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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Severe Fatigue And Black Coloured Stool?

My son is 19 years of age. He woke up this morning feeling weak and his stool is black and he thinks he may have a disease. I m very worried at what this could be. With these symptoms could you help me understand what it is and what he can do in the meantime before he goes to the hospital
posted on Fri, 24 Nov 2017
Twitter Thu, 7 Dec 2017 Answered on
Twitter Fri, 8 Dec 2017 Last reviewed on
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General Surgeon,  's  Response
Hi and welcome to Healthcaremagic. Thank you for your query. I am Dr. Rommstein, I understand your concerns and I will try to help you as much as I can.
Black stool may be sign of some diet (iron supplements for example) but also it may be caused due to passage of blood in stool and then it is called melena. The most common cause of melena is peptic ulcer disease.[4] However, any bleeding within the upper gastrointestinal tract or the ascending colon can lead to melena.[5] Melena may also be a complication of anticoagulant medications, such as warfarin. Diagnosis of disease after patient having melena is important. For this laboratory stool examination, upper GI endoscopy and barium X-ray helps the medical attendant to find the cause. Treatment will depend on the cause. In case of peptic ulcer, conservative line of treatment will heal the ulcer, bland diet, medications for H.pylori infection will cure it. In every case, I would not ignore it and tests are necessary.
Wishing you good health. Regards
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What Causes Severe Fatigue And Black Coloured Stool?

Hi and welcome to Healthcaremagic. Thank you for your query. I am Dr. Rommstein, I understand your concerns and I will try to help you as much as I can. Black stool may be sign of some diet (iron supplements for example) but also it may be caused due to passage of blood in stool and then it is called melena. The most common cause of melena is peptic ulcer disease.[4] However, any bleeding within the upper gastrointestinal tract or the ascending colon can lead to melena.[5] Melena may also be a complication of anticoagulant medications, such as warfarin. Diagnosis of disease after patient having melena is important. For this laboratory stool examination, upper GI endoscopy and barium X-ray helps the medical attendant to find the cause. Treatment will depend on the cause. In case of peptic ulcer, conservative line of treatment will heal the ulcer, bland diet, medications for H.pylori infection will cure it. In every case, I would not ignore it and tests are necessary. Wishing you good health. Regards