(CNN) -- For millions in the United States, daily activities like going to work or school are accompanied by bothersome gastrointestinal problems, such as abdominal pain or constipation. You may think these symptoms are too embarrassing to discuss with anyone. But trust me, these are common problems, and you your doctor wants to hear about them! It's important to be candid with your physician about all your GI symptoms and how frequently they are occurring. You may have a chronic GI disorder such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease or celiac disease. Or you may have a functional bowel disorder; two of the most common are irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) and chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC).

IBS-C is one of the four major subtypes of IBS, a chronic functional
GI disorder that arises from an abnormal functioning of the GI tract, not from structural or biochemical abnormalities.