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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victoriaj | @victoriaj | Apr 4 10:39am

I have just taken 6mg of Ivermectin daily for 10 days and seen the first sign of improvement since November. I’m also trying to stick as closely as possible to the FODMAP diet so that could be helping too. Ivermectin is not FDA approved to treat covid, but is used routinely to treat parasites and has a proven track record of a well-tolerated treatment, and some research has been done on it as an anti-viral. I felt like I had nothing to lose at this point, but it’s too soon to tell if the improvement is permanent. Encouraging though!

Editor’s Note:
Post-COVID Syndrome and Medications https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/post-covid-recovery/newsfeed-post/post-covid-syndrome-and-medications/

Ivermectin – There is no evidence that ivermectin is helpful in either acute COVID or post COVID syndrome. Additionally, the FDA has advised against its use in COVID. There is also significant toxicity which has led to serious side effects and hospital admission in many cases.

annebp | @annebp | Apr 5 8:37am

My Long Covid issues included chronic diarrhea which became worse of the course of 5 months. I felt like I couldn’t leave the house for fear of having a soiling my pants unless I took Immodium AD. My GI doctor prescribed Xifaxan for 2 weeks because she said that sometimes remnants of the virus do not flush out of the body completely. Remnants can hang out in the intestines and wreak havoc. After the course of Xifaxan, I felt like a new person. Then I got Covid again, and had a relapse of diarrhea. I did stool samples just to be sure it wasn’t C-diff or parasites. The tests came back negative, so my doctor prescribed a 2nd course of Xifaxan, and that cleared up the diarrhea.

aztennisguy | @aztennisguy | Jul 7 8:50pm

In reply to @annebp "My Long Covid issues included chronic diarrhea which became worse of the course of 5 months...." + (show)

Thanks for sharing the information. I was wondering how you knew you needed Xifaxan? I believe I have SIBO, though gastro said no. I was going to do my own SIBO breath test, and I see Xifaxan is used a lot to remedy. Did you GI doc do a sibo test for you or something to know to prescribe? My 2nd bout of covid seems to have messed with my gut health a lot. Thanks for sharing.