In 1999, I was having a lot of difficulty with my spastic colon and nervous bowel, now known as Irritable Bowel Syndrome. My doctor had me admitted to the hospital for a colonoscopy. First, you have to be cleaned out, and then you have the test. They put you to sleep. You do not fully awaken but sometimes you do recall a few things. I vaguely remember watching the computer screen as he was clipping something out of my intestines.
After the test was over, I was sent back to my room and kept on a liquid diet in case they would have to run more tests. Well the next day came and went without seeing the doctor. He got tied up in surgery. He came the next day. He said that I had a few pockets which are called Diverticula and if not treated or taken out can eventually turn into full blown Diverticulitis if one doesn’t watch some of the things they eat.
I was told to not eat anything with seeds in it such as: strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes, popcorn, nuts, sunflower seeds, grapes with seeds, watermelon, muskmelon/any other melons, cucumbers/pickles, kiwi, sesame seeds, just any food with small seeds that can not be chewed. I also found out that at the time Milk was giving me a problem as well as cheese, so I had to cut back on them. Peanut butter I would have problems with. Spice food like Italian or Mexican I would also have problems with. Pizza at our local Pizza Parlor (they used fresh mozzarella)would give me the diarrhea within the hour. We would have to stay about 4 hours, before it was safe for me to drive home. Any seeds that could get lodged in one of the pockets if one developed.
If I wanted to have strawberry or raspberries, then I would make homemade freezer jelly, where the fruit would be squeezed through cheese cloth. I would do this a couple times just in case a seed got through. I was told to increase my fiber intake but, I found that I couldn’t. I would be in even more pain with the IBS. So I backed off of the fiber. Instead of growing just regular tomatoes, I grow the Beef Steak ones, or any kind that says more meat less seeds. That way I am able to take out the seeds and still enjoy tomato’s. I can eat peanut butter if I bake it in something, or put a very thin layer on butter bread that is ok. If I really want the taste of corn I can chew it and suck out the juice but spit out the parts that do not digest. Canning and freezing our own fruits, vegetables, tomato juice, pickles, etc. helped with not having to worry about how spicy and item would be if I purchased. Thank goodness my Mother was a plain cook. She never cooked with a lot of spices. so it wasn’t that hard for me to get totally use to the differences in food.
When you are having one of these attacks your right lower side will be very painful, it will ease up at times, and give you a break or as I like to say a breather. These attacks can last for days and weeks, until those seeds work there way out. Or until you go to the doctor and he treats you for the condition. The Spastic Colon and Nervous Bowel (IBS) and Diverticulitis can be some very similar in there symptoms, so I am not always sure which one is giving me grief, or if any pockets have formed. The only way to find that out is to have a colonoscopy.
If you feel you might have this condition, it is very important to see your doctor right away. You need to have the colonoscopy and any other tests that can detect what is going on. Once you know what your condition is, it is only a matter of adjusting some of your foods you eat. Do not put off seeing a doctor, as the pockets can form and they can protrude out of your intestine, and what they say can have a blow out. Where all the waste from your body is getting into your entire system, which is called Peritonitis. Left on treated you can die from Peritonitis.
