Diverticulitis flare up

Hi, for me you are describing the beggining of a flare up. You always hope its not that, but it ends up being just another episode. If pain its intense go to the Dr. Seek answers. You don't want a pocket to burst.

Hello!

Sorry you are feeling poorly! I am six months out from a second flare in 7 years.  It's a horrible condition! I got 2 doctors opinions to consider surgery, both were on the fence (I am in the US, surgery is performed more frequently here for DD)  After a colonoscopy, we decided to treat conservatively and not do surgery at this time.  I still have mini-flares like you are describing, but no fever.  Keep to fluids only for a few days, broth with collagen/gelatin peptides with some turmeric always makes me feel better. NO RAW ANYTHING!   I don't eat wheat, and only very little dairy.  I start the morning now with Benefiber and 2 big glasses of water (24oz total).  Drinking lots more all day.  I take a probiotic each day, and an enzyme tablet with each meal.  I believe I lack my own proper enzymes to digest my food and that causes the flare up in the colon; it is unable to handle partially digested food and is very easily irritated after the DD flare.  Both docs I saw said it's common to develop IBS along with the DD.  Lately I've had heartburn and take the low-dose Pecid AC and it has calmed everything down, including DD twinges!  I don't want to keep taking it, so I will have to ask my doc for some guidance.  Ultimately, each of us is unique and it's up to us to listen to our body.  I hope you find what works for you, seems to take forever to heal from these attacks!

While your waiting results try a warm heating pad on abdomen and do you have Bentyl? It’s a prescription anti spasmodic medication.  If you don’t have it ask for it?

Also with all those antibiotics you should be taking a probiotic.  Your intestines are really working double duty and you need to get them back to normal.

Eat very light.  But eat crackers, tea and soft foods .  Nothing heavy and xanex is good for anxiety.  Stay on this site.  We have walked in your shoes.🙏😘

Hi Vickie,

I had a few different types of flare ups. The most common was the general discomfort on my left side with a few sharp twinges here and there like someone was poking me with a sharp object. The other type would just hit me all of sudden whether I was sitting, walking or slepping and the pain was horrific. Felt like someone stabbed be with a knife and it would just drop me to the ground.

In addition to my lighter flare ups, my bowel movements were off going from constipation to very loose, but that was not always the case.

Once I noticed a flare up, I went on a liquid diet immediately for 2-3 days to give my colon a rest.  I would then goto a low residue diet for a week or so, eating smaller portions throughout the day. 

In some cases it helped, in other cases my flare up didn’t go away and I ended up in the hospital 3-4 times in a six month period.

My white blood cell was threw the roof the last time I had it, which put me in the hospital for about 5 days. Be careful and don’t wait too  long to see a doctor if it’s not going away.

In the end...about 7 weeks after my last flare up, I had surgery. They removed a little over a foot of my colon. That was on 3/22/18. It’s not a cure all and 15% if people will have recurrences after surgery...hoping I’m not on of them. However, this is the longest I have gone without a flare up, which has been great. 

I’m not one to push surgery, avoid it if you can, but sometimes it’s the only option. When he removed part of my colon, he said he noticed I was already having another episode, which I knew I was just a few days going into my surgery. 

There is a lot of info on this forum that may be able to help you. Everyone’s pain and symptoms are not always the same. Please continue to check with your doctor. I know there isn’t a lot about this disease out there, so these forums can be of great help. I also utilized the mayoclinic.org site for some info. Just type diverticulitus or diverticulosis in the search bar. 

I wish you all the best!

Rodney

Sounds like you need to look into surgery. I lived like that  for 18 months, 14+ attacks and constantly on the antibiotics.  Right now I'm 3 weeks out of surgery.  I was told that 1 more attack would've killed me. Yes the surgery is excruciating pain, but I would rather live a normal life.  The pain of surgery doesn't compare to the lifestyle and pain of Diverticulitis.