Diverticulitis and constipation

All my doctors, including gastroenterologists, say that there is no evidence to support avoiding certain foods like seeds to placate diverticulitis.

Mine told me the same thing. You can keep eliminating foods that you think contribute and you will still have episodes. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water and exercising to help with the constipation. If needed MiraLAX is gentle.

Thank you so much for sharing this, Celia. I can't help but wonder this: If the pockets impede passage of waste, it would seem to make sense that there would be bacterial overgrowth and resultant inflammation.

Thank you so much, Linda. Water has become my best friend! My GI and primary docs are big fans of psyllium (Metamusil), which I take religiously.

Mine told me the same thing but I am still very nervous about eating seeds and nuts. My GI also told me it was very important to keep my stools soft so that fecal matter didn’t get stuck. She advised me to take Miralax twice a week and Metamucil daily. I try to eat a high fiber diet. I still have occasional issues of pain in my lower left side and when that happens I go on a liquid diet. I’ve had diverticulitis that landed me in the ER 3 times so I’m trying hard to avoid another flare up.
It sounds like our GI’s are on the same page.

It wasn't my dr who told me this; I think I read it here on this site: the latest thinking in the medical community on the best diet for diverticulosis/itis is plenty of fiber but it's important what kind of fiber. So what I read is no nuts or seeds; no leafy green veggies (so no more salad!); only canned fruits and veggies (the fresh or frozen are just too rough); and no whole grains,

I haven't asked my dr. about the above diet specifically but he seems to be of the same attitude that I read somewhere that 1 of the foremost doctors in the gastroenterology field recently said, that it appears that some poor people are just born with terrrible, almost non-functional digestive tracts about which not a darn thing can be done except for these people to eat only small (2 or 3 bites) of food at a time and wait several hours before they try it again.

If that is really the case, it's of course depressing but it also kind of gives me a sense of relief. All my life I've heard, and I always thought it too, that if you have digestive problems, at least some of it is *your* own fault. (Seems to make sense: if you're having trouble with what comes out--or refuses to come out, sigh--what's going in is the problem.) All my life I've heard (always from people who don't suffer from this of course), you must be eating the wrong thing; or you're not eating the right thing; or you're not taking the right kind of supplements; or you should stop taking supplements; or you're not drinking enough water; or you're drinking too much water or at the wrong time. You must be doing something wrong! "You, you, you"!

So to hear someone acknowledge that at least some of us have tried everything, so hard and that the only thing we done "wrong" is chose the wrong parents to be born to is a relief, that someone finally believes us and doesn't blame us.

Idk. I’ve never considered that. Mine have never been problematic that I’m aware of. I only know I have it, due to it being discovered during my colonoscopy in 2020. I asked all my doctors about it and they all said the same thing. So, I haven’t been avoiding seeds, nuts, popcorn, etc. I’m heavy on garden salads lately and my digestion is really good. Not even taking Miralax now. Hope it continues.

Have you noticed any problem with it?

I wish I had a camera on my gut! Seems the only way to really know what's going on. I don't avoid fiber, try to get lots, but I am afraid of anything that has a greater chance of not being fully digested - like corn, seeds and nuts - and might therefore be mechanically difficult to pass. Interestingly, colonoscopies showed diverticulosis for at least the last 13 years. Not sure what catalyzed the switch to diverticulitis. (Covid?) For years, the mainstays of my diet were beans, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, whole grains, fruits, veggies, and fish.

Sure seems as if (some) drs blame us when they haven't got answers. It's a cop out, isn't it? What makes it doubly frustrating is when they then tell you how you feel, based on their stats, not on what you tell them. I really do think western medicine is fantastic at acute, emergency care, but needs to do better with chronic illness. I'm very grateful that we're here sharing our lived experience.

Thanks so much for sharing this!