Diverticulosis and diarrhea

Im a 55 yr old female. Have been diagnosed with diverticulosis in 2024. Had 2 pretty serious acute diverticulitis infections and another unconfirmed case my family dr diagnosed as focal colitis. Saw a GI dr in April of this year. He looked at my records/CT scans and said there was not much he could do for me at this point. Im currently dealing with irregular bouts of diarrhea or loose bowel movements. By that I mean explosive or running to the bathroom upon the urge to go. Sometimes I feel the urge to go and its a false alarm. Im taking benefiber every day and trying to eat foods with fiber but avoiding beans, gassy foods, raw veggies, corn on the cob, etc. I will be flying in October and am terrified the urge will hit on a plane. Will my bowel movements ever be normal or regular again with diverticulosis? Thanks for listening. My spouse is tired of hearing about my BMs. Colon issues are hereditary and my mom suffers from this issue as well.

Sorry you are going through this! Once your GI Dr. tells you there is nothing, they can do you must find the best colon/rectal Dr to go to. The episodes will get worse, and you are causing more damage and scar tissue in your sigmoid.
I remember mine telling me that on the way to the ER for the last diverticulitis episode on I had. He was sad for me and I could hear it in his voice.
I have never taken OTC for fiber. But, I found that consuming it contributed to my episodes because of the diverticula pockets were getting packed and causing the problem. My go to when traveling was pepto in the morning with a big glass of water.
Please find colon surgeon.

Im a 55 yr old female. Have been diagnosed with diverticulosis in 2024. Had 2 pretty serious acute diverticulitis infections and another unconfirmed case my family dr diagnosed as focal colitis. Saw a GI dr in April of this year. He looked at my records/CT scans and said there was not much he could do for me at this point. Im currently dealing with irregular bouts of diarrhea or loose bowel movements. By that I mean explosive or running to the bathroom upon the urge to go. Sometimes I feel the urge to go and its a false alarm. Im taking benefiber every day and trying to eat foods with fiber but avoiding beans, gassy foods, raw veggies, corn on the cob, etc. I will be flying in October and am terrified the urge will hit on a plane. Will my bowel movements ever be normal or regular again with diverticulosis? Thanks for listening. My spouse is tired of hearing about my BMs. Colon issues are hereditary and my mom suffers from this issue as well.

I suffer from often unpredictable diarrhea most likely the result of my low anterior resection in 1986.
I fly generally three, sometimes four, days per week for my work and have found some success in avoiding or minimizing bathroom dependence on the airplane. By not eating solid food for 12-18 hours before flying, I avoid a gastrocolic reflex which starts my bowel moving. If I have loose or watery stools within a few hours of a trip I take one 2 mg loperamide which tends to shut down my lower intestine activity for one to three days. If that does not work, I would use Depends.

Loperamide may be contraindicated for your condition and history, so check first with your GI or general practitioner. However, 2 mg taken with 8 ounces of water is a minimal dose and may be permitted. Sometimes after a loperamide, I will end up constipated after about four days. I have had success with 7.5 ml of Dulcolax liquid (1/2 of the smallest dose) also taken with 8 ounces of water. Generally, this produces a bowel movement without excess diarrhea.

The combination of these OTC medications along with keeping notes of outcome has given me some valuable, but not complete, control over by bowel habits. It took me thirty years to realize this because before flying I was always close to a bathroom that I could use.

I take Metamucil twice daily and have since 1986. While that has some impact on forming a solid stool, it has no impact on diarrhea onset

Im a 55 yr old female. Have been diagnosed with diverticulosis in 2024. Had 2 pretty serious acute diverticulitis infections and another unconfirmed case my family dr diagnosed as focal colitis. Saw a GI dr in April of this year. He looked at my records/CT scans and said there was not much he could do for me at this point. Im currently dealing with irregular bouts of diarrhea or loose bowel movements. By that I mean explosive or running to the bathroom upon the urge to go. Sometimes I feel the urge to go and its a false alarm. Im taking benefiber every day and trying to eat foods with fiber but avoiding beans, gassy foods, raw veggies, corn on the cob, etc. I will be flying in October and am terrified the urge will hit on a plane. Will my bowel movements ever be normal or regular again with diverticulosis? Thanks for listening. My spouse is tired of hearing about my BMs. Colon issues are hereditary and my mom suffers from this issue as well.

Im a 55 yr old female. Have been diagnosed with diverticulosis in 2024. Had 2 pretty serious acute diverticulitis infections and another unconfirmed case my family dr diagnosed as focal colitis. Saw a GI dr in April of this year. He looked at my records/CT scans and said there was not much he could do for me at this point. Im currently dealing with irregular bouts of diarrhea or loose bowel movements. By that I mean explosive or running to the bathroom upon the urge to go. Sometimes I feel the urge to go and its a false alarm. Im taking benefiber every day and trying to eat foods with fiber but avoiding beans, gassy foods, raw veggies, corn on the cob, etc. I will be flying in October and am terrified the urge will hit on a plane. Will my bowel movements ever be normal or regular again with diverticulosis? Thanks for listening. My spouse is tired of hearing about my BMs. Colon issues are hereditary and my mom suffers from this issue as well.

Im a 55 yr old female. Have been diagnosed with diverticulosis in 2024. Had 2 pretty serious acute diverticulitis infections and another unconfirmed case my family dr diagnosed as focal colitis. Saw a GI dr in April of this year. He looked at my records/CT scans and said there was not much he could do for me at this point. Im currently dealing with irregular bouts of diarrhea or loose bowel movements. By that I mean explosive or running to the bathroom upon the urge to go. Sometimes I feel the urge to go and its a false alarm. Im taking benefiber every day and trying to eat foods with fiber but avoiding beans, gassy foods, raw veggies, corn on the cob, etc. I will be flying in October and am terrified the urge will hit on a plane. Will my bowel movements ever be normal or regular again with diverticulosis? Thanks for listening. My spouse is tired of hearing about my BMs. Colon issues are hereditary and my mom suffers from this issue as well.

Im a 55 yr old female. Have been diagnosed with diverticulosis in 2024. Had 2 pretty serious acute diverticulitis infections and another unconfirmed case my family dr diagnosed as focal colitis. Saw a GI dr in April of this year. He looked at my records/CT scans and said there was not much he could do for me at this point. Im currently dealing with irregular bouts of diarrhea or loose bowel movements. By that I mean explosive or running to the bathroom upon the urge to go. Sometimes I feel the urge to go and its a false alarm. Im taking benefiber every day and trying to eat foods with fiber but avoiding beans, gassy foods, raw veggies, corn on the cob, etc. I will be flying in October and am terrified the urge will hit on a plane. Will my bowel movements ever be normal or regular again with diverticulosis? Thanks for listening. My spouse is tired of hearing about my BMs. Colon issues are hereditary and my mom suffers from this issue as well.

I can understand the embarrassment of dealing with Depends, and always worried about someone finding out. Having said that, after several very embarrassing accidents in public (it was obvious) I decided to do it, and as one person said, if it happens, it makes life a lot easier.

The final straw was traveling for work and waking up to a dirty hotel bed. That was the worst as I had to involve the staff; believe me, explaining that was far worse than wearing Depends. After that, I wear actual diapers when sleeping in hotels to avoid leakage, Depends the rest of the time. Still hard to accept but it has been the lesser of the things to be embarrassed by.

This really makes traveling a whole lot more complex and stressful having this condition. At least with traveling by car you have control over when and where you can stop whereas flying you are pretty much stuck on a plane for an extended period of time. I appreciate your honesty and advice.