worried 21 year old =/

hello, im really hoping someone can help me.  im a little embarrased and at the same time scared to even tell a doctor much less anyone else about this..   but recently i find myself going to the bathroom more often and its not for very much stool..  after i eat a meal or anything, 15-30 minutes later ill be in the bathroom.. my stool is much smaller than usual.. there is no signs of blood, but the most unusual part for me is that it HURTS on the way out and hurts for a short period of time when im done..  i havent lost weight (i think im gaining weight) and sometimes i experience a sharp pain that shoots to the testicular area, but does not start there.. i dont really know how to explain it all, but its just weird... ive experienced sharp pains in the testicular region before, and it went away , but im assuming because of the general area of where my pain is starting, it just affects the nerves in that area..   PLEASE HELP ME!  im 21 years old and im scared to death right now..

If I were you, I would try changing my diet a bit and see if I don't balance back out. Stay away from greasy, fatty foods as these can mess you up. The usual culprits are fried meats, pizza and potato chips. Also, abstain from alcohol for a little while because this too can mess your guts up. You might also want to cut out cokes and coffee as both are acidic and a bit hard on the guts and caffeine makes them doubly problematic. You should drink at least the recommended 8 servings of 8oz of water too in order to help your guts function normally. Avoid flavoring it with artificial sweetners; if you have to have taste, try lemon and maybe a little real sugar or green tea. I drink green tea cold or at room temperature when I get tired of water with a small amount of sugar in it to keep it from tasting a wee bit bitter. Also, unless prescribed by a physician, stop any supplements, vitamins or protein/whey shakes you are on as these can all contain things that will upset your bowels. Make doubly sure you avoid certain artifical products like sugar alcohols (found in sugar-free and reduced sugar products), olestra (found in low-fat potato chips, like WOW!) and any sort of diet aid or diet product as these are known to cause frequent and loose stools.

Also, look to see if you have added anything to your diet lately that might have made an impact on your bowel function. My fiance has recently discovered that he can no longer tolerate hot peppers without encountering problems the next day; he can eat any sort of hot spice, just not hot peppers or sauce from them. He's actually been having this problem for a while, but it's taken us a while to figure out what was causing his random bouts of stomach upset. That and he was eating pre-cut lettuce/salad bar lettuce which is washed in chemicals and is upsetting for a lot of people when eaten regularly. Eating both at the same time made it harder to figure out which things were bothering him.

If you feel that you are raw on the bottom from wiping, try wiping with a wet washcloth or a baby wipe. It doesn't take much wiping with regular toliet paper, especially the cheap kind, to irritate your behind.

The other thing you can try is probiotics. They are good bacteria that live in your intestines and help you digest your food. Sometimes they get out of balance because of illness, food poisioning, "stomach flu", and certain medicines, including antibiotics. Sometimes taking them will straighten you back out. You can find multi-strain probiotic products like Digestive Advantage or Culturelle in the bowel products section of any chain pharmacy. You can also get just a single strain, acidophillus, in the herbal section. And lastly you can always take up eating a container of yogurt a day, which also contains some probiotics and also calcium, which is good for your guts as well.

Try these things for a couple of weeks, minimum, and see if you don't get better. If you aren't any better after two or three weeks and/or your symptoms get worse, then you need to see a doctor. But, according to the Rome Criteria II guidelines, you need to have at least 12 weeks of bowel problems before being diagnosed with IBS. This is because diet and "stomach bugs" can disrupt your bowels quite easily and take a while to get over or to work around them. It takes a continuing pattern of problems to lead to diagnosis of a permanent problem--IBS. So take heart, you may not have IBS.

thanks for the reply guys.. this all started really after a hard night of drinking and partying .. (felt horrible the next day.. didnt use the bathroom or anything, but the day after that was when it all happned..) .. basically what happens to me is when i go to the bathroom, it constantly feels as if im forcing my stools out, and im anticipating my intestines to come out.. im going to change my diet a bit and drink a lot of water in the mean time, but its been about 4 days since it started so ill give it some time to pass.. sometimes your body fixes itself. *shrugs*

but arent hemoroids caused when lifting heavy objects? i dont think ive exerted enough energy to get a hemoroid... im going to google it and do my research.. thanks for the suggestion though.

thanks for being so helpful.. but my only question right now is whats UC?

as for the hemroids, i was reading symptoms and i dont really fall into that category.. its amazing for me to even think that ive strained enough on the toilet to get a hemroid (although possible, but there are no signs of bumps)... i think im just experiencing some constipation issues and irritation around the rectal area which is causing the burning as a result of how many times im on the toilet OR the toilet paper OR becuase of the straining... and will try taking the prunes.. thanks for all the advice though, you guys have been great help

Actually, a lot of people have hemmroids, but they are mostly on the inside of the anus where you don't notice them. I found I had some when I had a scope done, but I don't ever know they are there unless I have a really bad bout of constipation or have it for several days in a row and I cause them to bleed a little--and after they bleed a little they itch while they are healing up.

And Softy's right: doctors have heard it all before. After all the cats and cadaviers they've dissected in medical school, nothing grosses them out.

I wasn't aware they had much to treat IBD, much less keep it from spreading. Learn something new everyday.

you guys have all been great and i thank you all very much.. ive decided that im going to take some stool softeners and see how that goes... after a week if im still in a flare ill go see a doctor.. thank you all so very much! ill keep you guys posted

also, yesterday i bought OTC medicince from "Phillips" i think it was... its their stool softener with a laxative.. took two yesterday at 3 and 2 today in the morning.. so far ive only had 1 bowel movement and it seemed to have helped.

You mention that your stools changed after you went on a diet. Have you tried going off your diet? I normally tend towards diarrhea, but when I went on a low-fat diet to lose some weight, I became severely constipated. My mother said that everyone needs some fat in their diet in order to function normally. Since I don't have a gall bladder, I'm already functioning abnormally; my guts seemed to take serious offense with the lack of fat in my diet. If you're on a low fat diet, try going back to a normal diet and see if that helps get you back to at least where you were to start with. I think dieting is a seriously big no-no for anyone with gut problems because it never takes much of a change to set a person off.

And Lil's right, you quite probably have hemmroids. I've bled a tiny bit on occasion after being constipated--especially after several constipated bowel movements. You can have internal hemmroids and never know it until you bleed a little after straining/ having a hard poop.

you kow what, im not even sure what kind of doctor i should be seeing about this.... do i just go into a walk in clinic? a local hospital?

ive been reading up on preparation H due to the hemmoroids.. has anyone had any success with their products? also, they offer a gel, cream, ointment, suppository (which im not too sure how i feel about.. ), so im not really sure which one is best.

will any of these prepH products help my bowel movements in anyway?

I've never heard of IBS causing nerve damage, so I think your penis is probably safe. But some people with rectal fissures, rectal ulcerations and the like (usually in people with IBD, not IBS) may have some worry. And spending a lot of time sitting on the toliet is not supposed to be good for you (can make hemmroids worse by putting too much pressure on the rectum). You're supposed to sit down, do your business and get up again--not linger reading a magazine article or the like. Of course that's easier said than done when you have IBS and it either won't come out immediately or it won't stop coming out. But a number of guys on here have pain in their genitals related to their IBS, and haven't mentioned any sexual side affects (other than, obviously, that's the last thing you want to do when your guts are messed up).

Do your hemmroids bother you other than having a little bit of blood? It's my understanding that all those products do is help heal up your hemmies when they are burning and/or itching (a sign that you've torn one). If you don't have this problem, then I don't see that you need them because you've probably not damaged them enough to worry about it. I've never used any of these products, although on occassion I have had some itching. Just never enough to drive me to distraction. And I think the creams are for external hemmies only (you can feel them); you have to use the suppository for internal ones (all the more reason why I've never used any). And no, they won't help you have more or less bowel movements. If, however, your hemmroids are interferring with your excreting stools, they can help shrink them back down to normal if they are swollen and make it easier for you to pass a stool. They won't get rid of your hemmroids, though--just reduce any swelling.