What is the cause, opinions please

Im the  same as you Susan I don't and rarely ever did eat junk food but I did gulp my food if I was in a hurry and not digest it properly especially when I was working I would also sit at my desk and eat, as far as going to the loo if I was running late for work I would always wait and not go until I was in work which I now know isn't a good thing so in my opinion all of these things haven't helped and age is another factor im 67 now and had my first bout in April. My consultant told me that most of the population have diverticular  disease but only a small percentage have diverticulitis

This is a medical article I found.

What causes diverticulosis and diverticulitis?

Experts are not sure what causes diverticulosis and diverticulitis. Researchers are studying several factors that may play a role in causing these conditions.

Fiber

For more than 50 years, experts thought that following a low-fiber diet led to diverticulosis. However, recent research has found that a low-fiber diet may not play a role. This study also found that a high-fiber diet with more frequent bowel movements may be linked with a greater chance of having diverticulosis.

Genes

Some studies suggest that genes may make some people more likely to develop diverticulosis and diverticulitis. Experts are still studying the role genes play in causing these conditions.

Other factors

Studies have found links between diverticular disease—diverticulosis that causes symptoms or problems such as diverticular bleeding or diverticulitis—and the following factors:

certain medicines—including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin , and steroids

lack of exercise

obesity

smoking

Diverticulitis may begin when bacteria or stool get caught in a pouch in your colon. A decrease in healthy bacteria and an increase in disease-causing bacteria in your colon may also lead to diverticulitis.

A second article

Your gut (intestine) moves stools (faeces) along with gentle squeezes of its muscular wall. The stools tend to be drier, smaller, and more difficult to move along if you don't eat much fibre. Your gut muscles have to work harder if there is too little fibre in your gut. High pressure may develop in parts of your gut when it squeezes hard stools. The increased pressure may push the inner lining of a small area of your gut through the muscle wall to form a small diverticulum. 

I would add to that.  I've had high blood pressure since my early 20's - genetic not weight related, as over half my family had it.  Also I didn't chew my food properly.  However I've always drunk plenty of water and followed a mainly vegetable diet - I eat a little fish and poultry but rarely red meat.  We always had meals cooked from scratch - little processed food.

So my conclusion is that there are multiple factors:  lack of fibre certainly in some cases, as nations with a high fibre, no processed food, do not have the same level of incidence, but also other predispositions.  I am from the post war generation where the diet was mostly vegetables, no junk food.  My cousin, who was born in the late 1920's also had this condition and he too had a high fibre, no processed food diet most of his life, but also had high blood pressure.  I am a non smoker but he smoked.  We both had weight problems from the 30's onwards. 

So we both had some of the suspected factors.  But my genealogy research has revealed quite a few family members had bowel problems, resulting in the need for colostomy operations.

I'm not a medical person so I can only think I'm the unlucky one in this generation!

I have been suffering with an attack that has lasted for months now. I didn’t have rage lower left pain either but the pain is always in my right rib cage. I do have a gall stone but the doctors say I have diverticulitis. I’m waiting or an endoscopy. I was stupid today and ate a packet of chocolate buttons and have been in agony for hours with cramps, pain in my right rib cage and waiting to be sick as this pattern has happened before. Excuse my ignorance but you mentioned colon. Is pain from there similar to gallbladder pain?

Well it can be. The gallbladder can cause a cramp pain upper right and the Colon can give cramps pain in any part of the colon, just air that can't escape. Wind is second in the pain scale to childbirth apparently. Gallbladder pain can also be sharp if a stone has moved from the gallbladder and is obstructing the duct. Sometimes the stone moves back into the gallbladder again.

Thanks for your reply, Susan. You’ve reminded me of an incident seven years when I was in hospital with gallstone blocking the duct. Another patient was in with the same thing and she said the pain was worse than giving birth and she had had three children! Didn’t feel such a wimp after she said that! 

Pas for me, I rang out of hours service at 4am and they said I maybe had a bug as well as diverticulitis. I saw my GP later and I have had a severe flare up plus norovirus. Yikes. She said pain in right rib cage is likely to be the colon. 

Grateful for your reply, if was reassuring 🙂

It’s a godsend indeed, Susan. So helpful to find people who really understand and can give really useful advice.

Good luck for Friday. Unpleasant, I know, but worth it to get results and find out what’s going on. Really think there should be an easier, less undignified way to find out 😢. Thanks for your support. 

My doctor told me that symptoms of diverticulae never pop up immediately. I was diagnosed with diverticulosis 7 months ago. My doctor told me that these diverticulae would have formed somewhat 10-12 years ago. He also told that one of the reason can be that in childhood if the person was many times suffering from stomach problem due to lumbricoides then such lumbricoides can also result into formation of diverticulae.