avoiding constipation during a flare

[Lohuru]

Hi, just found out three days ago I have this, am trying to understand the implications have been a vegetarian for 16yrs. Corn triggered a flare which led to diagnosis. Any tips for controlling the bloats? Naturopath suggested low fibre diet with a dose of herbafibre every night - I am just confused! Not sure what to do at the moment...food diary? Any help now would be greatly appreciated

[Jo-jo]

Lohuru:

The most important thing with this disease is to listen to your body, pay attention to what you eat and when. I am still trying to figure this out myself I was diagnosed with this last year. I always thought I was eating the right things I think it is a lot of trial and error. Sometimes the medical profession doesn't have all the answers

Hope this helps

Jo-jo

[Lohuru]

Thanks Jo-Jo, your advice sounds pretty sensible to me! I have noticed that some people can eat something in one form and not another, like - no whole tomatoes, but tomato sauce is ok...so will just experiment with that sort of thing and pay attention to what my body does I am just grateful that I found this site...it helps to have other people with the same thing to interact with and learn from

[normajoy]

I have found that Metamucil is really good for preventing constipation during a flare and my GP says that its fine. Its available at supermarkets or the Chemist

[L]

Excuse my ignorance but will enzymes help in constipation because they help in digestion. Do they help in diverticulitis by helping digestion

[mhl]

I find it interesting that the consensus here is bucking the conventional medical wisdom that high fibre is the key to preventing flare-ups of diverticulitis. Perhaps doctors should be listening to the opinions of those with experience of the condition but all too often doctors don’t listen. I have struggled for years with flare-ups and have always used high/low fibre alternation for normal and then flare-up periods. For myself the problem with low fibre is it causes constipation which itself results in spasm and low left abdomen pain. Since diverticulosis predisposes to sluggish bowel and constipation, I am wondering how the low fibre advocates deal with it without fibre in their diet.

[SUPERMOM]

in answer to 'apples are the answer'.

I am so confused about this condition. I was diagnosed in March this year. I have suffered from irritable bowel for at least six years now and probably longer in reality. I also suffered from endemetreosis for the same length of time. I have had frequent bouts of feeling really really sick with lots of cramping, bloating, excruating pain on bowel movement ect. I had a colonscopy about six years when I started to try and find out what was wrong with me, thats when they said that I had irritable bowel. They also did a laparoscopy to determine if indeed i had endemetrosis which provided a definite diagnosis. the surgeon did what he called a 'clean up job' I had dreadful pains for about two months following that operation. The pain continued, this time was also very stressful for me as I lost three of my family over a four year period and had some problems in my marriage. so i would definitely agree that stress is possibily one of the biggest factors. For long periods of time i can eat anything I like and then for what appears to be no good reason I will have an attack.
In March this year I was really unwell with raised temperature and serious pain in my left groin area, went to the emergency room only to be sent home with painkillers.I did an ultrasound two days later and it was discovered that i had growths in my abdomen and cysts on one of my ovaries. There is a strong history of cancer in my family and so i was very concerned. I had to have a radical hysterectomy during which the surgeon had to cut part of the bowel away from my uterus. it had adhered itself there. I had lots of infection and the doctor then told me that i had diverticular disease. no one had every mentioned this to me in the past and my colonscopy had come back clear, even the one I had done in October 2008. my GP told me that even if they see diverticula they can return a report of normal colon, ie no cancer.
I find that certain foods will make me very bloated and constipated. they include mashed potatoes, white bread, milk and coffee. I can eat vegetables, mostly without any problems. I tend to avoid the others most of the time. i have one coffee in the morning and usually don't eat white bread. I have tried gluten free and that doesn't seem to bother me. if i do get bloated i find that drinking peppermint tea really helps. I also have a tea that helps if I get constipated, its made from senna and really does the trick without any cramps ect.
I believe that along with the irritable bowel and the diverticular disease I also have food intolerances. I also think that stress is a key factor, I am a worrier and have become worse since the deaths of my brother, mother and father. I worry about my family and myself, probably too much. Now that I have been plunged into an early menopause (due to hysterectomy) the hot flushes and the mood swings don't help!! My biggest goal is to try and not stress so much, I know that it doesn't help at all and in fact makes things worse. The worst thing for me about this disease is there is no real route you can follow to be sure you won't have a recurrence, and so you try lots of things never knowing what will set you off, so there is a constant worry. anyway thats my feelings on this wonderful disease!!!!!!!!

[Bigmacnfrys]

I have found that Metamucil is really good for preventing constipation during a flare and my GP says that its fine. Its available at supermarkets or the Chemist

I was diagnosed about 2 months ago when I had a flare up so bad I got a tare in my colon. I had surgery but the tare had close when the doctor got in there. He told me high fiber and one of my nurses said the same thing. I use metamucil everyday I make sure I get 30 grams a day but I have read that fiber's not good to use when your in a flare up. That it can aggravate a flare up. I'm in another flare up now. I'm not sure if it's ok ? The doctor put me back on flagyl and cipro . But I fell like I need a movement.

[Krystal-Aus]

Hi All
I'm young, 23, was diagnosed about 3 months ago with diverticulosis and was told I was in the middle of a flare-up. Since then, I have changed my diet, I was already fit and healthy and underweight so I know thats not the problem, changed my lifestyle (to drink less beer, quit playing netball coz it was hurting too much, etc), started having fibre supplement in my food every day, and I am STILL in pain and sick on a daily basis, and have blood in my stools every couple of weeks. I've had tests on my stools which came back as nothing to worry about. I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong. Everyone talks about flare ups like they only last a few days, or a few weeks. This hasn't gotten better in the whole 3 months. I'm now taking meds before I eat to help the spasms, but it hasn't made that big of a difference and I still lay in bed at night in pain. What am I doing wrong? Is it normal for a flare up to go on this long? It sounds like ppl don't have problems with this unless they are in a flare up but its not been 3 months without a single days break. Help!
Krystal

[seccom123]

Hi I am new to this I have suffered with this problem three times in the last four years but the previous two times the doctors thought it was urinary as I often get a water infection in the iirst instance. I agree that stress could play its part in flare ups. I have a history of IBS and possibly ceoliac and probably have not eaten a lot of high fibre but I eat a lot of veg and fruit. Although I am new to diverticulitis problems I have been studying nutrition for a while and have found that flaxseed/linseed is very good for constipation for many people. Now this is high fibre so is probably not good during a flare up but has anyone found this good when they are on a high fibre diet. Incidentally I do not know if I agree with eating white bread etc. as I have been taught this enourages inflammation in the bowel and kills good bacteria.

One more thing I am scheduled for a colonoscopy and am worried if the strong laxatives I have been told to take two days before the procedure could cause my symptoms to escalate - should I try to be on a liquid diet a coule of days before I take the laxatives willthis help or hinder the symptoms i.e. pain does anyone know.

[Sopra]

This board has been a huge help since I got this disease two months ago.

The best advice I've found for healing and for avoiding constipation is to drink whole-leaf aloe juice or gel. I mix it with SmartWater juice, 2 oz. aloe with 4 oz. juice. When I was at my worst, I had it twice a day, and once I started getting better I had it at bedtime only. I have it every evening, preferably on an empty stomach. The stuff is somewhat expensive--$8 for a 32 oz. bottle. It's in the refrigerated section of your natural food store. I've been using Lily of the Desert brand gel and, since it works, I'm sticking to it. The juice works almost as well, but I find the gel to be better. It coats and soothes your intestines and moves things along nicely. (It does not interfere with absorption of nutrients; in fact, it's supposed to enhance absorption.)

Another helpful food is Pepperidge Farm Whole Honey Wheat Smooth Texture bread. It has a good amount of fiber in it, but it's so finely ground that it won't irritate your colon. Be sure to toast it first and chew it well, though. (I didn't realize how hard untoasted bread was to digest until I ate it during my attack.)

Well-cooked (that is, overcooked) baby carrots and peeled zucchini--perhaps in broth, with or without egg noodles--will also give you easily digestible fiber, and is very comforting to the stomach as well.

In addition, avoid caffeinated beverages--tea as well as coffee--and drink a lot of other liquids to help prevent constipation and painful spasms. If you keep a log of everything you eat and drink, you can really tell what is good for you and what isn't, and I learned that tea and coffee definitely dehydrate and harden stool. I can't do without them, so I drink them early in the day and am careful to drink much more herbal tea (such as the robust-tasting Roastaroma or Gingerbread Spice) and water or SmartWater juice the rest of the day, especially between dinner and bedtime. If I don't follow this practice, I'm very sorry the next morning!

I could not adapt to fiber supplements--even a single Benefiber chewable tablet caused me pain and irritation, and more than one would result in a little diarrhea without really solving the problem. I'd been a vegetarian for 15 years before getting this, so I agree with other posters that a high-fiber diet is not a guarantee against or a cure for this illness. (I clearly got it because I added too many nuts and seeds to my diet.) I take probiotics with breakfast and have a nonfat yogurt smoothie (with a mix of fruit juice and Smartwater juice) later in the day, and they may be part of what keeps me from being constipated on a low-fiber diet.

It can be done! Forget about dosing yourself with supplemental fiber, and think hydration and lubrication (with the aloe) instead. Also, perhaps obviously, don't eat too much at a single meal. Alternate solid with liquid meals during flares if you can. Nonvegetarians can have meat broth, perhaps with a few noodles. Well-stirred Carnation Instant Breakfast is a nutritious option; you can make it with half nonfat milk, half nonfat yogurt.

Good luck to us all--this is a tough ailment to live with.

[dwimber9]

I avoid constipation by drinking a few glasses of grapejuice every day. Someone else told me about the laxative properties in grapejuice and I didn't believe it until I tried it.It really does work! It needs to be grapejuice made from just grapes, which I get at Trader Joe's (their own brand) and on the ingredients list it just states "concord grapes." I'm sure there are other brands. If you start it in the morning, it will have you going, maybe a few times by late afternoon or evening. And the real benefit is that juice is on the diet for the flare and it's very good for you.

[Aussienan]

So what everyone is saying is trial and error you just have to feel your way and see what works for you..all I know is since I've had the colonoscopy and done what the doctor told me to do I've been feeling worse..would rather listen to what people that have actually been through it had to say have written down a few hints and going to try a few of them couldn't feel any worse.

[Tayshadam]

To avoid constipation at all times I take coloxyl senna it's a natural product and it I feel this helps (me anyway) to avoid constipation.