Diverticulitis Support Group

To remove water from your body, you might try going on a low salt diet for three days. If you cut your sodium down to lower than 1500 mg you will be surprised at the weight you will lose if you are an average American - 2 or 3 pounds of water weight. If you use NoSalt - Potassium Chloride, you will balance the salt in your cells against the salt outside your cells (salt outside the cell is the swelling salt -sodium). You might be one of the rare people that get enough potassium and not too much sodium. You probably would not live in America if that were true.

You basically cannot eat anything pre-made - even bread. Eat only cereal that has no sodium. Do not eat anything baked because they use baking power - sodium acid pyrophosphate, and baking soda - sodium bicarbonate. You cannot eat out. Try eating oatmeal, eggs, meat (no cold cuts), fish (fresh from the market), fresh veggies, and fruit. Eating like that for 3 days cannot hurt you. You have my personal word on that.

Drinking water flushes sodium so it should help get rid of water retention.

Metamucil is full of other stuff like - Aspartame, Acesulfame Potassium, Citric Acid, FD&C Red No. 40, Maltodextrin, Natural Flavor.

It is only the Psyllium husk fiber you want. Try just taking that in its pure form. Konsyl is the only one I know of. You will get twice the active ingredient for the money and the misery with none of the mystery stuff.

I agree with getting your fiber from some other source. It has so many nasty stuff added in with it.

I have to tell you, the best thing I ever did for myself after getting my diver diagnosis was to purchase a vitamix! I throw just about every fruit & veggie into that sucker and whip up a fabulous drink that is chalked FULL of fiber (plus the benefit of the vitamins & minerals) and completely NATURAL! Even my 4 year old is a vitamix smoothie junkie too :) I love that I'm building such healthy habits for her! I guess that is the ONLY good thing I can say about diver LOL

I was going to switch from Metamucil because of the Aspertame anyway, so I'll look for the kind without additives. I'm in the 3% of the population that tastes Aspertame as bitter instead of sweet.

I was on a low-salt diet a few years ago when it was suspected I had an inner-ear disorder. I'll never do that again! I was so weak. I'd rather be puffy than weak.

Hi Sbtier,

I was worried when I suggested you go low salt that if you had low blood pressure, it could nose dive and make you feel bad.

My blood pressure was clocking at 160/110 at times before I went low salt. It is now 120/80 or less. At times when I stand up fast I get woosy because the blood does not get to my brain as fast.

You might just think about the salt you may have had lately. Maybe you had more salt than you normally do? When it hit me what my problem was I started my day with 2 Egg McMuffins 850 mg x 2 = 1700 mg
Lunch (2) 7-layer burrito Taco Bell 1300 mg x 2 = 2600 mg
Supper
Chinesse Food
3000 mg plus

No one can process that much salt - 7300 mg plus. 2400 mg is the high limit recommended by the USDA.

You must drink water to dilute the sodium while your body works on the salt load. Your body works more slowly the older you get. Some people can eat all the salt in the world and not have a problem.

I agree with the posters here about salt/sodium. When was the last time you saw your doc and had your BP taken? To be retaining fluid as you have bears checking out as you might have another (cardiac, kidney, etc.) condition which needs to be addressed and treated. Eating fresh fruit & veggies daily & less processed/canned foods should help you. You might also want to speak to your pharmacist about this as well. Perhaps you're having an allergic reaction to the additives in metamucil. I will not ingest any fake sugar like aspartame and read nutrition labels for sodium content, msg, aspartame, etc. Keep us posted and Good Luck!=)

Well, the water retention went away, I'm hoping it was just a period of adjustment. I have normal BP and I know I have no kidney problems.

On another note, I have found out that nuts don't bother me. Haven't dared to have seeds yet. I was looking at having sushi the other day, but they all had sesame seeds. I don't trust the little point on the sesame seeds.

To remove water from your body, you might try going on a low salt diet for three days. A simple and easy home test may be the key to maintainig good health. Saliva pH has been associated with a number of leading health problems. Learn how to monitor and improve your saliva pH with dietarry changes and nuritional supplements.