Most of us have likely experienced sudden almost overwhelming urgency to have a BM when suffering from diarrhea, whether we generally suffer from sort of bowel disorder or not. And I've certainly "been there" a few times in my life. But I'd like to ask about something I don't see mentioned much, if at all: Bowel urgency for normal BMS.On a number of occasions I have experienced urgency to have a BM prior to having a "normal" BM. There have been several different situations in which this has happened. On several occasions it has happened when I've been travelling and haven't "gone" for several days because of a sort of "travellers' constipation". When this happens it's sometimes preceded by a couple of "false alarms" in which a trip to the toilet is unproductive. When the "real need" arrives it's sometimes very sudden and very urgent, to the point where I really feel I might not be able to hold it long enough to find a toilet. Often one can be a considerable distance from a toilet when on a trip.The other situation is which this has occurred is when I've felt like I needed a BM before going to bed at night, but was unable to go. After the breakfast the next day I've sometimes been hit by a very sudden and very urgent need for a BM such that I just have time to get to the toilet when at home. Several times, however, this has happened when I've been staying over night and it has been very disturbing when the toilet was occupied and I had to wait for ten minutes or so fearing I wouldn't be able to hang on. My underwear is sometimes stained after one of these episodes, and once there was a "little more than a stain". I'm not really sure this sort of thing amounts to a bowel disorder, but there doesn't seem to be a better place than this to discuss it. This probably happens to me 3 or 4 times per year.My wife thinks there's nothing abnormal about any of this, and says she's had her share of close calls under very similar circumstances. She claims some people just have to go right away every now and again.Anybody else experience anything like this? Is this just normal?Netsurfer