I'm sorry you feel depressed and that your efforts are not bearing the results you're looking for as quickly as you hoped. I really couldn't tell you whether you have TMAU; only testing would confirm that, but this regimen should remove some odor just by cleaning your intestines well whether you have TMAU or not. I honestly think that it's much too soon in this process for you to be odor-free. The fact that your odor was reduced for 2 days only days after you began your regimen is a great sign. I don't think that the zinc alone was able to help, but probably a combination of everything. It would be good that you observe everything you did and ate that diminished the odor and what you might have eaten that might have brought it back. In the end, it's always a very individualized process, and everyone is different.
Have you been strictly following the low-choline diet as well? If you feel that the low-choline diet and supplements are not helping and that in fact it's making it worse, I think that perhaps you need to be more selective about the foods you eat from the low-choline diet list. Look at Marx's email of only a couple of days ago, in which he says that he's "been kind of following it and I've definitely seen an amazing improvement over the last few weeks. Then perhaps you should give it about a week or 2 just in case, but as Marx said in his email a couple of days ago, "work on eating the foods "with the lowest choline content from the USDA's Database for the Choline Content of Common Foods - eat only fresh foods if possible - avoid anything processed. Make this adjustment to your diet, avoid processed foods and foods high in sugar, except for fruits, and see how it goes.
My son had been using charcoal and chlorophyllin and somewhat following a low-choline diet for almost a year when we didn't even know what the recommended dosage was, and it helped a little, but definitely not enough. Afterwards, we found the NIH treatment with specific dosages and length of time for each supplement, we first heard of the intestinal cleansing, and that's when he really saw results. Perhaps, he was already on the road to improvement by having made small modifications to his diet and starting the supplements previously, and that helped him respond well much sooner once he adjusted the dosages and fine tuned the whole regimen.
I would recommend that you not give up on this treatment yet. The fact that you noticed an improvement for a couple of days is a good indication that you did something right. Unfortunately, it does take time and additional fine-tuning on your part based on your own unique condition. If after about a month you don't see any significant improvement, then you can re-evaluate your plan of action. I know you're despairing, but don't give up!
Also, note that Marx said he used antibiotics for 2 weeks, and my son also used antibiotics for about one week right after the cleansing. If you don't use antibiotics, then I guess you would need to do a cleansing a bit more often for a longer period of time to get the desired effect of eliminating the smelly bad bacteria from your gut. However, right after each cleansing, it's very important that you do try to restore your gut with acidophilus. Why have you not done so, is it because you don't know where to buy it? Try your local health food store (make sure it's refrigerated). If you do too many cleansings without restoring the "good bacteria" then you're leaving your gut in a weak and vulnerable state.
I'm sorry you feel discouraged, but I would suggest you hang in there a little longer before you throw the white towel of surrender. I really think it's to soon to give up, instead, it's the right time to make small modifications - a fine tuning - and you should be getting better results in time.
Spidey, do you think that you might also have a sinus infection, throat, tongue, tonsils, or gum infection that may also be producing odor?