Covid Recovery: How can I manage GI issues?

@mamahansonga, how are you doing?

My husband is on day 7 of his 4th hospitalization for severe GI issues post Covid. He is 10 weeks out from Omicron. He was vaccinated w/ both Pfizer doses prior to contracting.

No prior history of diarrhea. 2 weeks post Covid he started having painful gas and diarrhea. It became so severe he was doubled over in pain and shaking. After the first CAT scan they said he had the worst case of diverticulitis they had ever seen, and admitted him with 3 different antibiotics and steroids.
Liquid diet, bowel rest, antibiotics, steroids.

We went home. Two days later after eating chicken soup, it all started again. He can’t leave the house w/o a diaper because the attacks are so frequent and so violent.

The colo/rectal surgeon was perplexed because when he scoped him, it wasn’t technically consistent with diverticulitis or even ulcerative colitis. The first 6” from the rectum in are in perfect shape, the next section is an angry inflamed nightmare, and the top looks fine as well.

He DOES have severe colitis and some ulcerations but that doesn’t mean us ulcerative colitis. 14 biopsies were taken. Most of the biopsies looked normal the biopsy of the small ulcers appeared to be either ischemia or infectious.
After 2 weeks of antibiotics the inflammation was unchanged so antibiotics were discontinued.

A fourth Angio CT showed no major blockages to the vessels but they can’t rule out a transient ischemic event in the colon.

When we tried to move back to soft foods yesterday a massive flare up ensued. He was basically having contractions every 60 seconds for 12-16hrs and not really producing much but shedding the mucosal lining I’m guessing. Just a brutal brutal experience. Hemoglobin is 12.7. Pinkish and some bright red blood in stool from time to time. White cells still elevated.

We are exactly where we were 4 weeks ago when we came to the ED the 1st time. It’s so discouraging. He has been on a liquid diet for 24 hours and after a stressful afternoon attacks have come back to every 20 minutes.

Still treating w/ 60mg steroids daily, back on antibiotics, and Mesalamine every 6hrs until we get him through the flare up. They are treating like ulcerative colitis until we can repeat the colonoscopy in 8 weeks.

I’m just scared there is something more we should be doing. I want to protect the integrity of his colon.

Any advice us greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,
H Kountanis

Oh @sunshinestateofmind, I can imagine that this is very distressing, not to mention life-altering for both you and your husband. It sounds like your husband is being cared for by GI specialists, but the situation is leaving them perplexed. I'm glad to see they are not giving up and there is an action plan in place to get him through this flare.

Are you looking to seek a second opinion? If Mayo Clinic might be an option for you, you can submit a request for an appointment or ask his specialist to make a referral. See more information here: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

If upon reviewing his history and current management of his condition, Mayo Clinic feels that they would offer the same treatment approach as his current team, they would tell you. That way you can gain confidence in the care your husband is getting or find answers that they are not.

Any suggestions on IBS I had it before covid but is worse since covid instead of 1 or 2 episodes every couple of months it's weekly.
I went to emergency yesterday 😪 my flare ups last about a day and resolve this has lasted a week I have canceled everything outside of home, just wondering if it's a fluke or something I get to look forward to 😖😫

Hi Liz,
I moved your post about IBS and gastro symptoms post-COVID to this existing discussion called "Covid Recovery: How can I manage GI issues?" https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/covid-recovery-and-gi-pain/

I did this so you can connect with @sunshinestateofmind @greg1234 @dorchesterboy @ineedanswers38 @sieb369 @tschumpers5 @luisa22 @lauriekh and others who are also experiencing GI issues with long COVID.

Liz, you mentioned that you had IBS before COVID, but it has gotten worse since COVID. What has helped you in the past? Have you talked to your GI specialist about it?

I was at er, last Tuesday after a week of diarrhea. I have an appointment today with my GP, my gastro guy could not see me til m
May. I was given lomotil it stopped. I have tried to stop Lomtil as it's a controlled substance, so I'm down to 1 time a day instead of 4. I'm eating really bland. Cause I'm afraid to eat. For fear it will start back up.

I got COVID back in February of 2020, before there were means to test. Since then, I have experienced a myriad of long-term issues. Most prominently, I've had breathing issues - chronic shortness of breath and chronic fatigue to the point of using my rescue inhaler multiple times a day, every day.

However, in the fall of 2021, I started having significant GI issues. I was bloated pretty much constantly, had diarrhea multiple times a day, and had indigestion to the point of tears on a weekly basis. At the urging of my doctor, I did the Low FODMAP diet to try and determine what was wrong with me. As a result, I found out that gluten was making me super sick. Now I'm not able to eat gluten.

It's very strange and not something I ever had an issue with before. Has anyone else experienced this?

@jlsn1016, welcome. You'll notice that I moved your question about long COVID, GI and gluten tolerance issues to this existing discussion:
- Covid Recovery: How can I manage GI issues? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/covid-recovery-and-gi-pain/

I did this so you can easily connect with fellow members @liz58 @sieb369 @greg1234 @ineedanswers38 @jocelyneg @dorchesterboy @sunshinestateofmind who are also experiencing GI issues with long COVID.

jlsn, you mention the FODMAP diet. For anyone not familiar with FODMAP, here's a blog post about it.
- What exactly is the FODMAP diet? Dr. Wang explains https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/gastroenterology-and-gi-surgery/newsfeed-post/what-exactly-is-the-fodmap-diet-dr-wang-explains/

Has anyone else found their GI issues related to gluten or symptoms reduce when eating less gluten or eliminating it?
jlsn, luckily it is increasingly easy to avoid gluten these days. Have you found it a challenge to give up?

Dr. Van, post COVID specialist, Mayo Clinic just posted this blog post:
- A Gut Feeling: Long COVID and GI symptoms https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/post-covid-recovery/newsfeed-post/a-gut-feeling-long-covid-and-gi-symptoms/

Attn: @sieb369 @liz58 @sieb369 @greg1234 @ineedanswers38 @jocelyneg @dorchesterboy @sunshinestateofmind

Thanks Colleen I was at er a few weeks ago with inflammation of my intestines either a virus or food poisoning, but I asked if it may be from long covid. They didn't know I'm on lomotil at 1st it was 3x per day I'm down to one x per day. It's really terrible. If it's covid related.