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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Have Cough With Runny Nose. Developed Nausea, Cramps And Diarrhea. Should I Be Concerned?

I ve been sick for the past two weeks, symptoms include: fatigue , dizziness, congestion, runny nose, and a cough. I assumed this was the flu , however, after I began feeling better, a day or two later I developed symptoms of nausea, bloating and cramps, and diarrhea. The last two days I ve been passing black stool (diarrhea). I ve taken seven doses of Imodium in the last 36 hours with no symptom abatement other than some minor relief from bloating. The warning label says not to take if your stool is black. What does this mean, and should I be concerned?
posted on Thu, 17 Jan 2013
Twitter Thu, 17 Jan 2013 Answered on
Twitter Thu, 17 Jan 2013 Last reviewed on
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Dermatologist,  's  Response
hi friend
you had flu like illness for few days.
sometimes after common cold/viral fever abdominal discomfort may occur due to various reasons.
here you should mention about your age,sex,you had fever or not,other medications you took for flu.
specially medications are very important as some antibiotics can cause a type of colitis(abdominal inflammation) if taken for long.
imodium(2mg tab/cap available.probably you've taken it) is a drug which decrease stool frequency BUT has many limitations of use.
specially in infectiosus causes of diarrhoea.
as it reduce gut motility chance of flare up of infection is there.
so 7 doses of the drug in 36 hrs in diarrhoea after flu was not proper.
NOW you have black stool.
it may be 'malaena' indicating g.i. bleeding.
YET i'll advice you not to panic as it is managable.
please consult your family physician as early as possible.
get well soon.
with regards
dr surajit
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Have Cough With Runny Nose. Developed Nausea, Cramps And Diarrhea. Should I Be Concerned?

hi friend you had flu like illness for few days. sometimes after common cold/viral fever abdominal discomfort may occur due to various reasons. here you should mention about your age,sex,you had fever or not,other medications you took for flu. specially medications are very important as some antibiotics can cause a type of colitis(abdominal inflammation) if taken for long. imodium(2mg tab/cap available.probably you ve taken it) is a drug which decrease stool frequency BUT has many limitations of use. specially in infectiosus causes of diarrhoea. as it reduce gut motility chance of flare up of infection is there. so 7 doses of the drug in 36 hrs in diarrhoea after flu was not proper. NOW you have black stool. it may be malaena indicating g.i. bleeding. YET i ll advice you not to panic as it is managable. please consult your family physician as early as possible. get well soon. with regards dr surajit