# Testicular pain and other problems with IBS



## Chicago123 (Apr 10, 2009)

This is my first post and I'd like to apologize if anything I'm asking has already been covered on these boards.I'm 30 years old and about 5 years ago I was diagnosed with IBS. I had been experiencing stomach problems and after extensive evaluation from my physician the decided to do a colonoscopy and an endoscapy. Both procedures turned up nothing, as did a blood test for Crohn's disease. Various other test also turned up nothing. I was then told i had IBS which I just wrote off as them not knowing what was wrong with me.I never had anything more severe than some stomach discomfort and constipation and just lived with it. Within the past year i have been experiencing some more severe issues such as:-Bloating-Excessive Gas-Diarrhea-Stool changes-Mucus In stool-Constant Hemorrhoids-Abdominal Cramping-Body Aches-Head Aches-Joint Pain-Insomnia-Bad taste in mouth-Moments of increased heart rate-Feelings of rushing blood in legs and thighs-Groin Pain-Testicular tenderness and pain-Decreased sex drive-Depression-Fatigue I think that about covers it.I have been to the doctor twice within the past year and blood and urine test have come back clean. I had the doctor perform a physical during my last visit and he didn't find anything abnormal in my testicles that seemed alarming. Within the past week things seem to be worse than ever. The testicular pain has gotten worse and I feel like I need to keep my legs open all the time to relieve the sensitivity.I have been under some stress as I lost my job a while back and money is stating to become a issue. I also have some family problems that lend to stressful phone calls.Due to the loss of my job I no longer have insurance and I can't go see a doctor only to have them say nothing is wrong and please go pay $300 to the receptionist. I've been trying to adhere to the basic dietary guidelines for IBS as well as staying away from alcohol and caffeine. At times I've also been taking Dicyclomine when the abdominal cramps are present. gas-Ex when I have gas.I was just wondering if anyone here has experienced such severe testicular tenderness and am I not having the right tests performed in order to catch a more serious disease. I assume the blood and urine tests they have been performing are fairly standard. Sorry for the long post and I thank you in advance for any help anyone may be able to give. I'm just worried my doctors are missing something with the testicular pain. Thank you.


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## IanRamsay (Nov 23, 2008)

to be honest mate you need to get your testes looked at by a specialist without looking for or taking to consideration the IBS. it should be treated as a completely different issue as discomfort has become so bad. from one bloke to another, alarm bells should be ringing!cheersIan


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## Chicago123 (Apr 10, 2009)

IanRamsay said:


> to be honest mate you need to get your testes looked at by a specialist without looking for or taking to consideration the IBS. it should be treated as a completely different issue as discomfort has become so bad. from one bloke to another, alarm bells should be ringing!cheersIan


Thanks man, but the problem is that I have had them look at in the past and the doctors have found nothing. I've read a lot on IBS and this comes up as a symptom on numerous sources. I just wondered if anyone else has had this issue with IBS. Although my testicular discomfort has worsened, so have all my other symptoms. Things are starting to get better as I have really been catering to my IBS all week. I'm thinking that the cramping in my abdominal area is cutting off some blood flow to my groin and therefore causing discomfort in my testicles. The main reason I believe this is that when my abdominal cramping is relieved, so is my testicular discomfort.


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## scottaustralia (Apr 8, 2009)

Go and see a specialist get some xrays of testicals. Thats not good to have pain there and not to bemucked round with.


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## baz22p (Dec 1, 2008)

I have NEVER come accross a problem with discomfort within the testes being associated with IBS - and that includes much reading, and internet research, aart from these boards. As already suggested, you need to go to a specialst about this, but don't mention your IBS.....see if he says anything about it first. As a bloke I would find some way of dealng with this even if money is tight.Baz


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## IanRamsay (Nov 23, 2008)

hican i ask mate, do you strain when you are on teh toilet? i actually strained my groin whilst straining. it can happen continually if you continually strain. it happened to me several times in a row, and jeesus did it hurt.cheersIan


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## rocketiz (Jan 1, 2005)

I would think that the most logical specialist to see would be a urologist. This could be a prostatitis or epidymis (sp?) inflamation. There are also possibilites with pelvic floor muscle dysfunction aggrevating symptoms that you describe. One thing that might help is a hot bath or a sitz bath. Note - I am not a physician and cannot give you definitive advice. Best of luck to you and keep us updated.Rich


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## SteveE (Jan 7, 1999)

My IBS began 16 years ago with a bout of testicular pain. After a few weeks of the pain, an ultrasound confirmed that I had three abnormalities: epidydimitis, a spermatocele and a varicocele, but it was likely my pain was caused by the epidydimitis alone. First, they tried antibiotics and ibuprofen. Perhaps this is where I went wrong, because the IBS started then. Second, I was given a more aggressive 5-day steroid treatment. On the night of the 5th day, I fell asleep with cramps so bad I almost asked my wife to call an ambulance. No morning since then has been completely IBS-free, but woohoo...my testicular pain is mostly gone. Yeah, mostly. Last year it acted-up while hiking in the rockies. Not enough support while bouncing over boulders might've contributed, I don't know, but it went away the following week. My gut was really acting up that week too--enough to result in later-than-planned starts on the trails, but not enough to keep me off of those trails.Anyway, be cautious about how you treat the testicular pain as it could have consequences for your gut, but do get the ultrasound for some peace of mind about what's going on with the pain. Sadly, when I complained to the urologist about my growing gut concerns, he LITERALLY slammed the door in my face while laughing and uttering the phrase "Well, steroids can cause ulcers." No referral, no concern, just a door in my face. But when there's only one urologist in a 90 mile radius, what are you going to do?My best advice for the gut pain is to keep a very detailed food/lifestyle/symptom log. I recommend using some old software that's still available called Lifeform, but you could just as easily set something up in Excel or whatever. I like Lifeform because it allows you to graph your symptoms against food/exercise/sleep/whatever you want. From that, I was able to cut my IBS symptoms by about half. I still suffer some symptoms, but I'm grateful for the small victory that keeping that detailed record gave me. I still keep a less-sophisticated log, but I haven't been able to draw any new conclusions with it.


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## jonboy (Apr 26, 2009)

Hi there,I've got similar symptoms but I only get an ache in my left ball and left side of stomach, and that seems to get better after bowel movement and is more noticable after a night on the booze. I got an ultrasound scan done and the doctor said that there were a couple of cysts which they could remove but as they were benign and he said were not causing the pain he advised against it and, to be honest, I wasn't keen on someone cutting into my ball so took his advice.But I kept going back to the doctor with this stomach and left ball ache and had tests done for other things including a hernia and eventually one of the doctors told me about referred pain. This means that the brain doesn't know exactly where the problem, only the area, so sends a signal from the general area of the problem. If I stay off the ale I'm generally ok if not constipated. There's this mild detox colon cleanser available from theorganicpharmacy.com which I've done a couple of times and that helps get things moving and is a natural product.I must stress that you should get your balls checked out because there's no guarantee that we have the same thing and you'd regret it if there was something wrong. The ultrasound is ok. I live in England so we get these things free so I've no idea how much it costs over there but I think it's worth it, if only to rule something out.Also, drink a couple of litres of purified water a day and get daily exercise. Really helps.Hope you get it sorted out. Let me know how it works out for you.Jonboy


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## Bluenote (May 4, 2009)

If you do not have insurance you may want to try your local hospital & see if there is any program for partial payment option where you would get a reduced charge , i'd probably get them checked out too depending on whehn the last time they were checked . I can say i have frequent pain down there myself from the IBS when i have serious bouts of it (up all night in the bathroom over & over) i think it just irritates the area a lot .....but do get checked & take care of yourself .


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## travis111 (May 23, 2009)

Jonboy, I have been suffering from the smae sorta thing mainly in the left ball and it kinda moves as would explain the whole referred pain thing, i to feel worse when ive been on the booze and sometimes its almost instant! the pain isnt there all the time tho, if im out enjoying myself etc or im asleep i dont feel a thing but when im done ill sit therr and it will tend to just throb. Having read your post i do feel better but am going to get an ultrasound done as you did just to put my mind at rest as i have been also reading up about the testicles going varicos (SP?) and my epididymis is very tender to touch, sometimes i flinch even if my missus trys to go anywhere near them! i too am from england so will try and get this sorted once and for all! Thank you and best of luck with everything.


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## bogeyman (May 26, 2009)

Prior to being diagnosed with IBS I experienced pain around the testicles and lower groin leading to an ultrasound for testicular cancer which was negative. I don't have pain specifically in the testicles, but have stinging type of pain in groin nearby. Not sure if that helps you, but that was my experience.


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## jimbob5 (May 28, 2009)

Yes, I have experienced all of those symptoms- other than decreased sex drive & Hemorrhoids.I first got a dull aching feeling in my testicles around early 2007, it lasted for several weeks & I kept having to urinate virtually non stop some days, I had it again although nowhere near as severe at the start of this year.I have had stomach/bowel issues my whole life, however over recent times my symptoms had gotten really bad- especially the loud never ending noises coming from my stomach & bowel. Thankfully I seem to have found a diet that works really well for me personally & just by eliminating all the foods that did not agree with me, I have managed to get rid of these symptoms almost totally. Now I just have slight occassional noises but hardly noticeable, whatever mucus I get comes out with solids & very easily first thing in the morning & I usually do not have to go again that day. My outlook on life has changed greatly- rather than everything seeming gloomy I feel great now, I have a lot of energy rather than feeling like laying down all the time, my breath has improved beyond belief etc.The ache in the left side is I believe the small intestine having trouble processing food, I still get a slight ache sometimes but it is not that bad. I recently eliminated green beans from my diet ,as I found after I eat them I was getting chronic ache there.Here is what works for me-Breakfast- 1 banana- without this the noise is horrible, for whatever reason this seems to really stop the noisesLunch- 1 banana & a slice of cucumberDinner- Half a tin of Heinz Spaghetti, Spinach, Potato Croquettes, slice of cucumber.I only drink still bottled water, however I try to avoid drinking too much of it & in one go as it seems to increase noisePretty boring eating the same thing every day, but I like it anyway & that is far better than what I have been living with all my life until I started keeping a food diary, obviously everybody is different but it may be worth a try as your age & symptoms & the onset of those symptoms over the last year seems very similar to my experiences. All the best.


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## ashev (Jun 12, 2009)

Hi,Been experiencing pretty much all the symptoms you named for the last couple months. Have had blood work done but not yet the full battery of tests. My worry is Crohn's disease (I've got elevated Bilirubin which is one of the symptoms, and the only abnormality in the blood test results). I've altered my diet somewhat, and that seems to help, as does exercise. Macaroons have worked magic for the diarrhea. Still, slight abdominal discomfort persists (i do notice that anxiety seems to worsen it), and practically for the first time in my life (i'm 28) i am experiencing some insomnia. Also, most recently the testicular tenderness you mentioned has appeared, which is what what led me to this post (I am hoping I've got IBS rather than Crohn's, so i searched for testicular discomfort associated with IBS). On top of that, I feel like I get mild pulses of nausea (no strong desire to vomit, but just a hint of nauseousness) throughout the day. Going in for an appt with a GI Doc in a couple weeks, hoping he can tell me something definitive, and if possible without the need for a colonoscopy (don't like the sound of it). Like I said, I'd be happy with an IBS diagnosis--it'll surely beat Crohn's or ulcerative colitis or some other such nastiness. If and when you make some headway with your condition, let the folks of the forum know. I'll do the same.AL


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## milehighman (Jun 12, 2009)

Thanks for your post. I have a very similar situation and will take your suggestion on the food log. It seems when I get bloated, gas, full bowel, etc. that the pain in my left testicle gets worse...it seems the pain travels down the inginual canal to my testicle!


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