Lower gut - bloating & discomfort happening after Covid-19

[Wolfcub]

Maybe I'm stoical. But this isn't the end of the world. I can eat quite a healthy variety of foods, and am enjoying my food and have good appetite generally. I have regular once a day bowel movements which are not dramatically horrible at their worst and are mosty quite normal.

Gratitude out of the way.

Now there's lower belly bloating and tight discomfort (not literally pain) in the evenings. It lasts for hours and comes on about 3-hours after dinner. It happens most nights.
I never get it during the day.

I am keeping a food diary but it's hard to pin down foods that trigger it. One day I can eat broccoli or cauliflower for example....lentils....chocolate and not get that. On another day I feel like a zeppelin and have eaten the same -or even something much milder and definitely "low FODMAP".

This didn't used to happen before Covid-19.

I did get some gut disturbance 2 years ago for about a week, when I "caught " whatever-it-was (never diagnosed) that set off ME/CFS. But that never included this bloating and feeling like trapped wind that never comes out.
2 years ago that went away after about a week and didn't recur.

So far I don't have a history of IBS. Though over the past weeks it's begun to feel like a mild form of IBS....
Yet I am sure it's related to coronavirus.

 

[tyson oberle]

Pease keep us posted

 

[ebethc]

So far I don't have a history of IBS. Though over the past weeks it's begun to feel like a mild form of IBS....
Yet I am sure it's related to coronavirus.

yes, covid made my IBS-C worse... slowly getting back to my IBS baseline, though

 

[Wolfcub]

Oh @ebethc , you had the virus too? When did you get it and how are you doing now? Wishing you well.

 

[Booble]

I don't think my COVID-19 like virus was COVID due to the timing (December/January) but about mid way through the 8 week ordeal I lost my appetite. I didn't really have IBS during because I wasn't eating hardly anything. It was more like nausea and I couldn't bear to eat anything. Now that I'm pretty much back to normal baseline, IBS has flared more than normal. A lot of bloating, gas, discomfort, sometimes pain and sometimes the big D.

 

[lenora]

Wolfcub.....I have IBS

Maybe I'm stoical. But this isn't the end of the world. I can eat quite a healthy variety of foods, and am enjoying my food and have good appetite generally. I have regular once a day bowel movements which are not dramatically horrible at their worst and are mosty quite normal.

Gratitude out of the way.

Now there's lower belly bloating and tight discomfort (not literally pain) in the evenings. It lasts for hours and comes on about 3-hours after dinner. It happens most nights.
I never get it during the day.

I am keeping a food diary but it's hard to pin down foods that trigger it. One day I can eat broccoli or cauliflower for example....lentils....chocolate and not get that. On another day I feel like a zeppelin and have eaten the same -or even something much milder and definitely "low FODMAP".

This didn't used to happen before Covid-19.

I did get some gut disturbance 2 years ago for about a week, when I "caught " whatever-it-was (never diagnosed) that set off ME/CFS. But that never included this bloating and feeling like trapped wind that never comes out.
2 years ago that went away after about a week and didn't recur.

So far I don't have a history of IBS. Though over the past weeks it's begun to feel like a mild form of IBS....
Yet I am sure it's related to coronavirus.

Hi Wolfcub, I'm wondering if you have an irritated bowel and the foods you're eating may not be in your best interest at the moment. I have IBS (have since I was about 18) and I can remember it being very painful in the early years. True, you didn't have it before COVID-19, but it sounds as if your stuck with it now. That's one of the interesting things about ME, we tend to pick things up as we go along. IBS is a great favorite bestowed upon us, but we don't accept it graciously enough...or so it would seem. Perhaps lay off foods like cauliflower and other aggravating things (I could never eat cauliflower, for example), for awhile and then very slowly reintroduce them into your diet.

Not only did I get rid of my FM, it occurred to me the other day that I'm also without my constantly swollen lymph nodes...and those things used to get huge. So, sometimes we don't even notice change until we're thinking about something else and are struck by lightening. So that was some good news, wasn't it? But always, after I've been ill, I take it very easy on what I introduce back to my stomach....because, damn it can hurt. A heating pad is good for that pain, and trying to relax into it will help. I'll never be rid of it...know that I can't have any dairy, including things like ice cream, and veggies like broccoli, cauliflower and their ilk may take a bit of time to get used to again. I hope you won't have to be away from them longer than a month, but take it very easy on yourself. Yours, Lenora.

 

[Booble]

Wolfclub, I don't have any answers but will commiserate with the bloating a few hours after eating dinner. While I had the bad virus (Dec/Jan) I didn't have digestive problems except for one short bout of D. I lost appetite and wasn't eating but once I started eating again after a bit things changed and I started getting the bloating. I can't seem to prevent and it's not causing a huge amount of pain (though a lot of gas - sorry hubby!), so I've decided to set it aside and not think about it for a bit. Maybe it will heal on its own. Sometimes IBS things come and go. (Meanwhile I'm more disturbed by the feeling really bad after pooping for an hour or few!)

 

[Wolfcub]

I have IBS (have since I was about 18) and I can remember it being very painful in the early years. True, you didn't have it before COVID-19, but it sounds as if your stuck with it now. That's one of the interesting things about ME, we tend to pick things up as we go along. IBS is a great favorite bestowed upon us, but we don't accept it graciously enough...or so it would seem. Perhaps lay off foods like cauliflower and other aggravating things (I could never eat cauliflower, for example), for awhile and then very slowly reintroduce them into your diet.

Thanks @lenora
This still hasn't gone away, though I get good days and bad days. I have the low FODMAP list and am choosing foods from that mostly. There are only three greens (kale, spinach, and boiled nettles) that seem to be okay, and bananas, and otherwise I am missing the healthy fruits and veggies I ate all my life!

I have to be really careful too as if I cut out too much fibre, I go too far the "other way" and belly feels worse for it.

The post-Covid belly ache is very much like what I have heard of IBS.

 

[Wolfcub]

Wolfclub, I don't have any answers but will commiserate with the bloating a few hours after eating dinner. While I had the bad virus (Dec/Jan) I didn't have digestive problems except for one short bout of D. I lost appetite and wasn't eating but once I started eating again after a bit things changed and I started getting the bloating. I can't seem to prevent and it's not causing a huge amount of pain (though a lot of gas - sorry hubby!), so I've decided to set it aside and not think about it for a bit. Maybe it will heal on its own. Sometimes IBS things come and go. (Meanwhile I'm more disturbed by the feeling really bad after pooping for an hour or few!)

@Booble ....I could have written what you said That's exactly what's been happening with me, except the wind gets trapped until the morning after sleep. Fortunately I can sleep and my belly relaxes then. Nothi ng helps except sleep.
The worst of this did start after my appetite came back after Covid. I had a couple of weeks or so revelling in "feeling tons better" and enjoying my food again. Wow....nice days they were.

 

[Wolfcub]

I have ordered some gut-specific anti-inflammatory herbs, and am waiting for them to arrive.
I don't have high hopes but will take them 3 times a day (tea decoctions) and then post back results after a little while, see if they help.

 

[Booble]

Good luck, Wolfie!
Keep us posted.