Diverticulitis?

Question

Is it normal for Dr.'s to prescribe antibiotics for diverticulitis?

Answer 1

Yes it is. In fact I've had several bouts of this nasty little disease and my doctor prescribed a combination of two, with repeats, to get on top of it.
Do you know what it is? There are tiny little finger like projections in your intestine and they are where the digested foods get absorbed for the most part. The problem is when these get a blow out, like a stretched part on the side of your intestine, forming a pocket, where food gets trapped, becomes infected and poisons the rest of the intestine, hence the pain and the runs. If let untreated it can cause the bowels to perferate, causing that muck to leak into the abdominal cavity, spreading the infection even further.
To prevent it maintain a healthy weight, exercise regularly, eat a low fat diet, and prevent constipation, which stretches the bowels, and keep well hydrated. Avoid changing to a too high fibre diet too quickly or you could get symptoms anyway. (Too much fibre can be like a rough brush on a sore spot.)

Answer 2

Diverticulitis is an inflammation of the bowel. Diverticulum are pouches in the bowel wall which is called diverticulosis. When they become inflamed its called diverticulitis. If the patient is not very ill then treatment at home is reasonable, with rest, a liquid diet and antibiotics.

Answer 3

I think this is very much up to you to find out as an individual what is best or not for you. You could try cutting out things for a couple of weeks then re-introduce them one by one. That way you'll definitely see what makes the reactions. But as you won't be absorbing as many vitamins and minerals it's really important to make sure you have enough B vitamins - they all aid with digestion. A friend of mine with diverticulitis has B vitamin injections from the doctor. There are loads of books and things on good diets (The Food Doctor) for example. Also visit your local health food shop - mine is fantastic and they always give good advice. Good luck.

Answer 4

Absolutely...i have this condition and just came off Cipro...the ony thing that works for me. Diverticulitis is a pouch in your sigmoid colon and it becomes inflammed and infected...antibiotics is the only thing to help this. Take the whole course of them and good luck!

Answer 5

My friend has it. She went to the emergency room the first time it flared cos she didn't know what it was.
She was told to quit drinking alcohol, drink more than 50 oz of water a day, and eat lots (7 cups a day) of fresh veggies.
She's only had one flare up since she was diagnosed 11 yrs ago, and it was becase she only drank a 20 oz bottle of water that day.

Answer 6

Yes it is I also have diverticulosis,andwhenit becomes inflamed and or there is infection is when it becomes diverticulitus. You can google and get more info about this disease. Thats what I had to do. The main way to control this disease is to maintain a proper diet.

Answer 7

You need to eat more fiber foods, such as, apples,grains etc... to reduce diverticulitis your colon.