Hi, Janice
Thanks for the replies.
As I said, I've never had any blood before, to the best of my knowledge, but I understand it can happen. I guess my inflammation has just not settled down and I still have quite bad IBS type symptoms. I'm banking on the fact that serious conditions seldom give such clear warnings or overt symptoms. As far as the current spotting is concerned, it is very mild and, unless looked for, would probably pass unnoticed.
The doctor and consultant, today, seemed to lean towards DD rather than anything else and the fact that I had clear colonoscopy 2005 and clear scans in 2010 and 2015 seemed to reinforce that. In addition, I have been entirely well until about six weeks ago, when rumblings began and it seems to me that these notoriously difficult to detect diseases tend not to show their hand easily. If they did, a lot of people would end up being far less unwell.
For now, I just have to wait for the scan and results. While I like Christmas, I must confess that I would rather it wasn't about to get in the way of my scan and results, this year!
Please keep in touch and I will let you know what happens.
Best wishes
Martin
Hi Martin
I'll keep everything crossed for you, but when I was at this waiting stage earlier this year, everyone was very encouraging - and right! I hope you get the all clear in time for Christmas and can enjoy yourself - with a little bit of moderation! All the best
Janice
Thanks, Janice
You're so right about the horrors of waiting- and I'm not very good at it! The mind does somersaults.
I'll keep you posted.
Thank you so much for your support.
Martin
Felinia also try some good old fashioned yogurt. It's going to replace the good bacteria in your stomach and remember that the antibiotic meds kill off all the good and bad in your stomach. Again try switching psyllium products and hopefully that will thicken your stools so you can flush your bowels regularly. You have to flush your system without any pushing and the psyllium will do that for you. If the colon is clear of fecal matter you will stop diverticulitis.
Again, this disease is very managable and you can beat it by following simple steps.
Take care of yourself.
Hi
I'm a yogurt salesman's dream - fresh in the fridge, frozen in the freezer, yogurt based probiotic drinks and yogurt based stanol drinks. Only proviso is that they have to be sugar free if possible (pre-diabetic). I'm now feeling very much better than I did a few months ago, and am also making a concerted effort to lose weight, as I know that will also help.
Are you based in the USA? It seems the USA and UK have a totally different approach to treating this disease, both money based. I had never heard of Metamucil here in the UK until this website, but I see I can get it on Amazon. Fybogel is what all the GP's prescribe here, and because of my age, I get it free on prescription. I intend to check the ingredients of both and see if I can spot the difference!
Cheers!
Hi
I've taken advantage of having my boiler fixed to look up Psyllium and this is what I found.
"Psyllium is the common name used for several members of the plant genus Plantago whose seeds are used commercially for the production of mucilage. Psyllium is mainly used as a dietary fibre to relieve symptoms of both constipation and mild diarrhea and occasionally as a food thickener. Research has also shown benefits in reducing cholesterol levels. The plant from which the seeds are extracted tolerates dry and cool climates and is mainly cultivated in northern India. Psyllium products are marketed under several brand names, such as Metamucil, Fybogel, Konsyl, and Lunelax."
I also checked the percentages in each brand name and they are virtually identical. So I'll give Metamucil a try for a month, to see if there is any difference for me. As we have all discovered everyone reacts differently! Do you use the powder, or one of the other products? I am currently using the powder.
Hi, Janice
I promised to keep in touch.
I had my colonography, this morning and have just got the results by text from my consultant. Full report will follow. No sign of cancer "nothing nasty" as he put it. Extensive diverticular diease and some kidney stones (have had these on and off for 40 years and they show on all scans).
I am very relieved, of course, and want to thank you for your comments and support- it meant a great deal to me.
I will now see a recommended dietician, to see if I can do something to keep things on track a bit more consistently.
Very best wishes
Martin
Hi Martin
Delighted to hear there are no signs of cancer - a massive relief for you and now you can enjoy Christmas. Your text was very like my letter - extensive DD - and "benign" rather than your "nothing nasty". Clearly your Consultant is not a sufferer either as I would say DD is extremely nasty, but in a different sense!!
As for the diet, everyone is different. I remember you are gluten free like me, but I also stick to a very low fat, low sugar, low acid diet, as I also have a hiatus hernia, high cholesterol and pre-diabetes. It's a bit more limited than for most DD sufferers. In addition I take pure Aloe Vera juice, probiotics, plant stanols, Fybogel and Mebeverine (when required for tummy cramps). The Fybogel and aloe vera are most effective. I also have the very occasional (maybe twice a month) square of Exlax, when I start to show signs of constipation, in order to keep the system clear and not let anything build up.
I have a lot of fluid type food - yogurt, home made soup, vegetable puree, runny porridge, and stick to small portions - little and often so I don't overwhelm the system. I avoid foods with nuts, seeds and pips, and have mainly steamed fish/poultry rather than red meat. It just takes a bit of planning. But this is what suits me and may not be right for anyone else - just trial and error. Your dietician will probably say plenty of good fibre, lots of fluids, small meals.
But today we are off for our pre-Christmas lunch at our favourite restaurant. The chef is a friend and prepares my meals to my request, plus provides a doggy bag. So it's turkey without trimmings with veggies, plus panna cotta without berry compote or ice cream. Half for lunch and half for tea! I get to watch the others enjoy the "Full Monty"!!
So glad all is working out for you. All the very best
Janice
Hi Martin
Just picked up a new post from julia1040. It is a brilliant summary of dietary suggestions for DD sufferers. Suggest you have a look.
Cheers
Janice
Yes I take the powder Metamucil and the sugar free. Please note the surgeon was the one who recommended the product and it works. It thickens the foods as it passes through colon. Only downside I do go more often and when it's time you can't wait very long cause it's moving out swiftly.
Hope this helps and best of luck to you.
Martin, please note I went to a surgeon and he told me no surgery and to start taking Metamucil. The psyllium seed is the ingredient that will absorb and push everything out of your colon. It works and I have never had another attsck since I have been on it for five years. I also had a friend who has Diverticulitis and he came to me and is also a successful patient with psyllium. Stop the suffering and start living your life with no pain.
Thanks for the post. I've been monitoring your other posts and see you advocate taking the drink twice a day, which I will try, although I am already going 4 - 6 times a day on just one sachet (as recommended by my dietician for DD)!!
I've found Metamucil is the brand name in the USA and the brand name here in the UK is Fybogel. I can order Metamucil from the USA but it costs a fortune after postage and tax. The only UK supplier I found wants to charge around £55 plus p&p per item. Guess they are getting their supply from the USA and passing on shipping and tax to the customer - so it's six of one and half a dozen the other!
Our Fybogel is a sugar free powder and it seems that the orange flavour is the most acceptable. Most people who tried the flavour free version described it as disgusting, or less flattering terms. There is also a lemon flavour. So cost wins out with me. Happy holidays.
Sorry to hear the cost is so expensive for an OTC product. I have tried other generics and they seem to work just as good. Your correct in that most of them have same ingredients which the key is psyllium seed. I do twice per day two teaspoons in 8 to 12 ounces of water. I am regular and do go to bathroom more than most. I did trade off that versus having Diverticulitis outbreak and that works for me. Please note I am going on six years now without any pain and not one occurrence of pain. Also, I did find out from some triathletes that also are on a regiment of psyllium in order to speed the processing in stomach and be more regular down below.
Let me know how it works for you and Merry Christmas.
Felinia I have been through all the Ct scans and colonoscopies just like you. It's hard for folks to believe a simple OTC psyllium product can control this disease along with a good diet, excercise, and stress. I wish all the patients here can be pain free just like me.
Hi, Janice
I'm sorry not to have replied to your messages, including the one before Christmas- they just disappeared and I've just managed, by pure luck, to come across them.
Thank you for all your support and good wishes.
I hope you had a good Christmas- I did, with a great sense of relief!
I'm still waiting to see a dietician and this has meant that I haven't got things back to 'normal' yet, as I don't really know what to do or not do.
Still have some pain but mostly feelings of slight nausea and all the feelings of IBS that have plagued me for years. Certainly not eating with the freedom I was used to! I guess this has shaken me a bit.
I will certainly look at the dietary suggestions you mentioned and intend to try the aloe vera you take.
I'll keep in touch, if that's ok.
Very best wishes
Martin
Hi Martin
Great to hear you seem to be on the road to recovery and a more normal life at last. I took advice and upped my Fybogel to twice a day, and now apart from the odd twinge, I am pain free. In fact I felt so good I booked another holiday, which involves a 10 hour coach trip to the destination! I'm also off to the Canaries shortly, but that's actually easier to manage!
You might find the dietician a bit limited. Unfortunately one NHS size does not fit all, and you need a bit of trial and error, plus a food diary to find what works for you. I hope you've managed to find the excellent post by Julia1040 - the best on diet I have come across. But it also takes time for the gut to settle - in my case 4 - 5 months.
Look forward to swapping good news!
Hi Martin
3 months down the line from my last message and I am just about back to normal as I was before the flare last August. Just one minor flare in January. So it's been almost 9 months of 2 steps forward, one step back. I hope you too have continued to improve. I have put myself back on the Slimming World diet, but with some modifications, and so far, touch wood, it works. But one thing I have learned - it takes time and patience, and there are no quick fixes and instant results. Best wishes
Hi Janet. Hope this message finds you well and how is the twice per day Metamucil working for you?
Hi
Twice a day, every day, was making me too loose and irritating my bladder, so now I am once a day for 3 days and then two on the 4th day, or whenever I feel I need loosening a bit more. However the good news is that after almost 9 months I am back to how I felt before the flare, with virtually no pain, just the odd twinge when I forget and move awkwardly. It is so good to wake up pain free, and have normal movements, albeit 3 - 6 a day, but I always went more than once a day anyway.
What I have taken from these 9 months is that the main requirement is PATIENCE. There are no quick fixes with this disease, no chopping and changing every day if something does not work immediately, no right answers. Just trial and error and working out what medications, supplements and foods work for each individual, and time for the insides to heal. This is the hardest thing to accept when you are in pain and fear, when you have a family to care for, a job to do, and you just want to feel better. Most people, like you and I, will get our lives back, but very few of these people come back to the forum once they feel better, to say "yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel".