I’m at a bit of a loss and having a chuckle at the same time. I had a couple of dramatic gastric episodes winding up in hospital. I recently had a CT scan to check out nasties and got the result yesterday. I was told I had extensive diverticular disease and perhaps this was responsible for the gastric yuk, a bit of diverticulosis ( which is a bit more serious). This is another inflammatory disease but often affects older people (I’m 73). However I wondered if others on here have got this as I’m baffled by the advice as to diet. The advice is that fibre is good but perhaps not! There’s a pyramid diagram suggesting a carb heavy diet with a tiny amount of oils, nuts and seeds. Of course this is the opposite of our low carb PML diet. Also if steroids reduce inflammation why don’t they work for the intestine? Questions, questions - anyone out there in the same boat - any advice? Thanks lovely fellow sufferers! 🤗
Diverticular Disease: I’m at a bit of a loss and... - PMRGCAuk
Diverticular Disease
Hello there. I’ll just say something about one aspect of your post to start. Diverticular disease isn’t an inflammatory disease in the sense of PMR or autoimmune . You can have an inflammatory disease of the gut as well eg Crohns and get it as much as anyone else who doesn’t. Diverticulosis is when the muscular tube of the gut gets weak patches like a tired inner tube and these patches bulge out into little pockets. Now these can get inflamed from the presence of poop in them and cause anything from a bit of pain if they get inflamed to full on perforation. If there is no perforation antibiotics are used but often people just have diverticulosis which is the presence of these pockets not causing a problem and they never know. The cause is usually a long history of stool that is a bit too firm and the muscular tube gets worn out in places and the main cause is lack of fibre in the diet. Usually it is just in the lower bowel where the poop is harder generally but can occur elsewhere. Pred will not help and above certain doses can even make the risk of infection higher because of immunosuppression. High fibre diet is needed to give the stool bulk, keep it moving and prevent the bowel from having to squeeze so hard.
Did they say where the diverticuli were? When you say gastric episodes, do you mean stomach (the first bit the food gets to) or lower down the system?
Here is some info
gutscharity.org.uk/advice-a...
I found this very helpful SnazzyD. I have been wondering about my own gut health.
Family emergency meant I couldn’t revisit the replies to my questions. Thanks so much for your info and link. Curiously I have always had a high fibre diet but perhaps a prolapse problem hasn’t helped. Anyway, it’s good to know I haven’t got something worse! Onwards!
I presume they are recommending a low residue diet when you are flaring and then fibre on a "normal" basis? I have an appt with gastro this pm to get my results from ct and colonoscopy formally. So far they have said post viral ibs with inflamed diverticular issues. I normly eat low carb high fat diet, lots of fibre, nuts and seeds (veggie). But had to eat white carbs and no fibre as normal diet wasn't shifting and causing problems. Wil see what gastro says today. I have included fibre now and alternate between constipation and diarrhea so when I get stomach pains and can't leave the house I end up on what I call the beige diet... Yuk.
Steroids may help with the diverticulitis, but not diverticular disease as Snazzy says, and the devil is in the dose - it would probably have been more painful without and in some patients there can be a perforation that was masked by them being on pred so they didn't realise it was worsening.
My low carb diet is pretty high fibre - lots of low carb veggies except root veg. Good excuse to eat broccolli and artichokes! I rarely eat potatoes - but since OH doesn't like the skin I eat his spud skin which is where a lot of the fibre resides.
A couple of my friends with (different, I don't know what each of them has) recurrent gut problems swear that the low-FODMAP diet, whatever that is, helps them.
healthline.com/health/diver...
healthline.com/nutrition/fo...
FODMAPS are fermentable carbs found in some foods, including in wheat and beans and which cause bloating and other typical GI symptoms.
Hi I have had diverticulosis for well over ten years, it is as the ladies say you get pockets in bowels.
The doctor pointed mine out to me when I had a scan.
I was told to make sure I did not get constipated.
I try to eat a healthy diet, and since I eat kefir every day( found out about this from ladies on this forum) I have been feeling great, hardly any bloating, and no swelling.
I buy it from supermarket in either drink form or yogurt.
It effects everybody differently, just be sensible with what you eat I have found, and all the information the other ladies have given will be of help to you.
From my experience with gut issues and the lack of real knowledge from Gastric Doctors about how diet helps , fibre is good , as long as it's soluble fibre.
Insoluble fibre can cause more symptoms and irritation for Diverticular Dusease and IBD.
You need to create a fine balance with your food and make it vitamin and mineral rich and take a multi supplement as DD or IBD can also cause a reduction in the amount of nutrient absorption you get from your food.
Trying the Elimination Diet or Fodmap Diet helps you work out what causes greater symptoms and gas.
After two weeks only on the limited diet , gradually bring in a food group , one at a time building up the portion size , some foods you may find are no issue after a few days when your body is used to eating them again , others show in symptoms you can only have them , little and occasionally , some will always bring on symptoms , those you cut out.
Probiotics help alot with these types of stomach issues , a little portion of yoghurt before a meal helps. Lots of fluids are essential .
I take pure turmeric to ease gut pain and bloating but you have to check if it's right for you and which meds you take.
Cutting out processed and fast foods , artificial sweeteners and refined sugars is important. As is reducing your intake of red meat and saturated fats as this can block things up.
Many people find wheat free helps , getting rid of most white carbs is also gut friendly. Although potatoes with skins are good as well as tasty occasionally for fibre that passes the system more easily.
Many people cannot eat nuts and seeds unless blended smoothly , be careful with foods that can still be quite undigested and " pointy" by the time it reaches the intestines .
Corn , onions , garlic and leeks , too many peas and beans at once cause alot of people with DD and IBS or Hernias symptom increases . Some can't take chilli or spicy foods , some get more reactions from unfermented Dairy, but again this is part of the trial and error as you test foods.
Keeping calm and relaxed and doing gentle stretching and breathing exercises help improve passage of food along the gut causing less of the periods of intense pain or bacteria overdrive that causes the other issues like bloating , flatulence , bowel changes and general lower abdominal pain. Gently rubbing the abdomen around the belly in anticlockwise circles also helps to reduce tension in the area. Warm baths or heat packs help with symptoms.
Doing Kegle exercises for the bladder and bowel help improve muscle strength in the area making it easier to go to the toilet and not risk weakening the tissues more , if you look on the NHS website there are Male and Female specific PDFs to download of these exercises. Put Kegle or Bowel Health into the search.
The most important thing is to find a balance in diet and lifestyle that keeps things moving in your bowel and intestines smoothly , and improving your gut flora and sugar balance to help digest bad bacterias and reduce the possibility of getting and feeding little nasties that can get lodged in the folds of Diverticuli. You want to " go " regularly , not necessarily daily, but also avoid constipation or diarrhea.
That's the balancing act. Formally told its mixed ibs that I have/had and diverticular inflammation in left side of bowel today. Gastro prescribed naloxegol to help stop medication induced constipation which ends up as diarrhea with the use of laxatives when taken every other day. 4 weeks to do test run. A good amount of the veg I eat are soluble but my tummy still grumbles about it. The nuts and seeds are only eaten now if I am concentrating and chew to a pulp and it does seem to have helped the passage of them. It's trial and error indeed.
Are they assuming that part of your constipation is Opiod induced then?
You seem to have had enough diagnosis of other causes for your issues and the possibility that laxatives aren't effective.
Did anyone mention Dysmotility , or are they just jumping on the medication induce causes first?
The only person to mention it was the nurse who wS taking care of gas and air and distracting me during colonoscopy...said probably down to diabetes as they saw a lot of it when 2nd colonoscopy has to be done -(& pmrpro) . I think just jumping on the use of opioids. Got 4 weeks to see if there's a difference and I will discuss it with her and/or gp if it doesn't help or I get side effects like opioid withdrawal!
Yes that's the issue with that drug it causes all the symptoms of Opiod withdrawal for some people , and can cause harsh stomach pain and diarrhea because of it.
It may then seem that the problem is solved in a month but the real test is if it keeps it balanced after two months , and if you get the same pain relief from your Opioids.
What Opiod doses are you on at the moment?
Did they say what muscle condition the colon showing , was it tight or loose , did you have alot or no spasming when they tested you?
If you mean at colonoscopy there was little or no spasming. I had the cannula in but was OK. I don't know what the bowel should look/be like.
I am on 400mg of tramadol most days but it can drop to 200mg or up to 600mg. I used to have cocodamol but they won't prescribe it with tramadol since the big ooh ha started 18months ago. I didnt take it every day but for breakthrough pain.
Yes if first 4 wks is OK/better, I will see what next 2 months are like.
Are you doing any better??
I had a ten minute shower yesterday by popping stuff out but at least my family can sit in the same room as me now even though I have suffered for it! I've stopped being sick now so that's something xxx
Both those things will make you feel more human. Hopefully you can build up a bit of strength now. The bugs these days are persistent little sods. I hate going to gp or pharmacy with peoe coughing and suffering round me. Fingers crossed its upwards and onwards now.
Thanks for your long and helpful reply, much appreciated. I’ll take this on board 👍🏻
Thank you all so much. The advice and shared experiences make me feel much better now! X
What I'm about to say sounds bonkers but .... I've been investigating the carniore diet, where people eat only meat and animal products. I don't think I'm going to do it as I can't face that much meat. Anyway anecdotally, many people who do it says it sorts out gut issues like UC and Crohns. The theory being you actually REMOVE fibre and reduce motility in the bowel to give the guts time to heal. This is not the same as constipation, which is when there is a blockage or you just can't 'go'. You will have bowel movements, just not very often. Another option is extended fasting where you just don't eat at all for a while, to give your system a break and possibly allow autophagy to heal your body of inflammation. I'm keen to give it a go but long term fasting of a week or more should only be done under medical supervision apparently, and I can't find a doctor interested in it. This is a trending topic at the moment and there's not yet much hard evidence but to find out more if you go on Youtube and Google people like Dr Jason Fung (for fasting) and Dr Zoe Harcombe eg this video is good, talking about whether we need fibre in our diet and her conclusion is ... well see for yourself! youtube.com/watch?v=4KrmpK_...
How interesting. Thank you
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