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Dr. Andrew Rynne
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Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Dark Stool When On Medication?

Dark stool...my wife is on several medications for a recent stroke, and I ve noticed that her stool sometimes is very dark and thick. However, some of the medications are known to cause this: iron tablets; immodium. She is also taking Xarelto, but has been taking it for some time now with no adverse effects. This has me concerned, however, because of the bad side effects related to the drug.
posted on Tue, 28 Oct 2014
Twitter Sat, 29 Nov 2014 Answered on
Twitter Mon, 1 Dec 2014 Last reviewed on
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Internal Medicine Specialist,  's  Response
Hello,

Welcome to HCM and thank you for your query.
Appreciate your concern for your wife.
If your wife had an ischemic stroke, she would be on blood thinners like aspirin, clopidogrel or warfarin. Asprin can produce inflammation, erosion or ulceration of the stomach and small intestine. If these occur, there would be oozing of blood from these sites and bleeding in the upper GI tract leads to black stools ( malena).
This is not to be ignored and should be investigated ASAP.
Till investigation is possible, aspirin should be stopped and/ or substituted with clopidogrel and a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) should be used.
I am available if you have further queries.
Take Care
Dr Noble Zachariah
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What Causes Dark Stool When On Medication?

Hello, Welcome to HCM and thank you for your query. Appreciate your concern for your wife. If your wife had an ischemic stroke, she would be on blood thinners like aspirin, clopidogrel or warfarin. Asprin can produce inflammation, erosion or ulceration of the stomach and small intestine. If these occur, there would be oozing of blood from these sites and bleeding in the upper GI tract leads to black stools ( malena). This is not to be ignored and should be investigated ASAP. Till investigation is possible, aspirin should be stopped and/ or substituted with clopidogrel and a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) should be used. I am available if you have further queries. Take Care Dr Noble Zachariah