Diverticulitis Support Group
Diverticulitis is a common disease of the bowel, in particular the large intestine. Diverticulitis develops from diverticulosis, which involves the formation of pouches on the outside of the colon. Diverticulitis results if one of these diverticula becomes inflamed. Diverticulitis most often affects middle-aged and elderly persons, though it can strike younger patients as...
I’m 37 and was diagnosed with diverticulitis about a year ago. Went to the ER thinking it was appendicitis but CT scan revealed diverticulitis. Took antibiotics, had a colonoscopy, removed some polyps and verified sigmoid diverticulitis. After antibiotics it went away.
Have had about 5 flair ups since then and quite honestly I’m scared to death. It’s affected every aspect of my life, from work to hanging out with friends. I even fear traveling due to it causing a flair ups. It’s causing intense anxiety and there a days I can’t handle anything. I feel like a damaged soul now with nowhere to go for help and I haven’t found the perfect diet that will stop these flair ups.
Currently dealing with my second flair up this month and it's driving me crazy! For me a flair up goes like this:
3-5 days of constipation, followed by diverticulitis (intestines are infected) for about a week or two. What's weird about me is I try and fight the infection naturally because I don't want to build up a tolerance to antibiotics, so I will only take them if natural methods don't work. So far, aside from the first time I went to the ER and took antibiotics, I have been able to fight it off naturally with:
daily pre- and probiotics, MiraLAX, Metamucil, garlic capsules with each meal, and weirdly, because I also have ADD, Vyvance or Adderall in the morning to get my bowels "moving" faster. I will do anything possible to get my bowels moving during the first 3 days, because it's so painful I can't sleep and sometimes it's so bad I just lay there and cry. For me that's insane. I have a high pain tolerance and rarely if ever cry, but diverticulitis has ruined me. And earlier this month during a massive flair up I had to take a Magnesium citrate + Dulcolax to force flush my system and clear the blockage. After that it's a strict regime of the above, garlic with meals (natural antibiotic), pre and probiotics, Gaterade + lots of water, and Metamucil with meals.
I have to do these at different time during the day because Metamucil can't be taken 2 hours before or after other medications. It's a real pain and so disruptive to my life. It essentially makes me a useless human for about 2 weeks. After two weeks I was pooping about 10 times a day as everything was finally clearing out and it was glorious! The pain subsided and I "beat" it naturally.
And then, long story short, about a week ago I read that the Keto diet can help reduce flair ups. So I kicked that diet off with a 24 hour fast and, well, that didn't work out because I could tell by hour 24 my intestines started tightening up and now I'm back to panic mode and will be taking MiraLAX tonight in hopes of stopping the potential constipation looming.
I'm so scared! I hate this so much. When these flair ups happen, no matter how productive I want to be, I can't do anything but deal with what's happening internally. I start sweating, like cold sweats, my bowels hurt, and I'm just... I'm at a loss. I can't focus on anything else but this.
I feel like my life is going to suck now because I'm so young but have this nightmare of intestinal issues that I'll forever be dealing with, and I'm afraid it's going to ruin my life forever. I don't know what to do but after finding this site I'm just going to diary my journey here and and hope maybe others can offer advice or get comfort knowing they are not alone along the way. This sucks so much but I'm determined to find a way to figure this out and reduce flairups. Life just isn't the same since I got diverticulitis and I don't have anywhere else to go.
Anyone else tried a heating pad or other trick to minimize the pain? Is constipation normal with diverticulitis or is there a chance I have diverticulitis and IBS? They seem so similar, but I have been diagnosed with sigmoid diverticulitis and not IBS. Just curious why they are so similar.
It's good that you are trying to deal with it naturally first before antibiotics but remember if you have fever and severe pain, you need to take the meds to avoid a rupture and potential emergency surgery.
I'm curious though as it sounds like you continue to eat normally during a flare up. As far as I know the protocol would be to go on a clear fluid diet for a few days to give your colon time to settle down and then transition to a low residue diet for awhile. To me, taking laxatives during a flare up would aggravate it more but maybe that has been recommended to you instead of the way it used to be.
I did change my diet and went on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD if you google it) it is similar in many ways to Keto but was specifically designed for people with various digestive diseases/disorders including diverticulitis. It is very restrictive but it helped me a lot during the years I was on it. I still eat a lot of things that were recommended.
At the beginning of this year, I ended up in emergency twice with an attack. The second time was just after I finished the antibiotics for the first one. I had had enough so got referred to a surgeon who did a colonoscopy and found the six inch section that was causing the problems. Four weeks ago, I had laproscopic colon resection surgery and except for a bout of constipation, so far so good. If you have had multiple attacks and flare ups, look into whether or not you are a candidate for the surgery and hopefully you can get it done before it gets worse. I'm not sure how many attacks makes you a candidate but definitely worth looking into.
Hope things get better for you soon and definitely check out diet options. Good luck!
I have severe diverticulouis .I don't eat much, gave up red meat years ago. Have large lunch and small dinner, don't eat before bed.
Gastro says colonoscopy every 8 months or so.
Scared to have surgery, went to a surgeon who said it was not an easy surgery.
I take a half to full teaspoon of mineral oil at night, it helps some but a flare up only recovers if I take Cipro, does not go away on its own,
Certainly a depressing illness.
I se your comment was the newest and I am new here, but not new to this chronic disease some of us deal with.
So, yes, a heating pad is my best friend. Liquid diets when I have a flare up for about 48 hours, then slowly adding soft white foods in small amounts. I do hope you feel better, but I am right there with you in regards to how it affects my daily life.
As others mentioned before me, the generally accepted school of thought for diet during a flare-up is to focus on clear, easy to digest foods. Avoid solids. This should be a soup, pudding, and jello kind of time, possibly augmented with very bland, easy to digest foods. The notion of taking any kind of laxative sounds concerning. A flare up is probably not the time to “force” your colon to do anything except relax.
I plaid you for your patience and willingness to try natural methods of mitigation. I never have. You take a more conservative approach, but perhaps antibiotics more often or sooner may yield a little more responsive recovery and better quality of life?
Lastly, I also suffered with anxiety and depression for a while. I know how diverticulitis can feed fear. I’m not a therapist, but will suggest two things: Victor Frankl’s remarkable book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, which I recommend to anyone going through a difficult life struggle. Likewise, yoga helped me with both my digestive disorder as well as my emotional stability. It could help you too, possibly.