urinary urgency and GI disease

Posted By Mike on October 14, 1998 at 02:36:38:







During the past eight weeks I've had two episodes of lower abdominal discomfort with mild bloating and urinary urgency. The first episode lasted about 10 days, then after a few weeks it started again, and I'm about 12 days into the 2nd episode with not much improvement of the symptoms this time. I saw a urologist, and he determined that the urinary urgency most likely was not of urological origin (no retention, no inflammation of the bladder or the prostate), and he suggested that I might have a GI problem. What sort of GI problems can cause urinary urgency? I've had no fever, cramps, constipation or diarrhea. My primary care physician seems to think the symptoms may be related to my Reiter syndrome, which I'm also blessed with. Currently I'm waiting for my HMO to authorize a GI specialist visit, and in the meantime I'm trying to get some info off the Internet. Any insight will be much appreciated.