Diverticulosis - Anyone Got this too???

Hi - I'm new on this site but I really feel so alone with this problem.  Earlier this year (after years of symptoms) had Barium Enema which showed multiple 'diverticulae' all through the large bowel.

Symptoms I have are horrendous bloating, crampy sharp pain lower left abdo when constipated or trapped wind.  I don't actually have diarrhoea but very loose stools and the need to go frequently alternating with constipation - I swing back and forth.  Stress, sitting all day in the office only makes it worse.  Not being able to 'pass wind' when one's body says so results in bloating and cramps.  The bloating eventually makes me feel nauseated and not keen to eat as I feel I'm just 'filling up' and it's not passing through anywhere!

Although the diagnosis was given earlier in the year, so far I was not been given any meddication to cope with the alternating loose stools, cramps in fact all the symptoms you get when you have a nasty tummy bug.  Then also the other side of the coin when having experienced a week of that you swing the other day and gradually get more and more constipated and bloated apart from being told take Senakot or Lactulose.

I've just moved house and a new patient at a new surgery so we're back to square one!  But due to all the stress with the house move and 'cancer' scare this all triggered by 'tail end' to really play up and was prescribed Mebervene. Not sure how this works and whether the horrendous bloating, trapped wind plus also being very windy and full will ease.  Is anyone else on this medication?  Have you any tips on diet etc. anything that I could try perhaps ???

The Consultant at the hospital enclosed a leaflet with his letter informing me of the diagnosis and what it is but  other than 'self help' i.e. Senakot or Lactulose when constipated I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do.

Until I moved in August, I lived close enough to work to walk in every day - 35 mins walk there and back and as we all know walking is good for you.  Now I live 12 MILES away and have to drive, then catch a bus from the Park and Ride. Work as an audio typist again means I'm sitting down all day - none of this I can change and it's not doing my system any good.  Anyone got any suggestions how to get round the sudden lack of general 'activity'?  And no, I'm not in good physical shape for a gym or swimming as I have osteo-arthritis in both hips   So - is there any 'relief' for me that someone can suggest please

Post Edited (Amberleaf) : 10/13/2005 1:15:20 PM (GMT-6)

this can be a serious problem but nobody talks about it. everything is fiber, fiber, fiber and with that i had a lot of fecal incontinence. am doing very much better without all the fiber, fiber fiber and that is for sure! doctors make so much money and all they do is guess, guess, guess. in the old days, it was don't eat anything with seeds, now it is seed city, fiber, fiber, fiber

I had a colonoscopy a few years ago, and was told that I had diverticuli in my colon. I have been suffereing from lower GI bleeding off and on for about 10 years, and I'm trying to learn how to control it/limit it as much as I can. It always flares up when I'm under a lot of stress and/or when I've been working long hours, although sometimes it hits me when I'm well rested and totally relaxed.

I've been eating a lot more fiber, and walking more, but that only helps a little, it still flares up every couple of weeks or so. I've lost so much blood over the years, that I also have anemia, hypotension (low blood pressure), and at times POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome...racing heartbeat & a severe lightheadedness when standing up/moving around, to the point of almost passing out). I try to take vitamin B12 and iron every day, and that helps my energy levels.


My basic pattern is I'll be relatively fine for a week or two, and have normal BMs...then out of the blue, I'll get diarrhea. Often I'll get malabsorption later that same day (mostly liquid BMS which are foamy and greasy). Then later the blood will start, soon to be followed by the passage of bloodclots. This usually goes on for two days or more (sometimes 4 or 5, but a good fiber intake seems to shorten the bouts of blood/bloodclots in my BMs).

Fatigue seems to hit me a lot worse as soon as I start developing these symptoms. I don't know if its something to do with malabsorption, or the anemia getting worse due to blood loss- even after just a little blood loss, my energy levels usually drop a lot. The malabsorption is relatively new for me, but its been a regular part of my symptoms for at least 6 months now, and I've been having problems with a little leaking out and staining my pants (thank God no one has noticed yet, but its mortifying when this happens).

I don't have insurance, and haven't seen a doctor since my colonscopy,so I am trying to manage my health on my own, but I just seem to be getting progressively worse. The complications from my divertulosis sometimes bother me more than the diverticulosis itself does. Any advice anyone has is greatly appreciated.

Vitamins? Foods? I don't have a great diet and have only started realizing recently what a dramatic effect the food we eat has on our bodies. I'm trying to excercise more, but my tachycardia , anemia, and low blood pressure makes it difficult.

Post Edited (neutron) : 5/14/2011 10:11:31 PM (GMT-6)

Joan M said...
this can be a serious problem but nobody talks about it. everything is fiber, fiber, fiber and with that i had a lot of fecal incontinence. am doing very much better without all the fiber, fiber fiber and that is for sure! doctors make so much money and all they do is guess, guess, guess. in the old days, it was don't eat anything with seeds, now it is seed city, fiber, fiber, fiber

LOL I agree whole heartedly and I'm sticking to my low-residue diet supplemented with a multi vitamin. It works best for me

A low residue diet is to avoid any food that is hard to digest. And to eat simple things such as rice, chicken, potatoes, fish etc. Raw fruit and veggies are in the "high residue" or fiber diet. Cooked veggies and fruits are okay on the low residue diet because the body doesn't have to work as hard to break it down.

I do and I'm only 43. I think its from being chronically constipated as a child even with eating healthy to try to heal it back then. My gastro told me when I went in to get linzess from her she did a colonoscopy on me and said I had this and a polyp three years ago. The polyp was cancerous did a minor surgery outpatient thought it was almost over nope. New mass two year later not even a polyp pre-cancerous and still have diverticolosous. I haven't had any other symptoms of it but was told if you get in a lot of pain go to hospital only they are the only ones who can help you if it turn into the itis part of it. I also am IBS which sucks in itself with the constipation as well.