Diverticulitis stories

This section is for personal experiences of diverticulitis.

Please do NOT ask medical or dietary questions in your story - these should be directed to your doctor, and from now on won't be published on this page. This site is for sharing personal experiences ONLY.

Please note: I cannot give any sort of medical advice - I am not a doctor and have no medical training. This page is for sharing stories only.

The story of... Bronya

I'm 30 years old. Ive had diverticulitis since I was about 13. I used to break into sweats when trying to go to the toilet, and have massive pains when i did. Recently thou, I've had two serious attacks of diverticular which resulted in me being in hospital both times. Normally if i have an attack, i can handle it with pain killers, but this pain was a lot worse, with no pain relief working. I spent ten days in hospital before being released with oral anti-biotics to take. I have to have surgery to remove the infected part of my colon, and this had to be done before i try to have children, as if i had another attack while pregnant, the results could be fatal for us both. So I've only been out of hospital a few days, but i lost almost 6kgs while i was in there. This is not a good thing for me, as i normally only weigh 55 or 56kgs. Now i have a massive bloated stomach, on a tiny frame! I look like I'm 6months pregnant! I'm still taking the medication for another few days, and I'm hoping my stomach will de-bloat itself soon. My grand mother had this condition, but i must confess to enjoying the take out lifestyle a bit too much. Ive changed my diet, so I'm not eating much meat (except fish), and although i still fell like a truck had hit me, I'm happy to be home, and am looking forward to getting my figure back.

The story of... Jessica

Hello everyone, 2 days after my 32 birthday I made an emergency trip to my doctors office in extreme pain. After having 2 c-sections and my gallbladder removed over the years I've become use to abdominal pain, but this was like nothing Ive ever felt before. During that visit, my doctor had a feeling that it was diverticulitus and sent me for a CT scan to be sure. The next day after chugging some very nasty flavored liquid (which gave a strong after taste of what I could assume chalk must taste like)the scan confirmed his feeling. After 10 days on an antibiotic and a low fiber BRAT diet.

I was fine again. But now 1 month later its starting all over again. I have been eating healthy since 2003 when my gallbladder was removed and even better since my pregancy with twins in 2007. I have never been constipated, actually I always have been regular, sometime too regular. My doctor referred me to a gastroentrologist (spelling may be way off)which has set up an appointment for an upper GI and a colonoscopy. I now wonder if this issue is why I have not been able to lose any of the pregancy weight, ( again from twins, so thats been doubley depressing) and the fatigue that has increased over the last few months even though all the boys sleep through the night. My concern is I am only 32, most of what Ive read state this is common over age 45-50 and primarily a diet issue. As this doesnt fit for me, I was wondering if anyone may have had the same experinces with this? Thank you for sharing your stories... it helps knowing Im not alone in the frustrations of this issue!!

The story of... Laura

My husband saw a gastroenterologist in 2005 and was diagnosed with diverticulitis after a colonoscopy. He had to be admitted to hospital once in 2007 for 3 nights, on drips, antibiotics etc, and had a scan. He was also working abroad in Zurich Jan 07 when he had to see an Emergency doc who wanted to admit him into hospital, but he took antibiotics/tramadol/paracetamol and returned home. He has since been having many attacks with a repeat prescription for antibiotics/paracetamol & Tramadol. He saw the Gastroenterologist again this summer, for another colonoscopy - he removed another polyp and said the diverticulitis was still there and inflamed. He talked to us about having an Elective operation by Laparoscopy to remove the affected sigmoid colon, and refferred us on to see a surgeon. He then explained the Op to us and advised us to have it rather than risk having an emergency operation where they cut straight down the middle of your abdomen/ open surgery, and risk having a Ileostomy or colostomy bag, this would take about 3-4 months to heal/recover from. My husband went in for a private Elective Op last wednesday, (Laparoscopic Anterior resection), he was in Theatre for 3hrs, & recovery room for 2 hours. He was in the Hospital for 3 nights and is now at home resting. He has a sick note for 4 weeks. He was able to eat and drink as he pleased. Little and often, and things seem to be working ok. He has a few very small slits where the Ports and camera are put into the abdomen and a small cut very low down where they remove the infected sigmoid colon. We were so pleased to find out they do this operation, as there was no way we wanted the open surgery and possibly a bag. We will be seeing the Surgeon in 2 weeks for a follow-up to check everything is ok. Also looking forward to being able to eat and drink as he pleases.

The story of... Cindy

I was diagnosed with diverticulitis disease in August 2007. I had severe pain on my right side with a high fever. This lasted for about three days. My brother thought that I had appendicitis, so I went to the ER. I was admitted to the hospital for five days. I was given cipro and flagl through an IV. My white blood cell count was very high. The doctors suspected diverticulitis, but my pain was on the right side. I had a colonoscopy which confirmed the diverticulitis. The doctor told me to eat more fiber. I like to eat vegetables and fruit. I eat oatmeal, beans, and other foods which contain fiber. I do not eat red meat regularly (three or four times a year). I do not smoke. I drink wine sometimes. I am fairly active. I will be fifty this year. I drink lactose free milk since I began to bloat after eating dairy products. Usually I eat whatever I want. I eat spicy food sometimes. There are no side effects for me. I had my first sharp pains on the left side in January 2008. It went away about two days later. I felt extremely tired. I started reading about the seriousness of diverticulitis. I used to keep jars of peanuts in my car for snacks before I was diagnosed. I do not buy peanuts anymore. I eat them once in a while and I chew very slowly. I eat popcorn sometimes. I had some popcorn last night while watching The Dark Knight at the movies. I think I ate too much. I felt cramps at the movies. I felt bloated, tired, nauseated and constipated all night. I do believe that if something is trapped in a diverticula pouch. it will cause an episode for me. I'm usually very careful when I eat popcorn. Usually I am pain free. I cook with olive oil and canola oil. All of the stories are very insightful and helpful.

The story of... Philip

I'm a 58 year old male and have for the last 9 months suffered from attacks of diverticulitis. To date I have now had 7 admissions to hospital, each lasting around 5 days. This has been for IV antibiotics and pain control. I have to say that the pain from this condition has not been quite as bad as when I have, in the past, suffered from renal colic (kidney stones), but its pretty close. Morphine is of course the ultimate solution but I am finding reasonable pain control at home with the use of a Tramodol/Paracetamol cocktail. The presence of diverticulitis, both in the lower left section of my intestine and the upper middle section has been confirmed by both CT scan, Echo scan and Colonoscopy (I think thats the correct term, shoving a camera up there). This last procedure was the most painful experience, at one stage I felt like taking a swipe at the guy shoving the camera where it didn't want to go! Currently they are wanting to give me a Barium enema examination but I have refused to have this done. One of the problems that I have is that my local hospital which is the areas A & E admission unit will not operate to resolve the problem. This is because I am also type 1 diabetic and have ischaemic heart disease with two stents fitted. They keep on saying that my chances of surviving the surgery are not good and I would require a period in intensive care after the operation. I suppose thats if I survive!! However, I have been referred by my GP to another local hospital, this unit does not have an A & E though, but is specialist in many forms of surgery. In fact its where I had my stents fitted. It turns out that they are now using key hole surgery for this condition and have put me on the elective list for treatment. So hopefully during the next few months I will have the damaged sections of intestine removed and be able to get on with my life.

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