Happy Easter. These are tough times for all but hope we can make it through ok and enjoy the small things on the way.


I (34m) came down with what I reckon was covid-19 4 weeks ago. I woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and a shortness of breath. I then developed a tightening chest, fatigue and other generic viral symptoms. The shortness of breath peaked on the evening of day 3. I was worried about how my body would be able to cope if it kept getting worse. It was pretty scary, especially as I live alone. I phoned NHS 111 but they told me just to take paracetamol and keep taking lots of fluids. Sleep was a challenge without being able to draw deep breaths but on the morning of day 4 breathing came slightly easier. After that the fever ebbed away and breathing continued to improve bit by bit so by the end of day 7 it was back to about 95% of normal (just a subjective sense). I still felt some tightness in the chest but lung capacity was not a worry.


About a week after getting over the worst of the virus (so two weeks ago now) I started feeling nausea and fatigue. I then started to feel a dull pain on the right side of my abdomen, roughly between my belly button and my right ribcage, which I have had been experiencing since. There is an occasional stabbing sensation but mostly it is a discomfort, and it comes in waves. It comes on most commonly somewhat above the belly button area, just below the right pectoral muscle. Sometimes I feel it on the right side of my back as well. And sometimes these sensations spread to the left side of the abdomen, and lower down, but they are less noticeable. I phoned my GP who recommended taking antibiotics just in case I might have caught a bacterial infection.

I will phone again for further advice. I likely won't be able to be seen in person for a while yet (with any luck I'll be better by the time it becomes possible!) so I would like to be prepared.

At the moment I am just taking two Rennies an hour after eating - which is better than nothing but leaves a lot of pain and discomfort. I have tea made with infusions, fresh ginger and lime juice (it is acidic of course so maybe that doesn't help - hadn't thought of that!) between meals which seems to have a generally calming effect. I have tried antispasmodic medication but that hasn't helped - and it does say on the packaging only use for cases of medically confirmed IBS. I have cut out coffee, alcohol, tea (except green tea every few days), fatty foods and confectionery. Beyond that, I am a bit confused about food guidance as the foods that are contraindicated by the low FODMAP diet are sometimes recommended by diets to treat IBS - and vice versa. I guess I am just going to have to start safe, experiment and see what causes issues.

I have had gastro issues in the past. This was initially caused by an H. pylori infection which caused problems following on from a winter flu. This was six years ago. I was initially told I had IBS but after about 4 months they tried an H Pylori test which was positive. It took a while to flush out the infection with antibiotics - and then a while for my body to return to normal. It was about 8 months from the initial viral infection to feeling generally back in good health - so the longest bout of illness I have had by a long way. So IBS has been indicated in the past but it turned out to be related to this H Pylori infection. I have had mild IBS-type problems since then in times of stress but usually peppermint oil or antispasmodics and relaxation techniques have been enough to see them off. After that experience, I know that anxiety tends to go to my stomach. But this seems like the first problem I have had since then that I haven't been able to fix in this way.

What do you think I could do to narrow down the likely cause of my current problems?
What should I say to my GP to give the most relevant information?
What kind of foods or other products would it be worth trying? (I was interested in some kind of Aloe Vera juice I could order online for instance).

Thanks - and keep safe.