Chronic gastrointestinal problems include any factors or symptoms that affect the way your body is able to effectively and properly digest food. There are quite a few factors that can influence the functioning of your gastrointestinal tract and how well it is able to maintain movement during the digestion process. Some examples of chronic gastrointestinal problems include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), gastroenteritis, celiac disease, chronic diarrhea, chronic constipation, ulcers, and hemorrhoids. Your gastrointestinal tract is around 9 feet long, so when one problem occurs, it can heavily affect the rest of the tract, and allows for quite a bit of room for error if you are at risk for developing one of these chronic gastrointestinal problems.