# black specks in stool, what is this?



## Jen37 (Nov 10, 2011)

Hi everyone, I have been having intestinal gut issues for the last year, just recently in the last few months it has gotten worse. I also notice lately in the last month or so that I have these black specks all throughout my stool. It looks like pepper ( I do not eat pepper though). I cannot attribute it to anything specific in my diet though. My diet is bland. For example for breakfast I eat a small bowl of cinnamon chex with rice milk,and a banana. For luch I will usually eat thin sliced chicken breast on a rice cake or a piece of gluten free bread. Then for dinner it is usually baked chicken or turkey and a potato or rice and a vegi cooked really soft like carrots or green beans. Maybe a couple gluten free cookies as well. Thats it. I asked my Gastro docs nurse about it worried that it might be blood. She said No, that blood would cause the whole entire stool to be black, it would not be like specks. So I have no clue what it doing this. I had stool tests in the past twice wihtin the last 6 months. Of course I did not notice these specks back then. Anyone else out there have this and what could be causing it. The only meds I am on are a low dose antibitoic to prevent UTI's, zyrtec liquid, and probitoics. I doubt any of these things could be causing this as I have been on these for years. I also have severe cramping pains all thoughout my intestines all the time that gets especially worse after I have a BM. My GI keeps saying it is IBS. I had no clue IBS could be so painful and so constant regardless of keeing a good bland diet....


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Are there any seeds on the gluten free bread?Could be other small bits of undigested food that just happen to look really dark in the stool. Usually studying the stool really carefully only ups the anxiety as if you look hard enough everyone has something funky looking in there.IBS is often painful and bland food sometimes actually makes it worse. Much of the pain is an over-reaction to normal distension and normal moving things around. Sometimes all that starch in an all bland all the time diet can cause more gas than a diet that is low in starch and other gas forming foods like the low-fodmap diet.


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## Jen37 (Nov 10, 2011)

Hi Kathleen, thanks for the reply. No, the bread I eat has no seeds at all as I cannot tolerate any types of seeds or nuts. I thought about it being possibly the seeds that in the banana as they do have these tiny little seeds in it, just that I never had this before as I am sure I would have noticed it. It could be related to poor digestion I guess, maybe things are just not breaking down like they should, I just do not know. Yes, you are right about looking to closely at things I am sure people could find any number of things that are funky







That is what my GI doc says, I cannot remember the exact worde he said, I think he called it viceral pain or something. I have tried a few things already that have failed. I tried librax( did not help), I tried bentyl which helped only slightly but it really upset my upper gut, and I tried the elavil which did help with the pain but then it flared my bladder something awul causing alot of pain so I had to stop it. My gastro doc now gave me a script for imipramine which is in the same class as elavil but he is hoping maybe I wont have the same side effect. My regular doc also gave me to try first a drug called donnatol. It is a liquid that is suppose to help with intestinal pain and spasms. I feel like I am running out of options and am scared that I am going to have to live like this forever. I have NO life right now. I am always in pain and laying with the heating pad. I pray this is nothing worse, but my GI said he is sure it is IBS based on my symptoms. Thanks again for the advice and support.


Kathleen M. said:


> Are there any seeds on the gluten free bread?Could be other small bits of undigested food that just happen to look really dark in the stool. Usually studying the stool really carefully only ups the anxiety as if you look hard enough everyone has something funky looking in there.IBS is often painful and bland food sometimes actually makes it worse. Much of the pain is an over-reaction to normal distension and normal moving things around. Sometimes all that starch in an all bland all the time diet can cause more gas than a diet that is low in starch and other gas forming foods like the low-fodmap diet.


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