Diverticulitis or IBS ?

Hi all.

I have just joined and am looking for some views from people living with these conditions, rather than only from my doctors.

This is concerning one particular issue.

Before I get to that though, I would like to point out that I am a 59 year old male.

For at least 30 years i have had what I was told was IBS. Originally, it was very mild, and would only rear its head once every few years, and even then it was nothing to stop me working. As the years have passed by though, it has become more prevalent.

Then 3 years ago I had what I initially considered to be a very bad case of IBS, but after a short while became clear that it was something far more serious.

There was pain and bloating at first. I found myself floor walking, praying for something to happen, namely being able to go to the loo. This didn't happen. I was completely blocked up, and stayed in this dreadful amount of pain for a couple of hours, until finally I could at last go. It was D of course, but with vomiting too.

After maybe 15 lots of D, which by then much of it was blood. I was pretty exhausted and still in some pain. this was during the worst point in covid, and my GP surgery would not see me, until I literally begged them. Long story short, I was diagnosed with diverticulitis, as I had a bump protruding from my lower left abdomen.

I was whisked off to hospital by ambulance some time later, after a blood test the GP took, showed a very high rate of infection. After a few days in hospital, I returned home and gradually got my self back together. A few months later, the exact same thing happened again.

For the next two and a half years I was spared this agony, and although i still had some bad bouts of IBS, I didn't have a repeat of that awful infection in the bowel.

I did actually go to the local hospital after a particularly bad IBS attack, just to ask them to check my bloods for infection. There was none, and when I spoke to a doctor there, he told me that it must have just been IBS. He also said " You'll know the difference between IBS and diverticulitis because you didn't need to vomit.

I went along with this until on this new years day, I had the fully monty of diverticulitis again, and was landed in hospital with a bowel infection. I did indeed vomit, and was extremely unwell. But Ive since been checking with Dr google, and it says many people have mild diverticulitis, that can go away on its own.

So, I'm wondering if I am in fact having mild diverticulitis, between these big bowel infections of diverticulitis that land me in hospital, rather than it being IBS at all.

How would I know, the doctors at the hospital don't seem to know or care if there's no infection, they say its probably your IBS.

Do people have mild versions of diverticulitis?

Do any of you only ever have the full scale hospitalisation for several days diverticulitis?

And, are there any symptoms that would be obviously different from mild diverticulitis and IBS.

any thoughts appreciated. Thankyou.

0 likes, 2 replies