Common & Uncommon Symptoms of Diverticulitis
Posted , 6 users are following.
Hello,
I was hoping to get some feedback from others on what their symptoms are like as I have been suffering and am trying to understand what is happening to me and whether it is an inflamed diverticular that hasn't progressed to the point of causing the typical symptoms you hear many people discuss.
I have had CT, MRI, UltraSounds, Colonoscopy pretty much everything available and all results have been normal. I have been diagnosed with the we dont really know diagnosis " IBS"
A couple of friends have suggested that maybe what I am suffering from is diverticulitis that has somehow been missed. My gastroenterologist has stated that it is possible to miss diverticulitis when having a colonoscopy so I was wondering if people have experienced any of the following symptoms.
The main symptoms I notice is my stomach will start to become distended and I will feel this draining or loss of energy, almost as if my life force is close to zero. Its like my body is using every ounce of available energy to push food through my colon which leaves me feeling very very weak. The other thing that is very noticeable while this is happening is also a sensation of a drained feeling under eyes. Not tired in the sense of feeling sleepy but again this feeling of loss of energy and under my eyes just feels heavy. My eyes themselves feels a bit sore also. The sensation I can liken it to is when you have been in a chlorine pool and opened your eyes underwater. Kind of feels burny and squinty. I also feel quite foggy mentally as this is happening. These symptoms are happening almost daily to me and it seems to be tied into when food is trying to move through my colon and it reaches a part that is narrow or has pockets of diverticular? On some days these symptoms can last all day and sometimes weeks and other days I can feel the symptoms subside and my energy comes back and my stomach distention lessons slightly. I dont get extreme pain with these bouts but mild pain up under my left rib and around to my back. Sometimes alot of belching. Constipation usually also. The distention when its bad also makes it very hard to breath and I look like a 9 month pregnant man. Overall I just feel very unwell.
I feel so hopeless and frustrated trying to understand what is happening to me. I just wanted to know if people have experienced any of these symptoms with their diagnosis of diverticulitis? Its horrible to feel unwell and I wish everyone on this board that they receive answers and healing.
0 likes, 6 replies
DanielBenjamin conrad13839
Posted
Conrad,
I have been through the whole ordeal, a year of chronic DV and then a resection over a year ago.
Can you give a few more details...
What's your typical diet? Are you a smoker or drinker or any other substances? Did you GI do bloodwork?
How old are you? Any family history of colon problems? Most of the time some big answers lie within these criteria.
Did the GI prescribe you anything to relieve your bowels? What have they told you to do?
Peace,
Daniel
conrad13839 DanielBenjamin
Posted
Hi Daniel
Thanks for reading my post and sorry to hear that you been dealing with health issues also, but hopefully you are on the mend?
Thinking back to my younger days (Im 45 now) I've probably had stomach issues but they have always been pretty mild and never impacted my daily life. About 5 years ago is when things started to turn. I started getting a lot of nausea and constant distention . After a while it was discovered my gallbladder was in fairly bad shape and unfortunately I decided to get it removed in 2017 along with my appendix. I was extremely sick and tired of feeling so horrible and was hopeful that this was causing all my issues and that I could get back to some sense of feeling good after the operation. It was a bit of a leap of faith really because I was desperate to feel better. It turned out I had a chronically infected gallbladder according to the biopsy of it. For a while things improved, the nausea eventually stopped and the energy zapping fatigue only occurred here and there.....I thought I was on the mend. Gradually the main symptoms i described above returned and now seem to be getting worse.
In terms of diet I guess its been the SAD for most of my life, and i have tried various changes like removing gluten and diary for small periods but unfortunately probably not for long enough to see big differences. I try and limit processed food but still indulge here and there. (the crap is addictive). I think with food I feel so overwhelmed with all the conflicting advice that I don't know what to think or do. Lately I have been keeping meals to small portions in the hope that it moves through me easier as I seem to feel this congested feeling up under my left rib/chest area and peristalsis seems very weak. I've been trying fresh juices and also including some psyllium and slippery elm. Not a smoker and not a big drinker of alcohol, although i will have a drink now and again. I'm now keeping a food diary to try and figure out if something is reacting in me.
My bloodwork was done and I do have elevated liver function results (High GGT). Doctors think this is fatty liver so I have been mindful of cutting back on fats. My cholesterol levels are above average levels and doctors have mentioned statins may been needed down the track if I cant control or improve it with diet. I currently weigh around 97kg and my GP said i should be around mid 80s for someone my height (179cm). My current gastroenterologist has advised against doing another colonoscopy at this stage as my previous one in 2017 was normal. I think I have had 3 colonoscopies in total over the course of my life. The current protocol I am on is stool softeners twice and day and psyllium to keep things moving. My next appointment isn't until January. There has been a few times over the last 6 months where I felt so horrible that I was going to go to hospital but as the symptoms eventually pass and I feel somewhat better i don't go. And to be honest I've spent so much time and money trying to get a diagnosis and not getting a result my faith in the whole process is low.
Today was another bad day, in fact this latest bout has been going on for weeks, its just varying degrees of feeling like crap. I cant even remember a day in the last 5 years where I have actually felt good or normal so to speak. As i mentioned I dont get alot of pain, its more of a soreness inside. I guess I am wondering if people with an actual DV diagnosis have odd symptoms like this? What was your experience like before being diagnosed?
Cheers
Conrad
DanielBenjamin conrad13839
Posted
Conrad,
I feel ya buddy. I take it you are in The UK?
I'll run down the short story of my DV history and see if anything rings a bell for you.
I was 40 when I had my first attack that landed me in the emergency room. They diagnosed me with DV after a CT scan. They prescribed me the typical run of antibiotics. 6 weeks later I had a second attack and gave me the same treatment. The next month I had one more visit to the ER and they just switched antibiotics on me. None of these ER visits did I have to be hospitalized. On that third ER visit they finally told me to go get a colonoscopy. I have to say that I was not living a healthy lifestyle for the duration of my 30's. Without saying too much a decade of drinking, smoking and drugging did not help my condition. After about half a year of struggling with total sobriety I finally came out on-top and began to treat my body with some TLC and returned to a healthy lifestyle. When my colonoscopy was done I was just starting my sobriety.
Colonoscopy results indicated that I had barrett's esophagus, some scarring from past stomach ulcer's, and diverticuli in my colon. I was still in a sort of denial and supremely timid about the idea of a surgery and thought that I would at least give it a good try with dietary changes, holistic approach if possible, etc... It seemed like a reasonable path forward for me.
About half a year later, after 4 more rounds of antibiotics, along with a new host of disturbing symptoms like urinary retention, I decided to finally schedule a resection.
The pain wasn't too bad but it was always there. I could never get the colon inflammation down completely, even with all the antibiotics. I was prescribed Flomax to help with the retention part. That stuff is no fun for several reasons:(
My surgery was successful and I am glad that I did it. There are challenges in the recovery and sometimes complications will arise here and there bc of the surgery.
I chose to get the resection bc my GI told me that my risks were higher for further complication with the diverticuli versus the risk of the surgery. I am 14 months post-operation and have had a heck of a time re-learning how to eat and maintain a mostly-calm gut. I am currently prescribed dicyclomine to help with the cramping that I was still getting, even a year after the surgery. Once I learned how to massage my scar tissue that was the single biggest factor in me getting some relief with my after-surgery complications.
jacob0373 DanielBenjamin
Posted
I had my resection Feb 12th before lockdown mate. I echo everything Daniel said. The recovery wasn't fun in my case. I think I have nerve damage, and possibly adhesions. However, I'm still glad I did it. I take Bentyl for the odd colon spasms. I was hospitalized twice before I decided to get surgery.
toknow conrad13839
Posted
Conrad, are you on any digestive enzymes?
janet01529 conrad13839
Posted
Hi I was diagnosed 3 month ago with diverticulitis. I can,t seem to get any relief what ever I do.I have been given antibiotics and steroids suppositories after trying so many things myself.Most of the time I feel as if I have a fever and the burning feeling I get in my rectum never seems to go away.I,d like to know if anyone has any tips on what I can do.I feel frustrated like you Conrad and I think it makes it worse not being able to speak face to face with a doctor at these times.I have spoken over the phone but can,t seem to get across how bad I feel.lets hope we get some tips.all the best to you.