How to Live With Diverticulitis

Diverticulitis is a disease of the large intestine where pockets on the lining of the colon become irritated or infected. The formation of the pockets is the initial disease diverticulois and the pockets are called diverticula, one pocket is called diverticulum. Approximately 10 percent of Americans over the age of 40 have diverticulosis and about half of all people over 60 have it. A diverticulitis flair-up can be mild cramping to rectal bleeding; severe flair-ups can require hospitalization, IV antibiotics and, in extreme cases, surgery. Prevent flair-ups through proper diet.

Instructions

• 1

  Avoid nuts, popcorn, sesame seeds and fruits with hard seeds, such as strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. They can get caught in the pockets (diverticula) and cause irritations which can become infected and cause a diverticulitis flair-up.

• 2

  Eat a diet high in fiber to decrease and/or prevent flair-ups.

• 3

  Take pain medication as prescribed by your doctor to relieve the cramps and pain associated with minor flair-ups. The pain medication can be over the counter or prescription.

• 4

  Rest with a liquid diet and oral medications (which may be prescribed to ease the discomfort and allow you to rest and recover) to ease symptoms of a mild flair-up.