Genital Herpes & Constipation?
Posted , 50 users are following.
Hi all!
I contracted genital herpes earlier this year(March). To make a long story short.. during my initial outbreak I not only had a few bumps down there, painful urination, etc. but I also had a very strange pain in my tailbone and lower spinal area. It was almost a jolting sensation going off down there. I had done a little reading afterwards and it seems as though the virus may attack that area in certain individuals. With that said.. here's where it gets strange.
About a week and a half or so after my initial outbreak, I started noticing a slight change in my GI system and bowel movements. They slowly started becoming less frequent and I found myself unable to fully "empty" my bowels. I was bloated and constipated more frequently. I wasn't sure what was going on and explained the situation to my local doctor. I thought I had eaten some bad food. He had prescribed laxatives, increased water intake, additional fiber, etc. The laxatives were a bandaid solution at best just providing temporary relief.
Fast forward a few weeks after that and still no relief. I'm finding myself taking laxatives daily - sometimes double the dosage with barely any relief. At that point, I decided to go to a GI specialist. He ran numerous blood tests, took stool samples, checked for an obstruction, etc. You name it, they did it. Unfortunately, everything came back 'just fine'.
At this point.. I'm more or less losing my mind here. I've always been healthy, monitred what I ate(for the most part), drank plenty of water, took fiber, etc. And now I can't remember the last time I had a solid bowel movement. There isn't really any pain - I'm just severly constipated and backed up. The doctors that I've spoken to(very few) have stated that herpes should not affect the GI system. Then I came upon this study(for those of you who haven't seen it):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27281569
Yale research team believes that herpes virus may kill off colonic nerves causing constipation.
I guess the questions I have are.. who else has experienced this? And can it really be related? Any insight, advice, tips would be amazing! This has been a nightmare for me.
Thank you!
1 like, 100 replies
elizabeth52635 triton
Edited
Hi Triton,
I have been spending hours and hours researching what could be wrong with me and I did find the article you referenced. I was hoping against hope that it wouldn't be the problem I am confronted with. Then I found your posting and you are the first person to confirm what I feared.
I really don't want to think about what the future holds. I started 3 months ago with the constipation. New problem for me to be sure. Since then I have been in 2 ER's, seen seen 2 doctors there and my own primary care doctor and a GI specialist who did a colonoscopy (finding nothing). I have not been officially diagnosed with herpes but have been exposed and know I have it and have for a number of years. It is all these years later that this problem comes along and makes me wonder if I am correct in my thinking. i have tried 2 different prescriptions for motility problems. Neither worked. Am scheduled for a motility test next month.
I have lost 10 lbs., no appetite and using laxatives to make room so I can eat something.
I am just so very depressed with this problem. anyone know something positive to help me?
triton elizabeth52635
Edited
I'm sorry to hear you're going through it. The doctors I went to also found nothing wrong.. hence why I believe this is a nerve-related issue. Smooth Move tea worked for me and I ultimately made a (I think) 95%ish recovery. Stay positive - this will get better.
d98889 triton
Edited
i began to have constipation about 2 weeks after the first outbreak. its now 1 month later and i still have horrendous constipation. it caused horribly painful hemorrhoids that prevented sleeping for about 10 days. ive been taking 2 2/3 tablespoons psyllium powder daily, 3 colace, 6 - 10 prunes, 6 dried apricots, 1 chopped apple and orange, 1 cup sauerkraut, a few other vegetables, and little else - oh and coffee. i am able to have a bowel movement in the morning if i really concentrate, but the weird thing is i cant feel that its there. its also affecting my ability to tell if i need to urinate.
thanks for the suggestions of magnesium, prune juice, and the tea. i will get those today.
are you any better or found a good system for this?
pr46490 d98889
Edited
don't drink coffee - anything that has high arginine will start the constipation cycle again. I think what we all have that's being described is post-viral gastroparesis. The nerves heal when not being attacked by hsv, but the cycle repeats when you consume anything with arginine -- and coffee is the worst.
d98889 pr46490
Posted
thank you for that info
Juniper55555 triton
Edited
I, too have experienced this constipation with genital herpes for over 25 years with it. I have always just assumed it was one of the ways that the body tried to protect itself from pain during the first few days of an outbreak. by not allowing anything to pass rectally and painfully until you have antiviral medication in your system. I've often wondered how our ancestors dealt with the full cycle of their outbreaks before medication was invented to help lessen the disease symptoms of herpes. I once had an outbreak ten years or so after diagnosed and without medical insurance and between paychecks so I had to wait a few weeks before I could get an appointment out at the VA to get my medication approved and then finally go to the pharmacy and pay for it. I went through a whole month of the cycle with a genital outbreak and let me tell you how much pain that was, once the sores healed up and they do. the nerve pain hits your sciatic nerve down one leg and travels all the way down until it reaches your foot and comes back up and starts again down to the other leg and foot. This whole time the sciatic pain never left my hips. Now, to this very day, whenever I have an outbreak I rarely if ever have a sore on my genital area at all. I just get the sciatic pain and hip and legs pain during my outbreak. it's much more painful. but I still have the constipation with it. I'm personally one month past having an outbreak after five years of not having one and I'm still constipated.