Hi Legalbrat! In my experience -- which may not be the same for everyone -- this is absolutely normal. You wrote -- "I am learning that my lower left usually feels sore/mild pain before/after I have a BM" -- yes, precisely. Exactly. My bad attack was almost a year and a half ago now, but I still get the "twingy"-type pains in my lower left, and sometimes elsewhere as well, and am learning to live with it. I find that changing my diet to high-fiber, avoiding constipation at all costs, and getting regular exercise minimize the trouble.

Hope this helps and best of luck to you; it's an unpleasant disorder to have, but you're not alone, and it is manageable long-term. My grandma had diverticulitis/osis from her 50s at least, and lived to be 103. That's 103. Never had surgery; just managed with diet.

Josquin.

Wow that is inspirational Josquin. It seems that if I focus on it I can feel my two bad spots every time I eat something. Expecially heavy fiber items. Sometimes its a twing sometimes just senitive moving through there.

Are you having the pinching pain LegalB? Or does it feel uhm, like a rough pice of of bark going by your tender spots?

I cant tell - mainly feels likes little needles poking me... I am still learning which areas are my tender spots, like you say..

I can recognize it in my lower - but always unsure when it is in the upper middle or right sides...

???
I took Metamucil today and everythings changing!

How is it changing?

Legalbrat you put that so well thank you. I was told after staying on the bland diet that I could start eating things like beef, pork and more not so canned vegetables and well since I started doing that this weekend, my "sport" down on the left side has been more sensitive and the stool is not so soft was it was.

I made a hash brown casserole for breakfast Sunday with some real cheese and left over steak from the night before and well found that "grease/fat" of any kind does not make my stomach happy that was Sunday. Figured I would stick to light food yesterday so ate tomato soup and sandwich for lunch yesterday and well think the acid in the soup created gas last night (is it possible for it to do that if I have not been eating it?)

So is this the new normal, playing guinea pig with ourselves?

@ Uptown - It seems like yesterday when I took the metamucil - I did not have my routine; before I was able to set the clocks to any BM or symptoms and notice any aftereffects when I ate. Yesterday I was all-messed-up.
I drank a ton of water but still felt like I had to strain a bit... ? Whereas before I was so regular (on a low fiber).

I just want ot avoid any attack/infection and hoping that I could do that without high fiber. ??

@Hkitty - I cannot tolerate any fatty food anymore either! I qickly turn away from fast food... I have been eating so much chicken and turkey.. Granted that I am eating healthier; but it is a hard habitto kick when you are used to being able to "grab something" on the run... No more; my meals (especially at work) now require more effort (like taking lunch or coming home to have lunch or paying extra for somewhat healthier meal..).