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I have diverticulitis which is really bothering me at the moment. I feel as though something is pressing on my bladder and stops me passing water , l do eventually but in dribs and drabs , the pain l have is right across the bottom of my stomach and I feel l need to empty my bowel but l can’t just very small amounts. I eat a healthy diet lots of fibre fruit and vegetables . What else can I do please?

Hi

Thank you for your enquiry. I think it is important to know the terminology for diverticular as this can be quite confusing and it is important to know if you have diverticulitis - which is an infection in the pockets of the bowel or diverticular disease, which is where the pockets are in the bowel and they are giving symptoms a little similar to IBS symptoms. Please do have a look at the information sheet here which explains the differences very well https://gutscharity.org.uk/advice-and-i ... r-disease/. Diverticulitis can make people feel very unwell with a temperature and they can sometimes be vomiting and have severe pain. You should discuss your symptoms with your GP if you suspect an infection and they might consider watching and waiting, a course of antibiotics or sometimes people need to go to hospital if the symptoms are severe and there are complications. To prevent an infection there are a number of different considerations such as maintaining a healthy weight, exercise if you are able to and stop smoking if you do.

It is important not to get constipated with diverticular disease and sometimes discussing a laxative with your doctor might be appropriate if diet is not achieving symptom resolution for you.
I hope this helps

Kind regards

Julie