Yes, your stomach can feel hard with diverticulitis due to inflammation, swelling, and bloating, often accompanied by pain, especially in the lower left abdomen, fever, and changes in bowel habits. A very hard, rigid abdomen, severe pain, fever, and vomiting could signal a serious complication like peritonitis (infection of the abdominal lining) requiring immediate medical attention.
Symptoms of diverticular disease and diverticulitis
constipation. diarrhoea. blood in your poo. bloating.
A common symptom of diverticulitis is pain in the area below the chest called the abdomen. Most often, pain is in the lower left abdomen. Pain from diverticulitis is usually sudden and intense. Pain may be mild and gradually worsen, or the intensity of the pain may vary over time.
When diverticulitis leads to sepsis, look out for these specific symptoms:
A CT scan can show inflamed areas for diverticulitis and pancreas inflammation for pancreatitis. Blood tests are also important. For pancreatitis, blood tests show high pancreatic enzymes. For diverticulitis, they might show infection or inflammation signs.
Symptoms may include:
Common alternative conditions that can clinically mimic diverticulitis include small bowel obstruction, primary epiploic appendagitis, acute cholecystitis, appendicitis, ileitis, ovarian cystic disease, and ureteral stone disease.
Diverticulitis perforation is a medical emergency with symptoms like sudden, severe abdominal pain (often lower left), high fever, chills, rapid heart rate, nausea, vomiting, and a rigid, tender abdomen, as bowel contents leak into the abdominal cavity (peritonitis). It requires immediate medical attention, with signs of worsening infection like difficulty breathing or confusion signaling sepsis.
Stages of Diverticulitis
Stage III: Abscesses have burst, and pus has been discharged into the abdomen. Stage IV: Abscesses have burst into the peritoneal cavity (a fluid-filled area that houses many of the abdominal organs), resulting in the presence of feces and, subsequently, infection.
If a hole (perforation) develops in the diverticulum, fluid and bacteria can leak into the abdomen and cause a very serious condition called peritonitis. A diverticulum can bleed into the intestine. Bleeding is painless but can be heavy and result in blood passing out through the rectum (see Gastrointestinal Bleeding).
Like any digestive disorder, diverticulitis can make you nauseous and even cause vomiting. You might notice your appetite is off, and you don't feel like eating. Even your favorite foods may not seem appealing, and some foods can make inflammation — and nausea it causes — much worse.
Diverticulitis Recovery Timeline
Recovering from a flare-up of diverticulitis could take as long as two weeks. 1 The first few days of recovering from uncomplicated diverticulitis at home will include following a liquid diet, resting, and using recommended medications for pain relief.
Mild, uncomplicated diverticulitis typically resolves on its own at home. "Going from a solid, heavy diet to a softer, more liquid diet for a few days usually helps ease symptoms as the body naturally clears a mild infection," Dr Warner says. More intense pain may warrant antibiotics.
Most people who develop diverticula have no symptoms, but if your diverticula become inflamed, they can cause pain and bloating in your lower abdomen or tummy.
They found that the optimal time for elective resection was after the third attack of uncomplicated diverticulitis and that the probability of surgery after the first hospitalized attack was the same after three attacks.
The main symptom of infected diverticula is extreme pain that persists for several days. Most of the time, the pain is most severe in the lower left side of your abdomen. However, occasionally — especially if you're of Asian background — the most severe pain is in the lower right quadrant.
Symptoms of a Diverticulitis Flare-Up
Complications of diverticular disease
Perforation – a weakened pocket of bowel wall may rupture. The contents of the bowel can then seep into the abdominal cavity. Symptoms include pain, high fever and chills. A perforated bowel is a medical emergency.
Recent advances in the surgical management of diverticulitis have significantly improved patient outcomes and treatment strategies. One notable development is the laparoscopic approach, which has been introduced for the diagnosis and definitive treatment of uncomplicated diverticulitis [3].
Symptoms of a bowel perforation include:
Diverticulitis can become serious if you experience blood in your stool, a fever over 100.4°F (38°C) that doesn't go away, nausea, vomiting, or chills. These signs could mean an infection or complications, so it's important to see a doctor if they don't improve.
Once the sacs develop, they don't heal on their own, and they don't go away. We can cure diverticulosis by performing surgery to remove the sacs. But if you don't have symptoms and an infection doesn't develop, there's no reason to treat the condition at all, much less undergo surgery.
Previous studies have documented an association between diverticular disease and an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), particularly within the first year after the diagnosis of diverticular disease (11-15). This has been attributed to screening effects or misclassification (12).
Like diverticulitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can cause abdominal pain and changes in bowel patterns. However, there are a few ways you can tell the difference between IBS and diverticulitis symptoms. IBS symptoms usually begin suddenly and can be very painful.
The nationwide population-based, nested case-control study did not reveal that use of PPI significantly increased the risk of colon diverticulitis after adjustment for possible confounding factors. Factors such as constipation and NSAIDs have been associated with an increased risk of colonic diverticulitis.