[Gross...] Diverticulitis

[hansolo77]

Had to go to the Emergency Room last night. 3 bowel movements in less than 36 hours. All diarreah, all with copius amounts of blood in them. Mild to sever pain. I had a colonoscopy in March (just 3 months ago) to find out why I kept having these reoccurring cramp-like pains in my lower left side. He didn't find anything then. But last night they did a CT scan of my abdomen and confirmed I not only have Diverticulosis, but I also have currently Diverticulitis. "Osis" is the fact that I have these extra pockets in my colon, not that big a deal. "Itis" means those pockets have developed some kind of blockage, or become infected, or inflamed. In either case, the "Itis" is what's causing my cramps and worse now is the blood. They sent me home with 2 antibiotics, some Vicodin for the pain, and some Bentyl to help with the cramps. All-in-all, a pretty crappy (yes pun intended) night. Was up till about 2am.

So anyway, any of my fellow comrades here have them, or know somebody who has, and can offer me some guidance? The doctors were pretty vague. They said you can be born with Diverticulosis and can potentionally live your whole life without any complications. They also said there was nothing I could have done/ate that would have caused the Diverticulitis to flare up, it just happens on it's own. The one guy did say though that since I have been properly diagnosed as to having it, I should try my best to keep away from things that have seeds in them, like pickles, tomatoes, fruits like strawberries, sesame seed buns, etc. Kinda sucks. I think what got me was probably last week when I was on vacation, I ate a bunch of crunchy peanut butter sandwhiches with pickle "Stackers" on them. They're different cause they are whole pickles cut vertically instead of horizontally, so all the seeds are present. They were good too.

Any thoughts?

[Draco1962]

I would probably look into places on the web such as WebMD. I am sure there are some diet recommendations relevant to your condition (discuss with your doctor, of course) that can help as eliminating seeds is not something easily done and many of the fruits and veggies mentioned also have some anti-inflammatory properties as well. It may be a simple as increasing the amount of fiber in your diet or taking a fiber supplement.

[hansolo77]

Yeah I've actually already started taking the fiber part. When I had my colonoscopy the doctor told me start taking a daily dose of Metamucil. It's not been fun, and honestly I haven't really noticed any difference. Especially now since I've had the blood show up. Its just something I'm going to have to work with.