Diverticulitis

[CountAllVotes]

:hi:
Does anyone else around here have this problem?

Seems I do! I had no idea until I almost died from it late last year right after Halloween. Trick or treat? :(

I've had two major abdominal surgeries since then (most recent was in early February of this year) and wow am I ever still hurting after being cut up all over the place.

From what I've found it is very controversial condition - some say eat tons of fiber others say eat a "low residue" diet (whatever that is).

Some say avoid all seeds and foods like tomatoes and cucumbers and pickles. Would this include nuts?

I am so confused!

The surgeon told me to eat only whole grains which is about impossible to do I've discovered.

Any tips on how to deal with diverticulitis?

Thanks!

[Warpy]

1. It's easy to eat only whole grains

I've been doing it for years, started back in the bad old days when I had to get a pasta machine so I could make my own whole wheat spaghtetti. Now you can get a full range of whole grain foods at health food stores and most supermarkets.

The problem is more things like seeds, so spit those watermelon seeds out and thoroughly chew the rest. Buy seedless grapes and raisins. Avoid seeds on your bread. Nuts are fine as long as you chew them properly.

In fact, chew all your food twice as long as you usually do before you swallow it so there are no chunks to pass through and get stuck at the entrance to one of the pouches.

The reason for the high fiber, whole grain diet is to provide a huge amount of bulk that pushes everything straight through instead of allowing it to sit there and force more pouches to form in intestinal walls.

The only hard part of whole grain eating is getting used to a slightly different texture. Once you do that, trying to eat the refined stuff is going to taste really flat.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

2. I had to have a Sigmoid Colectomy in Dec. 2008 due to Diverticulitis.

I put up with it for over a year with the antibiotics every time that it flared up and just finally said the hell with it. It was impossible to do anything physical without getting the taste of vomit in my mouth and the inflammatory peritonitis just wouldn't go away. I figured that it was better to schedule surgery with the Doctor of my choice than to wait until it perforated and end up with whatever hack was on call at the time.

Luckily I didn't need a Colostomy and the Surgeon was able to do it through a 2 or 3 inch incision instead of a 15 inch incision if I had waited until it perforated. It took a while for the bodily function process to return to normal but I haven't felt sick or tasted vomit since the surgery so I'm pleased.

The whole thing with seeds and nuts is ambiguous to say the least. The major centers like the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic say that there is no connection what-so-ever with seeds and nuts causing Diverticulitis. They say that things like nuts and vegetables are some of the best things to eat to avoid Diverticulitis due to the roughage and water contained in those items. However, some Doctors still say to avoid these types of food.

The one thing that they all agree on is that during an actual infection period, you have to eliminate all fiber since this will only exacerbate the situation. I found this out the hard way. Never try to flush out your system with corn on the cob during an active infection!!

I did everything right to avoid ever getting Diverticular Disease in the first place. I ate a lot of fiber rich foods, I drank a lot of water and I got a ton of regular exercise. It was just in the cards that I was going to get it no matter what I did.

What I've done since the Colectomy is eliminate almost all of the meat from my diet, eat a lot of oatmeal, raisin bran, shredded wheat, all whole wheat bread and rolls, fruits and vegetables and a lot of brown rice and barley especially. I also use Metamucil every day and drink a lot of water and exercise when I'm not having heart attacks.

The information regarding seeds is all over the place depending on the Doctor or web site visited. I would try to find a good Gastroenterologist that you can trust and see what they say about seeds.

Good luck with your condition, it is a nasty one to be stuck with. It can turn deadly if you wait too long, but the surgery is nothing to rush into either. Hopefully, you are all done with the surgical interventions and won't have another recurrence.

:hi:

[CountAllVotes]

3. thanks for all of this info.

I really appreciate it.

I have had a good diet in the past - just not used to eating tons and tons of fiber, that is all.

I'm finding that some fiber food (i.e. "Lean Choice!" made by Kashi foods (bears 9 grams of fiber per serving)) makes me quite sick. It sat in my stomach like a load of rocks and wow, what a stomach ache and a half.

I tried eating some vegetarian ravioli with organic pasta sauce on it and it kept coming up all night.

Supposedly all of the surgeries are over with. I lost 1-1/2 feet of my large intestine, my appendix which had an abscess on it and required a colostomy bag for 3 mos. Hence, the 2nd surgery to get rid of the damned bag. I've never felt pain like that ever in my life (after the 2nd surgery that is) as it was not controlled properly in the stupid assed hospital. :( :( :(

When I was dying from the peritonitis I was getting shots of morphine every 3 hrs. so I didn't know how sick I was. That is some good sh*t there - morphine. I like it in the shots oh so much. However, that too is over with.

I hope to never have any more problems with this.

As for my poor stomach/abdomen, a shameful fright to view with all of the cuts and scars on it. UGH.

Thanks again and maybe I'll try the pickles/tomatoes on my next vegi burger. I'm not much of a meat eater myself (just don't care much for it).

Again, thank you!!!!

:dem:

[Warpy]

4. Too bad we no longer have dueling at Heidelburg University

or you could pass them off as dueling scars in your misspent youth.

If you like veggie burgers, consider making your own. I've found lentils to be one of the best beans for doing it, they cook rapidly and have great texture and flavor. Just slightly mash and mix with breadcrumbs, egg, onion and seasoning, and either bake in the oven or fry on the stovetop. I like mine with salsa rather than ketchup or plain tomato, but I usually pile on things like sprouts. Beans are high in fibre, too.

As for poor pain control, I wish I could say that's an isolated incident, but it's not. Nurse Tylenol is out there and you have to make a real stink to get her to pry that narcotics drawer open if she doesn't think you hurt.

High fibre foods will make you feel fuller after you eat, one good benefit for those of us who blimped up at 50. Consider eating 6 small meals instead of 3 big ones. Those Kashi dinners aren't bad and can be reheated if you eat only half at a time. Eventually you'll get used to the increased fibre in your diet and will miss it if you travel and don't get it.

[CountAllVotes]

5. oddly I haven't lost or gained any weight

as amazing as it may seem, I am still the same weight. I am not overweight, I am at a normal weight for my age/height, etc.

I don't mind fiber but that particular Kashi cereal I mention is hellish crap! :puke: The stomach ache it gave me lasted for a few days and I was freaking out about it.

It is gone now along with that cereal. :puke: again!

Re: all of the scars ... I'll chalk them up to old age and just be damned glad that I have insurance and a fine set of teeth to chew with. :)

Hopefully this will never happen to me again. The real culprit in this is more than I care to address in this post but it is truly frightening and I try not to think about it. :scared:

Lets hope for the best and thanks for all of the tips Warpy! :) :hug:

[Altoid_Cyclist]

8. You're welcome!

I was lucky that the hospitalization after the surgery went well. No pain at all and no major setbacks. However, I did discover that Morphine and whatever secondary pain killer I was on caused me to hallucinate. Talk about out of it....

However, I did end up back in the ER three weeks to the day following the surgery. I was having a lot of bleeding and pain just like the pain that I had before the surgery. They did a CT scan and determined that I was impacted. That was something less than fun. They did the usual things to flush me out and all that they got was a lot of blood. There was so much blood loss that they had to transfer me to the telemetry unit because the surgeon was concerned about my heart. What a great way to spend New Years Eve and New Years day. After 4 days they decided that what the CT scan had showed was not an impaction but all of the blood filling the colon. Where it came from....... they weren't able to determine that. However, I've been fine since then so it probably had something to do with the Plavix and aspirin that I took for my heart.

Warpy made a great point about the small meals. I tend to graze on snacks instead of having 3 main meals. It seems to work better for me.

Once again, good luck on your recovery.

[CountAllVotes]

9. thanks again!

I can't eat much at any one time I have found so I already eat a few small meals a day. My stomach is shot I'd say. Even yesterday when I went out for awhile I had a vegi burger at this place I go to now and then. It was good and filled me up and I had no hunger for dinner so I had a bottle of Ensure and some plain yogurt later on and some rice milk mixed with Benefiber.

I really hope you are ok and well on the road to recovery! It sounds like you have been through a total hell also. :( :hug:

As for all of the scars on my abdomen - I'll attribute those to George W. Bush - battle scars they are! Those 8 years almost killed me literally! :rofl:

[Altoid_Cyclist]

13. The shrub's reign of error caused a lot of people to have scars I think.

Emotional and physical scars that he'll never have to pay a price for.

The Bush family of miscreants can keep their "beautiful minds". Without souls to go with them, they fail to meet my standard of what constitutes a human being.

For what it's worth, my wife has the same type of roadmap look on her.
She's had one kidney removed due to a Wilms' Tumor, heart surgery (luckily it was a minimally invasive operation), colon surgery and a semi-botched hysterectomy which required a second surgery an hour later to see what went wrong the first time.

I know that the multitude of scars upsets her at times, but I look at the scars as proof of the adage that beauty is only skin deep. She has a beautiful soul and a loving heart and that's all that matters to me.


:thumbsup: :hi:

[CountAllVotes]

14. I've actually considered plastic surgery

it might not even be an option and I'm sure the cost would be astronomical! I'm not so young anymore anyway and who really sees this mess but me?

I have had the same incision cut open 3X now. That bag left a bizarre ugly scar too.

I guess it is not that bad as long as I don't try to wear a 2-piece swimming suit or something.

My days of bikinis are gone anyway!

You are so right about Bush. He ruined the entire world!

Take care of yourself!

[CountAllVotes]

16. update

well I now have a hernia I was told. I need yet another surgery for this. That will be 3 abdominal surgeries since November.

My god, I'm wishing I would have died rather than live like this.

The pain has never gone away since November. I lay in bed awake many nights in awful pain.

I'm sick of life as I now know it.

I'm going to the surgeon's office again today to see his physician's assistant being he is away on vacation for a month.

I wish I could go on a vacation for a month!

At the end of my damn rope here!

:( :( :( :( :( :( :(

[elleng]

6. Good that you exercise when you're not having heart attacks!

:hi:

[Altoid_Cyclist]

7. Bad genetics can really foul up a person regardless of their lifestyle.

With my family history, I decided that I would be the one that would avoid heart disease by exercising so much that there would be no way to get heart disease.

Genetics 1.... Exercise 0

Oh well, at least I'm still alive after two MI's. The Dr's. all say that it's because I did exercise so much so that my heart was strong enough to survive. I had an older brother who didn't make it past 35 and another brother who lives on Nitro pills so I guess that I'm lucky.

I find out on May 18 whether I can resume bicycling or if there's too much damage after this latest MI.

I might have to change my ID depending on the outcome. Altoid Ex-Cyclist has a nice ring to it I guess.

:hi:

[elleng]

10. Or just, Altoid_X?

:hi:

[Altoid_Cyclist]

12. That would actually be better than my idea.

If I do have to give up cycling, the fewer references to it the better.

Maybe something like Altoid Walker although Altoid X has a pretty good ring to it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Bro is a gastro and he stressed not to take things like

Non Steoroid meds... that means advil, Naproxen Sodium... more than not eating seeds...

As always ask your doctor.

Dad had a resection since he had a few active bleeds, and brother has it... (the other brother), so this came up.

According to the doc it is far more common than we think by the way, just that it just bugs about 15% of those who have them.

Good luck...

Oh and due to family history these days I NO LONGER take non steoroid pain killers. It is JUST tylenol for me

[anneboleyn]

15. Hi, my husband has this condition and he has tried various tactics

My husband was diagnosed with this condition during an emergency trip to the hospital five years ago. He was mis-diagnosed initially with a prostate disorder. He nearly died from the severe pain and infection. He was in the hospital for two weeks (on i.v. antibiotics and large amounts of morphine). Also, while he was in the hospital, he had to have an abscess in his colon corrected by surgery. My husband went into the hospital right after eating a walnut salad.

The doctor recommended eating nuts and seeds; however, my husband found that -- without fail -- he developed infections after eating any seeds or nuts (so no peanuts, no cucumbers or pickles, etc.). Also problematic -- kidney beans, popcorn, peas, and anything with husks or tough skins. He takes a fiber supplement when he is not having an infection but in general he can't tolerate large amounts of "high fiber" foods. He has to be very cautious. He takes an antibiotic combo (levaquin and flagyl) for his infections and as long as he starts his medications right away, at the very first sign of an infection, the combination usually overcomes the infection. He has also found that he can't eat any fiber while he is suffering from an infection -- only soup and soft foods (liked a grilled cheese on soft bread or poached eggs). Seeds and nuts may not bother you, but my husband found that he developed infections from foods that tend not to break down in the stomach and intestines (so anything rough that may get caught up in one of the diverticula).

My husband has also noticed that he stopped having as many infections when he stopped wearing belts every day following his first infection. Seriously, this may seem like an odd suggestion, but he noticed that anything constricting in the colon area caused problems.

Best wishes to you as you recover from this. Please listen to your body, and trust your own instincts as far as your diet is concerned. We found that a lot of relatives and doctors and so on tried to be helpful but gave us the worst advice as far as my husband's diet was concerned (one relative is still convinced that he can eat popcorn, which he absolutely can't eat unless he wants to end up in the hospital again).

[CountAllVotes]

17. thank you

I need all of the good vibes I can find right now. I am seriously at the END OF MY ROPE.

I am very depressed to say the least.

I really don't want another operation and I can barely move right now as the pain from the hernia keeps me laying in bed most of the day with my legs straight out in front of me.

I wish I knew what the hell I did that caused me to develop this problem.

I had the bleeding and was told it was likely a hemorrhoid. It was not a hemorrhoid, it was diverticulitis all of those years.

I just found out that the 2nd surgery resulted in removal of a large portion of my colon. I think it had an abscess on it. This is the 2nd abscess since November; the first one found in November resulted in the loss of my appendix. :wtf: is going on here?

Is it possible to keep developing abscesses inside of yourself and not know it? I'll ask about this today. :(

I'm getting very scared and really wishing I'd just freaking' die I tell you. :scared:

ENOUGH!!

:(

[Altoid_Cyclist]

18. I'm sorry to hear about the recent developments.

I know that this is a lot easier to say than to actually do, but you have to try to find something to keep you going. I know that at times like this it's almost unbearable to make it through the day.

Starting when I was in high school and for the next 17 years or so, I would constantly have severe GI problems. I would be so nauseated that there were times that I couldn't even get out of bed for days or weeks at a time. I had problems at both ends of the digestive tract that made life a living hell. At one point I lost 25 pounds in a couple of weeks and had to spend the whole Summer basically confined to the house since I was too sick to do anything. Doctor after Doctor said that I was either faking it or that I was just "too high strung and tense". Yeah...being so sick and not getting any help from the Doctors will do that. Eventually I also developed an inguinal hernia which really added to the fun. The Doctors said that I didn't have a hernia just like I didn't have stomach problems.

Finally, one day at work I was just stretching in my chair and I actually heard the hernia tear completely. PAIN!!! I went to a doctor that just happened to be less than a block from our house and took walk-in patients. He had treated me a few years before that when he ran the ER at the local Hospital. He realized that I wasn't faking anything and sent me to the Hospital and called ahead to have a surgeon meet me at the door. The surgeon ran tests on the spot to rule out cancer or infection and diagnosed the hernia. He said that any first term med student should have been able to diagnose the hernia years earlier.

We hoped that the hernia was somehow responsible for the bouts of nausea over the previous almost 20 years. Well, about a week or two after the surgery, I decided to try going for a short bike ride. I became so nauseated that I had to stop and sit down for a while so that I could make it back to the house. I got sicker and sicker over the next few weeks to the point that I wasn't afraid that I was going to die...I wanted to die. He ran every test to rule out any type of cancer or blockages and asked what the Gastroenterologist had said. I told him that no Dr. had ever sent me to a Gastro. and his jaw dropped in utter wonder.

After two trips to the Gastro., they said that the stuff that I had been vomiting up and losing out the other end for almost 20 years was blood and why didn't I mention that to any of the other Doctors. I explained that I had told every one of them about it and they didn't believe me.
After a two week course of antibiotics, I felt great for the first time in 20 years. I was actually able to lead a normal life for about 18 months and then I got hit by a car while riding my bike. That caused brain, brain stem and spinal cord damage that has had my GI tract fouled up ever since.

OK, I'm sorry for being so long winded here. I just wanted to point out that I can understand what you're experiencing and I fully appreciate your pure frustration. There were days when I just wanted to be out of pain for good if you get my meaning.

Please try to take this one day at a time and do whatever it takes to keep going. Some days will be unbearable and you just have to tell yourself that things will get better.

If you want, please feel free to PM me if you need to talk about anything. Sometimes it helps to talk to someone who's been through something similar to what you're going through.

ONE DAY AT A TIME...........

:hi: :grouphug:

[CountAllVotes]

19. thanks for sharing your story

it helps, believe me.

I went yesterday and broke down and just fucking cried. I showed the physician's assistant my butchered up UGLY abdomen and cried even more.

I was told to expect to be in a lot of pain for another 6-8 weeks after the next surgery. :puke: :cry: :puke:

[teenagebambam]

20. I MAY have it...

I only say MAY because my doctor "didn't think so", but the symptoms are similar to what my grandmother always complained of re: her diverticulitis.

As I've been reading more and more, I'm also leaning toward IBS - my symptoms aren't nearly as bad as what I'm reading here!

I'm actually starting another thread in a minute to ask people about symptoms of IBS!

[raccoon]

21. My doctor told me I have it. Monday night I had a dull stomach pain

that kept me up all night. Maybe the result of eating a small pack of cashews that evening.

Also I have some tenderness in my lower abdomen.

I'm on Flagyl & Cipro to knock out the infection. Glad I found this thread. :hi:

[raccoon]

22. I wonder if granola bars could cause it to kick up? Over the last 6 months or so,

I've been eating a lot of them.

Seeds and nuts.....