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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@bunzman

Has anyone experienced primarily extreme nausea / pain and gassiness especially after eating after having covid. It was a primary and continuing symptom of my mom after getting covid in 3-20. No diarreah or constipation, Has anyone tried probiotics or any natural concoction. I do not want to be too judgmental but it seems her doctors seem to not put too much thought into it because she is 92. Paid enough attention to what she eats to rule out any type of food. I primarily posted because it seems most people have constipation or diarreah. It is severe after eating and right in the a.m. and subsides after those events. We've tried the 2 week Omeprazole regiment and it did not help. She has green tea with every meal

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I am 3 months into taking a probiotic, prebiotic and an enzyme for digestion. This has definitely helped my gut issues but one needs to give it at least 12 wks. to get the full benefit. I try to eat more fruits and vegetables than the average person as constipation has still been an issue at times. When needed I use Miralax....which can be dosed based on what works for you.
My gut issues started in August, 2022 after a very mild case of covid in July. I think covid targeted my gut as that's where I am already vulnerable due to having had colon cancer 12 yrs ago.

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Sounds like me. I had Covid 3rd week of January lasting into beginning of Feb. About a week later I started having GI problems. Bloating, acid reflux, mild to moderate GI pain and no desire to eat. I was diagnosed with GERD a number of years ago and have been treated for it since then with no real issues. I take Align daily and am very careful with food choices.

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@ukguy

That's a great response.

I have GI issue since Covid. I had a similar issue that flares my gut 10 years ago and it took a couple of years to regain balance.

What I noticed though was that one sure thing that worsens all issues is Anxiety. Once we start to over focus on a symptom it seems to get worse.

Acceptance was big step for me once I accepted I had an issue I couldn't THINK my way out of the my overall symptoms decreased. I still had flair ups with stress and the odd thing dietry but over all much better.

I intend to do the same with this. I will follow a good diet also until I get some balance back.

But for me reducing anxiety is a must.

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I have had significant anxiety along with my GI issues. I have been really focusing on the anxiety and acceptance as well. I feel like my symptoms are starting to reduce a bit

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Hi everyone! New to this forum. Had COVID back in June 2022 with some respiratory but mainly GI symptoms. During the summer I had lots of post COVID symptoms: dizziness exhaustion headaches... but the most annoying and debilitating were severe stomach and abdominal ache, with dizziness and severe headaches. The colics started to be less frequent over time, now I havent had any major issue for aprox. 2 months. However, my Dr. insists I do a colonoscopy and endoscopy. I have developed medical procedures phobia over a couple of really bad experiences and I really want to avoid any unnecesary invasive testing. Has anyone found any helpful answers after a colonoscopy/ endoscopy?

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@bescarti

Hi everyone! New to this forum. Had COVID back in June 2022 with some respiratory but mainly GI symptoms. During the summer I had lots of post COVID symptoms: dizziness exhaustion headaches... but the most annoying and debilitating were severe stomach and abdominal ache, with dizziness and severe headaches. The colics started to be less frequent over time, now I havent had any major issue for aprox. 2 months. However, my Dr. insists I do a colonoscopy and endoscopy. I have developed medical procedures phobia over a couple of really bad experiences and I really want to avoid any unnecesary invasive testing. Has anyone found any helpful answers after a colonoscopy/ endoscopy?

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my stomach is not the same either, really gassy, achy at times and always feel bloated. i gained weight that has been really hard to get off, bowels have changed and i still have a lot of phlegm after eating or drinking anything..i did have a colonoscopy and it came back fine, they where puzzled by that because of my symptoms...i don't understand how any kind of tests done with everyones symptoms can come back normal...how is that even possible?? i know my body and know it is not normal right now...i have never in my life experienced anything like this..i'm really working hard on this..hang in there!!

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@bescarti

Hi everyone! New to this forum. Had COVID back in June 2022 with some respiratory but mainly GI symptoms. During the summer I had lots of post COVID symptoms: dizziness exhaustion headaches... but the most annoying and debilitating were severe stomach and abdominal ache, with dizziness and severe headaches. The colics started to be less frequent over time, now I havent had any major issue for aprox. 2 months. However, my Dr. insists I do a colonoscopy and endoscopy. I have developed medical procedures phobia over a couple of really bad experiences and I really want to avoid any unnecesary invasive testing. Has anyone found any helpful answers after a colonoscopy/ endoscopy?

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Hello, 16 months of GI long covid here. I declined both tests after friends with long covid had severe reactions to them. All other gut tests were negative, including all the fecal tests, which is something you will commonly see in this group. I am using reco's from a functional medicine doctor: a high quality probiotic everyday, prebiotic as needed, added avocados and chick peas to support certain good gut bugs, substantially reduced meat intake, avoid anything that causes inflammation! Be alert for food triggers!!!!!!!! All the best, Greg

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@greg1234

Hello, 16 months of GI long covid here. I declined both tests after friends with long covid had severe reactions to them. All other gut tests were negative, including all the fecal tests, which is something you will commonly see in this group. I am using reco's from a functional medicine doctor: a high quality probiotic everyday, prebiotic as needed, added avocados and chick peas to support certain good gut bugs, substantially reduced meat intake, avoid anything that causes inflammation! Be alert for food triggers!!!!!!!! All the best, Greg

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Thanks so much! I think I will postpone then, it seems no point in undergoing all those invasive tests when they will most likely come back normal. My symptoms are not even than severe anymore, so hopefully they will continue to slowly improve. I am taking pre/probiotics (Kijimea PRO have helped) and pantoprazole, which also helps a bit with the stomach aches. I had a food intolerance test (which have no scientific backing but some friends said it helped so I gave it a go) and am excluding milk and egg and limiting gluten from diet. Not eating gluten espcially helps me a lot, I feel less bloated and less constipated when I totally exclude it from the diet. I hope this will slowly pass... I am not very hopeful about Drs as they really have no clue, this is so new for them too. I hope you find some relief too, this is hard!

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@bescarti

Hi everyone! New to this forum. Had COVID back in June 2022 with some respiratory but mainly GI symptoms. During the summer I had lots of post COVID symptoms: dizziness exhaustion headaches... but the most annoying and debilitating were severe stomach and abdominal ache, with dizziness and severe headaches. The colics started to be less frequent over time, now I havent had any major issue for aprox. 2 months. However, my Dr. insists I do a colonoscopy and endoscopy. I have developed medical procedures phobia over a couple of really bad experiences and I really want to avoid any unnecesary invasive testing. Has anyone found any helpful answers after a colonoscopy/ endoscopy?

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I did both done for my post-.COVID GI issues. And my new post COVID anemia 🤷‍♀️ basically they were done hoping for a simple answer, I believe. They were a beneficial tool which ruled out ulcers and anything else that could cause anemia

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@southam97

I did both done for my post-.COVID GI issues. And my new post COVID anemia 🤷‍♀️ basically they were done hoping for a simple answer, I believe. They were a beneficial tool which ruled out ulcers and anything else that could cause anemia

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My problem before Covid was IBS-Diarrhea, which has been my pattern for most of my life. Since Covid (August 2020), I have been constipated, bloated and have frequent, unexpected pebble stools. I've tried everything, including prescriptions. Recently, I started taking Magnesium 500 mg morning and night. It seems to be helping a little bit.

Has anyone tried Peptiva? I saw an ad for it on TV. Sounds too good to be true.
Lucy

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