Fatigue after a diverticulitis episode can linger for several weeks to a few months as your body heals, often subsiding within four to six weeks, but sometimes taking longer, with some people feeling tired for several months, especially after severe cases or surgery, due to the body's extensive healing process and effects like dehydration. Rest is crucial to help your body recover fully.
Some people with diverticulitis wonder how a digestive issue can cause so much fatigue. While the reasons for a patient's tiredness can vary, dehydration is a common culprit. Diverticulitis symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, and fever can lead to dehydration that can easily make a person feel exhausted.
Honestly, recovering from diverticulitis might take up to two weeks. In the initial days of recuperating from straightforward diverticulitis in the comfort of your home, you'll be on a liquid diet, taking it easy, and using the prescribed medications for pain relief.
When these pouches become inflamed, the condition is called diverticulitis. Inflammation is immune system activity that increases blood flow and fluids to a site in the body and delivers disease-fighting cells. Inflammation of diverticula can cause severe pain, fever, nausea and changes in your stool habits.
As a result of our review, more than 21 case reports of acute diverticulitis presenting with lower extremity pain and swelling have been published in English literature. In the absence of clinical signs and symptoms of an intra-abdominal process, significant delay in diagnosis can lead to unfavorable outcomes.
Symptoms. People with diverticulosis often have no symptoms, but they may have bloating and cramping in the lower part of the belly.
When diverticulitis leads to sepsis, look out for these specific symptoms:
As a result, most people feel diverticulitis pain in the lower left quadrant of their abdomen, but it may also spread to the pelvis or radiate to the back.
Physical activity helps keep your bowels moving. Try to fit light-to-moderate exercise—like walking, running, or yoga—into your schedule every day.
Diverticulitis comes from infection and inflammation within small pouches (diverticula) that form in the colon wall, often due to high pressure from straining to pass hard, low-fiber stools, trapping bacteria and food, leading to blockage and infection. Risk factors include a low-fiber diet, constipation, obesity, lack of exercise, smoking, red meat, and age, though doctors don't know the exact cause.
Symptoms of a diverticulitis flare-up
Abdominal pain or tenderness: The most common symptom is sudden onset of abdominal pain, typically on the lower left side but can be elsewhere. The discomfort can be constant or intermittent (but usually constant) and may worsen with movement or pressure.
How long does it take for diverticulitis to heal? If a person has uncomplicated diverticulitis, it will usually go away on its own within 1 week . Outpatient management of mild diverticulitis has a reported success rate of around 94–97% . Antibiotic treatment for mild diverticulitis usually takes 7–10 days.
Diverticulitis is treated using diet modifications, antibiotics, and possibly surgery. Mild diverticulitis infection may be treated with stool softeners, a liquid diet, antibiotics to fight the infection, and possibly antispasmodic drugs.
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.
You may find that your Crohn's or Colitis makes it hard to get enough nutrients into your body. This may contribute to you feeling fatigued. If your gut is inflamed and sore it cannot take in the nutrients your body needs.
Signs that diverticulitis has become more serious include severe abdominal pain, chills, shaking rigors, weakness, headaches and dizziness. If you feel any of these symptoms, contact your doctor or call 911, as it may be a medical emergency.
If you have severe pain or an infection, though, you may need to be treated in a hospital so antibiotics can be given intravenously (into a vein). Moderate-to-severe diverticulitis may require bed rest and a liquid diet to help the large intestine recover.
Best Low-Fibre Soups for Diverticulitis Recovery
It may take two to four days for your diverticulitis symptoms to improve. At this point, you can gradually add fiber back into your diet at a rate of 5 to 15 grams per day. 2 It may take a week or longer until you return to your regular way of eating.
Diverticulitis can cause fatigue and weakness for a few reasons. Pain can make you feel tired, especially if it's moderate to severe. If you have an infection, the body's immune response can cause weakness and fatigue.
Over time, keep adding fiber to your diet by including high-fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains. High-fiber foods may lower your chances of getting diverticulitis again. Drink lots of water to keep fiber moving through your digestive system.
Patients typically start feeling better within weeks. A second flare-up can occur, but the timing is different for every patient. If suspicion of a recurrent diverticulitis flare-up is present, we'll confirm diverticulitis with a CT scan before prescribing the above recommendations.
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.
Diverticular bleeding: You may see bright red blood in your stool, which comes from bleeding diverticula. Nausea, fever or vomiting may occur if you have an infection.