What should you know about black lumpy stool?

A single dark, firm bowel movement is not the same as black, sticky stool that smears like tar. Constipation can make stool hard or lumpy, while iron, bismuth remedies, and dark foods can change its colour. When blood is digested higher in the digestive tract, it may turn stool black and tacky. Gastritis, Helicobacter Pylori Infection and Peptic Ulcer are possible causes of upper digestive bleeding, although this symptom does not establish any one diagnosis.

Record the colour, texture and number of bowel movements, and check whether the change follows a new supplement, stomach remedy or food. Drink normally unless a clinician has told you to restrict fluids, but do not use anti-diarrhoeal or laxative products to mask an unexplained change. Contact a healthcare professional promptly if black stool returns, is tarry, or cannot be explained by an obvious food or medicine.

Go to emergency care if black stool occurs with fainting, light-headedness, unusual weakness, confusion, breathlessness, severe abdominal pain, vomiting blood, or coffee-ground vomit. Those features may indicate substantial blood loss. A person who takes blood-thinning medicine, has known digestive disease, or is becoming increasingly unwell should seek advice urgently even if the stool is only mildly uncomfortable.

Tell your doctor whether the lumps were hard, whether the stool was sticky, and how quickly the colour changed. Ask if iron, bismuth, pain medicines or constipation could account for it, and whether your symptoms call for an examination or tests. Include abdominal pain, nausea, tiredness, dizziness and any previous stomach problems.