gwstang
Platinum Member
I've had diverticulitis for about 6 years. That has to be one of the worst disorders of the intestines. It is of the devil, for sure. Haven't had an episode for the last year or so, at least not a really bad one. I remember having the sheites after eating too much hot spicy things and Montezuma's revenge off and on. This divert. is the worst when it hits. No rhyme or reason. I'm careful not to eat any spicy food as that is a guaranteed relapse. I avoid leafy greens like a good salad. I can eat cooked greens. Let me tell you what an attack is like. I got home this morning after my last night shift (12 hr 7 days on 7 off) haven't been eating anything unusual. Been regular in the bathroom etc. I get in the bed about 6:30 am. I am just about asleep and the gut starts rumblings. Not now dang it. Bad timing for sure. I get up and head to the bathroom. Wife is out walking the dogs. It gets to hurting really really bad. Major cramps, I think I'm fixing to die sort of cramps. About 10 or 15 minutes, I wish I am dead. Start praying by then as I am laying on the floor in a tremendous amount of pain. I mean death throes pain. Face is extremely red and sweating profusely even though it is 66F in the house. Sure this stuff is of the devil by now. Mega cramping/ on and off the toilet/drop to the floor where I can barely make it back up to the toilet without blacking out.
Very dizzy and nauseated to the point of throwing up. Great, now it's both ends. She is going to kill me when she sees throw up on the brand new bath mats she had just put down yesterday. More immense pain for about 1.5 hours. When all the really bad stuff (liquid) passes, it calms down. I take two pills the doc gave me a couple of years ago to settle down the vagas nerve that causes this. It seems the nerve just goes haywire when the episode occurs. It doesn't know to just get rid of the mess, it gets rid of all the mess. The entire colon. It finally settles down to a dull uproar and I just get in the shower to clean up. Dang it, she came back during the worst part and sees the upchuck on her new mats. I go back to bed and toss and turn until I finally drift off, completely exhausted. My wife Has told me several times that I am by far the toughest person she has ever met. I don't give up easily, sort of like just keep on keeping on. This stuff just beat me down to a whimpering fool. I leave a sweat outline where I was laying. I can tell when it's about to strike because it starts feeling like someone is choking me and my throat swells up, face gets very red. If I would just go to a hospital during this episode, the surgeon would take me in and cut out that section the diverticulitis is in. usually the lower colon. I've had higher blood pressure most of my adult life. It seems to run in the family. I wasn't no where close to being fat at 25 and up to about 55. At 25 or so, I started getting light headed dizzy at times, no beer was not involved...lol . Been taking pills to control that and I am 60 now. It seems that people with higher blood pressure are prone to this. Episodes don't happen too often now as I am much more careful about eating stuff that triggers it. I read this, " The colon, when distended with stool or gas, stimulates the vagus nerve--that comes from the GI. The vagus nerve is connected to circulatory function and cardiac function, hence the blood pressure drop and low pulse." This seems to be the same with people that have IBS, irritable bowl syndrome. All involves the vagus nerve and over stimulation of some kind. I'm wondering if any of ya'll have anything like this that becomes debilitating for a couple of hours? Then feeling like a whipped puppy for the next 8 hours or so. I've had a colonoscopy and the doc said diverticulitis or the pockets that form from the blood pressure being too high over a time period. This stuff is truly of the devil.
My worst fear is that it will strike when I am off too far to make it home. I've been 130 miles away and drove like the devil to get home before it hits completely. I get the warning signs a little before it hits. Those pockets can rupture and spill the colon contents into the stomach area and then peritonitis and maybe death if not fixed immediately.
Very dizzy and nauseated to the point of throwing up. Great, now it's both ends. She is going to kill me when she sees throw up on the brand new bath mats she had just put down yesterday. More immense pain for about 1.5 hours. When all the really bad stuff (liquid) passes, it calms down. I take two pills the doc gave me a couple of years ago to settle down the vagas nerve that causes this. It seems the nerve just goes haywire when the episode occurs. It doesn't know to just get rid of the mess, it gets rid of all the mess. The entire colon. It finally settles down to a dull uproar and I just get in the shower to clean up. Dang it, she came back during the worst part and sees the upchuck on her new mats. I go back to bed and toss and turn until I finally drift off, completely exhausted. My wife Has told me several times that I am by far the toughest person she has ever met. I don't give up easily, sort of like just keep on keeping on. This stuff just beat me down to a whimpering fool. I leave a sweat outline where I was laying. I can tell when it's about to strike because it starts feeling like someone is choking me and my throat swells up, face gets very red. If I would just go to a hospital during this episode, the surgeon would take me in and cut out that section the diverticulitis is in. usually the lower colon. I've had higher blood pressure most of my adult life. It seems to run in the family. I wasn't no where close to being fat at 25 and up to about 55. At 25 or so, I started getting light headed dizzy at times, no beer was not involved...lol . Been taking pills to control that and I am 60 now. It seems that people with higher blood pressure are prone to this. Episodes don't happen too often now as I am much more careful about eating stuff that triggers it. I read this, " The colon, when distended with stool or gas, stimulates the vagus nerve--that comes from the GI. The vagus nerve is connected to circulatory function and cardiac function, hence the blood pressure drop and low pulse." This seems to be the same with people that have IBS, irritable bowl syndrome. All involves the vagus nerve and over stimulation of some kind. I'm wondering if any of ya'll have anything like this that becomes debilitating for a couple of hours? Then feeling like a whipped puppy for the next 8 hours or so. I've had a colonoscopy and the doc said diverticulitis or the pockets that form from the blood pressure being too high over a time period. This stuff is truly of the devil.
My worst fear is that it will strike when I am off too far to make it home. I've been 130 miles away and drove like the devil to get home before it hits completely. I get the warning signs a little before it hits. Those pockets can rupture and spill the colon contents into the stomach area and then peritonitis and maybe death if not fixed immediately. 
