Anyone got any advice please re black poo (sorry!)

Glad to hear you've had a positive answer and treatment. Good news!

Mystery solved hopefully. Seen GP and hospital doctor. He’d evidently had a micro bleed which accumulated into black as it went through his system. This was because he was taking Piroxicam for 20 odd years but not given any stomach protection. He was very anaemic (had iron drips now), a series of six vit B12 injections now followed by one every three months. He may have to take iron tablets but we have to see about that.

This should relieve his irritability, inexplicable exhaustion, possibly even his sciatica possibly. I think he feels relieved, back to drinking tea and coffee but not as many. It’s so surprising how much the shock of him being admitted to hospital not only hit my H but me! I’m exhausted with the worrying and traipsing about. Thank you ladies for trying to help and your advice. Best site ever.

If he's taking charcoal biscuits that would give him black poo.

Is he eating lots of green veggies and red meat ?.
I know from experiance that lots of veg and der wine can have the same effect.

Luckylegs thank you . It must be difficult as some foods have hidden iron. I was surprised but what foods where high in potassium eg tomatoes,mushrooms ,spinach pineapple and a host of others. Been following low potassium for over 10 years now.

Hopefully you will both enjoy better health from now on.?

No as far as I know, I have no problem with potassium levels. I suffer from polycythemia rubra Vera which means I make too many red blood cells and platelets so I have to be careful about extra iron.

Luckylegs glad your husband is home. If you don't mind me asking do you have problems with your potassium levels. I do and can't have foods high in potassium. Funny enough some of the foods are high in iron as well.

You don't have to answer .

Thanks for update. Hope you get to the, er, 'bottom' of it soon.

Right, time to come back on here now after bringing him home. He had an injection and a drip and was sent home, to go back next Monday. No sign of black poo now! It’s a miracle! I do not understand. They didn’t do a colonoscopy, obviously felt it wasn’t necessary. Can this injection/drip really stop whatever it was forever?

There has been no scan. It appears he was low on vitamin B (or B12, don’t know yet) and that was what caused it. Yes, the first day he put it down to eating licorice the night before but obviously eaten none since. There was no red blood at all and it’s thought that it wasn’t blood at all now but what?

We’ll get to know presumably next Monday but he’s stopped drinking tea or coffee, trying to eat iron rich food, drinking tomato juice and so on. Unfortunately I’m advised not to eat a lot of iron so it’s going to be tricky.

Thank you all for your advice and good wishes.

Is he taking pepto bismal for his stomach? That does turn the poo black.

I had this once and was admitted to hospital for tests. They found a small duodenal ulcer and antibiotics seemed to sort it out because no more since then.

Black poo can be caused by too much iron (iron pills) even I believe spinach, but can also indicate the presence of digested blood so bleeding somewhere in the gastric tract.
Red blood is “undigested” so might indicate bleeding in the colon or of course haemorrhoids .
Paw had UC (Ulcerative colitis) and was also prone to gastric bleeds so I became quite familiar with these instances!

Luckylegs.....You said He’d also had a a handful of liquorice the night before so thought it was that the first day.

well it'll be the liquorice then!

That’s worrying Gaga but as we know nothing is 100% safe or reliable. Hopefully most scans will get to the bottom of the matter. (Sorry no pun intended)!
Luckylegs keep us updated.

My ex had something very similar. Given a big run around by the NHS. GP, A&E (in the days where you could go to A&E), even as an in patient. Was told there was nothing wrong, then had a big haemorrhage as was about to be discharged. Big. Bags of blood and plasma being screwed in (by a nurse literally wringing the bag to get it in faster). Emergency surgery.

There had been a bleed from a valve somewhere untraceable by the colonoscopy.

I'm not saying this to scare you, just to say, don't be fobbed off if the problem doesn't go away.

If my ex hadn't been in hospital when it happened, they'd be dead now.

Iron is iron and can either darken your bowel movements or loosen them, Vitamin B or any other Vitamin has nothing to do with iron.

Glad to hear they fast tracked him and did not find indications of cancer - have they referred him for a scan? There is a kind of scanning that registers cancer anywhere at all in your body. It is not painful - but you have to not have eaten anything for four or five hours previous to it.

Some foodstuffs can dye your faeces dark brown or black, so it is worth considering whether anything you eat or drink lately has changed.

In your husband's place I would insist on the colonoscopy - unpleasant as that is, but better safe than sorry.

Keep us posted, and we shall keep our fingers crossed.

Yes MerylStreep, pernicious anemia is a very serious condition. I used to have 3 monthly injections but now just take the tablets.

Vitamin B12 injections are not iron. They help the absorption so he must had had low levels of both. You normally get 6 over 2 weeks and then one every 3 months. They are normally given by a nurse as can be nippy but some people give themselves after training. Black tarry stools are the end product of digesting blood from somewhere in the digestive tract. DS had this at New Year and ended up having 4 blood transfusions and an endoscopy, CT scan, radioactive CT scan and a test like a colonoscopy but you swallow the camera and it films all the way down. They have ended up putting it down to ibuprofen which he was told to take for a month with an ear infection. He is now never to take ibuprofen or drugs like it again.

Luckylegs you mention your husband should be on Lansoprazole just a warning in case he has it. Its for manly treating acid reflux. I was on it but had to come off it as it reduced my sodium and folic acid levels to much. If he does go on it he needs to have regular blood tests. I had to have a 3 month course of folic acid tablets. And was told by my GP to use Gaviscon .

My dad had black poo he had a stomach bled but after a barrage of tests they never found where it came from and it just stopped one day. And never came back.

Mousybrown
I have them because my body doesn’t make B12.
Pernicious anemia.

Vitamin b12 helps the absorption of iron I think. Was he given the pre treatment packs to take before having a colonoscopy?

Are you talking about B12 injections?
If so I certainly couldn’t do them myself, they hurt like hell. You would be inflicting pain on yourself: not easy ?

Has he taken activated charcoal?

It just shows that a man ringing for an appointment and being insistent works to get one whereas I’d have meekly accepted that I had to wait! He’s not usually insistent but he knew it was worrying.

Thanks for replying anyway. No, he’s not on anything like that. He’s been on a tablet for more than 20 hrs for arthritis and should have had Lansoprazole or something to protect his stomach but had not had anything. He’d also had a handful of liquorice the night before so thought it was that the first day. He’s going to have to have vit B injections now which is iron, isn’t it?