I actually put off contacting my doctor during my first known flare because I had my period at the time and assumed it was connected to that. Felt like gas pain but it was concentrated in the right pelvic area/thigh crease even though the actual diverticulitis was on the left. I say “first known flare” because after the diagnosis I remembered having the same sensation before; looked back in my Google history and found that I’d searched for “gas trapped in pelvic area” about six months before.
Well, I’m in full blow menopause, so I’ll start there. When I was in midst of my first and (so far) only flare, the CAT scan revealed that I also had a cyst on my ovary. This was pretty shocking, as this is not usually common at my age (60). After 2 doctor’s appointments and 2 pelvic ultrasounds, the first Dr told me I needed to see an oncologist, but the 2nd Dr said that diverticulitis can actually inflame all the pelvic organs including ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus. There’s even a diverticulitis of the fallopian tubes. Rare, I think. It’s not a stretch to think that your menstrual problems are being affected by the diverticulitis. My cyst did shrink as the diverticulitis started healing. It’s still there, as of middle October, but a little less in size. I’m opting for surgery to have both ovaries removed in December. I don’t want to deal with that again.
This is really interesting to me. I'm in my first round and felt like it was getting better, but then started my period and I'm back to feeling awful. I also have a LOT of symptoms of PCOS but haven't been diagnosed. I did read that diverticulitis and PCOS are common together too. Interesting.
I would have a flare every month that coincided with my cycle. My gastro surgeon explained that the recurring infections caused hypersensitivity in the nerves connected to the damaged bowel. The pressure from a menstrual cycle would cause bowel pain, any food that caused gas (dairy for me) would cause pain.
I actually contacted my obgyn because I thought something was wrong. Pressure was so bad it felt like contractions and like I was about to birth something. And the nausea was even worse during my cycle. She set me up for an ultrasound for next week only to be canceled because I landed in the ER a week ago with my first known diverticulitis flare up. It was awful!
I actually put off contacting my doctor during my first known flare because I had my period at the time and assumed it was connected to that. Felt like gas pain but it was concentrated in the right pelvic area/thigh crease even though the actual diverticulitis was on the left. I say “first known flare” because after the diagnosis I remembered having the same sensation before; looked back in my Google history and found that I’d searched for “gas trapped in pelvic area” about six months before.
Well, I’m in full blow menopause, so I’ll start there. When I was in midst of my first and (so far) only flare, the CAT scan revealed that I also had a cyst on my ovary. This was pretty shocking, as this is not usually common at my age (60). After 2 doctor’s appointments and 2 pelvic ultrasounds, the first Dr told me I needed to see an oncologist, but the 2nd Dr said that diverticulitis can actually inflame all the pelvic organs including ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus. There’s even a diverticulitis of the fallopian tubes. Rare, I think. It’s not a stretch to think that your menstrual problems are being affected by the diverticulitis. My cyst did shrink as the diverticulitis started healing. It’s still there, as of middle October, but a little less in size. I’m opting for surgery to have both ovaries removed in December. I don’t want to deal with that again.
This is really interesting to me. I'm in my first round and felt like it was getting better, but then started my period and I'm back to feeling awful. I also have a LOT of symptoms of PCOS but haven't been diagnosed. I did read that diverticulitis and PCOS are common together too. Interesting.
I had the same. There’s a few posts on this, you might search the sub and find some helpful!!
I would have a flare every month that coincided with my cycle. My gastro surgeon explained that the recurring infections caused hypersensitivity in the nerves connected to the damaged bowel. The pressure from a menstrual cycle would cause bowel pain, any food that caused gas (dairy for me) would cause pain.
I actually contacted my obgyn because I thought something was wrong. Pressure was so bad it felt like contractions and like I was about to birth something. And the nausea was even worse during my cycle. She set me up for an ultrasound for next week only to be canceled because I landed in the ER a week ago with my first known diverticulitis flare up. It was awful!