Urgent Bowel Action

Cause This can be due to the bowel being more irritable when usually it is associated with going to the toilet more often with looser stools. If this is the case click on ‘Change in Bowel Habit’ in the ‘Symptom Checker’ to see if it is worth seeing your GP. However if there has been no other change in your bowel action and you don’t have either of the other two key symptoms then it is probably because you are concerned about not being able to control the bowels and having accidents due to your sphincter muscles getting weaker.

Treatment Try eating less roughage with tends to stimulate the bowel to work more quickly and if this doesn’t work – try taking a tablet which will make your stools a little drier, more formed and less urgent – Immodium, Lomotil or Codeine Phosphate – you could ask you local pharmacist for advice on which would be the best tablet for you.