Eat nuts and seeds?

I can't imagine where they get their crazy ideas.  Isn't there enough patient documentation on what causes flare ups?

I skip them. Not worth it.

Vivian

hi christine.

​i just got out of hospital after  my first diverticular infection and am investigating foods to eat. What do you mean by skins?Apple peel?chicken skin? what veges are good?i think broccoli got me into hospital LOL .Cabbage,brussel sprouts,lettuce ,OK.?

No peas,corn,tomatos,?

 

That's what I don't understand...your gastro says diet is irrelevant for attacks, but there is all this evidence that foods are bothering people.  Maybe it's because, as with fibromyalgia, they can't put their finger on one certain thing and say "Don't do this and you will be fine", so they say, "None of it matters just be careful".

I find, for myself, I can eat all manner of berries, including strawberries, but seeded grapes and any larger seeds or nuts will cause a flare.  I was very meticulous about not eating them until I recently read a report saying that they were okay and flares were probably all stress related. Silly me to believe anything I read.

The gastro is in the business primarily of doing operations and dishng out pills after a diagnosis of the problem has been made. She wants to cut me open (well at least make a small hole) and whip out 6 inches of my descending colon. Diet related solutions just do not figure high on the list of prefered treatments for conventional medicine. It is primarily about intervention rather than prevention. I have not taken the pills she gave as I don't see the point of taking something with side effects that will give you other symptoms unless absolutely necessary. If a modification of diet will work that is preferable. The problem is that everybody is different and it is probably difficult to make hard and fast dietary rules with this condition. I was diagnosed with a couple of small divvies in 2001 when I had a barium enema. My symptoms were pain in the bum and I had a coccyx problem but my gp wanted to make sure there was nothing more sinister going on. For 13 years I ate what I wanted - home made bread stuffed full of pumpkin and sunflower seeds, dried figs nearly every day, gorged on berries and fresh figs from the garden when in season, handful of nuts every day etc with no problems then ended up on a drip in hospital last year with first attack. But I had had a motor bike accident resulting in very painful bruised ribs 5 weeks previously and the pain in my abdomen (which I thought at first was food poisoning after eating scallops) started about 3 weeks after the accident. And it was fig season! So was it the stress of the accident, taking painkillers which I hardly ever take every day for 10 days, or pigging out on fresh figs that caused the attack? Impossible to tell. But since I have had 3 minor flares two of which were associated with seedy food and one with eating too much (Christmas!).And I have low grade twinges quite a lot. So I prefer to be careful about what I eat.

You know your body better than any doctor, I don't care what they think!  From everything I've ever been told by doctors in the States and here in Poland, stress plays a huge role in this (and many) disease.  I also have fibromyalgia to contend with, so after having a very stressful August, I should not be surprised that I'm having a flare now.  I also ate as I damn well pleased including seeded breads and desserts with poppy seeds.  But, of course, that was sheer stupidity on my part.

I find that following a lower fat and hardly any meat diet works best for me.  My gut is okay with roughage, but not nuts and seeds.  I also try to stay clear of fried foods and dairy except for yoghurt and some hard cheese.  I'll cheat once in a while and have some ice cream, but it's not a favorite.  

I haven't been this bad in quite a while, so obviously I cannot eat seeds.

I agree with you about knowing your body. You find out what works for you and what to stay away from.  Stress plays a huge part in this disease definitly and the bad foods makes it worse. I don't think doctors can pinpoint what to do with this disease because everyone body responds differently. So trial and error is what really lets you know what diet to do.

I think fibromyalgia is made much worse if one is deficient in vitamin d or if one has reduced thyroid function. Have you had your levels for these hormones checked? Vit d is actually a secosteroid hormone rather than a vitamin.

Madge, I am hypothyroid, and vitamin D and B12 deficient.  I take supplements for both.  I actually take a full range of B vitamins and magnesium to help with the fibromyalgia.  I am somewhat better since I started this regimen.

Me too! My thyroid meds (I was on T3 as well as levothyrox) were reduced by the cardiologist at our local hospital in August after an attack of atrial fibrillation so I am worried about constipation. I can't get to see my endocrinologist till the end of November and I am hoping she will let me go back on the T3. I live in France where the healthcare is very good. My GP prescribes vit D drops which work much better than the tablets I used to get from Boots in the UK. Also the levels of what is considered adequate are higher here than in UK. I take magnesium as well now that I cannot eat dried figs every day to help prevent constipation. I find ginger helps as well.

Ginger is great for the tummy.  I also drink Masala chai which is loaded with spices that my acupuncturist said were perfect for digestion.

I take 2000 mg of vitamin D in a gel tab and the last time my levels were checked in the States they were back to normal.  I have no idea what is considered normal here in Poland, but I'm sure I'll find out someday.

Here sufficient is considered to be between 30and 100 ng/l. That's a very wide difference. Studies in Africa have shown that the average for people still living a traditional lifestyle like the Masai ie wearing very few clothes is about 49 ng/l. Most vit d researchers reckon you should not let it fall lower than that and that levels round 70ng are not dangerous. On 2000 a day of the Boots tablets I could barely keep mine in the sufficient bracket though my husband had no problems. Six months on the drops at the level the doc prescribed and it shot up to 76 ng despite the dosage being only 800. They are a very powerful form of vit d as they bypass the first processing by the liver and are ideal for people whose livers are maybe functioning below par. I find I get very bad tendonitis if my vit d drops too low.

Yes, I was having problems with tendinitis before too.  Definitely have to be consistent with the supplements.  Studies in the US have shown even people in Florida are deficient because none of us spend enough time outside anymore.  I recently bought some granules at a health food store here.  You put them in water.  They're supposed to work better.  I'm going to start on those and give the gel tabs to my husband since we've been sharing them.