Yes your feelings are completely normal. I find first three days of a flare up its a liquid diet. After that slowly introduce soft foods like mashed potato, banana if you can tolerate it, soups and very soft vegetables. The key for me is to chew every mouthful so well it's like a paste before I swallow. Think of your digestive system trying to digest what you are eating and putting the least pressure on it that you can. So what's really working for me is not mixing starch and protein foods. It's not easy to manage, so meat and veg but not meat and potatoes or meat with rice and pasta. I am 6 months clear of a flare up and keeping my fingers crossed. I have given up red meat completely and just eat chicken and fish. I avoid nuts, especially seeds and corn and mastic ate my food. Good luck it will improve xx

I know I sure had the same fear! In fact, even after having the colectomy I was still afraid of eating, though my surgeon said I would no further dietary restrictions. I truly lived on soup and mashed potatoes.

It has now been a year and I had my first corn, some peanuts and even popcorn, and I have been fine!

I'd recommend going back on solids very slowly!

These are the foods listed for the Mayo Clinic Diet for Diverticulitis. I've never heard a complaint about this diet.

Diet details
A diverticulitis diet gives your digestive tract a chance to rest while your doctor treats your diverticulitis. By limiting yourself to clear liquids and slowly adding low-fiber foods to your diet, your digestive tract has time to heal. Diverticulitis diet during an attack Your doctor may also recommend that you stick to a clear liquid diet for two or three days.
Foods and beverages allowed on a clear liquid diet include: Broth, Clear soda, Fruit juices without pulp, Ice chips, Ice pops without bits of fruit or fruit pulp, Plain gelatin, Plain water, Tea or coffee without cream.
As you start feeling better, your doctor will recommend that you slowly introduce low-fiber foods
Low-fiber foods include: Canned fruits, Desserts without seeds or nuts, Eggs, Enriched white bread, Fruit juice with little or no pulp, Low-fiber cereals, Milk, Yogurt or cheese without seeds or nuts, Smooth peanut butter, Tender meat, poultry and fish,White rice or plain pasta, noodles or macaroni, Well-cooked vegetables without seeds or skins. You may need this low fiber diet for a couple weeks OR MORE before slowly starting back on the fiber foods.
Also it is extremely important to eat tiny mealsabout the size of half a sandwich. To much food can also cause a good amount of pain. Good luck, I sure hope this helps.
Soluble fiber is much easier on your gut so it may be better to start with things like oat bran or oatmeal rather than veggies like broccoli. Everybody is different.
I wish you guys the best.

Thank you all for responding. I feel better knowing that others have had the same feeling. I don't have an eating disorder but this makes me feel like I do. I slowly am increasing the soft foods and have graduated to eating some chicken. So far it's going well. I've been eating lots of mashed potatoes and tried some canned carrots as they are softer. And, I have been chewing and chewing and chewing my food up so that it is easier on the rest of the digestive system. :)

If you follow the Mayo diet when you have an attack, you will never have to be afraid of food.

I am 6 weeks out of my last attack, & I still don't want to eat. to be honest, the only reason I end up eating is because I am a 35 year over eater. it is very hard to change from one way of living so long to such an extreme diet as the one for diverticulosis. I have found that the Mayo Clinic Diet the clear liquid is extremely helpful when I am worried if there is a problem. I am glad I am NOT the only one that feels this way.

I'm in a second diverticulitis crisis this month.... Not sure if I went back to full foo too quickly, but CT scan revealed a new and different afflicted region 3 weeks after the 1st one. Needless to say, I've been eating very little, and mostly clear soup, jello etc. Last night, as I am better (4 days into the antibiotics - fever gone), I decided to make a squash purée, and a bit of poached fish with plain rice. I ate bout 6 spoonfuls of soup, and 2 bites of the fish and my stomach cramped up as if I'd over-eaten. The thought of eating any more was terrifying. This morning, it took me 4 hours to get the courage to eat a piece of toast with jelly. It almost feels as though I have developed food phobia....

I came across this on Facebook-called Pain Free Foods Support Group. They also have a website:www.diverticulitispainfreefoods.com They use a combined way of eating and you can’t eat certain foods with other. I ordered the book and started the plan. I also keep a food journal to see what is causing my flare-ups. After coming off the liquid diet- go on soft (but no raw or meat for 2 weeks) Believe me its a different way of eating, but I get a lot of recipes off Pinterest ( I went vegetarian). I also take 2 different Probiotics, Udo’s oil 3-6-9, Turmeric, Magnesium, K2, COQ10, a greens powder, slippery elm, before I eat at every meal, and just started CBD oil. I feel great now, it took some time like I said to figure it out, but NO SURGERY for me. And those antibiotics, I tell the hospital I’m allergic to them (they are awful). Get the book and do the way of eating, its explained in the book, we are different then normal people and will have this disease for life, so try it what have you got to lose- Good luck!

I'm on day 5of antibiotics for flare up and I understand your fear ..I am eating Jello and soups as I am not healed yet and the antibiotics make me sick to my stomach

I feel the same. I went outside of our medical group to a dietician (paid for her myself) and feel a bit more confident. I am on a soft food diet for at least 3 weeks now to see if I will heal. Lots of water. Bone broth and soft proteins. I am hopeful, but last night I had cramping all night, which has scared me. 3 attacks in 2 1/2 months, with 2 rounds of antibiotics. You are not alone in your fear.

Manuka honey in tea is great .Have it evert day

Skip the pre processed and box crap the fda falsely calls FOOD - cook from scratch!

Skip the pre processed and box stuff the fda falsely calls FOOD - cook from scratch!

Since my first attack about 6 weeks ago (I had no idea I even have diverticulosis, let alone this evil thing that showed up on a ct scan), I have truly become afraid of food- I don't know how else to describe it. I constantly have this thing running in my head that says, "If I don't eat it, it can't hurt me". I had no idea that at 53 years old I could develop an eating disorder, but I'm worried that's where I'm headed. The portions I put on my plate seem to be getting smaller, but I've noticed that I'll kind of spread them out so that my husband thinks I'm eating more than I really am. And I'm almost never hungry anymore.

I am 46 and just had my first bout of diverticulitis with an abscess the size of a softball. Had they drained and drain in for almost 2 weeks after. On oral and IV antibiotics and pain is gone. White blood count is back in normal range. The doctor said to reintroduce fiber slowly but I am so afraid of another flare up. I’ve been adding some type of fiber each day but just very anxious about eating the wrong thing. Worst experience of my life. Hope to have surgery in 6-8 weeks to remove bad part of intestine. Any advice is greatly appreciated.