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...
About 15 years ago I was diagnosed with diverticular disease. I am now 69 years old and I normally have to go to the loo at least 4 times in the mornings (about every 30 minutes, sometimes more. For about the last 3 months I have had the feeling of needing to go to the loo more often but often just pass wind, this is happening mainly in the evenings and throughout the night causing me to only get about 2 hours sleep. Is this what I should expect with this disease and is there any way to get relief please?
Nights are the worst part. I get wind and spasms after about 3-4 hours sleep and it keeps waking me up all night. When its really bad I have shooting pains across my abdomen and to my rectum Through my doctor I have tried everything I know of including antispasmodics and the FODMAP diet . The latter never cleared up the symptoms but I now know what makes them worse. I take mebeverine when its bad. While it doesn't stop the wind it reduces the spasms of colic. The latest thinking is that using antiflammatory drugs such as are used in inflammatory bowl disease may be the answer but over in the UK its not prescribed.