Medications can cause bad breath. We have said many times that a dry mouth will help the anaerobic bacteria population in your mouth to thrive, thus creating more bad breath. Some medications are known for drying out your nasal passages and your mouth. Here are two of my favorite medical bad breath creators – antihistamines and decongestants. The average person creates around 2 quarts of drippy stuff in their sinuses and nasal passages each and every day. Those of us who are really special seem to produce a lot more. Antihistamines and decongestants are our friends.
This is really a Catch-22. Post nasal drip is protein based and creates great bacteria food. It is a cause of bad breath all by itself. In order to stop feeling miserable and to get rid of some of that drip (and the sneezing and snorting), the thing to do is to take decongestants or antihistamines. These dry out your tissues, causing dry mouth, encouraging your bacteria, and causing bad breath. You just can’t win!
So what to do? The standard measures to prevent bad breath. Drink lots of water to rehydrate and then keep yourself hydrated. Do your regular oral hygiene. Pay particular attention to tongue scraping – this will help reduce the post nasal drip that collects on the back of your tongue, and it will also clean away some of the bacteria in your mouth.
