Frequent urge to defecate can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'needs attention' to 'serious'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.
Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose frequent urge to defecate, we could:
Cause | Probability | Status |
---|---|---|
Ulcerative Colitis | 94% | Confirm |
Mercury Toxicity | 64% | Possible |
Irritable Bowel Syndrome | 14% | Unlikely |
Diverticular Disease | 4% | Ruled out |
Endometriosis | 2% | Ruled out |
Crohn's Disease | 0% | Ruled out |
How often do you experience intestinal pain or cramping with an urge to have a bowel movement, sometimes without success?
Possible responses:
→ Don't know→ Never / rarely / once a year or less → Occasionally - several times a year → Regularly - several times a month → Frequently - daily or almost daily |
Uncoordinated intestinal contractions can result in under-digested food arriving in the rectum more often than is normal, causing people with IBS-D (Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Diarrhea) to experience sudden, frequent, and painful urges to defecate. IBS sufferers may also have a hypersensitive gut and rectum and therefore feel urgency and pain more acutely than the average person.