Diverticulitis, IBS, GERD, Ulcers .... and now what?

I know what you're going through. I often wonder what ELSE is going to go wrong?! I have Diverticulosis, IBS, acid reflux in addition to my Uc. It took me a few months for my Diver attack to get under control where I felt normal again. There are still random times that I get the lower right pain but usually it's because I ate something I wasn't supposed to.

My IBS ranges from D to C and everything in between. And diet is such a deciding factor in both IBS and Diver. When you have an attack, it's low residue but you need high residue for the IBS, but low residue for a Uc flare...it can drive someone nuts!

I hope you get some answers soon. I had cdiff twice and had to take flagyl for it. I felt horrible on it. I had all sorts of strange symptoms. The flagyl made me feel worse than the c.diff.

Maybe you need to increase your fiber? I feel your frustration about your doctor not giving you advice on what food to eat. I just got diagnosed with proctitis but my doctor swears food shouldn't affect me. He's so wrong.

I hope you feel better soon

What makes it even harder is the GI doctor will NOT discuss what I should/should not eat but just said to go on a "light" diet.

Your doctor is just following his medical training which says that diet has no effect on UC, good or bad. There are very few doctors who offer diet support for UC which is why those of us who have found that diet makes a positive difference have been on our own. Yes, it made a huge positive difference in my life, put me into remission.

If you have never tried diet modification please consider it. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet or some variation of it is very popular but starting off you might consider going gluten-free and dairy-free and see if that helps.

Fiber is problematic, sometimes it helps and sometimes it's too difficult for a wounded colon to process. I've experienced both the C and the D part of UC, neither were enjoyable but thankfully I'm out of the woods now. Lots of water helps C but doesn't cure it, that takes healing.

Best wishes.

Is your Uc in remission Janet?

Ah ok. You can post here if you like. It is nice to be able to compare notes with someone else that has Diverticulosis. I just got diagnosed with it this past April.

The diet for a Uc flare is very similiar to the diet for Diverticulitis. Low residue just means things that are easy to digest. I find that fish and chicken along with rice or potatoes to be the most soothing for my gut. And of course you have to be careful of other foods so it doesn't get stuck in the pockets. I used to love to eat peanuts but that is a no no now. Did the doc give you a print out of things to avoid? My GI gave me a whole list. But most important was high fiber. But the high fiber is for Diverticulosis and not the "itis". Low fiber is recommended until your colon settles down. As for coffee, it irritates me majorly but I have already given up soooo many things that this is one thing that I refuse to give up! :)

Can you take a stool softener to help with the IBS-C?

I am most unhappy that right now I can't even have one cup of coffee in the morning without agony, and I think it's more the coffee itself that is eating up my insides than the 1% milk could be, but I'll have to do a real process of elimination to see what's bothering me the most

I understand, believe me. As someone who had to eliminate 75% of "normal" food in the beginning to heal my gut I truly understand the craving for certain foods/drinks. Here's what I found out about my own gut/mind:

-It's the brain that wants the caffeine and it doesn't care that it's gonna cause problems for the gut (you can substitute chocolate for coffee in that too lol)

-Coffee and other caffeines didn't "hurt" my colon the way other types of ingestables do (gluten, starches, sugars) but they cause great discomfort. At a time that my colon was at it's worst caffeine made things 10X worse because it causes non-stop BM's. So I had to eliminate it for a long time until my gut could handle it.

-Sometimes the foods that cause great problems don't give clues unlike caffeine which is very noticeable.
I had no idea that bread and other glutens were a problem until I eliminated them and saw a positive change. Your causes may be different.

-I know that caffeine "helps" with constipation but a better solution would be to get to the source of the constipation, eliminate the problem there.

Good luck. IMO no dietician can can help you solve this better than yourself, keeping a food journal and reading past posts about people who've gotten better through diet modification.

about the coffee, I tried several brands of de-caf coffee before finding one my gut liked. It's a swiss-method decaf made by Newman's Own, instead of the standard formaldehyde chemically-done decaf. Tastes great and my gut liked it.

Now that I am in remission I can drink caff. coffee but my gut still doesn't like certain brands and let's me know.

It turned out that my Diverticulitis healed and my Diverticulosis has been the culprit for my most recent bout of pain. I finally got a "do" and "don't" list of foods I can eat for the OSIS and the ITIS and it is a shame the GI doctor waited until today to finally give it to me while I was recuperating from the C test. It was preprinted and I should have gotten that list weeks ago. Shame on him! Now I finally realize that nuts, seeds, and certain other foods are out of the question for me to be eating. Here I had been eating almonds, and even the "chia" seeds I had been taking were hurting me more than helping me!!

He did say, however, that if I do get repeated issues of pain with even the OSIS, I would require surgery and, naturally, I would opt for a second opinion at a top doctor in NYC. I will, however, start eating brown instead of white and being very careful about this.

It's such a shame that I can't find one GI doc in my state who takes diet seriously instead of requiring me to "beg" for a proper list. I intend to look for books on the subject as well as seeking out a top-notch nutritionist.

Thanks Chrissy! Yes about the muscle fatigue. I mentioned it to a fried who totally dismissed the idea, but I had pulled a muscle in both my upper arms (yanking a closet door that was stuck) and it's been close to 2 weeks and the pain is still there. I even tried Qigong a gentle stretching Chinese thing and I couldn't even lift up my arms in the air, OMG, and was not happy about that. I am NEVER going on Flagyl again and I don't care what any doctor says. I slept for days/nights on end.

I've decided to start with a dietician/nutritionist immediately and will make an appt. tomorrow. I went to Wellness.com and found one there not too far from me, who doesn't accept my insurance, but helps with menu planning for gastro problems, and I have many of them which is something the diverticulosis/itis diets do not take into account.

I can't help but be very angry for my GI doc for not telling me to avoid seeds and nuts altogether. Here I'd been eating some almonds and popcorn, the very things that exacerbated my pain.

Will keep the Mayo Clinic idea in the back of my mind. The GI doc even said "see you in a year" when, in fact, I need to have an endoscopy scheduled to check on my ulcers which I hope are healed.

This is the result of having a practice with way TOO many patients and I am quickly running out of patience myself.

I've decided to speak to my spinal surgeon in NYC for a recommendation for a top-notch GI doctor also in NYC. I'm sick of my NJ GI docs and I'm not opting for another one here. I need and deserve to be taken seriously... at last.

It costs big bucks to park in NYC but to get the best care, it's worth every cent.

Shame on all my GI docs!
https://www.healingwell.com/community/emoticons/nono.gif