Colonoscopy today - diverticulOSIS diagnosed. What now?

My friend was diagnosed a couple of months ago. She was given a long course of antibiotics because an area of the bowel was inflamed.
She's much better now.

My neighbour has had diverticulitis for several years, the dietician advised her to sprinkle her breakfast cereal with bran. I bought her some last week from Holland and Barrett as the supermarkets only sell oat bran these days. She also has a pro-biotic drink everyday, this seems to work very well for her.

PS. My neighbour also has a fairly fibre rich diet, fruit, wholemeal bread etc. but it would appear not enough to be beneficial, hence the added bran. Hope this is helpful.

Rowantree I was diagnosed with mild diverticulosis a couple of years ago. I'm not overweight and I've always eaten healthily - how unfair is that?! My ologist told me that it can be an age related condition and added, "Think how much worse it might have been if you hadn't eaten sensibly!" No particular diet changes for me, just continue eating fibre.

Thank you all. I plan to keep eating healthily unless told to the contrary, but I will look into increasing fibre intake still further - not sure how!
Maybe eating the whole fruit, including orange and banana skin....?

Minimouse can I ask you if you have any symptoms?

Hi rowan I don't have what you have - but for years now (since school days, actually) I've eaten pips - I eat grape pips, apple cores, clementine pips, everything that a pear has to offer (there's hardly any core in them anyway). What I mean is I eat it all because I am too lazy to sit and pick out pips. Some of them are tasty and others are just, well, fibre! Maybe you could do that. (I must add that some members of my family think I'm a bit odd for doing this).

Good luck with your quest to address the problem.

I must admit that I don't do that, but it's a good idea.
Maybe I could even try eating avocado and mango stones.

That's funny, rowan I wouldn't try that. Too much chewing!

An uncle of mine used to slice and eat raw potato like an apple. Weird or what

A barium enema revealed a small area of diverticulitis, several years ago - I've lost track of time! As a demi-veggie (ie fish-eater), I have a healthy diet. The only time I get twinges is when I eat a lot of seeded fruit. Raspberries and blackberries are best strained but I must admit I don't always do this and then I pay for it. I try to avoid nuts but can be intolerably tempted by pistachios and/or fruit and nut chocolate. I really must take myself in hand!

DH has diverticulosis. It makes life with his cancer even more complicated and the drugs he was taking made the diverticulosis worse and he ended up with peritonitis. Touch wood he's been OK since. Opinions seem to be divided on diet, with some people saying too much fibre makes it worse. DH eats pretty badly but whether he has a week eating no vegetables at all or a healthy week with lots of fruit and veg and live yoghurt it doesn't seem to make much difference

Rowantree I've pm'd you.

Rowan I found this for you

It should help.

Thank you all for your advice and suggestions and Anya that's a most useful article which makes a lot of sense. What totally mystifies me is that I have always had a high-fibre diet with plenty of vegetables, fruit and wholegrains, so it's a bit frustrating to read that low fibre consumption could be the cause. Nevertheless, I must look into ways to increase it further!

Minimouse many thanks for your PM - will be replying shortly

I will probably try and see the GP anyway to see what she has to say/advise.

diverticulosis = pockets in the wall of the colon
diverticulitis = inflamed/ infected pockets in the colon

I wonder whether it is constipation that is the cause and the association with low fibre is because that is a common cause of constipation.

Likewise Deedaa DH has "osis" and lives with it, touch wood, without episodes of "itis". The consultant told me exactly what JessM said (wish I'd read it here first then I wouldn't have had to ask!)

Thanks rowantree I thought it explained the different stages well without being over simplistic. I see others didn't bother.

JessM I very rarely get constipation!

Useful to have that distinction. But I'm still puzzled and put out as I have a very healthy and varied diet - though blushes I eat too much and enjoy chocolate and desserts too much. Trying hard to address this with the 5/2 and slowly improving

It's not just low fibre diets that can cause diverticular problems Rowantree
I'm not a medic but I googled this for you which might be of interest. It might just be an ageing thing.

The cause of diverticular disease is unknown, but several factors may contribute to changes in the wall of the colon, including aging, the movement of waste through the colon, changes in intestinal pressure, a low fiber diet, and physical abnormalities.

Who's Most At Risk?
These factors increase the risk for developing diverticular disease:
Smoking
Low fiber diet
Advanced age (more than half of people over age 70 have the condition)
Obesity
Male gender, for diverticulitis
Physical inactivity

The following may contribute as well:
High fat intake
Lack of regular physical activity
Use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, cortico-steroids, and opiate analgesics

Source: Diverticular disease | University of Maryland Medical Center umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/diverticular-disease#ixzz3TySgYc00
University of Maryland Medical Center

Nothing works for me.
I'm 5ft and 8 stone. Very good diet. I juice fruit and veg every day, have porridge and banana for lunch.
I'm very active. Painted the lounge ceiling, burnt off another door, painting, etc. Gardening when the weathers fine (that's just this week)
I'm not on any medication. My Doc puts it down to age.

Thing about knowing you have pockets is it allows you to eat best diet to avoid more problems.
It can be quite hard to meet the suggested minimum 18 gms of fibre a day. And nobody knows the ideal.
I eat:
porridge with sultanas in the morning
something bread based lunchtime - sometimes with soup or baked beans
in the evening typical would be something with a big grated cabbage based salad. Plus piece of fruit e.g an orange.

There is a difference between roughage - the woody branny fibre and cellulose - the fibre you get in cabbage, soft fruit etc. Both counteract constipation by absorbing water but roughage does not suit everyone.
petra I am not a fan of juicing. You take out all the fibre, you can end up consuming too much fruit sugar and there are no proven benefits to extra vitamin C. It is better for bowels to eat whole fruit/veg.

The only time I did juicing what when son on chemo and (in NZ) apples were v cheap from market. It was a palatable form of calories for him when feeling queasy and occupational therapy for me