Hi Ronnie,

Not to be a smartypants...but do you know where your stomach is? The area that most people think of as their stomach is actually their colon and small intestines. The splenic flexure is part of the colon and reaches up above the bottom few ribs on the left side of the body; the hepatic flexure does the same on the right side. The transverse colon runs across the abdomen between these two flexures. (Three dimensional anatomic mapping is not an easy thing to put into words!)

The absence of 'normal' bowel movements is not necessarily an indicator of diverticulosis, particularly if they have not always functioned that well. The diverticuli are not painful in and of themselves...they can become painful when irritated, and especially when inflammed as in diverticulitis.

All that said, the timing of your pain would suggest that diverticulosis is not the cause since the 'irritant' wouldn't reach the colon in 30 minutes. I do not know if there are similar conditions where pockets form along the esophagus or stomach. Regardless, I would still recommend digestive enzymes to see if that makes a difference. Also make sure you are chewing your food thoroughly...not doing so means your digestive system has to work much harder than it should and will not be able to get the job done as well.