May 25, 2012
Topics A-Z Diarrhea Black stool may be medication side-effect
Black stool may be medication side-effect |
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Dear Ask The Doctor: Today is my 3rd day with diarrhea, the first day I had regular diarrhea, so I took a little bit of pepto bismol. The 2nd day i had black diarrhea, and today it continues. The pepto warning signs says it may cause black stool...but I only had half of the small cup it comes with like a small gulp because i hate the taste of it.I'm a thin 29 year old female who's never had any medical conditions nor take any prescriptions nor pills....i don't eat a lot of vegetables so I'm not a great healthy eater but i try not to eat too much fat. My stomach feels like it's a bad case of diarrhea but so far i'm not letting it stop me from coming to work. Trying to avoid doctors since they scare me. What's wrong with me I don't remember ever having black poop. Hope it passes by tomorrow. Help please. Dear Amy: Pepto-Bismol® (Bismuth) is indicated for the treatment of mild, nonspecific diarrhea or control of traveler's diarrhea, to relieve symptoms. A side-effect of use is the occurrence of grayish, black stools. The presence of a black tarry foul smelling stool may also indicate bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract. In addition to abdominal pain this can be secondary to peptic ulceration and bleeding. Therefore your symptoms may be related to a drug side-effect, but if they fail to improve after discontinuing the medication, I would advise attending your family doctor for a full blood count examination to check your Haemoglobin level, and an urgent referral to a gastroenterologist for an endoscopy, which allows visualization of the upper gastrointestinal tract through a camera lens and identification of any peptic ulceration. |
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 18 July 2010 ) |
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