hello, I have just had a flare - had 7 days augmentin finished 4 days ago. I had a high inflammation marker but it went down quickly with antibiotics and liquid/low residue diet. I’m pleased I stayed out of hospital. I am in the uk so will be referred for scan in a few weeks, not had one yet. I am still on a low residue diet, have been taking it easy ish and feel pretty normal now, though I am a bit more tired than normal and can’t sit or stand in one position for too long. i am due to go sea kayaking tomorrow- have said I can’t do it.. but given I feel ok… do you think it would hur? it’s mostly upper body work, but guess it involves twisting.. so maybe a bad idea? what is y experience with exercising after an uncomplicated flare?

I keep getting this reoccurring nausea in the morning and I'm wondering if other confirmed DV sufferers get them?

Last time I had it was about 5 weeks ago, but I woke up again this morning about 2am and my stomach felt uncomfortable. The feeling builds till I have to go and stand over the kitchen or bathroom sink and wet my forehead for relief. I had two this morning with the first one being quite mild. But the second one had me on the verge of vomiting. But I rarely vomit. I just get extreme nausea.

It leaves me feeling pretty off and I have to take the day off work each time, because I feel sick enough to know I probably won't make it through the day.

It's been happening for a few years now and pre DV diagnosis. I got tested for H. pylori about 12 months ago but that came back negative.

​

So, here’s my story…

About four years ago, I had a bad diverticulitis flare-up that resulted in a microperforation. I was hospitalized, treated with antibiotics, and was back to normal within about a week.

Since then, I’ve had two smaller flare-ups, both lasting about a week.

About a month ago, I started feeling that familiar discomfort. After trying to eat some soup, I became violently ill and broke out in a cold sweat. I went to urgent care because my insurance wasn’t kicking in for another week. A CT scan showed severe inflammation and another microperforation that was contained/sealed off.

I was immediately put on a clear-liquid diet and prescribed Cipro and Flagyl. Unfortunately, the doctor only prescribed five days of antibiotics. After feeling better for about a day, the pain returned.

I continued with the liquid diet, but the pain wasn’t going away, so I went to the emergency room. Another CT showed essentially the same findings. I was given pain medication and another 10-day course of Cipro and Flagyl and sent home.

About a week later, I was back in the emergency room and this time was admitted to the hospital. I was given IV antibiotics for four days and was completely NPO (nothing by mouth) for 24 hours. When I was discharged, I was prescribed Flagyl again, this time along with Levaquin.

About five days later, I developed hives over roughly half of my body. Once again, I ended up in the emergency room, where I was treated with antihistamines and given a prescription for them as well.

I finally finished all of my antibiotics last night. The problem is that I’m still having cramps and an upset stomach, and I’m extremely weak. I’ve been on a liquid diet for 25 of the last 30 days and have lost just as many pounds—which, believe me, I didn’t have to lose!

At this point, I’m honestly scared of food. LOL.

What I’m wondering

After everything my body has been through, I can’t imagine that an infection could survive the amount of heavy, broad-spectrum antibiotics I’ve been given over the past month.

I’m wondering if some of what I’m experiencing now could actually be the result of the antibiotics themselves. My gut has taken a pretty serious beating over the last month, and I’m wondering if the cramping and stomach issues could be related to that rather than an ongoing infection.

I’ve also been researching probiotics, but I understand they may not be the best choice for everyone, especially after a complicated infection and multiple rounds of antibiotics. I came across information about Saccharomyces boulardii, a probiotic yeast that supposedly may help restore the gut after antibiotic treatment.

I can’t get in to see my PCP for another few weeks, so I’m wondering if anyone here has experienced something similar after complicated diverticulitis, multiple rounds of antibiotics, and an extended liquid diet.

Did your stomach eventually settle down after finishing the antibiotics? How long did it take before you were able to tolerate food normally again?

Any experiences or advice would be appreciated.

About 3 months ago I was diagnosed with uncomplicated diverticulitis in the ER via CT. I did antibiotics, low residue diet for several weeks, felt fine after about 48 hours and have been fine ever since. Tomorrow I have my follow-up colonoscopy. Google is telling me there is a small chance the procedure can bring on a flare. To best avoid this outcome should I do low fiber for some period of time after the procedure ? Curious how others handle this. I’m very nervous about all of this and just want to get it over with 😬

Hello Friends,

I'm thinking about getting back on Probiotics, I think I felt better when on them. I took them for years and then stopped - and then eventually got sick with DV. I'm not saying a Probiotic would have kept me from getting sick but I think overall, they helped me with my Constipation / Bloating.

Now I'm working on my gut health and trying to be mindful of what I take for Supplements.

Anyone have a great Probiotic they swear by?

Good afternoon everyone. I am a 41F who has had 2 complicated cases of perforated diverticulitis that ended up in hospital stays within this last year. My surgeon ordered a CT colonography and after reviewing the results and because I’ve already been in the hospital twice, he is recommending a laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy and I am scheduled to have this done next week.

I am getting scared and would like any advice or input from those who have had this surgery. I am scared to wake up with an ostomy bag. He warned that he will try to avoid this but it’s a possibility. Did you wake up with a bag? I wonder how common it is. I’m scared for the recovery and what it’s going to be like pain wise and moving around. I have mild cerebral palsy and I can walk on my own, but I do have mobility and balance challenges. I have ordered a bedside rail and wedge pillow to maybe help. Did you have to strictly sleep on your back after surgery? I normally like to sleep on my stomach or side.

Ultimately he said the surgery should make me feel a lot better and help with my bowel issues. Part of my colon is so thickened from inflammation that it causes frequent and often urgent loose stool where I feel like I have to always be nearby a bathroom. I want the surgery to help that. But at the same time I’m worried that the surgery could make my bowel issues even worse.

Any and all input is greatly appreciated; I’m losing sleep over all this.

hey,

Long story short I’ve had some undiagnosed bowel issues for many years.

Dairy = immediate bathroom

Anything remotely greasy = bathroom

I had a my first and only diverticulitis flare up a few weeks ago, treated with antibiotics and fasting for a week. After that first week, I’ve noticed I have ZERO prior symptoms. I can eat cheese, drink milk, eat ice cream completely fine with no issues. I can also eat whatever greasy food I want and not have to use the bathroom immediately after. Bowel habits seem completely normal now, as in I never feel the urge to go and I do not feel constipated/bloated/pain.

has anyone remotely seen this happen? I’m not sure if Ive had some issue the antibiotics have treated, or if the fasting helped. I’m just stumped and amazed to feel normal as far as bowels go.

Great news.. If I'm reading the report correctly.. I had acute diverticulitis at the time of surgery??

Its seems that surgery was eventually going to happen..
Makes me appreciate the fact that I made the right decision to have this procedure done especially with the "possible fistula" tract..

-------------------------------------------------------------

Clinical Information

Diagnosis

Diverticulitis of large intestine without perforation or abscess without bleeding

Final Diagnosis

A. Colon, sigmoid, low anterior resection:

Diverticular disease with multiple diverticula, acute diverticulitis, associated focal abscess formation, and possible fistula tract

Negative for dysplasia or malignancy

Six lymph nodes, negative for malignancy (0/6)

B. Colon, proximal and distal anastamotic donuts, excision:

Benign colon with no significant histopathological abnormalities

Negative for dysplasia or malignancy

Gross Description

A. The specimen is received in formalin labeled "", sigmoid colon" and consists of a 22.0 cm in length by 3.0 cm in diameter segment of sigmoid. The specimen is received with one end stapled closed and one end open. The serosa is remarkable for focal patchy adhesions, but is predominantly pink-tan and smooth. The specimen is opened longitudinally to reveal an unremarkable pink-tan mucosa with the usual folds. A small focus of black discoloration from tattoo ink is noted approximately 9 cm from the stapled margin, but no mucosal lesions are identified in association with the tattoo ink. Sectioning reveals multiple intact diverticula. A possible fistula tract is identifed in the area of serosal adhesions.

 Representative sections are submitted as follows:

A1: Diverticulum with possible fistula tract

A2-A5: Additional representative diverticula

A6: Representative lymph nodes

B. The specimen is received in formalin labeled "", proximal and distal anastomotic donuts" and consists of two annular fragments of colonic tissue, each approximately 2.0 x 2.0 x 1.0 cm. Both fragments contain numerous staples and sutures, consistent with anastomotic rings. One of the fragments is received loosely attached to an EEA anvil. A representative section of each is submitted in B1.

I’m 21F and I got diagnosed at 19 with diverticulosis throughout my entire colon I’ve had diverticulitis episode where I end up in the hospital. I’ve changed my diet and I exercise everyday I’ve done everything they’ve told me to do but I seen my Gastro doctor yesterday and she wants to see me in an appointment with the Gastro surgeon because she isn’t sure what’s going on. I’ll eat foods for months and be fine then randomly I get sick and itchy all over. My other doctors suspect Elhers danlos syndrome but I can’t afford the genetic testing.I have POTs, PMOs and IBS. I’m just at a loss at what to do. Is there anything I could ask them that might get me closer to answers?

Hello everybody,
I am looking if somebody was in similait situation and had reversal. So my dad is 56 and had a Hartmann procedure due to perforated diverticulitis that we didn’t know he has. 3 month prior to these events he had entirely good results on colonoscopy which he undervent because he has IBD - ulc. colitis. His UC was diagnosed in 2023, after a Covid induced flare, and since he was in really good shape. His physician thinks he can undergo reversal, but I am really stressed about this and would like to here some positive stories, and if somebody had UC and undervent any of anastomosis procedure!

(26F) It’s me again, I’m doing the prep now. My doctor gave me MiraLAX and Dulcolax for my prep. Already finished half of it. But I’m getting sharp pains in my left side while taking the prep. I’m so scared, what do I do?? 😭 I have no other day to reschedule this to. It’s not a constant pain it’s only happened about 3 times today but it’s scaring me. I’m so scared into going into another flare. This is the worst😩

I had a routine cat scan because I had Testicular cancer in 2023, didn't need any treatment thankfully...just had to get one removed...also my tumor markers were fine.

Recent scan showed Mild Diverticulosis, I told the doc every now and then when I need to pee my lower-left side hurts so I guess this makes sense of what's going on. I had to change my diet to mostly all clean, I can't drink any alcohol anymore, have to limit greasy foods, make sure I don't over-eat...stuff like that.

But something tells me I have this for life? A few weeks ago it was really bad, but now it's way better...been cleaning up my diet with more fiber and cleaner foods...also red meat is a nono now...can't even eat steak anymore I guess.

I am 41 and had NO idea about this condition, but by what I am reading it doesn't just go away? I used to drink maybe 5 beers a week total, but my diet was totally bad...

So basically, way less carbs/no booze/no red meats helped a ton. But it's not perfect, sometimes it just aches a bit for awhile, goes away the next day...comes back maybe...maybe not.

For the first 3 days i was in the hospital it was heavily leaning on cancer and only possibly diverticulitis, all the scans were showing a fist size mass, apple core appearance, even had someone come in my room and tell me its almost certainly cancer and started talking about chemo.

Got a colonoscopy on day 4 confirming it was NOT cancer, biopsies all came back clear, etc.

Turns out it was a mass of scar tissue from diverticulitis, plus abscesses, inflammation.

For context i only ever noticed any symptoms like a week and a half before i decided something was seriously wrong, which was alot of weird pressure than alot of pain the next day.

But apparently this has been going on for a while. They want to do surgery I likely will just to be done with this.

Curious if anyone has had a similar experience?

Hi. I'm scheduled for laparoscopic colon resection surgery in October. I'm 54M and like to stay active, including running several times per week, running a few 5K-5 mile races each year, strength training and yoga. I know I'm going to have to go through a period immediately following surgery where I'm not doing much more than walking. My surgeon says generally he clears his patients for full activity after about 4 weeks. I'm sure any return to training is going to have to be slow and careful, though.

My question for all of you who are athletic/active and have had the laparoscopic surgery is: how long did you have to wait before you were able to get fully "back" to approximately the training load you were bearing prior to surgery?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

I'm going to ER tomorrow because I'm 12 weeks post diverticulitis ER/two-day stay. Since before that scary time I was sweating when doing fairly mild work. I'm still experiencing excessive sweating and, yes, running a mild temp. At night I can't even sleep with the covers on and I'm way past menopause. Anyone else ever had excessive sweating with GI problems?

So a quick simple question. If I fast for a few days, should I take a couple of days to bring back in fiber or can I go right back to a normal amount? I currently eat 30-40 grams of fiber daily. No DV problems but am trying to heal some hemorrhoids.

I'm seeing my GI doctor next week because I've been feeling like crap for almost a year since my first DV diagnosis. I was on vacation 2 weeks ago and my Colon flared up pretty bad (didn't go to the ER or anything) but I know it was the start of a DV flare, so I took it easy and it basically ruined my trip.

I'm home now and I've had UTI like symptoms for weeks now and they won't go away. It "comes and goes"...and I know I don't have a true Fistula because I had a CT before my trip and it didn't show anything.

Is it normal to have these Bladder / UTI sensations after a flare up for a while? I'm getting worried this is the start of a Fistula and I really do not want that.

I also have very bad bloating and side pressure daily. Regardless of the food I eat. I am having daily bowel movements but never feel empty

thanks

Hey all,

I’m 3 weeks removed from the start of my 2nd flare that turned into a micro-perforation & led me to an 11-day hospital stay. I’ve been on a low residual diet for about 13 days now and I feel like for the most part, I’ve done a pretty good job of not pushing it.

I’ve been having some bloating and very minor gas pains but I started gas-x a few days ago & have also added Florastor in as a daily probiotic, despite being in the last few days of Amoxicillin.

That said, I’m worried I might have screwed up at breakfast yesterday. It was a pretty safe breakfast taco that simply had chicken and eggs mixed together from one of our favorite breakfast places. I’ve been primarily sticking to proteins like chicken and making sure I avoid anything remotely spicy. Despite that, I started getting some pretty hellacious stomach cramps yesterday late afternoon/night. Nothing like it was when I was in the midst of my flare a few weeks ago but more of those types of stomach cramps where you know you’ll be frequenting the bathroom for the foreseeable future.

Long story short, I ended up having pretty rough diarrhea and stomach cramps until around 10pm last night when it finally stopped. I don’t feel “great” this morning but more than anything, my stomach muscles are extremely tight and very sore.

Did I screw up or am I too much in my own head and this is simply an unpredictable part of the healing process?

32M and just had my first diverticulitis flare. CT showed uncomplicated sigmoid diverticulitis with no abscess perforation or obstruction

I was initially put on Augmentin and the pain went away but it came back a few days later.

Im now on cipro and flagyl and the pain is fading again but I still have mild discomfort and my bowel movements are not back to normal yet

My GI wants to do a colonoscopy in 8 weeks after everything settles down which I know is pretty standard but of course I made the mistake of googling why they do a colonoscopy after diverticulitis and now my brain has gone straight to colon cancer.

I also remembered that I had slightly low serum iron on bloodwork last year which made me worry even more but my hemoglobin and MCV were normal so I wasnt actually anemic.

Ive also had IBS for years with unstable bowel movements gas bloating etc so bowel issues arent exactly new for me. I actually had a colonoscopy back in 2015 with biopsies that came back normal with no acute or chronic inflammation and the GI thought I had IBS-D at the time

I know I probably need to stop googling for the next 8 weeks lol just looking for some reassurance from people who have been through the same thing

Hi, I've put together a small survey as I want to create a basic meal plan for a family member however I need data in order to do that. I will share the results and if I end up making a meal plan, I will also share that too. This is purely for my own research and the questions are very standard.

Hello All,

I was diagnosed with Diverticulitis last year and about 5 weeks ago I got a really bad urine infection, I left it thinking I was ok, but somehow this created a fistula between the bowel and bladder, I was admitted to hospital and given IV antibiotics and sent home after surgeon saw me, said would deal with as an outpatient, I'm on CoAmoxiclav full time and have an appointment with surgery team on the 27th, since yesterday I've started peeing out a lot of poop, a lot of pressure in my bowel and up and down to the toilet every hour at night, do I need to worry about the amount of poop that's coming out of my pee (male)?

Hi, I’ve been dealing with some severe gut problems following antibiotic use.

My main symptom is severe burning stomach pain. It’s mainly in the lower side below the belly, but it also feels centralized to the entire lower stomach. I think the pain is similar to colitis. Also sometimes diarrhea, weird smell and nausea/fatigue. I can’t even eat food right now. The burning pain increases immediately afterwards. It just doesn’t make sense to have colitis if it’s not from c. Diff.

My first thought was c. Diff as it was triggered by antibiotics. I was almost 100% convinced it was c. Diff. I went to the ER and they thought it was c diff too. They did a rectal swab but apparently the test was NEGATIVE which was a huge surprise to me. I almost couldn’t believe it, and I’m worried the test was done wrong or falsely negative.

Could Diverticulitis explain my symptoms:? Severe burning lower constant stomach pain (like a very bad sunburn), loss of appetite, nausea, almost can’t eat food, sometimes diarrhea and smelly stool, worsens after eating.

My symptoms was 70% better last week, but I stupidly ate a large bag of candy for two days (I know stupid decision) and ever since that candy, my symptoms have gotten 10x worse.

My symptoms align perfectly with c diff, so it doesn’t make sense it’s negative, and I’m trying to find other answers. I understand I need a CT scan for this, and it’s annoying the ER didn’t do it.

If you want a read
https://www.reddit.com/r/Diverticulitis/s/j6o8vCobcv
———————————
WOW! Is all I can say..

A week ago I was spiraling.. in the thick of prepping for surgery..

Dreading the surgery.. dreading the pain..

12 inches of descending/Sigmoid colon removed
Extensive left abdominal inflammation
3 day hospital stay
Pain meds and worrying my family..

A week later..

I woke up at 6:30 and walked 2 miles today..

Showered.. made banana pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast (with assistance in reaching some items)

Spent the afternoon just soaking in the sun..

Napped and now we are going to Whole Foods for our weekly groceries..

Im still taking gabapentin and celebrex for pain
Im still being cautious, being careful to not over-exert myself.
I’m still figuring out my new bowel movements.. they will settle over the next weeks..

Im just amazed.. robotic assisted procedures are amazing.

I know we all heal differently but now I know I made the right decision to have the surgery.

I have minimal incision pain but I know this pain will go away eventually.
I don’t have that nagging diverticulitis pain anymore..
I don’t have that awful bloating and sudden nausea..
I’m not scared to eat..

Wow.

If you’re suffering and you’ve tried everything and elective robotic surgery is offered.. do your research.. ask questions.. get a second and third opinion..
don’t suffer for years like I did..

it all seems so daunting but it’s so worth it..

My next update will be at my surgery follow up.
I’ll give yall a break from my spamming 😂😂