Hello everyone,

I am a 21 year old female with no health problems except for having gerd. I consider myself to be in very good health, except I have been experiencing pain in the lower left side of my abdomen for about a week now, after a bout of constipation one day (didn't eat enough fiber).

The pain is at its most intense before and during a bowel movement, and is somewhat lessened afterwards. When I touch the spot where it hurts before I use the bathroom, it is very tender and painful to the touch, and feels as if there is a hard mass in my colon for a 2-4" section of it. The hardness is usually gone after the bowel movement, however.

Even when it is not really hurting, there is discomfort there, and it feels very heavy, even though I have managed to get over the constipation by taking a stool softener one day (i don't like using drugs unless necessary) and taking metamucil 3 times a day.

For the first 4 days, the pain was in the very same spot. Then I noticed that it is moving downward in the colon, and is now tender and hard directly above my pubic bone. It feels as if I am passing something (like the intestinal version of kidney stones or something), yet I have a complete bowel movement each morning--my usual pattern--and I don't understand how something could still be stuck in there.

Any ideas? Even crazy guesses would be greatly appreciated. I cannot get in to see a gastroenterologist for a month, and the general practitioner I went to had no idea.

Thank you so much,
-bluehydrangea