Diverticulitis - Please help!

Thank you for your concern...and the links for more knowledge! I am learning to manage fairly well, and keep it under control 90% of the time! Stress is one of the biggest enemies and of course, we just had the holiday season! I am slated for a resection....but our Health Care system in B.C., Canada leaves a lot to be desired, many persons waiting 4-5 years! I usually supplement with fibre.....but the biggest downside is that everything that I love is verbotin...anything with seeds, like tomatoes, stawberries..and most seeds (sunflower, pine, etc.,) and nuts! Once again, thank you for sharing the sites you found!

I am glad that you can control your condition. Thanks for the br award.

I was shocked to learn that the one severe attack I had (though not as bad as yours) might have been caused by a strawberry seed. I had no idea something so small could cause me to be very sick for an entire night and very weak and afraid to eat for about two more days. It was about four days before my previously scheduled doctor appointment and she said it was probably the strawberries I'd eaten a lot of that weekend. We had been traveling, and I thought the strawberries before and after the trip would help keep me from constipation. I actually thought I'd had food poisoning. The doctor said it was the small seeds that were the worst offenders, but that I did not have to totally avoid them. I love popcorn, and I seem to be able to eat it in moderation without a problem. But attacks after eating popcorn were nothing compared to this last one. When you stop to think about it, a lot of the high fiber foods are seeds and nuts or fruits that contain seeds.

Thank you, thank you! And my sincerest respect & sympathy for all you have gone thru. Since my first attack as I wrote earlier, I have been so dedicated to avoiding seeds, nuts....and I do not eat popcorn. I make sure I have a fibre-filled diet, I am NOT overweight or sedentary...but thank you, so kindly for the hints. I am going straight to the store for Milk of Magnesia. With this attack, and the last one I am having trouble keeping anything down, even water, and am running a fever. Do you think that stress triggers this? I have had about 10 days of mega stress. Do you take the stool softeners even when you are not having an attack? Once again, thank you so much.

I am wondering why this is becoming an affliction of the young? Do you, like me, live life at a high stress level? Seems to be the biggest contributor to mine! I haven't had a serious attack for almost a year now....so am counting my blessings! I do eat high fibre foods, and also supplement with a fibre powder (even tastes good) that can be mixed in with juices....and supplementing seems to really help! I think we each, with this crazy disease, each have to find out own way with it! I belong to a Diverticulitis site Management, and each responder has a different consumable that causes them grief, one for example was coffee (that would be a real hardship for me).....and others, alc)h@l which I CANNOT tolerate at all! I just ate de-seeding tomatoes, blueberries, blackberries, all the high anti-oxidant foods, that a good in fibre too! Are you scheduled for a re-section...I am...and not looking forward to the in-between time of the colostomy! Please take care!

OMG...MarleneDawn...and I felt sorry for myself with the big "D"..but am learning to live with it (as medical intervention is looming way down the road)....but I found the greatest contributor to a flare up is.....STRESS! Being an "A" type personality...I thrive on stress...so avoiding it is a challenge! You are young, for these terrible diseases....and I feel so bad that you have the combination of both! Does the "IC" put further limits on your diet...or does living within the parameters of the diverticulitis diet help the IC? Cheers!