I am 64, diagnosed with redundant colon and acute diverticulitis. Spent 5 days in hospital and 2 ER visits over Halloween. The antibiotics are too harsh for my joints. I’m currently trying turmeric, diverticulitis tea, slippery elm and a few other natural approaches. Seeing my gastro this next week. Hoping to avoid a surgery, but if it will help avoid these episodes in the future, I am willing to proceed. This has been horrific!

I am curious to learn if anyone has lower abdominal pain, right , ascending colon area, and left sided pain, descending colon area when FINALLY having a BM following days of constipation? I do. I get the same pain when using an enema every other day. I am trying to understand the reason for this pain. I do have a tortuous colon could with severe constipation.
Thank you for your help.
KJN

Have y’all been tested for SIBO
Small intestinal bacteria overgrowth?

@carndt - How familiar the inappropriate or 1/2 answer is to my emailed questions to my physician! I try to constrain myself to one simple question per email and space them out. Or I just repeat the email . And repeat. I shut my windows when I scream with frustration so I don't annoy my neighbors. It helps.
Gastroenterologist Dr. Robynne Chutkan has occasional live Zoom presentations I get some helpful ideas from. Below is the most recent interview of her I found on the web. It focuses on the sale of her most recent book but she covers constipation and bloating in some of her older books.

There's a product i use called Atrantil from time to time. Helps with bloating, abdominal discomfort, & change in bowel habits

I am reading the issues here and I've stopped to think that I never thought to any extent how much of an issue motility or constipation, et.al is for anyone on the scale it appears to be - obviously, a product of my ignorance. Is it a problem for someone (me) to only have BM's once every 7 to 10 days? On a narrow scale, I can say there is no one in my family who operates at this level and they are as in awe today as they have always been that this is my habit. But this has been my habit since I was a toddler, as far back as I can remember, and at 51, let's say at least the last 48 years. But I have never mentioned it at any doctor's visit, much less had testing done (based on symptoms therefrom) because of this pattern. And though this may seem strange for me to know, I have several buddies who have the same patterns as have I and we have known this each one about the other for years, so it's like a support group, for lack of a better explanation. But we've grown up together and this type of condition is more a part of the peace than a disturbance of it thereof.
There is no general pain, only isolated instances from time to time, and the general discomfort as you might imagine (forgive my forwardness) that briefly accompanies randomly. Should there be a discussion with the doctor about this? I'm thinking from the posts above it might not be a bad idea but I'm curious about other's suggestions, maybe next steps....This has always been an issue I would have never discussed outside my normal group of buddies, so I'm in unchartered territory here and I welcome any suggestions. They are appreciated.

I read a blog on the Mayo site from a woman who had similar constipation issues that I have. She wrote that she had a lot of success using Prunelax. She got it at Wallmart. I decided to order it online, Amazon, to try it. I found that if I take one pill with one half Ducolax that it works. This is very exciting because I haven't been enema dependent in 6 or so weeks!
As far as Motegrity goes, it costs 400 dollars monthly since I am a retiree on a fixed income, I can't afford it, same with Trulance. The companies will not discount the medication when someone is on Medicare.
I thank the person who posted about Prunelax, it has been a blessing.

Hi,
I had a lot of joint pain before I changed my diet. It seemed like the pain moved around my body at times. I know a gluten free diet seems extreme to a lot of people but for me it’s not a fad. Trust me, I would love to eat the gluten. It’s sooo much easier! I think a low sugar is just as important for inflammation in the body. I am 62 years old, 5’4” and found out I have Osteoporosis this year. I only have occasional back and hand pain in the morning when I wake up then no pain after that. I am so afraid to take the medicine ( Evenity) because it says it can cause severe joint pain and a whole load of other scary symptoms. I try to exercise six days a week now and eat more protein. It’s becoming a full time just just staying healthy. I do believe the gut is the key to our health so I really strive for a healthy gut. I hope you figure out your joint pain issue as I know it can be a worry. I just had to do what seemed to help me. I feel better than I did 7 years ago. Low levels of Vitamin D3 is also linked to joint pain so make sure your D3 is in a good range ( around 50) That was huge for me. I have all of my daughters taking a multivitamin with D3. They tend not to get all of their vitamins from what they eat. They said they feel much better. It seems the younger generation is getting symptoms sooner than we did. Good luck with everything!

I noticed this discussion and wanted to comment. A friend of mine, at about age 20, suddenly had a big problem with constipation. Between 20 & 35, she suffered with it terribly to the point that she hated to eat. She went to so many doctors for help. Finally one of the big NYC medical centers, had her defecate, after taking barium, while filming the process. As embarrassing as it was, she had been suffering so long, she was ready to try anything. They found a small section of her bowel didn’t do anything to move the stool along. After surgery to remove that section, she never had a problem again. That was around 25 years ago. Hope this story helps someone.

I’m so sorry you are having trouble finding the right answers. I have diverticulosis and now after a most embarrassing enema X-ray I was told I also have a redundant colon. I have worked hard to find what works for me. Fill a pitcher with 64oz of water to make sure I get my water in. Miralax every morning! My savior. Too much fiber does not work for me. I’m 70, walk, general easy yoga routine, tummy digestive rubs taught to me by PT therapist, do PT when things are flared as I also get back pain when my colon is unhappy. I’m learning on my own what I can and cannot eat and quit tryin to convince the drs that fiber is not helpful. I do lots of berries that I digest really well. My sigmoid colon has narrowed. Now they want to remove the diseased section. I pretty much gave constant left side pain. I hope you can get some relief. Digestive challenges can be so individual with no one size fits all fix.