chaos 545]

Yep congratulations you’re in ketosis!

[RickM 1,747]

Yes, it is likely ketosis, which fundamentally means that you aren't eating your fruits and veggies (not unusual early on.) Some intentionally drive themselves into it (to the extent of adding excess fat into their diets) under the belief that it helps them lose weight, but that's just fad diet marketing. As your diet improves, it should go away; in the long term, you shouldn't be skipping your fruits and veg anyway, so by this time you should be trying to add some back into your diet, within your caloric limits.

[Jacqueline B 0]

2 hours ago, Fazzini Bee said:

I suffered from bad breath for a while. I seriously think that it's ketosis. It really helped when I got a tongue scraper. It seems that with protien shakes and things like that - they really coat your tongue.

Thank you for the reply.. yes I went to see an upper GI doctor and he said my stomach was free from acid reflux... when I up chuck its big globs of mucus... I have no idea whats going on..

[Jacqueline B 0]

Ok good advice everyone and yes I don’t really eat too much fruits because I was just tired of vomiting up everything and Im allergic to berries... just about everything. As of the veggiI try, Im always at the point of vomiting up everything so I barely eat much. I am trying though.. but I figured if I didn’t eat much it would keep down the smell of my breath because maybe something wasnt going down much. Hint the reason why I saw a GI doctor. I eat gum all day.. mints and brush until my dentist told me to stop because I was brushing away my gum lines.. too hard on the toothbrush. I thank everyone for the advice. Will let you know if it gets better. 😔

[Bastian 458]

7 hours ago, RickM said:

Yes, it is likely ketosis, which fundamentally means that you aren't eating your fruits and veggies (not unusual early on.) Some intentionally drive themselves into it (to the extent of adding excess fat into their diets) under the belief that it helps them lose weight, but that's just fad diet marketing. As your diet improves, it should go away; in the long term, you shouldn't be skipping your fruits and veg anyway, so by this time you should be trying to add some back into your diet, within your caloric limits.

RickM that isn't actually how ketogenic diets work per se. One reduces carbohydrates, to use existing body fat as fuel rather than carbohydrates. The only macronutrient the body does not NEED to function healthily is the carbohydrate. If One reduces fat or Protein too low in their diet, they WILL become deficient, as we can see by how many of us on here are carb-loaded, fat and dying slowly from heart disease and diabetes, just to name 2 of the most common diseases we all have, let alone metabolic disease etc.

Yes, ketosis can give you bad breath, but it goes after a while even if you remain on a ketogenic diet.

Bad breath post-WLS is often from changes in the gut flora, acid and food being eaten and processed differently.

Yes, I do have nutritional qualifications, yes I do have a degree and YES I am still here on the WLS journey too, because nothing in this life is black and white

[Jacqueline B 0]

Awesome... thanks RickM for your insight. Appreciated 😏

[Jacqueline B 0]

Thanks all.. I appreciate everyone’s feedback! I am working on this today.. and definitely hydrating. 😏