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Post Covid Long Term Chronic Constipation Like Marbles - Anybody Else?
First - I thank the Lord I found this forum. I knew there had to be others having strange, unexplained issues.
November of 2021, I returned from traveling and 2 days later started experiencing diarrhea. At that time, NOBODY told us diarrhea was associated with Covid or could be only symptom. We now know you can have ONLY gastro symptoms with Covid. I did not have respiratory symptoms other than a slight runny nose. On day 4, I got a very bad headache that lasted for 2 days. And exhaustion at night. Other than that, I felt ok. Diarrhea multiple times throughout the day. On day 13 of diarrhea, I went to an urgent care. The NP looked at me like I was an idiot because I hadn't been tested for Covid. Why would I? Informed me yes, you can present with ONLY diarrhea (who knew!) Said it was too late now, I had already been out and exposed people, and it may or may not show as positive after so many days. So - I never got an official diagnosis other than medical staff telling me "duh, you have Covid...".
Day 14 was my last day with diarrhea. Then 2 weeks of extreme fatigue. AND - I've never had a normal stool again. Just hard round "deer pellets" - like large hard marbles. I do go, but never empty completely, and never a normal stool shape. I have used probiotics for many years, and am otherwise VERY healthy.
Yes, I've tried it all: kimchee, sauerkraut, nuts, vegetables, fruits, high fiber everything, ground flaxseed, chia seed, little to no processed foods, etc. I drink minimum 60 oz water a day. I exercise regularly and am active. It's nothing that I've done or am not eating correctly. And I didn't suddenly get IBS or Crohn's. I 100% believe my intestines were damaged from having intestinal Covid. My biome is broken.
Seeing all of you describing long term symptoms (many so much worse) gives me hope maybe they'll figure this out. It's at least starting to be acknowledged. In the meanwhile, I'm going to keep trying and hoping. If you've found any fixes, I would love to hear.
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I'm heavily plant based but eat fish, eggs/dairy, poultry and very little lean red meat. We mainly cook our own food and have minimal processed food. I did learn in the book that for the type of person I am, there were some things I needed to change/add - ie: my type of person's gut benefits from cooked apples over raw - cooked releases pectin which is very soothing and beneficial to the gut. Other things like that. I'm overall very healthy, and can't believe I let the "Marbles" go on as long as I did before seeking additional help. I did see doctors, took a Cologuard test, etc. They couldn't comprehend the "long Covid" situation and didn't know how to help without sending me down the road to explore all kinds of things I knew I didn't suddenly just get (Crohn's, IBS, etc.)
Can you share more details. My covid gut is my biggest issue. I take a digestive enzyme, prebiotic and probiotic This has been helpful but it's not the whole answer for me.
Great news! Can you share the entire protocol and amounts taken? Long Covid short attention span will not allow me to read the book. And, I admit, I just want the solution! Thanks.
I've had this fine new disease for 7 months now. I research everything and find no hope for any kind of recovery as of yet. I've have the human marble maker ever since my long covid started and nothing has helped.
Last week I decided to try the lions diet to reset my immune system. Three day's in I finally emptied out my marble bag and am taking normal movements for a change. I'm 6 day's into this diet and have been running mild fevers. I am hoping that it's a sign that my immune system is attacking whatever this disease is putting on me. Today I feel really pretty good. I've been extremely miserable for the last 7 months, so, I'll keep everyone informed. If this works (woola) no doctors involved.
By Lions Diet you mean the elimination diet of water, salts, and meat? If that is working for you it is possible that you have excluded food(s) that is causing inflammation. When I went gluten free 14 years ago it took about 3 days for my GI problems to clear (subsequently diagnosed with celiac). By itself the Lions diet is not sustainable (we are omnivores), so it is useful to gradually introduce various food groups and see if any of them result in GI or other reactions (joint, muscle, neurologic, CV, GI, etc).
I do understand this. I only intend to do this for three weeks and see what comes of it. If it helps great. If not it's another try of something hopeful. It's not a fun program to try, trust me. My wife and I grow and kill all of our own foods, including fruit. It's worth a try.
@ritzgerb and @iamawriter - Here are the basics in a nutshell for a gut rebalance:
1. The Tea - make each morning and drink through the day.
Ingredients: 1/2 t. each cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and fennel seeds.
How: boil 4-5 C water in a pot, while it's heating add the seeds (I use a teaball). Boil for 5-10 minutes depending on how strong you like it (it's very pale). Afterward strain the seeds out or remove the teaball. Pour tea into a thermos of some sort and sip on it all day. These herbs are all very healing to the GI tract and gut.
2. Triphala - 1000 mg daily or before bed. (This is NOT a laxative.) It's very healing and soothing and promotes colon rebalance - helps bowel start to behave normally. (Easy to research Triphala.) If you don't experience bowel normalcy within a week, add another 1000 mg. You can go up to 4,000 mg if needed.
3. Fiber - 1 t. each of psyllium husks and ground flaxseed stirred into a glass of warm or room temperature water every other evening. (tastes fine). I did this only a few times, I have a fairly high fiber diet. If you don't and need it, good thing to add.
4. This is something I learned partially from the book and on my own by experimenting: believe it or not apples! Particularly cooked apples. Cooked/stewed creates pectin and some other things which are soothing and helpful for colon issues. Also easy to research "Stewed apples and gut health". Easy to make. Eat alone or add to oatmeal, yogurt, other.
The book goes on to Stage 2 once you have things sort of rebalanced and detoxed, which I won't go into. You add some other things like Ashwaganda and Brahmi. But I found myself with a back to normal colon within about a week from the things listed above. Hopefully this will help even just one person to heal and feel better.
Thank you sooo much... I am going to give it a try.
I am 100% plant based (Esselstyne / McDougall) type eating. I also take no meds, always preferring a natural approach to my health. I haven't had problems with constipation since I went plant based about 6 years ago -- until LC. Something went crazy and I was having problems but not the little marbles. My BM's (when I had them) were soft and large and hard to pass like nothing was moving. Of course before LC I was walking about 45 min a day and exercising 3 days a week and now I sit in recliner most of the day with little spurts of energy to get a few things done. So even though I wasn't sure it was lack of exercise and certainly not my diet which has plenty of fiber that was my problem, I decided to go back to my old standby for constipation -- raw garlic.
Years ago when I was traveling a lot out of the country I worried about traveler's diarrhea and knew that garlic was a great antibiotic so started eating raw garlic everyday while traveling. Never a problem with getting sick but I also realized it relieved my constipation while traveling and out of my usual routine.
So back to my Long Covid. I started eating more raw garlic and now my constipation is relieved. Garlic is also very good for our immune system in addition to being an antibiotic.
I can recommend drinking, not sipping, a full glass of warm lemon water every morning about 30 minutes before eating. This has helped me immensely and has cleared up my bowel issues with long COVID. You might give it a try.