anyone else have diverticulitis ( update) !!!

[trappincoyotes39]

I have been diagnosed with this by a CT scan, just wondering how many others have this and your best treatment options diet wise?

Going to a gastro guy next week I hear fiber is needed for this disease. Not the greatest thing in the world but could be worse.......

[musher]

Father-in-law had it. He was really BIG on eating fiber. Other than the Bran Flakes habit, it didn't seem to affect him too badly.

[jim]

Diverticula
Diverticula is the medical term used to describe the small bulges that stick out of the side of the large intestine (colon).

Diverticula are common and associated with ageing. It is thought the pressure of hard stools (poo) passing through the large intestine that has become weakened with age causes the bulges to form.

Read more about the causes of diverticula.

It is estimated that half of people have diverticula by the time they are 50 years old, and 70% of people have them by the time they are 80 years old.

The majority of people with diverticula will not have any symptoms; this is known as diverticulosis

[trappincoyotes39]

Well I had acute diverticulitis . Or did. I have been feeling better with increased fiber intake shall see what gastro guy tells me.

[FWS]

with increased fiber intake

ColonCleanser39....................

There's a ton of info online, including discussion forums and support groups. Some of the non computer savvy old folks I know ask me to look up whatever malady they have and print out info for them. And this was one was one of em'.

As per fiber, to supplement, I personally like a bowl of raisin bran every couple days, which is high in fiber, there's another 'all bran' cereal I tried that acted like colonic steel wool but wasn't the most pleasurable to eat.

And I like brown rice, which is a superb source of fiber. Lot of good and easy recipes for brown rice. I buy it by the 25lb bag at the restaurant supply place, usually around $12 to $14. CA produced and the rice farmers work closely with the waterfowlers and have helped us in the past on legislation.

Seems to work out well, with my bowel movements yielding an impressive bounty that sometimes require two flushes.

[trappincoyotes39]

Count yourself lucky FWS. I have fiber one for breakfast now it has the highest amount of fiber over any other brand. 35% in 1 cup and I eat about 1.5 cups of it the carmel delight, it is very good. Draw back is if not on sale cost 4.14 per box.

I also have bought metamucil as well morning and night. They say many people have it as they age and some are lucky enough not to have symptoms for many years.

I will carry on and hopefully won't become a pain to deal with.

[cyaukey]

a guy i know had it, they had to remove 12" of the colon, they cut thru mostly all the abdominal muscles to repair, makes for a long sore recovery period. eat your fibre.

[FWS]

Count yourself lucky FWS.

Hey, don't I know it. The seagulls and pelicans fight over the floaters when I hang my butt over the railing and pinch one off on the ocean.

Perhaps you need the fiber one and metamucil for now, but I'd think you could replace those sources of fiber with less expensive, more exciting foods.

I make a brown rice and lentil soup, that's actually more of a solid since the liquid is absorbed or steams out. It's got tomatoes, carrots, onion soup mix, etc, and you can add in diced up chorizo, linguica, andouille, ham, or chicken thighs.

Then I make fresh corn tortillas, good source of fiber, and make simple tacos with the hot off the griddle tortillas and lentil/brown rice mixture and sprinkle with hot sauce.

Really quite good. And about as healthy as you can get really.

[trappincoyotes39]

Did he have an abscess develope cyaukey? How is he today?

[skidway]

I lost a foot of colon to it. Far and away the worst experience of my life so far. A comedy of errors (that weren't funny) damned neared killed me and it took a good 2 years to fully recover. The colon resection leaked and it took them almost a week to figure that out. By the time the whole ordeal was over, they had opened me up 3 times, I wore a bag for 4 months and lost 70 pounds. Thank god the bag wasn't permanent.

If you are male over 50 GO GET SCOPED!!!!!!! The thought and the prep is the worst part and it can save you SO many problems. Colostomy bags are incredibly inconvenient so man up and go get it done.

[PamIsMe]

It isn't always terrible and chronic. It's possible that you may only ever have one bout with it.

I never had/have any digestive problems or reflux or anything like that, and I have always been able to eat anything I want. But, about 6 years ago I woke up with an ache in my gut. It got steadily worse so I could hardly stand up straight and by the afternoon of the 2nd day I went to to the Dr. She did a brief exam and said she was certain my problem was diverticulitis.

I was familiar with it because my Mother had a couple bouts of short duration with it in her middle age. She always said she wouldn't dare eat anything with seeds. The old theory was that something would get trapped in a diverticuli (the little pocket) and would cause the pain. Since then, the thinking is... that isn't true and it is an infection in a pocket, generally of unknown origin. Anyway, the Dr. put me on an very strong dose of antibiotic in pill form and within a day the pain was gone. I was supposed to take the pills for two weeks but by the 5th day they began to really bother my stomach, and made me feel crappy in general, so I quit taking them. Never had any problem since.



To my knowledge, with an endoscopy the Dr looks for polyps and cancerous growths and renoves them. If they see diverticuli they probably will tell you, but they don't do anything about them unless you really start having major problems because of them. Almost everyone has them.

Cheers,
Pam

[trappincoyotes39]

Thanks for the upbeat post Pam. I'm hoping gastro guy give me a decent report! The idea of being laid up and not working is bothersome in the back of my mind.

[thorsmightyhammer]

Randy, my godfather just had this end of december.

Bout killed him, but his was leaking.

They fixed him up and he seems to be getting around pretty good now. Luckily he didnt need a bag.

Take care of it and watch your diet.

A four dollar box of cereal is nothing.

[trappincoyotes39]

Some good news. First gastro was a joke spent 12 mins with me wanted to wait a month to do upper GI and colonoscopy! Found a great one at North Kansas City Hospital a very highly ranked GI hospital. Went inon Weds and he spent an over an hour with me and I had both upper and lower GI done yesterday at 11:30 am. My colon had NO pollups and no cancer at all. It showed a few diverticulia. The upper GI was clear as well only thing found was a harmless cyst in my stomach that he said is common as people age. I can manage my diverticula and if it gets worse they could do surgery but feels with proper diet and keeping an eye on it I should be fine.

They where very nice people, highly professional and this Dr has been in the business for 29 years specializing in Gastro stuff. I would highly recommend them to anyone with GI issues.

I am increasing my daily fiber and will wath potion size and chewing my food well and hope this will become a minor inconvenience in my life. Been very worry some until the test where done yesterday.

[musher]

Good news.

[trappincoyotes39]

Thanks Musher, sure is. Knock on wood I have been very healthy most of my 40+ years and having something like this can be a bit disturbing to say the least. I'm hoping to get control back of my life and not have a disease control me. I have a wife and kids to think about and just changing some life habits I hope will help lessen the effects of such.

[FWS]

Good to hear that TC.

They where very nice people,

Anyone who sticks a camera up your a$$ damn well better be nice.

Pretty neat technology, you can probably request a DVD of the tour, people do and post them on YouTube.

[PamIsMe]

Great news TC39. I never even had any type scan, the one flare up I had, antibiotics did the trick. At my age I should have a colonscopy but since there's no cancer anywhere in my family I am just not worried about it.
Sometimes I think they get all excited and worry people just beause they can LOL
And, more tests make money for them

Cheers,
Pam

[trappincoyotes39]

Pam thanks but I'm a type that wants to know exactly what is going on and handle it. Part of my makeup I guess. A CT scan does a great job ID many things in your body with great resolution, the colonoscopy is 100% covered by insurance and shows exact detail. The Upper GI cost me 200.00 but worth it to know where I sit from top to bottom.

I will have another colonoscopy done in 5 more years it just makes sense to me to be as preventative as I can for my family. I don't have a family history of cancer other than Lung cancer as they where all smokers, one habit I never bothered with.

Sadly I do worry about things ..........

I say anyone over 50 should have at least one "colon look" so they know what is going on.

I'm not much of a doctor type either, but when things aren't right I want to know what and how to do the best to make it better.

FWS I have some glossy photos of it LOL. The diverticuli can be clearly seen on the pics. They looked good for now, just need to watch diet and eat the fiber and hope for less flare ups.

Thank you all for your post.

[musher]

They have a test they do here where they check your stool samples over a period of three days. If there is any indication of blood you get the Hollywood treatment.

Crapping on a paper plate and then using an ice cream stick to put a sample in a specimen container isn't the best way to start a day but it beats eating jello for three days prior to the kodak moment.

C39: As I mentioned earlier. My dad-in-law had it. Other than Metamucil and Bran Flakes being staples, all was good.