diverticulitis

movingtables

movingtables

movingtables

Soldato
Joined
11 Feb 2004
Posts
3,343
Location
TheWirral
12 months ago i got this mild cramping in my lower belly area.
I thought to myself, well i do eat a bit of a rubbish diet maybe my body is telling me to slow down.
Anyway after a few days it went and i just cracked on.
but then this happened another 3 times of the last 12 months but each time a bit more painful.
Then around the end of October I got the worst pain I've had so far but i just assumed it would go like all the other times.
Stupidly i let this go on for 4 weeks and long story short i ended up in hospital with terrifying pain in my lower left side of tummy.
They did a scan and they pretty much realised straight away i was suffering with a flare of diverticulitis (inflammatory Bowl Disease) but a CT scan also showed
that i also had a burst Abscess on my Colon (ouch).
most peoples infection markers are about 0-5. my blood report showed 93 !

I ended up in hospital for a week on IV antibiotics.
at one point they thought they may have to drain the remaining abscess on Colon via surgery but i escaped that.
So i just read my latest scan online and they are basically saying i have multiple instances of diverticulitis around my bowl / colon oh and also a hernia around belly button area for good measure.
I am preparing myself mentally of the prospect of surgery and having to have a stoma fitted.
If i am honest though it's an easy decision between terrifying pain and having a bag.
They also picked up on the scan that i have an enlarged lymph node on my chest but i am hoping that is because i had a severe infection for a month.
I see my surgeon for a chat this Friday (28/11/25).
I am pretty sure he is going to have to remove the affected area's if not all the bowel because it doesn't get better once you have it.

So quite the ride. anyone else or someone you know had this condition?
anyone with a stoma want to chime in for good measure lol ?

as usual no medical advice just experiences :)
 
Both my wife and the mother in law suffer from it, I know MIL gets reactions to eggs but I think wife's isn't too bad, not something I would like to suffer from myself mind
 
I've had a couple of colonoscopies and they found a patch of diverticulitis, funny enough I've become allergic to eggs too, I wonder if it's linked.

Not exactly the same, but one of my partners grandchildren (1.5yrs) has been in hospital last week, as he massively filled a nappy that was black, with red streaks and stunk to high heaven of iron. This was the 2nd time it's happened, the first time the hospital ER just hand waved it away saying he probably swallowed something that had cut him inside. Different hospital this time, and within minutes of testing him he needed a blood transfusion and was diagnosed with a Meckrel Diverticulum. He was sent to Nottingham and they took him to surgery the next day, where they had to pull his intestines out to find it and ended up cutting out a 2 inch ulcerated section of his small intestine and stitching it back together. He was a lucky boy, since this had obviously been going bad for some time and if an ulcer had burst it could have been fatal.

Seems a Mecrel Div is quite common, 2% of the population have one, but it's rare for them to cause such complications.
 
Freakbro said:
I've had a couple of colonoscopies and they found a patch of diverticulitis, funny enough I've become allergic to eggs too, I wonder if it's linked.

Not exactly the same, but one of my partners grandchildren (1.5yrs) has been in hospital last week, as he massively filled a nappy that was black, with red streaks and stunk to high heaven of iron. This was the 2nd time it's happened, the first time the hospital ER just hand waved it away saying he probably swallowed something that had cut him inside. Different hospital this time, and within minutes of testing him he needed a blood transfusion and was diagnosed with a Meckrel Diverticulum. He was sent to Nottingham and they took him to surgery the next day, where they had to pull his intestines out to find it and ended up cutting out a 2 inch ulcerated section of his small intestine and stitching it back together. He was a lucky boy, since this had obviously been going bad for some time and if an ulcer had burst it could have been fatal.

Seems a Mecrel Div is quite common, 2% of the population have one, but it's rare for them to cause such complications.
Click to expand...
how awful for such a young boy :(
 
Maundie said:
Both my wife and the mother in law suffer from it, I know MIL gets reactions to eggs but I think wife's isn't too bad, not something I would like to suffer from myself mind
Click to expand...
do they get a lot of flare ups ? some people don't have another one whilst lots have many per year.
 
had one of them freak out moments today.
hospital phoned and said due to the nodule they found on lung they are referring me to the lung cancer team on a 2week thingy.
of course i read up about it and read some stuff about 50% of people who have a chest scan show they have a nodule on lungs and 95% of the
time its caused by possible previous infections or it's benign so i have somewhat calmed down lol.

51 never smoked in my life so fingers crossed :eek:
 
We had an audit at work from a guy recently who suffers with this. He stopped eating seeds and nuts to control it. Said he has had it for more than 12 years. He carries antibiotics around just in case he gets a flare up.

Sounds nasty.
 
Had a colonoscopy a while back and said I had a mild amount of it. Apparently somewhere between 30 and 50% of people have it to some degree.
They told me to just make sure I get plenty fibre and I shouldn't have any issues. Haven't had any flare-ups. The colonoscopy reason was unrelated.

I try and avoid as much UPF as I can these days.
 
I've got Diverticular Disease/Diverticulitis, I'm 51. Was diagnosed 4 years ago. Spent 12 years prior to that being fobbed off with "it's just IBS" and only got a proper diagnosis after pony'ing up and going private. I live with it, as do many thousands of others. However, everyone experiences episodes and flare up differently and have different triggers.

I feel for you, the pain and debilltation that can come with it can be uncomprehendable to those who don't suffer.

I can't give any medical advice but I saw some highly regarded specalists post diagnosis. Tried many things thereafter, most of which didn't work. However, one of the specialists did suggest a drug for me, which to date, has really helped me out.

Don't let it get you down, you'll find your way through it and now you know what it is, you will be able to spot the signs of a flare in the future.
 
Tealc said:
We had an audit at work from a guy recently who suffers with this. He stopped eating seeds and nuts to control it. Said he has had it for more than 12 years. He carries antibiotics around just in case he gets a flare up.

Sounds nasty.
Click to expand...

Only other option he has is surgery to cut it out
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom