black coffee and dark stool

Hi Holly

I'm also an ibs sufferer..for about 25 years now.  I've always drank coffee black and have never noticed that it produced a change in color of my stool.

Since it's only been a day or two, I'd wait and see if this continues..and definitely abstain from the black coffee for a few days while waiting. Black stools can be a sign of bleeding in the upper GI tract..so it's definitely something to keep and eye on and report to your Dr if it continues.  On the off chance...have you taken pepto bismal within the last few days? Taken any OTC drugs or supplements?  Pepto is well known to cause black stools..and some medications/food can cause temporary blackening also.

Let us know how you're doing after abstaining from the java.

I also don't think the dark stools would be a direct result of the coffee. If you've been taking anything with bismuth in it, like Denny mentioned, this would cause very dark stools. If you continue having this issue you should run it by your physician to make sure there's no upper GI bleeding.

Hi there again,

                  THanks for the responses to my question.I have been reading with interest some of the symptoms that IBS sufferers have.Yesterday I had pain underneath my right rib cage which I attributed to many pockets of trapped gas.I did not realize that other IBS sufferers also experience this.I have been plagued with this symptom for many years,which is for me a part of my fibromyalgia which I have had since 1994.My IBS  alternates more constipation than Diarrhea.Oh well such is life.The only change that I have made in my diet was starting to drink my coffee black.I must say my stool is not black ,black just a little darker than normal.I know that eating beets and other food has a direct affect on the color of a person's stool,so I assumed that drinking black coffee would affect it also.Thanks for all the replies.I will continue to observe to see if this was a one time thing for me.Also I know the darker the stool the longer it has been in one's system,the lighter the shorter.

                                                                  Thanks Holly1