I feel like so silly for persistently returning to these forums to start a new thread in a bid for reassurance, but every time I discover a new set of symptoms, I seem to get things stuck in my mind for so long.

About a week ago I started getting a dull ache in my testicle/groin. I have a varicocele and have occasionally had dull aches there before so didn't pay it much mind, but over the next day or two I started to wonder if it was actually in my lower abdomen.

Since then I've had a number of symptoms occur: lower abdominal spasming/cramping, bowels playing up somewhat, persistent discomfort in general. I was told I probably had IBS by a doctor a few years back, and I've had a few flare-ups, but I don't think they've usually been this long or intense. I've tried taking buscopan and mebeverine but neither have had much effect (in the past the latter has helped). Can IBS symptoms alone last for a week so constantly? (Granted, the pains have waxed and waned, but it's been fairly constant.) And could the pain have been IBS all along? My mind immediately jumps to things like a strangulated hernia - I'm obese, which is a) a risk factor and b) makes it more difficult to tell if I have a hernia - or testicular cancer or something. I don't know if I'm dealing with one new problem here, or two, or none and it's all built up from anxiety and IBS.

I hate going to the doctor, both because I'm scared of going and also because I've gone several times in the last year with ailments that turned out to be nothing other than anxiety.

(I didn't post in IBS forum as I'm unsure if my symptoms are indeed IBS related but please feel free to move if necessary.)