Anyone know how to get rid of ammonia breath?

I just read something in one of my nursing journals that no one ever told me before nor have I heard anyone else try-

when I go out of town and I am away from dialysis I have to deal with ammonia breath again and I am so self conscious. i have tried every kind of mouth wash & brushing with baking soda and peroxide, and it’s still there.

anyway my book says vinegar rinses- so I went out of town this weekend and tried it -then had my husband to smell -it worked!

It was some sort or chemical reaction I guess!
Am I late on this?

someone else should try it so I know if its a flook or not

Hi.
Do you mean straight vinegar? Doesn’t sound very tasty : ) I had a problem with ammonia breath when I was on 3x in-center dialysis, but since going to 6x SDD, I don’t have that funky taste anymore.

Ammonia breath typically means that you’re not getting enough dialysis to remove the toxins in your blood. Ammonia in the breath indicates that your BUN is high. When you get dialysis, your BUN will drop. However, after dialysis, your BUN slowly starts to increase. I suspect that if you’re on 3 times a week dialysis, your breath smells worse as you get closer to the time to go to dialysis.

I worked in dialysis for years and never heard that vinegar helped this problem. However, if it does help, it’s only a temporary cover-up for the real problem, which is that you’re not getting dialysis often enough to keep your BUN below the point at which the ammonia smell begins.

[QUOTE=rickysyfee;13679]

when I go out of town and I am away from dialysis I have to deal with ammonia breath again[/QUOTE]

maybe you missed that part-

I am on nocturnal but if I dont dialyze of course my bun rises this will happen if I go out of town

Have you thought about looking for in-center nocturnal when you travel, instead of going back to standard treatment? We’re working on trying to get a complete list of in-center nocturnal units. I’ve heard that Fresenius has about 80 of them, and DaVita has some as well. If anyone knows of in-center nocturnal programs, please let us know and we’ll follow up and include them in the “Find a Center” database.

No hadn’t thought of it!

great idea though

I’m sorry that I didn’t realize that you do nocturnal dialysis at home. When you travel, do you do dialysis 3 times a week for 3-4 hours in a clinic OR have you found places where they do nocturnal dialysis in a clinic OR do you take your machine with you and do nocturnal dialysis the same number of days as you do at home? If you must shorten dialysis treatments when you travel, it is not only affecting your breath, but the uremic toxins in your blood can cause other problems that are less obvious.

I don’t think this is true, but if your breath smells like ammonia at home when you’re doing NHHD and you’re doing dialysis 5-6 nights a week, ask the nurse about your dialysis adequacy. Ask whether your access is working as well as it should. Finally, ask if your dialysis prescription is giving you optimal (not adequate) dialysis.

Fresenius has 2 in the Raleigh, NC area-one in Cary (west) and one on the east side-I believe it is called New Hope. Hope this helps.

I have bad amoinia breath and it has been reduced a lot. I read up on glucosamine, a suppliment taken for muscle recovery at the gym. It is an amonia scavenger and cleans up ammonia in your system. I works well.

As has been mentioned sufficient dialysis should clear it up, when I was a kid (OK I’m not that old) the diet was lower in protein than it is today, (basically low protien hi cal) so possibly ease off on the protein (but don’t cut down too much)

Together with adequate dialysis it should help. As for the vinegar, it might reduce bacteria in your mouth, and apple cider vinegar isn’t that bad if you feel the need to try it:) Folklore/oldwives tales suggest it’s actually quite good for ya, but don’t quote me on that:)