What Causes Dark Brownish And Black Stool?

Posted on Tue, 7 Jun 2016

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

Tue, 7 Jun 2016 Answered on

Tue, 5 Jul 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I had an upper endoscopy on Friday. they found that I have acid reflux plus a few benign polyps which they removed. what worried me is that I decided to eat Chinese take out and apparently went right through me. I had diarrhea. the diarrhea was watery black. I called the doctor who told me it was expected since I had a biopsy to removed the polyps. I had a solid stool on Sunday night but it was still black. I can tell that it atarts out dark brownish and then black. I called the doctor who told me it could take up to 3 days to go back to normal and was a residual effect. I don't feel any pain and eating normally.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Michelle Gibson (22 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
polyp removal would have caused temporary damage to the lining

Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic

Black stool can indicate bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract.

It can also occur due to iron tablets and pepto bismol.

Removal of the polyps would have caused temporary damage to the lining of the esophagus, this would repair itself but would at least take a few days as your doctor mentioned.

Your stool should return to normal within a few days but if you remain unsure then you should see your doctor for an assessment.

I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar