Diverticulitis

debs1205

Hi my name is Deborah, I've always had stomach issues,last March I became so unwell I had pain in my right sided ended up.in A&E thought appendicitis, another Dr thought not so after 3 days they did a laparotomy to see, they did take appendix out for illumination, another 2 days came home ,following day I had terrible pain this time in left, was being sick etc,had to call ambulance, I had lots different scans,on antibiotics drip for 8 days, as had very high infection,they could not find what it was for days, it ended up the infection was divertiticulitus, since then had colonoscopy, barium enema and it has been confirmed, my sigmoid in narrow and they want to operate to give me a better quality of life, that was 6 months ago since then I have had a lot of flare ups ,upset stomachs feeling sick, what scared me was having to have a stoma for a few months until it heals after taking it away,I am seeing the surgeon again on 19th August and have decided to have the operation,I may not need a stoma, he said it won't get better but cannot guarantee it won't get worse, sorry gone on a bit just wanted to share my experience

debs1205

Certain foods I have to avoid ,have lactose free milk skimmed, dairy starts stomach pains ,and upset stomach, I take probiotic tablets everyday to help me, whenever I have food I drink lot water too,find that helps ,steak I found my system cannot digest it and have it well done so don't eat red mea, ice cream,cream,garlic ,lots of other foods

Jimm_Scope

Hi @debs1205, welcome to the community! 😄

My mum actually has diverticulitis, there's a whole range of food she can no longer eat. Including some that you've listed such as dairy. I actually can't have dairy either as I have Crohn's disease and it reacts to any dairy. I've found that plant milks are a good replacement though, I don't actually miss cows milk at all. In fact I can't even tell the difference between vegan and dairy ice cream. My mum also gets set off by the seeds in tomatoes and onion/garlic.

Have you looked into something called FODMAPs? If you haven't: They are a group of foods that contain things that don't get absorbed by the small intestine and instead ferment inside the colon, releasing gas which can cause bowel issues. I mention it because garlic (also onion) is in this group of foods. I would maybe see if things that are high in FODMAPs have a link to your bowel issues?

NHS England does not have a specific article on FODMAP diet, but the Gloucestershire NHS Trust does: https://www.gloshospitals.nhs.uk/media/documents/FODMAP_dietsheet_for_website.pdf

This is just incase this food group is making things worse, I hope everything goes well with your surgery!

WhatThe

Low FODMAPs is the only thing to drastically improve my symptoms and I've long had digestive disorders.

My worst foods turned out to be onions leeks garlic black pepper chilli and it may sound impossible to imagine tasty food without them but I really don't miss them. Obviously, I have to cook most of my meals but that suits me fine as I can't afford takeaways or ready meals.

Funny you mention tomato pips, Jimm, as I still have to scrape them out of tomatoes - always did as a child - yet passion fruit is one of my favourite fruits!

debs, water helps me a lot too