Is there anyone on here that has had diverticulitis and lived a manageable life? Has anyone on here had it for 10 to 15 years without surgery ? Please reply having anxiety attacks over this .
Me too bud.Im booked in for colonoscopy monday with view for surgery.Very anxious.
Hi have had several bouts over the past 6 years with one hospitalization. It will be one year on 2/22/17 with no pain, etc. I decided to not eat nuts, seeds, veggies or fruit with skin, or any tough non soluble fiber. My last flare last year I believe came from eating a baked potato with a really tough skin. Two days later I had a flare. I think the medical community is all wrong when they say to add alot of fiber. Every time I do that, I get an attack. I miss many of the things I don't eat anymore but after looking down the barrel of an operation to remove the diseased portion of my colon and deciding against it, I will do all I can to avoid that and another attack.
I also take one dose of Mira lax a day to keep things moving. This was on the advice of a gastroenterologist.
I've lived with it pain free for six years running. My success is from psyllium husk, diet, exercise, and low stress life style. The two big items that I do not eat a lot of anymore is greasy foods and red meat.
Have you tried prune juice?
So you don't take Metamucil or the husky stuff do you eat oatmeal ?
Metamucil twice per day and oatmeal as much as possible.
How much psyllium husk a day do you take ? What kind of excerise is safe ? Do you drink things with caffeine or eat chocolate ? Please let me know thanks
No - I have not tried prune juice. My gastro doc suggested Miralax everyday and that has worked. I am afraid to upset the apple cart at this point as this seems to be working, although I don't like the though of putting a chemical into my body.
I used to eat steel cut oats and loved them but scared they might cause a flare as sometimes there are some hard pieces in the oats. I hate rolled oats.
Thank you so much for your post! I had my first attack almost 2 years ago since than I have had at least 7 attacks never had to go to Hospital yet. Like you I would rather eat grass and water if it keeps me from another attack.
I started foiiowing a diet which says on stage 4, the part where you eat alot of fiber, because " it can keep you from an attack" so I had been eating alot of granola 1 or 2 cups a day!! I have been in an attack now almost 2 weeks. I also take 1/2 does Mira lax per day, except during attacks, and that keeps things going.
Do you eat alot of fruits and veggies after removing skins? What do you eat on an avg. day? I'm sorry I have alot of questions for you.
Thank you for taking time and caring 
Crosado I eat a regular diet and stay away from greasy foods and very little red meat. With the introduction of psyllium 2 per day doses once in morning and once at night I no longer have stomach issues including mild diarrhea. The husk bulks up my stools and pushes it all out keeping my bowels clean so that diverticulitis does not start.
I pretty much eat and drink what I want and any issues with diverticulitis has gone away thanks to the psyllium husk aka Metamucil. Hope that helps you.
Hi I agree with you. Just got out of hospital for complicated diverticulitis with abscess and I do eat very high fiber and very healthy diet. But I ate a lot of popcorn and seeds in salads etc last week right before this. I know they say that it isn't true about the seeds but I'm thinking for me it is. I also remember a few years back eating a lot of cauliflower and having such severe pains that I almost went to hospital. I never had it checked out but now I'm thinking this is what it was. I'm on a low fiber diet right now until I feel better and can slowly add in fiber. I hear everyone on here takes Miralax but I'm not sure if I should start this now or wait a few weeks.
Did you eat the cauliflower raw or cooked good?
I don't do alot of raw veggies either although I love them. Most I will eat raw are carrots, radishes and mushrooms. If I eat any veggies or fruits with skins, I peel the skins. I was 2 weeks from voluntary surgery about a year ago. What stopped me dead in my tracks was the word "stoma". They wanted to be cautious and mark an area on my abdomen, "just in case". Then I started to rethink and do a lot of research on my own about the surgery. I did go to a new gastroenteroligist who says he very rarely refers anyone to surgery that suffers from diverticulitis, no matter how many attacks they've had. All the docs I talked to about this were surgeons. And what do they do best, they operate!!
I'm sorry. Your request was in my spam folder. I think the last attack I had a year ago was due to a baked potato that had a really tough skin. I love baked potatoes with skins but two days after this, I had an attack. I also had a few sticks of raw red pepper that still had the skin on. I started to do a little research on soluble versus insoluble fiber and try to stay away from anything with insoluble fiber. It's not easy to do. I will eat romaine lettuce with a few "smooth" veggies, i.e. mushrooms, radishes, carrots. I try to stay away from anything that comes out the same way it goes in!! Ask away, I'll try to watch my spam folder. I don't miss a dose of Miralax. It's my miracle drug. Forget the fiber!.. I think my intestine was damaged several years ago due to food poisoning. I went to the hospital with the worst pain in my life. It felt like somone was pouring hot lava through my intestines.. I was passing a lot of blood and, excuse the mental image, undigested corn on the cob. Of which I had been eating for a week prior to attack. When I went to the hospital, the did a CT scan and some other tests. No sign of diverticulitis but diagnosed diverticulosis and food poisoning. Shortly after that, anytime I ate corn, nuts, popcorn or anything with a lot of fiber, I noticed I had an attack. Several times with no fever, but a couple of times with fever which sent me to the doctor. Did this poison set me up to have diverticulitis?? and make my intestine more susceptible to an infection?? Odd coincidence! I've read that only a small % of people that have diverticulosis then go on to have diverticulitis flares. So why do we???
As are as I am concered, the cat is out of the bag by the time they know you have diverticulosis - damage has been done due to our diets (at least that is what the major consensus is). You aren't going to reverse it by now adding all this fiber to your intestine to process. Let me know how it turns out - try an almost fiber free diet for 6 months and see how you feel.
I roasted it... but ate alot of it lol. And then had a horrible attack that I thought was gas at the time. But I love veggies and eat broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, cabbage every week. Now I'm not so sure what to do. Maybe just everything in moderation.
Thank you for this. I do not want to have surgery and will do all it takes to avoid it. But my doctor said that if you have one attack, the chances of getting another is much greater and that it is never optimal to have to do emergency surgery.
I have read that once you have an attack, you most likely will suffer from another one. I have had two substantiated attacks (CT scan verified) and several unsubstantiated ones that I treated myself over the past 6 years. The old school of thought was subsequent attacks would be worse and more dangerous. That is not true. I've read alot about this disease and try to separate the good from the not so good. My attacks have not gotten worse, they are always the same and my gastro doc agrees that subsequent attacks aren't worse. I was placed in the hospital one time due to an emergency room doc who said I had an abscess. When the surgeon visited me while in the hospital, he said I absolutely did not have an abscess and this was verified by another visit to another surgeon when I was considering surgery. Who said you should have surgery? Your gastro doc or a surgeon? I'm just glad I found a doc who will work with me in trying to control this disease and not suggest the need for surgery just because I've had several attacks. It is a major surgery - even if it is laproscopic. Read up about the potential after effects of the surgery - it is not without further complications. I am just going to keep doing what I am doing and hope for the best.
how do u get low stress how do I work on that? 52331 do u drink a lot of water?