'flare-ups?'

I was recently diagnosed with divertcula. I have had extreme bouts of diarrhea for a week. The diarrhea is forceful, painful, acidic and hot. The stools are thin like, and mucuousy (sp), not firm and sometimes just water. I have ran low grade fevers with this, and have no energy whatsoever. The pain starts on the left side, and at times runs up into my back. I have Levsin that helps the horrid cramps associated with gas. I have had of at least 3 bouts a day, and sometimes up to 5. I'm also bloated and am just miserable. I am seeing my Gastro tomorrow, but am wondering, is this a flare up? Is this typical of diverticulitis?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Rose

[CalGal]

This sounds a lot like diverticulitis, especially with the pain and fever present. But if you've been on any form of antibiotics within the last 6 months, make sure the doc runs a ova and parasite test and looks for C. diff.

[Rose713]

Thank you for responding. What is C. diff., and an ova test? Isn't the parasite test taken from a breath sample? The more I know, the more I can question my doctor. Thank you for all your help CalGal.

[CalGal]

C. diff is a bacterium that can occur when some forms of antibiotics are taken, or it can be acquired from an infected individual. It tends to 'out-compete' the good bacteria in the gut for resources and it can cause a lot of problems in the GI tract. One of it's principle symptoms is a lot of diarrhea, typically with a very charactistic 'foul' odor. It's serious and if someone has it, it needs to be treated. The only way it can be checked for is via triplicate stool samples.

Parasite sampling in the GI tract is usually done via stool tests - ova and parasites. The only breath tests I know of are for H. pylori (bacteria in the stomach), and some forms of bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine. Those can be detected via breath test.