Newly diagnosed

Hi. I had my first flare last April. Then may, then June every time my menstrual started I had a flare.. I got in birth control and haven't had a flare since. So strange!!! While I was having the flares do a liquid diet for about 2 to 3 days to give your colon a good break then start eating small portions of soft low fiber food and slowly work yourself up to fiber. Keep your bowels moving though, walk if you have too. Then after your flare my main suggestion is move your bowels everyday .. some of us do pysullum I like apple cider vinegar one teaspoon in warm water and about 30min it works. Hope that helps

Hi,

Diverticulitis can be very tricky. I first got it when I was 49, ended up in hospital for a few dsys of IV antibiotics then home for 2 more weeks of oral antibiotics. Was good for about 6 years then the same deal. This past 4 months was in and out of hospital on IVs and home on pills. Long story short, i had a foot of my sigmoid removed one month ago.

My point is, you can have a simmering infection that gets knocked down by antibiotics but never goes completely away, or you might get lucky and it will go away for long periods of time if you go to the bathroom regularly, eat lots of fiber and exercise. If you are having a current attack, you first stay on clear lquids for 2-3 days consisting of broth, tea, water, gatorade, apple juice that is strained. You then go to full liquids- such as creamy soups-not chunky though, pudding, ice cream, grits, eggs, cream of wheat, ripe bananas, applesauce, stay on full liquids for 3-4 dsys then soft foods such as mashed potatoes no skin, rice, toast with white bread only, mac and cheese, baked chicken or fiish, cooked green beans, cooked carrots, zuchini or crooked neck yellow swuash. Stay on soft for 4-5 days then start adding back other cooked vegies and lean red meat. Low fiber for 2 weeks after your last antibiotic pill is taken. Then you want to start with fiber again. Drink smoothies, take benefiber or metamucil to stay regular. Diverticulitis is an infection caused by ecoli in feces that gets trapped in the diverticulum causing diverticulitis. Avoid sugar if possible. It feeds the bad bacteria in our guts. Drink plain kefir (1/2 cup a day) make sure it has 9 grams of sugar or less! Eat yogurt. Take a probiotic with bifidus bacteria in it. It keeps the gut healthy. Drink plenty of water.

Hi

Sorry to hear you have joined us with Diverticular Disease.  At the start of a flare up it is recommended that you stick to a fluid only diet with no fibre, to give your bowels a rest and the chance for the antibiotics to start working and your insides to recover.  For me this is clear soup, clear fruit juice, black tea.  Then I introduce things like yogurt and meal replacement drinks for the essential minerals and vitamins.  Once the pain starts to recede you can slowly introduce easily digestible fibre in the form of blended soups, vegetable puree.  

I suggest you look through this site for a post from Julia1040 which gives excellent ideas on diet.  Others of us have joined the thread and added our ideas.  Basically each of us is different and reacts differently to various foods.  So the best thing you can do is keep a food diary for a time and check your pain flares against what you have eaten.  For me the triggers are gluten and full fat products.  For others it varies - nuts, seeds, popcorn, red meat, dairy.  

I'm not a medical person, but I think you should be looking at food over the previous 24 hours.  I know it takes some 2 hours for the stomach to empty and start to pass through the rest of your system.  Infection is caused when food becomes trapped inside the pockets (Diverticula), causing the pain.  Unfortunately it can take time for the pain to go, from days to weeks or even months, as your insides heal.

There are supplememnts which some of us take which help to control this disease.  I get psyllium husk on prescription from my doctor.  It is a natural soluble fibre which bulks and softens the stools making them easier to pass and is a mild laxative.  It is just mixed with water and chugged down quickly.  Depending on which country you are in brand names differ (Metamucil in the USA, Fybogel in the UK, plus others).  Others recommend pure Aloe Vera juice which has long been used in the Canary Islands as a natural antiseptic and digestive aid.  In addition to these two, I also take a probiotic drink daily.  Since starting this regine, my symptoms have subsided dramatically and I just get the odd twinge (unless I eat a trigger food!!).

I hoppe this helps a bit, but you will find this forum full of good ideas.  Best wishes.

Mrsl try psyllium husk ASAP. You do not have to suffer any longer. What goes in must come out. It's simple and most folks in this forum need to understand that if you keep your colon cleaned out on a regular basis your not going to get waste trapped which causes the flare ups. Bottom line psyllium husk does that for you and the only downside is you have to go more often. The surgeon I visited was the one who explained this to me and I have never been back to see him. Take 2 teaspoons in 12 ounces of water twice per day once in morning and once at night. Do this and you will stop diverticulitis. One of the biggest user of it is Janet below aka Felinia. She listened to me and now takes it twice per day and all her pain has gone away.

Best of luck to you.