# Are there any parasites which cause chronic constipation?



## Just Some Guy (Sep 25, 2007)

I've been ruminating, as I often do, on the source of my distress lately. My constipation and other digestive problems all started during a month-long trip to India three years ago. Perhaps it was just some sort of psychosomatic thing brought on at first by my discomfort with Indian toilets, and then maintained for the next couple years even after my return to the U.S. by the fact that my bowel movements had become quite painful due to hemorrhoids, and then kept going even longer by my body and brain having gotten so used to this condition. This is the theory I usually tell myself, though I guess no one really knows what causes IBC-C. But, at any rate, the hemorrhoids are gone and I try not to worry about the bathroom so much, and yet here I am, still stuck with apparently insurmountable problems. So, in my desperation for the possibility of a quick cure, I find myself wondering about other possibilities.Specifically, I wonder if maybe I could have gotten some parasites while in India which could be the source of my ongoing difficulties. I mean, I guess parasites are usually associated more with diarrhea than constipation, but is this at all plausible? Would it be possible to easily check for and/or cure this? Any symptoms or lack thereof which would be telling? Any information would be helpful.


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## ZenMonk (Nov 2, 2007)

i suspected the same thing after having to drink very dirty water to survive just before my problems started! however, i just had some tests done for parasites and nothing turned up. i recommend that you have a stool and blood sample at the very least. it's possible you may have picked up roundworms, they are very common and you wouldnt usually know you have them from looking at your stool.


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