Still exhausted after my 1st Diverticulitis attack :(

thank you very much. 👍.

hello there! so i have had 3 attacks since 2016. the last two were within two months of each other. september and thanksgiving. this last one im still effects from.

how are you doing now? doc recommend surg ?

got diagnosed my first attack about 3 weeks ago ended up in the he hospital for 3 days with an abscess ive been pumped with antibiotics for the last 3 weeks is it still part of the healing to feel abdominal cramps after so much antibiotics some with the same peoblem?

Hi Georgie, just wondering how your doing..I had my 2nd diver flareup in 16 mos 8 weeks ago in Feb. Exp. Same reaction to meds but slowly regained energy and went about normal activity but continued to have mild spasms/discomfort esp before needing to use restroom, all the while using stool softener and probiotics. 2 weeks ago I rtn'd to GI and explained my discomfort at which time he suggested another course of antibiotics to which I resisted due to horrible way my body and mind reacted to them and the fact I could manage it with diet, probiotics and stool softener. Late last week had another ct-scan that confirmed small area of infection and now 4 days into 2nd course of antibiotics..

Hi,

I am much better in how I feel.  It has taken several weeks to get better.  I hate to hear you are on another round of meds.  I think the hard thing is knowing what to eat.  I am not eating much fiber.  I am taking a probiotic- 20 billion.  I am not doing a stool softener and wondering if I should be.  I am roasting my vegetables which I find is delicious.  I hope that is the right thing to do.  In fact I may post that as a question on the forum.  Now that I am past the initial attack and beyond the soft food stage I am fearful as to what to eat next for fear of another attack.  I am sure you know what I mean!  On the bright side I am walking every single day, and drinking tons of water and have given up soft drinks.  I am trying to look at the bright side of things- oh yes- no fast food. But sadly no fried food, no Mexican food, no Italian food....can you say " BORING"!   Oh and no red meat.  Chicken and turkey and then turkey and chicken.

Take care and hope you are much better!  At least spring is coming at last.  It has been a long winter battling this.

Funny thing about this disease, food choice for recoveries sake seems pretty clear but what may actually cause onset of flare-up not as easily understood..studies show nuts/seeds not so much the culprit as they were initially believed to be but I still caution against them as I know almonds were a large portion of my diet before last flare. I guess the way you prepare your food, chew it and portion size all play into the equation of healthy maintenance as well as proper hydration, probiotics or naturally fermented foods and activity all as well. Thanks for your response, be well and may God Bless.

Roasted veg are good, and tasty as you say!  I too avoid fatty and spicy food, but I can eat pasta and rice with sauces, so wondered what you meant by Italian food - I do avoid pizza, but did you know if you get a chicken breast and bash it flat, you can use that as a base, and put your toppings on that - some strained tomato sauce, mushrooms, roasted skinned de-seeded veggies, spinach, grated mozzarella.  Is this giving you ideas?  You will slowly regain your confidence as you continue to improve - read Susan95516 posts as she had exactly the same issues last year.  She started small trying the odd mouthful of things - I think her breakthrough moment was 2 chicken nuggets!  Take care not to become complacent as that is when you get a flare - the voice of bitter experience and taste of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (sob, sob).

Why no Ben & Jerry's ice cream? I am so glad I found this site because reading the forms from everyone who is dealing with this helps me more than what instructions I got from my doctor. I was on a bland diet for 3 days and got so sick of it I finally ate some biscuits and gravy and hash browns. That was three days ago and so far so good. But I'm scared to death about what I eat and don't know how to plan a diet around diverticulitis. Most of the stuff I read says that a high fiber diet helps reduce chances of getting another attack but has anybody had experience with that and how soon did you introduce the fiber after your attack? Any information would be helpful. Thanks.

Hi, thought I would reply about the stool softener. I have been instructed by several trusted docs to take benefiber every day to keep regular. There are a lot of foods that really are not good for us; the typical western diet is extremely bad for us; I have a good overall diet, but found something called the FODMAP diet. It is a diet that is quite restrictive in some ways, but cuts way down on the gas and bloating. Anyway, thought I would mention it. I am still in the beginning stages of reading about it, and am careful to see what site I am on while doing it. I totally understand how scared you are about eating ANYTHING!!! Hope you are well!

agree with FODMAP, but I only react with some fruits, or milk. (wheat not so bad). still helpful stuff though. thank you.

The thing about the nuts and seeds updated and multi grain bread have them both

Hi

Regarding surgery, in the USA some surgeons are very quick to want to start chopping.  In the UK surgery is only done in emergencies or for very severe Diverticular Disease which seriously impacts the quality of life.  Otherwise it is managed with diet, lifestyle changes and medication when necessary (including daily stool softeners).  I've managed quite successfully on diet and daily Fybogel since 2001, and had just 3 attacks between 2001 and 2016. 

If this is your first attack and you are recovering I would strongly advise against surgery at this time.  It is not the "magic cure" as DD can recur elsewhere or lead to other complications like a hernia or adhesions.  Don't be conned by the "preventative" speech unless they can prove you have very severe DD and are at imminent risk.  Seek further opinions if necessary.  But for some it has been essential and very successful, so never say never - it depends on individual circumstances. 

As for diet -  at the first sign of twinges liquid only for 48 hours to see if it settles.  It normally does the trick.  If it develops into an attack, liquid only until the antibiotics take effect, then a low residue diet (ie no fibre, just lovely mash, steamed fish etc).  Time to start probiotics to replace what the pills have stripped out.  After a week approx slowly introduce soluble fibre and slowly build up until you are following a healthy diet with soluble fibre, well cooked, thoroughly chewed and small meals.  In other words what all doctors advise for everything!!  If a food upsets you don't eat it.  Best identified with a food diary.  Many people find they can no longer eat certain foods but everyone varies so there is no definitive list, you just have to try and identify your trigger foods.  For example mine is gluten, but I can eat a little red meat, which is lethal for others.  I live a normal life and continued to play competitive sport for 10 years after diagnosis, and then power walking for exercise until my hip gave out.  All the best.

You just sound like me i had colonoscopy which they couldn't complete due to diverticula disease, then had ct scan which showed i had severe DD in my most of my bowel, I'M in uk and the wheels turn very slow . I saw the consultant two weeks ago he said need a bowel resection and non reversible colostomy. devasted in a word i was just having a small flare up at the time he just said low residue diet no indication for how long told me to go to GP so i did but they couldn't advise as no report from consultant,

various low residue diets conflict and i'm now getting bunged up i'm totally fed up of bland white food i want some spice and tAste,i cant get referred to a dietician wither till they see report argh!,,,,,,

I laughed at the list of what you have been told...same here - my experience and from reading here, recovery time is much longer than what physicians are telling us, as well meaning as they may be. I was told I would feel much better after 48 hours on antibiotics - not true at all. Have been on them for 20 days first round, 7 days of a different one the second round and still not so great. Better, but not ready to get back to regular activity at all.Someone in this forum has posted that it is a lifelong situation, and that unfortunately has been my experience (at least this past year, 2 cases within 9 months). I am looking into something I found called the FODMAP diet which lowers overall gas and bloating; sounds interesting and hopefully I will find something good to share.

Yes it’s amazing isn’t it that these doctors go from different viewpoints. I had a surgeon said I didn’t have diverticulitis or maybe talk to the G.I. and that he didn’t think I needed antibiotics. Well I did and it was my second bout in the hospital three weeks after the first one and I believe both attacks could’ve been avoided if they had find my abscess in the first place instead of me trying to stomach milk and bread for two months without any fiber Or vegetables or anything else that might’ve helped so my recommendation is to read scholarly articles and look for similarities and overlaps. The first hospital visit told me not to eat seeds or popcorn or anything like that and the second hospital said oh that’s old analogies you can eat what you want so just take it day by day and log what you eat and see what bothers you or not Good luck

Feel free to share anything you find as well; I read quite a bit and watch videos on the topic to gain understanding - one doctor or article says one thing, then I read or hear the exact opposite by someone else; I am seeing reputable, caring physicians - high fiber is definitely recommended, but at the same time also causes bloating, etc. So if you learn anything, please continue to reply! Thanks for your thoughts!

onion, garlic, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, beans, & apples...were on the "no-no" list at a FODMAP site. that's due to bloating that they cause, when digesting. hope that helps. I personally experienced my worst attack, after semi raw garlic. Soooo bad.

You need to be very very very very careful old with you I stay on the low residue diet until you can tolerate fiber in your doctor advises that article stop there because they couldn’t complete the colonoscopy that is very serious

I was diagnosed via CT Scan last Wednesday. I was told by the ER Dr. that nuts, seeds, popcorn and rice are ok. The next day my Physician called to follow up. Told me the exact opposite. Trying to make sense of all of this and not only am I confused but im petrified to eat and starving! So far im drinking lots of fluids & broths. had a couple scrambled eggs and a few crackers. 4 days in...I gotta eat something more substantial but totally freaked out as to what it should be......uuuggghhhh

How are you doing now? Interesting post, I'm considering surgery but really don't want it until I need it... but since October I've really been struggling and don't want it to be like this forever (I'm 44 now).

Interesting post - any info on the diet that works for you? I get the need for a food diary, but wondered if there's any tips you found?

Hi, i m finding out the hard way what i can eat or not - porridge is excellent, yoghurt, bananas, scrambled egg.

advice is really contradictory but that seems to reflect how variable this is for everyone.

definate no nos , meat and coffee. I t s been absolute hell.

How about garlic or onion powder for cooking? Do you know if thats okay?

This forum is so helpful. This was my first attack of diverticulitis and it shocked me how much it wiped me out! Of course, the antibiotics didn't help. This is the first day after finishing them and I'm determined to regain my strength! I plan to begin by walking for ten minutes and increasing the time slowly over a period of a few weeks. Diet wise, I'm struggling, but the terror of a flare up keeps me humble. I love chicken, so that's not a problem. I was wondering about fish, especially salmon and shellfish. I realize salmon is fatty, but hope I can get back to it eventually. Anyway, I saw your post about going to a GI specialist and was wondering if he ordered more tests, like a colonoscopy. I had one two years ago and dread having another.

I hear you, the toughest part is the speculation. It's kinda scary not to have a game plan, I mean, how do you function when there's no direction?

I just got out of the hospital and was on antibiotics and whatever else they could throw at me. Completely wiped out from the whole adventure. haven't pooped in almost a week (that's especially scary with a readmittance hanging over my head).

that's why a lack of prognosis is so frustrating

can totally relate to being freaked out as to what to eat. i was in hospital for 5 days, the whole experience knocks you out and it's something you don't want to repeat

I had (and I'm not recommending this) instant potatoes, mac and cheese and tapioca for a first real meal it went down ok but I honestly don't know what my body's going to do. so far so good but I haven't gone to the bathroom in almost a week which feeds the fear. they told me to get miralax to get things going, tried it today and nada. anybody have any experience as far as what to expect over the next week or so. because it seems to be like I can expect almost anything, which doesn't sit well

Garlic powder has been fine for me. Haven't tried onion powder. (My Hx: first attack, very recent, no complications.)

Hi,

I know that this chat is old but I am just looking for a bit of advice.

I have just been discharged from hospital yesterday following first acute attack, I have been diagnosed for 2 year but been able to manage the attacks with oral co amoxiclav before I only went seek care as thought it was appendix the pain was severe, I have a follow up colonoscopy 6 weeks. CRP levels in bloods were peaked at116 then reduced to 53 discharge.I am really struggling tiredness and intermittent pain. Can I elect hAve the resection of the bowel? I am 36 and do not to pain anymore.

Always been healthy weight diet but this disease does not seem to care.