Diverticulitis/Diverticulosis/IBS and Anxiety

Anxiety comes to a lot of us with this disease.  You must learn to live with it.  Losing 40 lbs is a lot.  We’re u overweight?  I have had many many flare ups and lose up to 10 lbs but I just go on.  Xanex is good for anxiety but you must learn to deal with it.  All foods don’t cause flare ups.  I believe accumulation of skins, nuts, skins and seeds do.  Cook with a crockpot as much as you can.  It cooks things softer than other methods.  Avoid raw veggies and meats but you must eat.  Use your crockpot and if you don’t have one buy one.  You want to live so don’t let this get you so down .  You can live with this!!!!

Oh yes the the med's can make you feel lousy as they have bad side effects, you have to eat and try to go on with your life, I have flares just  take them bad med's and I go on, pick your self up try putting your mind on something else, they say the mind has a lot to do the gut, I believe that. If I get stressed out I'll have a flare. make sure you get the rest you need and drink lots of water. God Bless

Also boiled veggies with chicken and blend them. I make it as a soup and drink it. Ensure with chocolate or vanilla flavor is good for protein.s and it taste good. I agree 100% that you must eat in order to get energy and to feel better. We are all suffering and it is not easy. I downloaded app on meditation and when I start thinking of my surgery, the surgery is in 4 weeks, I start listening to the meditation to  comes me down.

Hi vickie, it's me again, we had our colonoscopies last week, I thi K we are going to have to try something like yoga or mindfulness, maybe if we could be calm, then the gut my learn to relax, what do you think?

Hi Vicki. I'm not new to this forum either. You have probably seen my posts. I too have very bad health anxiety, and my diverticulitis went undetected, gastro doc thought I had IBS for years. Then infection last year, hospital, that has led me to surgery. I never thought I could cope with it, but I have. My psychologist said there is a place for drugs like Xanax etc for people like us. As long as it's not abused, it's fine to use it. And we need it. It's hard not to worry about eating etc, I'm the same, but just be sensible and eat well cooked nutritional foods. Having this disease and anxiety is really lousy, but you can get on top of it. Have you thought about counselling, to share your anxieties? It helps. So does this forum. It's great. Be kind to yourself.  See your weight loss as a positive thing for your health too. You can do this. And I am with you all the way! 😀

Sorry vickie, i read about the yoga and mindfulness etc after i posted my reply. Thats good you are doing that. My surgery was bowel resection with temporary iliostomy. I had what i now know as minor diverticulitis over the years ending up in hospital last November with a major infection. Did not feel at all right for months after, kept telling the gastro doc. He just wasnt listening. I suspect all along he thought it was my anxiety. So angry about that. Eventually i went and said i want somwrhing done, I'm not right, i know it. Long story but he did it, couldnt complete it, and i ended up going to see a surgeon and when he operated i had an abscess snd a huge ball of inflammatory material stuck to my bladder and my back. Hence the iliostomy to let it all heal. So you can imagine, all of that with anxiety too. I will have it reversed mid August. And the surgeon, who is fantastic, said i ashould be fine when i recover from that. I didnt think i would cope, but i have. Not easy though. Theres no easy fix for diver or anxiety. I think you are doing all the right things . Walking helped me so much( cant really do much of that for a while) made me feel good. And dont worry that you'll end up having surgery like me, i was very unlucky. Hang in there. Feel free to share anything too. Theres lots of sympathetic ears, and believe me, i know how you feel too. You will feel better .

After my bad infection last year my bloodwork was coming up fine, which is why the gastro doc wasn't listening to me. So I finally had the colonoscopy I said I thought I needed, and he couldn't get through. W have light anaesthesia here in Australia, so when I woke up he told me there was a blockage, and needed virtual colonoscopy, which is a scan after bowel prep, so the bowel is empty. That showed " suspicious lesion" that could not  be identified. I was terrified, although I've always had regular colonoscopies and been fine apart from one polyp and none on follow up colonoscopy. So until I saw surgeon I had to live with this diagnosis. He said I will do a colonoscopy myself. I can get through. So he did that, and bless him, immediately I came around  from anaesthetic he came to me and said, you don't have cancer. I was so relieved! When we had a chat later when he had finished all of his procedures, he said, I think you need surgery to fix what's going on in there. I said yes immediately, I knew I was definately not well. So it wasn't until surgery he found the abscess and the inflammatory mass( called a phlegmon I think) , that was all from diverticulitis. But as I said, I had bowel problems for years, and I think this was simmering in there. I had seen the same gastro doc all that time, thinking he knew his stuff. As a private patient too! So not happy with him at all. Honestly Vickie, I don't feel brave lol. It's a long recovery and another op at end of it( but much simpler) so I'm trying to see the big picture, which is better health at the end of it all. I'm usually very fit, 62, eat well excercise regularly, good health apart from this, so I have really struggled to come to terms with it all. the surgeon came highly recommended , and he has been wonderful. I'm 7 weeks down the track and seem OK, but dehydration is a problem with a bag so that's holding me back a bit. So I'm just like you, anxious and worried, but plodding along. I know just how you feel. I want my life back. Very difficult disease and the added anxiety thrown in is horrible. I hope we both feel better soon! 

Hi Vickie, how are you with the anxiety now? After suffering months with DD and the pains I started to feel better and like all of a sudeem wanting to get back to my normal life BUT then all of a sudden I started to have anxiety attacks and feel slightly depressed. Yesterday i had a bit of fibre and i woke about 1am anxious with lots of gas and active tummy and i just couldnt relax! I have heard that DD does cause anxiety and depression but this is a road i do not want to go down!