What Causes Watery Lighter Colour Stool With Blackish Specks?

Posted on Thu, 6 Feb 2014

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

Thu, 6 Feb 2014 Answered on

Sat, 1 Mar 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : watery diarrhea x 3.5 days, also somewhat postprandial but can persist - last 2 days with watery stool, color is lighter - yellowish - with the stool is some black specks - like almost looks like pepper. with a large volume movement - maybe looks like 10-20 specks, with small movement maybe 1-2 - concerning? upper gi bleed? have been under more stress recently with increased panic attacks and overall anxiety. ulcer? recommend ppi?

Answered by Dr. Abhijit Deshmukh (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: Hi Detailed Answer: Hello, Thank you for the query. Possibly from the history it does not look like an upper GI bleeding. As lighter colour with blackish specks is unlikely blood coming from upper GI tract. Possibly an food borne infection which may settle down in few days. Can get an stool examination done which can clear the issue. If you are taking pain killers for your rheumatoid arthritis, if stool is foul smelling tarry black, semisolid then there is an high possibility of an upper GI bleed which needs urgent evaluation and treatment. also need to control your anxiety and stress as it may worsen the diarrhea. If the stool any times is as described above or if blood is strongly positive in stool examination then worthwhile seeing a gastroenterologist. Mean while keep yourself well hydrated with adequate intake of water and salt if stool frequency is significant. Hope this answers your query. Wish you a speedy recovery.

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