Hi John.
I take a daily probiotic (2 since I've been on Prednisone) 30 billion, 12 strain by Renew Life. In 2006 I was making regular visits to the ER with Diverticulitis only to be put on two antibiotics and some pain meds which flushed away flora and made the recovery even worse. Around that time I read some blogs about probiotics for Diverticulitis. My Gastroenterologist and attending wouldn't advocate the use of them because of the lack of evidence based studies. I got a very favorable response when I started using them. Major reduction in the intensity of flare up. And no more trips to the ER in pain. I learned a lot from the owner of the local health food store. I forget what her credentials were but she would put on lectures about improving health holistically. For me steamed veggies are really important in my diet. I also found out (the hard way) that overeating would trigger a flare up because of the increase in gut pressure. Have to be very conservative with citrus and green chile.
Up until about a year ago I managed well. It's been more challenging since I've had to be on Prednisone for PMR. I get a flare up 2 to 3 weeks into the new drop in dose of the Prednisone.
Another unexpected downside is I can get an exercise induced flare up from even moderate use of my abdominal muscles. Usually several hours after yard work like trimming trees where I had to stretch a lot. When I feel a flare up coming on I take two capsules to try and balance the bad bacteria and reduce the inflammation. It's still so interesting to me how so many things that can go wrong with our bodies have so much to do with inflammation.
Ernie