Kissing with dry mouth/ammonia breath

[kuronekochan]

ever since i started diaysis i've had an extremely dry mouth, with a thick foam having replaced normal liquid saliva. i also occasionally get ammonia breath. naturally, this has greatly diminished my interest in dating anyone, since i can't imagine kissing someone while my mouth is in this state (let alone the issues with the fistula (is that an alien larva in your arm or are you just happy to see me?), skin texture/color (did you just come back from the caribbean? uh, no...), weird body/face shape changes (don't like skinny guys? well, just wait until i drink this gallon of water), etc.). how do people deal with this issue, both technically (mouthwashes, gum, etc.) and emotionally/relationship-wise?

[flip]

I've never experienced any of these problems. My fistula is in the wrist and virtually invisible. I'm out in the sun a lot and the tan looks normal. Hard candy is good if you have dry mouth.

[glitter]

it is a problem, alot of the spontaneous stuff doesn't happen anymore- but right after we brush our teeth and go to bed its okay...my husband uses the oral sprays that mimic saliva,and the mouthwash when he just wants a refresher- they sell the stuff for drymouth in walmart on the tothpaste isle now.

[Rerun]

Look on the bright side.........if you don't like your date you don't have to do anything.

                                                                                                   

[devon]

Yeah dating is so much trouble anyway! LOL! 

I don't have any suggestions but I sympathize with your situation and hope you find some method to deal with it!

FWIW... I use Listerine twice a day, morning and night, and rarely have bad breath.  I also add it to my oral-jet that I use. 

-Devon

[kitkatz]

Come on over to Renalromance.com to join in on similar experiences and dating questions.  It was started by Epoman as a sister site to this one to help with meeting people and dating concerns. 

[mysty]

Keith chews gum all the time or some kind of candy..
Now i know why..
Honestly.. I never noticed any ammonia smell or otherwise..

I never thought of the alien in your arm thing
probably becuase he took the time to educate me before we
actually met... and introduced me to this site and all these wonderful people here.

Yep.. we met online..

[Chris]

When I had ammonia smell or taste, it was because my blood sugar was high and there where keyatones in my body that usualy come out in urine due to diabetes, not dialysis. I never had the dry mouth. I would metion it to your doc that you have this concern to see what they say just to rule out anything and just chalk it up to dialysis.

[keefer51]

All that poison left in your body gave me the "death breath" Like mysty said i chew gum and life savers. Any kind of mint helps too. I would suggest to you my friend that the dating scene isn't the same. Just don't give up.

[KT0930]

I had all the symptoms you mentioned, and they were gross!! I found that for a really quick (though very temporary) fix was to take a sip of water and swish it around. My husband bought me some of those breath strips, but they only made the dry mouth worse. Sucking on some kind of candy usually did help - the fruity life savers were my favorite.

[Romona]

Try a mouthwash without alcohol, it can make your mouth feel dryer. Crest Pro health is pretty good.

[spacezombie]

Are you running a little too dry? My mouth gets really dry if I don't have enough fluid in me. Also, listerine pocket packs are the best thing ever for the odd breath one can get on dialysis.