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Need some lifestyle help with DD

Posted , 6 users are following.

georgie82565
georgie82565

A few questions I have that I do not know who to ask:

I am progressing from the soft foods and low fiber to a regular diet.  I am not eating salad or raw vegetables yet.  I am cooking carrots, sweet potatoes, radishes, butternut squash, a few broccoli heads in the oven on 450 degrees for 25 minutes to add  some vegetables to my diet. I do not eat them all at one meal.  I have had sour dough bread without yeast with deli lunch turkey, only a half a sandwich at a time.  I am eating turkey tenderloin in the crock pot with olive oil and salt and pepper and cooked chicken and green beans and boiled potatoes.  I am ashamed to say I have resorted to a pop tart for breakfast and some canned fruit.  I have been a big old fashioned oatmeal eater for 25 years.  Now I am afraid to go back to oatmeal.

Anybody have any idea if what I am eating is okay?  I eat organic white ( Not wholegrain) pasta with olive oil and cooked vegetables and chicken.  

I am taking a 20 billion probiotic daily.  I have been off the antibiotics for 3 weeks or so now.  Do I continue to take it daily?  Do I need a stool softener if I am not having a BM every day?

I am eating small meals and trying to chew 22 times.  This is harder than I thought.  I am a school teacher and used to eating quickly.  This is a hard pattern to break.  I also find it hard to eat slow and chew well if I have gotten very hungry.  I need to be proactive on food and when and what to eat.  

I would appreciate any lifestyle help with increasing what kinds of fiber and when and anything else you can assist me with.  I have received more help from this forum than any other source.

Also I am from the USA and I see that several of you avoid "pips"  I am not sure what that is?  Potato chips?  

Does a stool softener need to be taken daily?  

Thanks so much for your help! 

1 like, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • aileen12415
    aileen12415 georgie82565

    Posted

    Hi georgie, I too have received more help from this forum than from any ‘Professional ‘ source. You posted this in the middle of the UK night, but I can predict that very soon you will receive some really helpful replies! I was diagnosed 18months ago, and I am still bemused as to what to eat after a flare up. However I have taken up advice from several particular followers on here, and it’s all been good. I keep a food diary, and have already identified some of my ‘bad foods’. The only thing I can tell you is ‘pips’ means fruit seeds etc and not Potato chips. (We call those Potato crisps). 

    I shall follow your discussion here and learn some more. I hope you soon feel better and avoid future flare ups as much as possible.

    Best Wishes.

     

    • ann55375
      ann55375 aileen12415

      Posted

      I have had what theynthink is an attack of diverticular origin.  It was pain in left lower bowel and my blood showed infection somewhere. Theybgave me flafyl for a week then i have to get a colonoscopy.  Pain was helped by flagyl but i have had a very restrictive diet since gallbladder out, mainly chicken or fish with carrots, mash etc.  I had to cut out gluten and dairy as suggested by dietician which helped.  I also have massive anxiety and have depression and my social life is very small,now.  I am so scared of scope. They say it will be virtual one as im on warfarin which is done via ct scan.  Do you or anyone here know about all this.  I am petrified of procedures and what they might find.  I have had nausea regularly for all the anxiety and gp says its related but diverticular is separate.  I am not sure, just want to run away.
  • Guest
    Guest georgie82565

    Posted

    Hi

    Sounds like you have got a pretty good diet regime going now.  I take out the insides of tomatoes and cucumbers and I avoid fruit like raspberries, blackberries (pips and seeds).  I have taken a daily stool softener since 2001.  It's not something you take occasionally to empty you out, but take daily. They do not work quickly like an emetic, but take a couple of weeks to establish a pattern in your system. I have found they have changed my daily pattern and I do go more frequently, but an emptied bowel is a good bowel, as long as you don't strain.

    As for probiotics, some people do take them daily to maintain gut health.  I certainly took them daily for 4 months until my eating was back to normal.  Oatmeal is a bit harsh on the tummy, but I have rolled oats instead, which I soak overnight before cooking the following morning.  Also rather than have canned fruit, I buy fresh fruit and freeze it, or already frozen fruit and let it defrost naturally - blueberries, melon, strawberries are my favourites, plus a baked mashed banana drizzled with maple syrup.

    I make a lot of soup which I blend smooth.  Squash, sweet potato, onion, red pepper (skinned) or carrots, stock, light coconut milk, and curry powder to taste.  Taken hot to work on a thermos flask and gulped down if you are hungry!!!  No need to chew.  Best wishes

  • susan95516
    susan95516 georgie82565

    Posted

    Hi. I have fybergel on a morning plus mabevarine and a probiotic tablet. I eat branflakes. I never eat skins pips seeds so no more roast potatoes with skins on   Fruit I can eat are pears skin taken off banana a little apple again skin taken off. No salad or raw veg. I do skin and de ceed tomatoes. I don't eat red meat because it's hard to digest. We are all different it's a lot of trial and error. Keep a food diary then you can see any foods that aren't good for you. Good luck 

  • madeline27614
    madeline27614 georgie82565

    Posted

    You are doing everything I do which Is great!  Try to avoid skins as in grapes and peppers and even peas..  My doctor told me they do not digest as in when you have a bowel movement they come out the way they go in.. if you can get the picture.lol

    I too watch the amount of hard to digest foods.  It is difficult.  Oatmeal is a hard one.  If I eat it I limit it to maybe once a week.  Meats in crockpot are perfect and if I have steak (I eat it only on occasion) it is a filet.

    Having this condition is not easy but you can do it with simple lifestyle changes.

    One more thing.  Do not get constipated!!! If you do take Miralax as often as you need it.  Constipation causes pressure in the diverticula and will irritate the pockets causing inflammation. 

    I tried stool softeners and I still found they were not enough.  Also tried Metamucil and it was too much fiber.

    I have to watch fiber. Too much is not good for me.

    Good luck. It’s an adjustment but I’ve been suffering with this condition for 20 years and there have been set backs but now and then They occur.  You never seem to know exactly what causes a flare up but I think it’s a built up if a few things and stress contributes.  Oh yes I do not eat popcorn, nuts and avoid seeds.

  • madeline27614
    madeline27614 georgie82565

    Posted

    One more thing.  I took  probiotics (Florestor) while I am on antibiotics but do not take them now.  Also if I feel a flare up I immediately go to a liquid diet for a day and use a heating pad in the area  gradually increasing soft foods.
  • Katealso
    Katealso georgie82565

    Posted

    Hi Georgie,

         A couple of recommendations keep a food diary stay away from onions,oatmeal if it’s more than 1/2 cup. Drink a lot of water. My Dr said to get a probiotic that has a billion cultures ... that was helpful! I had better luck using Miralax every other day rather than the stool softener.

    Good luck with your journey!

    • georgie82565
      georgie82565 Katealso

      Posted

      Thank you so much.  That is very helpful and especially about the Miralax.  I am always wondering- am I going enough?  Lol.   Do you think I will ever be able to eat salad again?  I appreciate your amount of oatmeal you suggested.  I have been an oatmeal eater every single day since I was in 8th grade!  I am 55 years old!  I am struggling with breakfast foods because I do not really like eggs or cereal.  So without the oatmeal I am lost.  What do you think about a bran muffin or blueberry?  Should I watch out  and not have too much fiber? I have not returned to wheat bread and I may not.  

      Salads are something I do not want to give up forever.  Also pizza.  I think I can give up most everything else but those two things!

      Thanks so much for your help!

    • Katealso
      Katealso georgie82565

      Posted

      Ok Mirax is a mild laxative not a softner. I thought the Miralax worked better for me. If I would go two days without a bm I would panic. Metamucil and benefiber are fiber supplements  They made me gassy.

      I haven’t had a salad in 18 months cuz I’m afraid to, I have read that Romaine lettuce may be a trigger. While you are trying to figure this out do a food diary!

      That’s so important. Pizza is tricky in the sauce they use may contain onions which can be a trigger also very greasy!I ate baked potatoes too not the skins though! When I tried a new food  I would eat a small amount  first to see.

      My trigger were grapes!! I miss them ! It sounds like you have a handle on things. I take florastor probiotic. For breakfast I eat yogurt, high fiber English muffin,pancakes or eggs. Hope you get relief

      Kate

  • georgie82565
    georgie82565

    Posted

    Thank you all for your excellent help and comments!  I can't tell you how much your responses to the questions of other people and also to me have meant.  There were days of pain when I read your responses to other people silently and it meant so much to know there were other people out there suffering like I was but they got through it. It gave me hope that one day my pain would pass.  Now that I am finally on the mend I want to be very careful not to be in that place of despair again with such pain.  I appreciate all the help on what to eat and what to avoid.  

    I am not on Facebook so this is my only source of help.  Thank you all very much for taking time out of your day to help others.  

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