Almost black stool?

[tishbite]

almost black stool?

I have been in a lot pain lately and my crohn's has been acting up. I woke up this morning and had a somewhat normal colored stool. Then my second one was nearly all black. I haven't eaten anything black in the past few days. I don't know if I should worry that it's blood or if it could be caused by something else. Any opinions?

 

[muppet]

Call your GI immediately and if you're in pain you might consider the ER. Dark black stool is a very serious symptom that should be acted upon instantly.

 

[tishbite]

I did have some spinach yesterday which i found out could be the culprit. I sure hope that is the case. I'm going to keep an eye out of it and if it persists I will go in.

 

[muppet]

Unless you ate a meal of nothing but spinach (and frankly, even if you did), I'd still be calling your GI right now if I were you. Dark black stool is potentially a sign of incredibly bad things, potentially fatal things, going on with your disease. Don't screw around.

 

[tishbite]

I called my GI and left a message. He should call me back in an hour or so. Thanks for showing concern as it is definitely pushing me to be more serious about it. I'm just so sick of hospitals right now!

 

[muppet]

Thanks for calling your doc. I'm relieved.

 

[JMC]

"Black stool that is tarry in texture and foul smelling is often a symptom of upper gastrointestinal bleeding from the esophagus, stomach or small intestine. This is called melena."

If this sounds like what you are experiencing, the black colour is caused by partially digested blood. When you bleed lower down, it still comes out red.