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Here's one I haven't seen anywhere yet. Anyone have any thoughts?

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 7/20/2006 2:11 PM (GMT -8)
So I've had IBS for years, but often when I have a bout, I get a somewhat intense pain in the penis (this is not a joke). Wouldn't quite call it a burning sensation like one gets from a urinary tract infection (at least I don't think it is, I've never had that infection before). And I wouldn't call it a dull pain, and it's not a throbbing pain. It's just extremely uncomfortable. This is accompanied by a small amount of yucky (for lack of a medical term) discharge. During a normal day, I have no urination problems that I'm aware of. It really seems like the problem flares up almost exactly at the same times as my bouts of IBS.

Now, I can't figure out if there's any causal relationship, and none of the doctors I've spoken to seem to be concerned. But I have a hard time believing that this is just a coincidence. So is the IBS causing the other discomfort and discharge, or do I have some other problem that is causing the IBS symptoms? Any thoughts? Thanks.
Posted 7/21/2006 2:36 PM (GMT -8)
Hi Joeblow- I like your name!  I'm afraid I don't have much to say on this  but i wanted you to know that recently I was reading yet another list of IBS symptoms and it did mention painful urination.  Now, i know this isn't what you're complaining of, but I wonder if there is any connection.  I mean, don't follow what I say here and please follow up with your MD to rule out all other possibilities. Good luck.

Posted 7/21/2006 8:17 PM (GMT -8)
Have you seen a urologist?
Posted 7/24/2006 6:24 AM (GMT -8)
There was a posting back in the spring from another guy who was complaining of terrible cramping in his genitals when his IBS was acting up; said it felt like he had been kicked. And several other guys popped up to say that they too had cramping or even a burning, feverish sensation when they were having bowel problems. One guy even said that when his penis started burning, he knew he was about to have problems with his guts!

The only thing I can figure is that it's all hormonal. Hormones control the function of your guts as well as your reproductive organs and when certain hormones get out of whack, you have problems in both places. At least women seem to have worse IBS at certain points in their hormonal cycle. Supposedly men have hormonal cycles as well, although I don't know how they happen (every month, every two?) and they obviously don't involve as many hormones or as big a change, or men would be known to have PMS too. But still, they do get hormone fluctuations. Maybe you should see if this happens regularly.
Posted 7/24/2006 1:53 PM (GMT -8)
Interesting that you mention that. I too can almost predict an IBS episode when I get a signicant discomfort in my urethra. Almost like being able to predict rain from how the air smells... Anyway, I can't find any routine periodicity for the events, they're totally random. But you think hormones might have something to do with the connection?
Posted 7/25/2006 6:49 AM (GMT -8)
Could be. But cramping and other types of pain there may just be a symptom of pain radiation. Your guts cramp up and hurt and the pain radiates down into the genitals. I know bad gall bladders can make you hurt up into your right arm and even down into the elbow. My arm used to just ache and ache when I was having gall bladder problems. It would do that even when I wasn't hurting in my abdomen any. So it could be that your intestines cause your genitals to hurt, even when your intestines don't seem to be hurting. Pain is weird that way.
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