Help knee replacement and NOW diverticulitis too!! Any relief pain food suggestions??

Hi Laura

I see you're new to this site. There's lots of helpful information here, from people who have learned from experience, not just the doctors who have had book learning, and no idea what it's really like. My background - Diverticular Disease (DD) for 18 years and a fractured kneecap a year ago - so similar problems.

As you've had diverticulitis before, you hopefully know to have a liquid only diet for at least the first 48 hours, followed by the bland white soft diet like mashed potato, steamed fish, boiled white rice, plain yogurt, baked skinless chicken, lots of liquids. No fibre for at least while you are on medication. Then introduce SOLUBLE fibre like plain cream of wheat, plain porridge, home made blended soups in small quantities, building up slowly. Avoid insoluble fibre (comes out the way it goes in like corn, peels, skins, pips, seeds). Keep a food diary of everything you eat to see if certain foods cause you pain. Everyone is different, which is why medical advise is so confusing (make that pretty useless), so you have to find your own way. I can't take gluten or fat, for others it can be dairy, raw food, red meat, all of which I can eat. So trial and error.

The pain usually takes 4 - 6 weeks to go, if it's straightforward diverticulitis. But if there are other medical conditions, or you have severe DD, it can take months. After my last 3 attacks, I had pain daily for around a year, and it was 18 months before I was pain free. I can't advise on pain relief - I take paracetemol, and Mebeverine (an anti-spasmodic). But you should NOT take NSAIDs like aspirin or Ibuprofen as they can cause irritation, which is the last thing your insides need. I remember the metal tast of the antibiotics well!!!

I presume you have been given exercises to do for your knee. I did mine whilst sitting down or lying on the bed at first. Just a few at the beginning but building up daily. It took me 2 months after having the cast off to get pretty good movement and mobility, and 6 months back to normality. I took it slow and steady. Best wishes

hi LAURA! Yes, i had both -painful surgeries-spinal injury, neck & back & diverticulitis at the same time. Clear soups worked for me, but i ate a lot of chicken soup too and lots of liquids, senna tea, green tea, lots of teas and lots and lots of water, sweet potatoes, all potatoes, all veggies. Yes there were mobility challenges . i couldn't walk. i went from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane all over a period of three years; now i walk without a device...... so the diverticulitis (which actually became a perforated bowel and i had emergency surgery --definitely not what you want, its life threatening ) at the end of the day wasn't really something i was too concerned about. i had other fish to fry like walking. you might want to focus on the walking too. the walking will help with the knee and the diverticulitis . its a win win