Possibly Diverticulitis? - Bowel Disorders Message Board

herodescent · 10-01-2005, 09:29 AM

Hi, my name is Matt

I posted on here not long ago thinking that I might have Crohns. However, I believe the symptoms fit Diverticulitis better. Last year I started suffering from long bouts of constipation. I went to the docotor and had an endoscopy done. Apparently they never found anything. Things were fine for a while, then I got the constipation again. I've been in school for a few weeks now and things have been fine up until a few days ago. I started noticing a mild ache in my lower left abdomen. I disregarded this and went on. A few days ago I started noticing a little bright red blood in my stool, on my toilet paper, and in the bowl. Once there was a streak of blood down the side of the stool. I attributed all this to hemmerhoids or a fissure. But now that mild ache has turned more into a mild burning sensation, and makes me have diahrea maybe once a day. The last time I went I put out a darker greenlike stool which seemed like it wasn't fully digested or something. I'm really starting to get scared here. If anybody can help that would be awesome. Thanks

goody2shuz · 10-01-2005, 08:40 PM

Hi, Matt

Having had diverticulitis on more than one occasion I can give you an idea of what I experienced. The first time, I experienced bad gass like pains in my lower left abdomen, with fever (103) & chills. My BM's were green and pencil like and didn't relieve the pain. Eventually the pain increased to where I was doubling over. There was no evidence of blood in my stool at the time.

Other episodes I had sharp pains in the lower left abdomen....a low grade temp and some diarrhea.

The best way to be diagnosed for diverticulitis is by a CAT scan, bloodwork, & barium enema. A colonoscopy is the best way to diagnose it because they can visualize the diverticuli and how extensive they are within your colon, however, you must be pain free and without any signs of infection.

The blood in your BM's should be looked further into. It can be due to internal hemorroids or a fissure as you mentioned but also may be due to polyps or tumors in the colon as well which should be further evaluated since they could be precancerous.

I would strongly suggest you make an appointment with your doctor or even better with a gastroenterologist to look into this further with you.

Please keep us posted ~ Goody

herodescent · 10-02-2005, 03:18 AM

Thanks so much for your reply.

I'm curious though, how much pain should I be having in my lower abdomen to be concerned? I'm really nowhere near doubling over in pain, but it feels sore when I put pressure on it. It doesn't get worse with movement either. Infact it seems like it gets better with activity. I also feel shakey. Maybe this is because I haven't been eating like I should, but I also feeel a little weak. Not sure if this is tied to the other problems, but its a possibility. Thanks again!