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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Black/ Dark Brown Bowel Movement?

I had 2 small pieces of black fibrous poo yesterday. Today I had a better bowel movement but now poo is very dark brown, almost black, with mucus and gritty and fibrous. Is this something I should get checked. Only 24 hours since the black poo. Could it be getting better.
Mon, 20 Jul 2015
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Internal Medicine Specialist,  's  Response
Dear- thanks for using our service and will try to help you with my medical advise. Black or dark stool can be secondary to occult blood in the stool from gastritis or bleeding ulcer. It is usually accompanied by symptoms of stomach pain or disconfort. However, some medications as peptobismol can bring the color of the stool to black, so make sure that this is not the reason. I recommend you to observe the stool for 72 hrs. If it was something acute and self-limited, it will come back to normal. If this was related to an acute gastritis or ulcer, it will continue for few days and you might need to see a gastroenterologist to scope you and find the reason for it.
I hope that my advise has been helpful
Dr.Sara
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What Causes Black/ Dark Brown Bowel Movement?

Dear- thanks for using our service and will try to help you with my medical advise. Black or dark stool can be secondary to occult blood in the stool from gastritis or bleeding ulcer. It is usually accompanied by symptoms of stomach pain or disconfort. However, some medications as peptobismol can bring the color of the stool to black, so make sure that this is not the reason. I recommend you to observe the stool for 72 hrs. If it was something acute and self-limited, it will come back to normal. If this was related to an acute gastritis or ulcer, it will continue for few days and you might need to see a gastroenterologist to scope you and find the reason for it. I hope that my advise has been helpful Dr.Sara