Having Diarrhoea Which Is Foul Smelling. Very Sudden And Dark Coloured. Suggest The Best Treatment?

Posted on Fri, 26 Jul 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 26 Jul 2013 Answered on

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : Three or four times a day I have diarrhoea often foul smelling .can come v suddenly.do not always have time to reach my toilet. Very runny resulting in mess everywhere. Am nervous about going out.usually dark coloured esp. First thing in morning.am worried something wrong internally. Am 73 yrs old. Pretty healthy as rule.

Answered by Dr. Nitin Rao (22 minutes later)

A few things need to be looked at.
1. Do you have any health issues such as Diabetes, Hypertension?
2. Are you on any medications eg. Aspirin, antibiotics etc.
3. Have you undergone any surgery in the past?
4. Stool which is dark colored (does it mean blackish colored or reddish?)
I would suggest you to seek an appointment with your GP and he/she may recommend certain tests including colonoscopy, Upper GI endoscopy etc. A probiotic might also be advised by the GP.
Please do get yourself investigated.
Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E