Does this sound like diverticulitis?

Thanks for the detailed reply. It seems like a lot of people here feel SEVERE pain when they have a flare up. My pain is only relatively mild and comes and goes. 

Is it more typical for diverticular pain to be constant or it more common for it to come and go? 

When it's just mild inflammation it can come and go as stabs, often with a certain movement like sitting, bending, stretching, lifting.  Certainly mine came like this, except when I was in an infectious flare.  Then the pain was severe and came over me in wave after wave and totally crippled me.  It was like birth pains.  I did find if I laid flat on my back and palpated my stomach quite firmly, I could identify the exact spot(s) where I had pain.  That would be the location of the particular diverticula causing problems.  People often say the pain moves around and I suspect that might be due to the location of multiple diverticula (although I'm not a medical person, just guessing).  Even now almost 18 months after the last flare I get the occasional stab.

I think I'm gonna try the liquid diet to see if that helps at all. I really want to avoid taking antibiotics if I can. 

If you are in the UK and there's no evidence of infection through blood/urine tests you are unlikely to be given antibiotics.  My GP won't prescribe them now, citing concerns over antibiotic resistance.  If you are in the USA, where money rules to line the medical profession's pockets, watch out for overkill where every test under the sun gets done plus some, and the surgeon is already sharpening the scalpel.  You are right to try and manage with diet and lifestyle changes while you can.

When your pain worsened, was there anything you ate or did that caused it to really get bad? 

Just to add to my earlier comment, in addition to my lower generalized abdominal pain, there are three exact spots in my abdomen where I experience pain on and off. Will see what the doc has to say this week. 

Yes, for me it was high fat and gluten, but everyone is different.  Most of us keep or have kept a food diary to identify our problem foods.  It can be all sorts of things, peanuts, red meat, certain tough vegetables, tomatoes, skins, pips, seeds, dairy.  I peel or skin a lot of my foods, but I can take dairy and a little red meat, where others can't.  Also until the inflammation subsided, bending and sitting hurt.  Trial and error to find out what suits you, I'm afraid.

And I see you've identified your hot spots where you probably have inflamed diverticula.  Cynically I expect the doctor will be of little help in managing the disease.  Because everyone is different, there is a lot of conflicting "do's" and "don'ts" and recent thinking has changed the advice.  It is less about food, although following a healthy diet with high soluble fibre still applies.  There is recognition that genetics and stress plays a part as well.  My Consultant did not even bother to see me, just sent a letter saying "only Diverticular Disease, a benign condition" and a leaflet identical to one I had 15 years earlier.  I would say just do what works for you.

I didn’t realize this was so diet dependent until inserted googling my symptoms. I was fine for a week and then I started eating steel cut oatmeal in the morning and the pain seemed to come back. I was also snacking on chocolate. Then I played tennis and it made the pain even worse. 

Garlic seems to help. And when I first had symptoms 3 months ago I thought it was an ulcer and drank cabbage juice and the pain went away.

I have rolled oats which I soak overnight, rather than oatmeal.  It reduced the harshness.  I know of someone who swapped All Bran for Bran Flakes for the same reason.  There's fibre and a more suitable type of fibre.  Chocolate - now that's a new one on me. 

Imagine if you had cut your leg, and it was healing but still red and a bit inflamed.  Then you ran around on it.  I'd bet it would hurt a bit - just saying "Hi, I'm not ready for this yet".  Your insides still have to heal, and that can take weeks.  Just think of all the bugs going round in your colon, and why you wash your hands each time you use the toilet.

My friend swears by ginger tea, and I like peppermint tea.  Also pure Aloe Vera Juice is a natural remedy that has been used for healing for centuries in the Canary Islands.  I used to take 2 teaspoons a day (it's revolting but seems to help a lot of people), but now I take a pure gel capsule daily.  Don't think I could live with the smell of cabbage juice - hydrogen sulphide or rotten eggs, if I remember my chemistry from 50 years ago!

Hi can we email please i have the same symptoms and was told i had colonic diverticulitis

Moderator comment: I have removed the email address as we do not publish these in the forums. If users wish to exchange contact details please use the Private Message service.

What are your symptoms exactly and how bad is your pain?  And what course of treatment did they recommend? 

I have sent you a private message.  Your inbox should be flashing a red spot - just click on that.