u/McWhits

Hey everyone, my husband is experiencing an active flare. He’s in terrible pain and he’s been running a low grade fever for about 2 days. He contacted his doctor and asked if she would prescribe antibiotics, and she said no (she has never prescribed him antibiotics) because it isn’t the “treatment protocol” for diverticulitis. She did however offer him something for the pain. Turns out, she prescribed 5mg of Oxycodone.

I’m starting to think that’s a crazy idea. I’ve had numerous major spinal surgeries, and Oxycodone cause severe constipation for me. It seems like the exact wrong course of treatment for someone struggling with diverticulitis during an active flare.

Thoughts? Experiences?

My husband (46/m) has “severe diverticulitis,” as determined by a Colonoscopy today. We knew he had the disease/disorder, but it wasn’t documented as severe in his last colonoscopy (about 3-4 years ago).

He’s had these terribly painful flare ups for the past several years but his symptoms have gotten considerably worse in the last year. His doctor has only ever prescribed antibiotics once, and that was a couple years ago. So, he generally suffers through the flares which tend to be very painful for 4+ days.

The GI doc who did his colonoscopy today said she would put in a referral to a surgeon because she had difficulty even getting the camera through.

I’m just curious how this disease has impacted people’s lives. I mean, there’s obviously the pain, but he hardly seems like the same person anymore. He has lost a LOT of weight (like 40lbs) and he wasn’t overweight to start with. He quit drinking alcohol completely, quit dipping (yay!), and has cut out caffeine and any/every food he suspects as a trigger. But he basically stopped leaving the house other than to go to and from work, and for any unavoidable tasks/appointments, etc. But he doesn’t attend family gatherings; we don’t go to dinner or a movie or anything anymore. He won’t say so, but he seems to have a lot of anxiety. But, he’s angry—like all the time. He has become cynical and negative about pretty much everything.

I’m just curious if anyone had similar personality changes as a result of this disease progression and chronic pain. Perhaps it’s something else altogether, but I thought I’d ask. And for anyone who has experienced this, do those things improve once it is successfully treated with surgery?

Side Note: I’ve had 4 major spinal reconstruction surgeries as well as a neck surgery, and I’ve lived with severe chronic pain for 18 years, so I’m not judging or attacking. It has only just occurred to me that him mental/emotional state might be linked to this. Any thoughts are appreciated.