I'm a newbie and I'm 46 years old. I need some reassurance here. Last August '06 I had a colonoscopy - everything was fine - no polyps. I had the colonoscopy because I was having diarrhea a lot. The Gastro doctor diagnosed me as having IBS. Everything seemed to be back to normal for quite a while. For the past week I have been having lower back pain - I mean this is like someone hit me with a baseball bat. Nothing I do relieves the pain. I have no idea WHY the back pain - I did nothing to strain the back. Yesterday I've noticed my bowel movements were a maroon color. I thought maybe it could be from eating Ziti the day before - which I had A LOT of it. This morning when I had the usual bowel movements they were almost a black color - of course, I've been worried about this ALL day! I haven't been eating black licorice, blueberries, or pepto-mismol (sp?), or taking vitamins and iron - which would cause the stools to be black. I did have a few glasses of red wine with a friend last night, but I don't think that would change the color of the stools. A few hours ago I went to the bathroom again and I noticed the color looked normal again, but after wiping I seen spots of blood on the toilet paper. Has anyone else experienced this? And should I call my doctor tomorrow morning? This really sucks for me because I'm really worried about this.

jynxgirl, I can understand your concern and perhaps you've already called your doctor. Hopefully, your difficulties don't indicate anything significant; however, if you haven't contacted you doctor I would suggest that you do. That way, if there is a problem you'll be able to tackle it early on
and if not you can stop worrying. Good luck.

jynxgirl, I can understand your concern and perhaps you've already called your doctor. Hopefully, your difficulties don't indicate anything significant; however, if you haven't contacted you doctor I would suggest that you do. That way, if there is a problem you'll be able to tackle it early on
and if not you can stop worrying. Good luck.

Thank you for replying LovesPuppies. I didn't contact my doctor because the following day it seems the *color* was back to normal, BUT now the color is more like a yellow color. I did have this color before and wasn't concerned. I might end up calling my doctor at the end of the week. Last year I had my gallbladder removed and maybe this yellow color has something to do with bile, but who knows. I would rather have the yellow color than have black! I'm thinking the black color could have been from the red wine because I rarely drink red wine, but again, who knows.

jynxgirl,

As you know and have named all the things that cause a black stool-- including blood.

I think all rectal bleeding should always be checked out by a Doctor.

Too much Bilirubin that is normally controlled by your gallbladder determines the color of your stool normally. Now w/o a gallbladder there is no control.
Too much will produce a yellowish colored
stool.

What is Ziti?

I wish you well---Harry

jynxgirl,

As you know and have named all the things that cause a black stool-- including blood.

I think all rectal bleeding should always be checked out by a Doctor.

Too much Bilirubin that is normally controlled by your gallbladder determines the color of your stool normally. Now w/o a gallbladder there is no control.
Too much will produce a yellowish colored
stool.

What is Ziti?

I wish you well---Harry

Hi Harry

Thank you for the reply. I thought maybe w/o the gallbladder the stools would be yellow because of the bile, but they seemed to be more yellow within the past few days. I am just concerned about this because I've had lower back pain for no reason whatsoever for almost 2 weeks now. I only hope this isn't connected to the liver, pancreas, or kidneys. I didn't explain much of my medical history when I posted for the first time, so here it goes:

Had bouts of diarrhea in Aug. 05 - went to doctor - had all sorts of tests:
bloodwork - Lipase was high [can't remember the numbers] - Amylase was normal

Had HYDA-Scan for gallbladder Oct. 05:
findings: gallbladder working 88%
Gallstone in bile duct - doctor did nothing

Had abdominal pain in Feb. 06 - went to doctor for pain - had CT scan of the stomach and pelvic area: findings: 2cm tumor on left adrenal gland - 2cm cyst on right ovary
no fluid in pelvic area
Don't know the reason for abdominal pain.

Doctor had me come back for follow-up, he decided to send me to a surgeon to discuss the gallstone. Had gallbladder removed in April 06.

Went to Endocrinologist in April 06 because of adrenal tumor. He did all sorts of bloodwork.
Findings: VERY low Potassium level - Hypokalemia and HTN
High Aldosterone - 58.8 - low Renin
I was put on Spironolactone
He did tests again after me taking Spironolactone and levels were all within normal range. I still have HTN as of today. Found out allegic to ACE inhibitors.

Had colonoscopy in Aug 06: Everything came back negative - no findings of polyps as well. Gastro doctor wrote it off as IBS - D.

So far I've had several things done and nothing to be concerned about. I was having CT scans done every 6 months to check for any growth with the tumor, so far it hasn't grown, so now I go for CT scan once a year. I had just talked to one of my SIL's that is a nurse and she told me that the black stool may have been something I ate, but to still watch it for a few more days. She said I may have mistaken it for being black when it might have been just an unusual color [darker than normal] - she said the red wine won't cause it to be black. She also said it should have been foul smelling which I said that I don't sniff my bm's! LOL, but she said that I would have smelled it anyway, if it were foul smelling, which I don't remember it having an odor. So hopefully this was caused from something I ate. Either way, this still does concern me. I guess I will keep an eye on it for a few more days.

Ziti is an Italian dish - something similar to Goulash, except you use Ziti noodles and Mozzarella cheese on top. Everyone I make it for loves it.