Diverticulitis.....anyone had it?

[ramblingboy42]

Well I have right now. Its symptoms are sharp pain in lower left area of your abdomen or belly. I put this up here because I know lots of us here are around the same age as me. It's acute but MUST be addressed. If you have this pain.....it'll nearly double you over when it peaks.....go to your hospital outpatients.....if you go to your GP, he/she will send you there anyway....they will probably put you in a bed with an antibiotic drip, inject you with an anti-spasm product to help the pain and when they are happy you are stabilised( in my case I am a diabetic type 2 and my glucose levels and blood pressure rocketed as a result) they'll send you off for a cat scan. If this infection/inflammation isnt controlled in the first instance it will go away because you dont want to eat anyway, then it will recurr in a few months, then you will have to have a colonoscopy because it gets worse and theres a chance you can have an abcess develop and burst then peritonitis sets in etc.....yesterday was an education for me and I'm passing this on because 60% of people over 40/50 years of age have diverticules in the small intestine.
The prognosis....15-25% of people with diverticulosis will develop diverticulitis. 85% should respond to treatment while the other 15% will need surgery. Complications following untreated first attack increase by 60%. Only 10% remain symptom free after second attack.
I am treating this very seriously, I hope anyone reading this does so too.....the hospital treats it very seriously as well.
Let fibre be your friend and raise your glasses with a toast of metamucil.

[ezyrama]

My mother suffers from it and finds it is brought on (for her) by eating peanuts and the like, she had it explained to her as pockets or pouches forming in the bowels. Mum just avoids the foods that seem to affect her now and doesnt have any problems.

[Mick_Marsh]

Yep.
I had it about six months ago. After a round of very strong antibiotics, it went away.

[PhilipA]

My mother in law had id it badly, and the doctors advised her to eat more roughage/fibre as she used to have a Dingo's breakfast.

I always take 2 teaspoons of psyllium husks every morning and make sure to have plenty of fruit and veg.. Porridge is also good .
Coffee and a donut for brekky is BAD.

Regards Philip A

[scanfor]

Yep, comes and goes - not a lot to be done about it, and prevention is really only guesswork. In the past, the thinking was fruit with small seeds (strawberries etc) caused it to flare-up, but now I'm told they don't really know.
I just try to drink a lot of water and hope for the best.

[460cixy]

Step farter had it had to have surgery now there's a lot of things he can't eat or drink like bread beer or rum or anything spicy it seems recons it was the most painfull experience ever

[d2dave]

I had a colonoscopy about 18 monthe ago. This revealed that I have Diverticular Disease. I did some research on it and it is estimated that 50% of people over 60 have it , and every one over 80 has it.

Luckily for me it has not turned into Diverticulitis.