Diverticulitis stories

This section is for personal experiences of diverticulitis.

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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... Maria

My husband is never one to complain, he never moan's when he's got a bad cold or as he puts it "Bad guts!!" In march of this year he got up complaing of a stomach ache, i must admit he looked very rough,i surgested maybe he would like to see the doctor, normally he would nod his head in a no gesture!!, but this time he told me yes! that was it, i knew then he must be hurting quite a bit, i rang the doctors and the receptionist got an attitude with me until i practacly yelled down the phone that my husband was in pain and needed to see someone! we were told to take him straight down to the doctors which we did, our g.p then asked my husband to hop on the couch so he could examine him, by this time my husband was really sweating and our g.p just said you need to be in hospital i think you may have burst your appendix, not wasting a second more off we went to the hospital, again by this time not only was my husband in alot of pain he was very snappy at me, we got fast tracked to the a & e as soon as he was in a bed, a lady doctor came to examine him, she needed to do a rectal exam on him and he was very reluctant!! but he was in so much pain he allowed them to do what they needed to do, we got to the hospital at 7.50pm 18,3,08 by midnight the decision was taken to operate on my husband, we were told if your husband wakes up with his appendix missing then we know he did indeed have appendesitus [sorry my spellings not great!!] but we were told if his appendix were still there when he came round then they,d found something, as my husband was wheeled into surgery he asked the doctor, "Please have a good look cuz i'm in pain", after being reassured he was put under and he was in theatre for quite a long time, the following morning he asked the nurse "have i still got my appendix?" and she assured him he had, We found out my husband had Diverticlitis alot of his colon was very swollen and several fistulas are in his colon, they operated by laprascope, had it not been for that i truely believe he would have gone on thinking he had problems with his "guts" since the surgery [which was just to look in!] he has had a barium enema which he was not impressed with! he had an endoscopy on friday and hes got to have a c.t scan, the doctor was quite alarmed to find his upper g.i tract is also swollen and red hence the reason he has to have the c.t scan, the doctor has explained that my husband could be fine for maybe two months or possibly years, but she has not given us any advice on what he should eat etc, i have however noted that when he goes to the loo it is a truely horrible smell, this i told my husbands surgeon, again apparently this is normal in diverticlitis, we would really welcome any advice right now, we've cut out all the bad foods and he now eats a balanced diet, yet he doesn't see his doctor for another several weeks, she did say that if he has another flare up they will have to remove that part of his colon, i would be very grateful of some advice right now as i see my husband suffering, not as he was then but he still gets pain, does anyone else get this?

The story of... Charles

40 year old male with no history of digestive troubles. Decent diet and reasonably fit. 4/12/08 I was out in the field all day with daughter and dog for some dog (hunting)training. Felt great. 4/13/08 Woke up feeling aches, early afternoon chills with a bit of fever, and by evening felt abdominal pressure. 4/13-14/08 Late night- early AM excruciating pain - really 'crazy' bad doubled over pain that made me dizzy and nauseus and drenched in sweat. I felt very gassy but nothing was moving. 4/14/08 Morning wife convinced me (it wasn't hard) to call doctor. Set appointment for late afternoon. Doctor thought it might be bad constipation or blockage. Very tender belly. He sent me to hospital for xray and blood work. Just got to hospital in time for xray and lab. Doctor said no blockage, prescribed laxative, sent me home. He called back several times in evening to inquire and was getting more worried because lab work showed infection. He called at 22:30 and told me to be safe should go to emergency room for cat scan. Drove myself. Arrived 23:30, ED doctor guessed it might be perforated diverticulitis. I drank contrast, and around 3am on 4/15/08 did ct scan. Doctor immediately saw 'free gas' = perforation = emergency surgery (=crap bag). 4am call to wife to say 'goodbye???' (scary). 5am surgery. Advice: If doctor offers epidural - TAKE IT!!! Woke up in recovery room. Doctor said 4-6 inches of sigmoid removed. He thought things went well. I stayed 7 days in hospital and was standing by first night. Lots of walking. Digestive system shut down for 4-5 days. Occasional morphine but not much pain. Tearing off tape with hair etc. almost tickled compared to previous pain. Back at work on 5/5/08. Still not used to bag. One surgeon said 12 weeks, my doc said he prefers closer to 24 weeks. For those of you who had surgery, how long was it before the plumbing was reconnected? My father had same thing when he was in mid 60's and after almost dying, he has been pain/symptom free for over 10 years. I really hope that I will suffer with bag for next few months, and then be done with it! Did I mention that if the doctor offers the epidural, that you should take it?

The story of... Julia

Hi,ive just been told i might be suffering from diverticolitis.Having yet to see a consultant,im still at the early stages. Reading all these stories has really been informative,as the symtoms of bloating,left side pain,severe cramps and fatigue correspond with the possible diagnosis. I felt that nobody really could understand the sense of despair one feels as an attack comes on,i just thought it was IBS and that was that.Now im prepared and ready to fight this annoying and unpleasant disease.Everybody sounds so brave and i know that i can beat it too. Thankyou for sharing your stories and tips,im not so afraid now. Looking forward to go to war!

The story of... Mitch

I started getting cramps and pain under my rib 4 years ago, I saw my local GP only to be told it was just Cholic, I'm 47 years young now, 43 when I started to get this pain. This lasted for 4 weeks, then I started getting these odd sore throats and acid reflux and the Diarrhoea. went to the local GP only to be told it was a virus, and this increased over 4 years! Last Year (2007) I went to A & E about 20 times, it was the same pain, under my right side under my rib, according to me GP it was nothing to worry about, then on the 21 st attack I collapsed at home we rang for a Doctor and a Paramedic turned up to assess the situation, I begged for pain relief only to be told "Sorry I'm not qualified to give you anything", so we had to order a taxi. I was in hospital for a week while they conducted tests, they found that my gallbladder was so full of stones it was a miracle I could stand, I was put on a strong morphine drip to ease the pain, after August 2007 I had my gall bladder out, everything seemed OK till January 2008. Now I have had Diarrhoea every other day, then bloating and trapped wind and pain in the same area where the gall bladder used to be. When I went back to see my local GP it was pointed out that I've made far too many appointments to see doctors. From the other stories I have read it seems that I'm suffering from Diverticulitis so I have made a private appointment to get this sorted out, hopefully.

The story of... Yvonne

Four years ago I was taken into hospital for diverticulitis which had almost perforated my bowel. I was on holiday in Italy when I started to bleed and in excruciating pain. Upon return home, I immediately went to my G.P. who referred me to see a Consultant. As I had private health care, I was seen and operated on within 2 days. For four years I was back and forward to my G.P. with pain, bloatedness, wind, constipation and diarrhoea. My life seemed to resolve around the loo and my G.P. said that I had irritable bowel syndrome. I just put up with it, but the flare-ups made me miserable. After the surgery, a small hole in my navel led to a fissure which had to be packed daily and was getting bigger. After three months, my Consultant took me back into hospital where a section was opened and cleaned out as I had contracted MRSA. Some four years on, the symptoms are back, I have just been to my G.P. who has confirmed that. I am a very active women, who works full time, eat healthy and try not to let things get me down, and am at a loss why this very debilitating condition is back. As far as the surgery is concerned, I was fortunate that my Consultant could re-join my bowel, but if I knew that to go through all the post op discomfort with the surgery genrally and added to that the MRSA, I would not have had it done. The problem now is, am I going to end up with yet more surgery which would upset me immensely, as the mere thought of it frightens the life out of me. If anyone has found aything to take other than the usual Mebeverine that helps, I would be truly grateful.