2 Answers

Basically air  trapped in the bowel being squeezed by surrounding muscles.very uncomfortable!

It's a very painful experience, I have had it myself. In your intestines, you have tiny sacs mostly in your lower intestines, these 'sacs' can be inflamed by small food particles that get trapped in them, a big culprit is seeds, like poppy, sesame and others, not limited to seeds though. what happens is that these particles get trapped in the diverticuli (sp) and the decay and cause inflammation and bacteria growth - Allowed to continue, these sacs will burst and then you have a serious problem as feces escape into the body cavity and this can kill you! No medical knowledge of just what these tiny sacs are for, the benefits if any is unknown.

The signs of diverticulitis is pain in the 'lower left' abdomen - Cramping very intense, (wanting to go but you can't, no matter how hard you try) As it progresses, fever and chills will set in as the body attempts to heal itself.  If this worsens, you must get to urgent care immediately where they will administer a 'drip'.

Fortunately for me I made it to my practitioner, he put me on antibiotics and for about a week, I could not eat, I was only allowed to drink. the rule is, if you cant see through it you can't drink it. I survived for a week on Gatorade..  I was also told that once you get this, it will probably come back again, So far, I haven't, its been about 8 years now.  Eat more fiber is what they say is preventative but there's no proof on this..