What Causes Black Diarrhea?I'm often asked for advice about black diarrhea and what causes it. The dark, liquid stools are known as melaena and are due to converted blood from gastrointestinal bleeding. It is never a symptom of IBS or the Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The blackness of the stool is due to the change in the type of iron that is contained within the bloody stool, as it passes from the upper to the lower gut. 
The stools change anywhere from the mouth to the large bowel, so whilst most doctors look for a cause in the stomach, it can occur due to bleeding further down in the gut too. You can read more on this and even ask a doctor too if you have any questions. When you visit the doctor they will take a history and try to work out where the bleeding is likely to be coming from. You will need investigations including blood tests and an endoscopy test usually (camera test to look into the esophagus, stomach and duodenum). Other tests may include a faecal occult blood test (looking for blood in stool), special x-rays including CT Colonography and maybe a more extensive test called an enteroscopy that looks further into the small bowel. If no cause is found then a colonoscopy procedure maybe needed to determine the cause of the bloody stools. If you have any questions or concerns about this, you might like to use the free ask a doctor online medical advice service for more information. What causes black diarrhea or melaena?The diarrhea is normally caused because of bleeding in the upper gut. There are lots of causes for this. It can be due to bleeding in the proximal colon (1st bit of your large bowel) or from the small bowel too. Causes include: Pseudo (i.e Bleeding not from the gut) causes: Epistaxis (nose bleeds) Oral bleeding if excessive Iron rich containing foods (but have to be in large quantities!) Swallowing blood from the lung (haemoptysis) Esophagus (oesophagus) Esophagitis (oesophagitis) Esophageal (oesophageal)Varices Esophageal (oesophageal) Ulcer Mallory-Weiss tear (cut in the lower esophagus/oesophagus caused caused by excessive retching) Esophageal (oesophageal)angiodysplasia Osler-weber-Rendu syndrome Stomach Gastric benign ulcer Gastric cancer Gastric varices Gastritis (rarely) Gastric angiodysplasia Dieulafoy Duodenum Duodenal Ulcer Duodenal cancer Duodenal angiodysplasia Crohns disease Dieulafoy Small bowel Crohns disease Malignancy/lymphoma Meckel's diverticulum Colon Colon cancer (particularly if in the cecum or proximal colon) Angiodysplasia Treatment of diarrheaTreatment of diarrhea depends on cause. Commonly it is due to gastroesophageal reflux and ulcers so the treatment will commonly involve ulcer treatment such as PPI's ( Omeprazole , Lansoprazole and many others), reflux treatment such as antacids and H2 antagonists. There are many sites that discuss reflux diet or GERD diet, stomach diet and other reflux remedies, but these should always be discussed in conjunction with a doctor. You can leave comments in the forum at the bottom of this page. Ask A Doctor Medical Advice OnlineIf you have any questions or concerns about black bowel movements or blood in stool, you might like to just ask a doctor medical advice through the online doctor service for all your questions. Go to the ask a doctor online service. Other Web Pages Linked To Black Diarrhea That May Interest YouIndigestion Symptoms, Ulcers and Their Management Investigation With A Colonoscopy Procedure Investigation with CT Colonography Causes of Bloody Diarrhea  Have A Comment On Black diarrhoea?Have you had a problem with black diarrhoea? Do you currently have a problem with black diarrhoea stool? Are you a doctor who deals with black diarrhoea? Are you a trainee doctor learning about this? Do you have comments to make on black diarrhoea? Share it with other sufferers here, its so easy to do and may help others! What Other Visitors Have SaidClick below to see contributions from other visitors to this page... my 2 year old has black diarrhea My 2 year old son has had black diarrhea in his diaper for 2 days now. I started looking online and now am very worried as to what this could mean. He ... Black Diarrhea I have been feeling ill for the last week or so. I have been very nauseas and threw up fairly violently on one occasion. Now over the last couple days ...
black diarrhea and diverticulitis
My mother is getting over a severe case of diverticulitis. Now she has chronic diarrhea consistenting of black diarrhea. So what should we do? Black diarrhea 2 days ago, I felt severely exhausted. I couldnt eat or drink much of anything. Yesterday, I woke up with diarrhea that was very watery and dark green.... To Return From Black Diarrhea To The IBS-D Page Click Here To Return From Black Diarrhea To The IBS Help Online Homepage Click Here
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