4 Day Fast: Thanks, Diverticulitis


(Robin) #1

I am experiencing pretty acute diverticulitis about every 3-4 months.
I used to know what caused it (Like a bag of raw almonds eaten quickly and without adequate chewing). (Green beans ditto)
But this last one that I have named “My first extended fast” is a mystery.
My colonoscopy revealed a plethora of pockets in my colon. Told that stuff just gets hung up sometimes. No way to prevent.

I eat enough fat and take coconut oil in my coffee to grease the skids, so to speak. And I drink water with oodles of magnesium during flairs to move it along.

I avoid veggies, fruits and nuts now. I am a pretty strict carnivore… except for decaf, tea, cheese, and eggs. The only other supplement I take is collagen.

Seems my best defense is chewing to the extreme and drinking loads of water during meals and well, all day. But it’s not fool proof.

Anybody see a big gap in my protocol? This crap (pun intended) is getting old and more painful over time.


(KM) #2

My morning not-decaf coffee keeps me regular, but I’d think once the body got used to being without the caffeine that wouldn’t be necessary. Sorry you’re having such trouble. I have pockets too but no issues with them, so far anyway.


#3

Interesting reading this because the one thing I have had problems with the last 4 months was an occasional severe bloating that extends my abdomen out painfully far, and a sharp pain that feels stuck. Often it’s accompanied by acid reflux. If I try to use gas-X or Sodium Bicarbonate I am curled in a ball on my living room floor at 2 am until suddenly I have an exorcist-worthy vomiting session - every time. Then it’s over and I can sleep. A few days ago I had one of these attacks and I didn’t want to throw up so I endured the pain lying in bed on my left side for four straight hours until I could finally get up and move around easier. I drank my electrolytes as usual with my supplements, and took some magnesium. My electrolytes drink alone usually keeps me regular in the morning but the added magnesium on that morning really hit the empty button. After that I only had a mild discomfort. But it took twice as long to get the pain to pass than the vomiting route took.

I noticed the first time it happened it was after eating a good amount of mixed nuts earlier in the night, and then a coconut flaked snack mix. The second time I had eaten this yummy quickie evening snack I make to stave off hunger pains that start. It’s a mix of 1T unsweetened coconut butter and 1T unsweetened almond butter. (Truly more delicious than it may sound, like a creamy mousse.) It always works and never causes gas or digestive upset but for that one night. I thought maybe the mixed nuts were the culprit but then why don’t they cause this when I eat them early in the day? Regardless I will no longer eat more than a T or two of whole almonds or mixed nuts in the evenings anymore.

I too use MCT oil in my hot teas or decaf coffees, and I use collagen peptide powder in it too.

I should note that back in 2009 this had been happening every other day and sometimes I would get a sharp pain in my chest too. They couldn’t find any reason for it so the GI removed my gallbladder. Then this happened every single time I ate! They put me on omeprazole and the clowns left me on it for 13 years! (1-2 months is longest you should ever be on it.) Enter the severe advanced osteoporosis it no doubt made worse if not triggered it. I discovered Serious Keto’s video and Dr Berg’s guide about the ACV drink regimen and started that a little under a year ago and stopped the omeprazole at the same time. It worked for a long while but then four months ago this started again. Still, the ACV cocktail really does help some. I also take Dr Bergs Gallbladder supplement and a prebiotic at dinner every night.

But I get an attack about once every week now. :confused:

Just sounds similar to your issue.


(Robin) #4

@Just_Juju I would bet good money that you have some diverticulosis.
Mine was first triggered by fibrous veggies.
Nuts are the worst if you don’t slowly and consciously chew them to a pulp.
Usually the pain is most acute on the lower left side.
It’s also common to be able to pin point on your abdomen exactly the sharpest specific pain is.

There are 2 drugs you can take together (during a flair) that will give faster relief.
But you’ve got to jump on it.
The drugs are Metronidazole and Ciprofloxacin.
Hope this helps.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #5

Sorry, can’t see anything you might be doing wrong. If meat is getting stuck in the diverticula, that’s hard to combat. The only thing I can think of that you might add is either exogenous ketones or MCT oil, to boost the ketones in your intestine (should promote healing). And if you’re up for trying to eliminate dairy, you might see if you have a protein sensitivity. But that’s all I’ve got, sorry. :sob:


(Robin) #6

I’m not even gonna give you a heart, @PaulL! Give up dairy?
Eggs, cheese, cream?
I’ll have to get back to you on this cuz you just sent me into hyperventilation and AFib and a panic attack.


(KM) #7

:rofl:

Would it help to think of yourself on a Lion elimination diet - temporarily - until you get some data about what’s causing the flares? (Personally I could handle that, whereas simply thinking of it as giving up dairy would probably send me into cardiac arrest. :rofl:)


(Robin) #8

Yes, that makes sense, @kib1
I just need to bite the bullet. Oye. Even as I type that, I know I don’t really mean it.
YET.
The main thing I will miss is my one indulgence of morning coffee with heavy cream and stevia. I drank it black for most of my life. Surely I can get back to that, right? :thinking:

Cheese will be easier. But…
I am committing to none of that at this point.
(addicted much?)

Buck up, Robin!


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #9

Have a nice cup of cream and chill out, my friend!

(P.S.–If you want to get even, merely mention the possibility that I might some day wish to perhaps consider thinking about maybe giving up coffee. . . . :scream:)


(icky) #10

How many days would you plan trying dairy-free for?

Have you tried doing an extended fast when an attack like this happens? As a planned thing, I mean? Does fasting for 2 - 3 days make an attack calm down?


(Robin) #11

I’m shocked you didn’t say bacon! :bacon:


(Robin) #12

Yep…Once a flair begins, I am forced into an extended total fast until the pain goes away. Could be 2 days, or 4-5 for severe flairs.

I have no problems fasting as long as needed.


(icky) #13

Would using a gentle laxative like magnesium sulfate help empty out those pockets quickly and allow them to settle down faster? (When you have a flare, I mean)


(Robin) #14

Another good idea, but I am already and always on top of that. I take mag regularly just for that reason. And increase it when needed.


(Alec) #15

Robin
I know bugger all about this. But I did find myself with severe cognitive dissonance when I read the below in a “trusted” medical website…


(Robin) #16

Oh, McQueen, Alec McQueen… heck yes!
The only good news of this stupid co-reality…. Is that the advice to reduce fiber is new-ish to the medical scene.
There is yet hope here on the previously flat earth.


(Alec) #17

It is truly amazing how much of the dietary conventional wisdom is wrong. I think it is actually hard to be wrong on so much stuff… even if you guessed at answers or just flipped a coin, I reckon you would get a better outcome than what we are told to do.

It really does make me think that someone has thought this all through with a plant-based agenda and that is the basis of all the advice… and with the starting premise being so wrong, it is inevitable that the outcome recommendations are terrible, and consistently terrible.

It’s about time the meat industry gets its ■■■■ together.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #18
Medical Problem Explanation Cure
Type II diabetes High insulin response to glucose Eat more glucose (carbohydrate)
Constipation Bowel blocked by hard stool Eat more bulky foods to fill up bowel
Diverticulitis Damage to intestines; food gets trapped Eat more roughage to irritate bowel
Arsenic poisoning Too much arsenic causes damage Eat more arsenic

(Alec) #19

And the list of wrongness continues: dietary cholesterol, blood cholesterol, saturated fat, need for large amounts of VitC, need for fibre, eat your fruit and veg, alcohol is protective against all cause mortality, salt is bad, meat causes cancer, sun causes skin cancer, heart healthy whole grains, vegetable oils are best, eat the Mediterranean diet, eat less move more, calories as a measure of dietary energy, the list of wrongness is endless…

Epidemiology will go down as the pseudoscience that has killed more people prematurely than any other.


(KM) #20

Not only wrong, but so Entrenched! Such a part of the collective “wisdom”. I’d make a bet the average 20-year-old is still going to be spouting this deadly nonsense 4 decades from now, on their premature death beds.