1. < Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19

Covid Recovery: How can I manage GI issues?

Posted by sieb369 @sieb369, Jan 3, 2022

It has been 5 weeks since my COVID symptoms began. I am well past the isolation date. I had nausea and diarrhea during COVID along with the usual symptoms of cough, fatigue, rapid heartbeat and sinus issues. I have felt like I was over this, but I began having GI pain in the last week. I feel as if my intestines are sore on the inside. I guess it is inflammation. Has anyone else had this and is there anything I can do to help it? Probiotics maybe?

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zag1 | @zag1 | Aug 5, 2022
In reply to @greg1234 "Thank you for your help, Colleen, greatly appreciated. Triggers have been hard to pinpoint since the..." + (show)
@greg1234

Thank you for your help, Colleen, greatly appreciated. Triggers have been hard to pinpoint since the symptoms are so frequent. Anything spicy is likely a trigger and one that might be a trigger, that I am curious about, is refined sugar. Symptoms: abdominal pain and burning, diarrhea, disorientation, lightheadedness, some fatigue, and headaches. Thankfully, the intensity of the headaches has greatly diminished! During my initial infection, and first two months after, the headaches and eyeball aches were very bad. Thanks again, Greg

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I have the exact same symptoms!

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zag1 | @zag1 | Aug 5, 2022
In reply to @ahernandezvaldez "I caught COVID for the first time in March of 2020. Ever since, I have been..." + (show)
@ahernandezvaldez

I caught COVID for the first time in March of 2020. Ever since, I have been experiencing debilitating GI issues that have greatly impacted my diet and the quality of my life. I have seen multiple gastroenterologists and have done all kinds of tests and nothing appears to be physiologically wrong with me. So far, no one has been able to offer a solution that works. There is a great variety of foods I can’t tolerate and I am constantly constipated, bloated, gassy, and generally uncomfortable. My issues also make me irritable, cause fatigue, and give me a general feeling of malaise. I would like to find treatments that will allow me to eat a more diverse diet because I am concerned about the possibility of developing other health issues as a result. Prior to catching COVID I never had GI issues. It is almost as if someone had flipped a switch inside of me. Sometimes I feel I am the only person in the world dealing with this, but I know that can’t be possible.

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the exact same thing is happening to me!

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alfredojr | @alfredojr | Aug 10, 2022
In reply to @jocelyneg "A couple of natural remedies to balance this system. Take 2 TBSPNS of FlAX SEED/CHIA SEED..." + (show)
@jocelyneg

A couple of natural remedies to balance this system. Take 2 TBSPNS of FlAX SEED/CHIA SEED blend and add enough boiling water to cover, let them soften for a few minutes, I then add a container of ACTIVIA yogurt, it is a very pleasant blend and the activia will repopulate the colon with the correct probiotis while the flax seed and chia seed will absorb the excess water. Try it for a week

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I had covid 19 last June, but after 2weeks of quarantine, I was tested negative. But, I am now experiencing the same post-covid symptoms as with ineedanswers38, although I never had diahrea. I've been drinking powdered turmeric dissolve in hot water, but I don't feel any improvement, although I always discharge gas(fart). I guess I'll try this flax & Chia seeds with yogurt. I also tried omeprazol but still same.

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kudzu | @kudzu | Aug 10, 2022

Have you tried Oreganol? It’s the juice of the wild oregano plant. It’s supposed to help digestion and is thought to fight some bacteria and viruses.
I have used it successfully to kick occasional diverticulitis in the past. I’m currently taking it for post-Covid gi issues and I think it’s helping.
Certainly worth a try imho. Can be found at health food stores like Vitamin Shoppe or Whole Foods.

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1 reply
alfredojr | @alfredojr | Aug 10, 2022
In reply to @kudzu "Have you tried Oreganol? It’s the juice of the wild oregano plant. It’s supposed to help..." + (show)
@kudzu

Have you tried Oreganol? It’s the juice of the wild oregano plant. It’s supposed to help digestion and is thought to fight some bacteria and viruses.
I have used it successfully to kick occasional diverticulitis in the past. I’m currently taking it for post-Covid gi issues and I think it’s helping.
Certainly worth a try imho. Can be found at health food stores like Vitamin Shoppe or Whole Foods.

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Thank you for your comment. I'll try to find that in my country. I hope we have that in the Philippines

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1 reply
kudzu | @kudzu | Aug 10, 2022
In reply to @alfredojr "Thank you for your comment. I'll try to find that in my country. I hope we..." + (show)
@alfredojr

Thank you for your comment. I'll try to find that in my country. I hope we have that in the Philippines

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You’re welcome. I use the one sold by North American Herb and Spice. It’s manufactured for them in Illinois.
If you can’t find oreganol in the Philippines, try contacting them at 1-800-243-5242
http://www.oreganol.com

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dhenkel0930 | @dhenkel0930 | Aug 15, 2022

I posted before but cant find it. I am having issues with eating, nothing tastes like it should, alot of things smell or taste rancid. It seems to come in waves, where I can barely tolerate instant breakfasts to finally eating a few things I can tolerate the taste of. My doctor thinks its long covid, referred me to GI and infectious disease. My GI only does telephone visits and no appts until Oct. I don't know how much longer I can take this.

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janicebengtson | @janicebengtson | Aug 15, 2022
In reply to @sieb369 "It felt like someone took a nail file and roughed up the inside of my intestines...." + (show)
@sieb369

It felt like someone took a nail file and roughed up the inside of my intestines. I don't know any other way to describe it. No I have not seen a GI specialist. My experience with the medical community and COVID has been go home isolate and we don't want to hear from you unless you go to the ER if your oxygen level gets too low. I am afraid I don't have much faith in doctors anymore. I had to get my advice on how to self-treat covid at home from friends who were in radiology and a nurse. I had to call twice and demand the monoclonal antibodies. I am 69 so definitely qualified. My husband was vaccinated also had COVID and has several health issues. When he called his doctor he was just told "OK, we will note it in your chart." Really. He's 71 overweight and has been seen by his doctor a lot. No advice like take an aspirin each day to help prevent blood clots, or take Tylenol to control fever, or even monitor your oxygen level. Thanks to friend and Google we managed to survive, but I can't say much for any treatment from our esteemed doctors.

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Most drs dont give a shit..if they some pill they will prescribe it to get you off their back..and not get down to root cause. Most are arrogant too. I hope to see integrative health

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t2swim09 | @t2swim09 | Aug 16, 2022
In reply to @sunshinestateofmind "My husband is on day 7 of his 4th hospitalization for severe GI issues post Covid...." + (show)
@sunshinestateofmind

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

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I am just being released from the hospital with a diagnosis of long covid in my GI tract and I have Crohns disease.

I had Pfizer and 2 boosters then covid June 21st that was one day of headache, fever, bodyaches, 3 days of a alien living in my abdomen and I lived on the toilet!
I go every 28 days for Remicade infusions and on July 25th, 1 hour in toy infusion I had a seizure (which I've never had and that alien was still living in my abdomen as I was only living on liquids)
This landed me in the hospital.
I have had difficulty swallowing food; food gets stuck in my esophagus and my Crohns felt totally out of remission with severe lower right abdominal pain ever since Covid that June.
The hospital did a colonoscopy wouldn't do any biopsies bc I'm on eliquis, saw diverticuli but nothing remarkable. I have stones in both kidneys but nothing blocking anything and they are small(er).
They put me on Florator, Bentyl and wanted me to take 100mg of prednisone a day (I declined). I've been on 15 mg of prednisone since 2005 and since I felt like out of their own mouth "we don't know much about this" I wasn't going up to 100 mg of prednisone.
I have lost 40 lbs. My folate is elevated and so is my B-12(1258) and my homocystine? Is is elevated.
I stopped taking vitamins a few months ago bc they were getting stucknin my throat so I'm confused as to why any levels would be high.
But I get light headed, fuzzy vision, tremors, heart races, headache, fatigue and the alien is alive in my gut so I'm sticking with liquids only until they can figure out what's going on

I've seen GI, rheumatologist, PCP, Neurologist 🤷🏼‍♀️

REPLY
med08 | @med08 | Aug 17, 2022
In reply to @sunshinestateofmind "My husband is on day 7 of his 4th hospitalization for severe GI issues post Covid...." + (show)
@sunshinestateofmind

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

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Have googled GI issues after Covid vaccine?
https://www.cureus.com/articles/93622-gastrointestinal-complications-of-covid-19-vaccines

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