Diverticulitis

[black orchid]

Hi , My mother has been told she may have Diverticulitis , she was bleeding badly from the back passage and had to be hospitalized , After a few days they sent her home saying she might have this , with no information or medicine or diet she is still very unwell ( its been 2 weeks now since she came home) I'm just wondering if anyone has this and can give me more information about diet etc , Thanks

[beaniesq]

Hi there,

sorry to hear she's feeling so poorly. You haven't been very detailed about her symptoms, so just to be sure, id she had diverticulitis she would be suffering:-

Lower abdominal pain (usually the lower left).
Nausea or being sick
Sharp cramps in the tummy
Constipation and trapped wind, OR diahorrea.
Feeling feverish and flu-like symptoms.

It is usually caused by an infection in the part of the colon called the diverticulum. This can happen when weak parts of the bowel bulge out and a bit of food or pooh basically then gets stuck and doesn't move along in the bowels as it should.

If your mum does have diverticulitis, you need to look at giving her something known as a 'Low Residue' Diet. This will give her bowels an opportunity to rest and heal.

You can google the term low residue diet and get lots of information on meal preparation. It basically involves cutting back on fibre until she has had chance to heal. Here is another useful diet link

http://www.diverticulitis.org.uk/diverticuliti s-diet.php

I would also recommend she be given a course of broad spectrum antibiotics to illiminate any infection lingering around in the bowel. Her GP can prescribe these.

You might need to push the GP and hospital to get a referal to a specialist to investigate this further. Just to ensure that you are definitely dealing with diverticulitis and not something else like Colitis.

Best of luck!

[Buenchico]

There's loads of information available about the condition, by clicking through the links across the top of this page, on the NHS website:
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Diverticular-dise ase-and-diverticulitis/Pages/Introduction.aspx
(There's a reference to the potential benefits of a high-fibre diet within those pages. In particular, see the 'Prevention' page).

There's further information on the website of the charity, CORE:
http://www.corecharity.org.uk/GET-INVOLVED/Div erticular-disease.html
(Click through to page 3, to read about different types of dietary fibre).

See also here:
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/ate/weightandnutrit ion/204241.html
and here:
http://www.constipationadvice.co.uk/achieving_ inner_health/high_fibre_meal_planner_for_adult s_day1.php

Chris

[sqad617]

Totally unsatisfactory state of affairs, but based on the assumption that she MIGHT have diverticulitis.

This diagnosis can only be made on camera examination (Colonoscopy) and possibly Barium enema studies.

Excellent answers given above for a diagnosis of diverticulitis.a diagnosis which in your mother's case seems highly questionable with the information that you have given.

[beaniesq]

Agree with sqad - diverticulitis is only one of a number of conditions she could have, a proper investigation is definitely needed !