Severe diverticular disease.

Luckygirl3

*I have had suspected colorectal cancer and have waited three weeks for the result of a scan* - three weeks - this is all so wrong. It must have been a worrying wait for you. I hope you find some way of settling it down so you can get on with life.

The wait has been horrible because of the casual attitude of both hospital and surgery staff.

After ten days when I dared to ask when I’d be likely to hear something, I was told it can’t be anything serious or I would have had a phone call! 😳

Apparently there was a letter in the post signed by a nurse which would mean I had nothing to worry about.

A week later and no letter I tried to make contact with a GP but couldn’t get past the ‘care navigator’ who told me the gp had not had any notification from the hospital so there was no point.

This morning I rang the hospital again and managed to track down the nurse who signed the letter. She was very brusque and when I asked her to read the letter out to me because I still haven’t received it she just said, ‘You have severe diverticular disease and a large abdominal hernia. Contact your GP!’

Of course I’m immensely relieved I don’t have cancer but it’s not the only disease in the world where patients need help.

Google and Gransnet are providing that at the moment. 🙂

I have had suspected colorectal cancer and have waited three weeks for the result of a scan - three weeks - this is all so wrong. It must have been a worrying wait for you. I hope you find some way of settling it down so you can get on with life.

I was diagnosed very recently with diverticular disease, diverticulosis.
This was after a colonoscopy for bowel problems.
I have never had a flare up and I have a lot of sympathy for those of you that have.

After my brother died of bowel cancer 20 years ago at the age of 49 I have had three colonoscopies, it was during one of those it was discovered that I had diverticular disease
Very fortunately, I have never had an attack of diverticulitis..(but I have had kidney stones and the pain with those is excruciating)

I have had DD which is so painful. I’m regularly checked out and have had 3 or 4 colonoscopies.

When I feel the first twinge of pain in my stomach I take a tablet called Colofac which really calms things down. When I couldn’t get this from the chemist I got the pharmacist at my GP practice to prescribe this tablet and it is called Mebeverine. I take them everywhere with me in case I suddenly need to take one.

I have DD too and have always eaten plenty of fibre in my diet so having a poor diet is a misconception.
I can't eat seeded bread or tomatoes. I had a flare up recently as I'd eaten baby corn. I find silicol gel helps as it coats the intestine and eases the discomfort.

Thank you, everyone for your very useful advice. I will investigate pro biotics. I also hadn’t thought about seeds. I regularly eat tomatoes and seeded bread so will cut them out.

A diet that’s lower in fibre might help so I’ll definitely give it a go. Goodness knows what made the hernia appear so suddenly. 🤔

As petra says, tomato pips and any kind of seeds can cause a flair up. I don't have diverticula disease myself but my good friend does. She avoids anything with seeds, husks etc e.g. whole meal bread - and tomato pips are an absolute no-no for her. Wishing you well merlotgran.

Ahh, another fan of Symprove. It’s the only probiotic that can go through the gut without most of the goodness being destroyed.
I’ve just remembered something important about Symprove.
Merlotgran
If you do decide to take Symprove start of with a lesser measurement than recommended. I thought I was having an attack.
And, they are wonderful on the end of the phone.

Merlotgran
You have my total sympathy, I’ve had it for years but haven’t had an attack for about 7 years.
I’ve had an ambulance call out twice and taken to hospital once.
Like you I have a very good diet.
After my last very bad episode I went onto a course of Symprove. That is to get your bowl bacteria back to where it should be.
I discovered that tomato pips are my nightmare. I haven’t had an attack since I’ve had no pips in my diet.
What happens is: pips get into the pouches and fester, then the proverbial hits the fan.
As to the attacks, the only thing my Dr could advise was to breath into a paper bag because you are hyperventilating with the pain.
Always have water close to the toilet because thirst comes on quickly.
It can be sorted.

I have had DD for years and there is an awful lot of misleading information out there about the condition. It's not always down to a poor diet - there can be hereditary links, for instance. Some people also find that eating too much fibre can make matters worse, so it's often a case of trial and error to see how much fibre you can personally tolerate. Keeping a food diary can help you identify any triggers which can make things worse. Taking a good probiotic can also help - I swear by Symprove, although it is expensive and doesn't necessarily work for everyone. The charity Guts UK has some useful information on its website, and if you happen to be on Facebook, try joining the Diverticular Disease and Diverticulitis UK Based Support Group - it really does help to be able to talk to others who have the condition and understand what it's like to live with DD. Hope some of that info is useful to you.