General Chat

I too have just had a colonoscopy and I was sedated but it was still bleddy painful , so much so that they had to stop and I have to go for a ct colonoscophy on Monday. Its not the scan that bothers me but the day before as I have such a cronic reaction to the stuff they give you to 'clear you out'. Oh well another day in the bathroom counting the dolphins on the wallpaper. lol. My consultant said that I may have diverticulosis. My husband has this but he dosnt get the sort of pain I have. :-S

I have diverticulosis and it is no bother at all. According to my GP, about 1 woman in 3 over the age of 50 will get it and the main thing is to stop it turning into diverticulitis.

I had a colonoscopy and was given pethidine to relax the muscles. It sent me to sleep, so I didn't feel a thing.

The hospital nurse told me to avoid "rough" cereals, like All Bran, but otherwise to make sure I had lots of fibre in my diet. The GP put me on Fybogel (2 a day) for ever. Not sure if it makes any difference, but as it's free I am quite good about taking it.

After reading some of the above posts, I seem to have got off quite lightly - I hope you feel better soon.

:-D
I don't suffer from anaemia when I get it - probably because of the amount of (very low alcohol content) red wine that I imbibe :-D :-D :-S

Oh Maggie, how awful for you, but it´s comforting to know that someone else has the rectal bleeding problem.
My OH can´t understand why it only lasts (usually) for about 48 hours, but it takes several weeks for me to feel up to strength again & mostly coincides with him going off on one & threatening to leave home.
Stress??? What do you mean, stress???

Wisechild, I've occasionally get bleeding. My first thought was - how to tell work? :-(

In the end, I just went for:
'Won't be in today, profuse diverticular bleeding'.
Fortunately, no-one suggested I was having a period!

Of course, having no idea of the situation, and, apparently unable to 'google' it, they didn't believe me. My sister suggested I went into work and bled all over the chair :-D

When I had my 'back to work' interview, just told my line manager straight - it shows itself as heavy rectal bleeding - I never know how long it's going to go on for.
She was grossed out, but I still don't think she believed me.

They are under the impression it's all to do with my diet. I'm sure they believe that, because I live on my own, I don't bother/know how to cook from scratch. Apparently it's nothing to do with stress.

Oh dear, life is not being very kind to you at the moment...x

Stella.
Yes, bog standard white sliced (which I hate) tolerated in small doses. Local baguettes even white ones, complete no no.
Daren´t risk getting the runs because I have the additional problem of fragile capilleries in my bowel & if they burst, I haemorrage anything up to a pint of blood, then end up having to take iron pills for 3 months or more.
All made 100% worse by stress

Very interesting article Maggie. I remember when "pan" loaves first came out in UK (about 1960?). I hated them! Much preferred the old fashioned "high-top" loaves with the dark brown, almost black, crust. The best white bread I've ever had was in Germany.. if you bought it for breakfast it was hard as a rock by lunchtime ~ no preservatives. The worst had to be US bread, so sweet it was like cake.

I knew about the feathers (the hard bit ~ probably the quill?) but I also believe some bakers use plaster of paris too! Yuck.

I tried my brother's gluten-free bread, it was awful! Very stodgy.

i was tested for Celiac when i had my colonoscopy... celiacs are not allergic to wheat, only gluten.

I don't have a problem with wheat.

My brother is coeliac (spelling?), when he was diagnosed his GP said family should be tested. I was tested, and got the all clear. My GP did the test (he also worked one day a week at the clinic where I had the test done), and gave me a full anasthetic, so I didn't feel a thing. Tjat was over 10 years ago, I hope my insides haven't changed since then.

I don't like white bread, or even plain brown bread (too sweet), much prefer a multi-grain, or pumpernickel (the black one) and I also eat rice cakes (DH refuses to eat them, he says they're made of polystyrene).

I'm seeing my naturopath next Tuesday, he's view on all this will be interesting. :-)

I've realised I can't eat bread that has gone through the Chorleywood process. It causes bloating, pain and nausea. I found out why when I read this:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/the-shocking-truth-about-bread-413156.html

Wisechild, i have gone back to eating white bread only..i seem to be ok with that

. I could have had a light anaesthetic if i had some one with me at home overnight, but since there was and still is no-one i had to have it done without.. i will never, ever put myself through that again.
Why not try a small sandwich with white bread and see how you go on?

I quite like ricecakes but they get boring after a while,

:-D

I was diagnosed 2 years ago. Was never told I couldn't eat things with seeds in - or to avoid anything.
I personally think each gut reacts differently to foods/situations.

I can't eat beetroot or, strangely, purple carrots. Also have to avoid too much 'soluble' fibre, like porridge, though I'm okay with breakfast bars.
The above don't cause flare ups - just give my innards a thorough clear out!

My 'flare ups' happen when I get stressed. 2 years ago I started suffering from work related stress. Work - even occupational health have absolutely no concept of what diverticular disease is, or how it affects people.

One OH nurse suggested I took extra strong painkillers to hide the pain, and got myself to work!!

They're so sympathetic that I'm not allowed any sick leave that is diverticular - they don't believe my doctor that it - along with the arrhythmia and gastritis are stress induced.

3 weeks ago, I had a terrible pain in my guts - a week after an absence management meeting where the minutes were taken by the same person accusing me of too much sick leave, so the results of that were fair weren't they?
I had the pain and was being sick in the morning. I went to work, but made an appointment with my GP on Friday - hoping for antibiotics. He thought it was appendicitis, sent me to the hospital for a scan - they kept me in (with no food) overnight! :-S :-S
THEN I got diahorrea & vomiting.
Went back to work on the Wednesday, still with the pain, but the vomiting had gone - until this morning. Told work it would be prudent for me to stay at home only on liquids, as I don't want another night in hospital!!

Stella.
You have pretty much described how I feel......bloated & uncomfortable. I was a bit slow on the uptake where eating wheat was concerned, but since I have pretty well cut it out of my diet, I feel a lot better.Interesting about the back pain. I put it down to sitting on my bum all day when it´s hot
I had a colonoscopy 3 years ago. Like you I had to almost starve for 2 days beforehand & drink gallons of water. Here in Spain, they do them under a very light general anaesthetic, so no pain. Wonderful!!!
Noticed in our local supermarket that weetabix have now brought out a new version Which isn´t made of wheat. Can´t remember what it is made of....probably oats.
Haven´t tried it because I´m well stocked with cornflakes & rice crispies, but I´ll give it a go next time I need to stock up.
I miss bread though. Often crave a sandwich. :-( :-(

I have porridge in the winter and rice Krispies in the summer. To fill my salads out instead of tomatoes i microwave some new potatoes or add an egg or a piece of goat's cheese.
:-)

I went grocery shopping this afternoon.

Winter is over, and I don't want to eat porridge in warm weather, so I spent some time in the cereal aisle, reading the labels! Some of them I didn't bother with, because I know they're full of sugar, but I was amazed at the weird stuff in cereal.. I couldn't pronounce some of the names. I ended up with a box of multi-grain-fruit n nut stuff. If I don't like it the birds will eat it.

Dinner? I had a small piece of chicken, lettuce, sugar-snap peas & half a tomato! I must start using smaller plates, because it didn't look like very much lol

:-)

I believe we have stopped paying attention to what our bodies are trying to tell us, often because advertizers can shout louder.

Do as your body tells you, it knows what it needs.

i had a colonoscopy last year (very painful it was too), i also have diverticular disease. No one gave me a diet sheet so i had to look on the internet, now i avoid everything that has little seeds in it, also before the colonoscopy i had to go on a diet for 3 days.. i was not allowed to eat wheat products and i discoverd that my bloating stopped and i felt much better, so although the surgeon told me to eat lots of fibre i have, as much as i can stopped eating wheat products.I am a vegetarian so some times it hard to avoid seeds but i do my best, i don't want another bout of what i had before.. :-)

I have it and had a colonoscopy 2 yrs ago and they discovered I had polyps and they removed them during the procedure.
I had another colonoscopy this year to check,but they were OK.

Only thing is that since my 2 nd time I have felt more bloated,not in much pain ,but discomfort .

I tend to eat more chicken and fish ,leaving out red meat which I love,but as my dad used to say....it doesn't love me!....

I never felt sick with it though,but now I eat only small meals.

Usually if it does flare up and become ..itis..it really affects the lower back....
The joys of getting old!!

:-(

I was diagnosed with it a couple of years ago & given the same advice about seeded fruit.
I also try to eat little & often & to be honest I don´t really feel like eating most of the time.
Have had the occasional flare up, needing antibiotics & like you, I feel tired & nauseous most of the time.
Hope you find a way of coping soon.
Seems we just have to live with it & adapt our eating habits.