Off Topic: Iron supplements and stool?

Been looking online but can't find the specific answers to the questions below. Does anybody know....

1. What is the soonest after taking an iron pill that it can turn your stool black? Within an hour?
2. How long after taking iron does it take for the stool color to return to normal?

I would think longer than that, it takes a couple of days to move the length of the intestine. It also should take time to run it out of your system. It gets scary, and blood in the bowels is also dark. That's just my ideas on the subject, no medical training, at least no formal, just what's been picked up traveling life's roads. Jim

Search for "melena".
e.g. http://ibdcrohns.about.com/cs/otherdise ... kstool.htm

False Melana
A black stool caused by food, supplements, medication, or minerals is known as "false melena." Iron supplements, taken alone or as part of a multivitamin for iron-deficient anemia, may cause stools to be black or even greenish in color. Foods that are dark blue or black in color may also cause black stools. Substances that can cause false melena are:

Black licorice
Blueberries
Iron supplements
Lead
Bismuth (Pepto-bismol)

And contact a doctor with that question, because if it isn't the iron, then the possible bleeding should be investigated immediately.

I was going to ask if you ate a lot of blueberries in the past 1-2 days, maybe even longer if you have a slow GI. Because I have gotten the very dark stools from consuming (in late summer, when they're cheap) a lot of blueberries.....and my stool was basically lookin' black! It was scary until I thought back to what I had eaten.

I think "normal transit time" for things moving through is about 24 hours. My understanding is that some Americans, if they don't eat enough fiber or whatever, will have slower transit times. But then there are some people whose time moves faster, too fast, so who knows. But it doesn't seem like it should be able to show up in an hour, but who knows. Maybe a supplement could do that, in a way different than a food would be able to (like maybe the supplement causes some sort of weird phenomenon, not dependent upon transit time of your stools).

If you took "an iron pill"...(meaning 1). I don't think you will notice anything. My red count is a little low and I have been taking 1 iron pill every other day and I haven't noticed anything. What you may notice is some constipation...I would take a stool softener along with the iron.

Which iron salt are you taking? Dosage?

roster wrote:Which iron salt are you taking? Dosage?

Roster....I am trying to increase my red count without getting too much iron in my system..(a problem for seniors).
I use Ferrous Gluconate...240mg (27% elemental iron 150% MDR).

The iron I took yesterday was not my usual as I had ran out, and these were what I took a while back and had some left over. It was a 325mg tablet of ferrous sulfate. Even when I took them last year they didn't have this drastic of effect. Got a past medical history and family history that make me not willing to just follow their suggested frame. I wouldn't be so concerned if I hadn't been thinking lately that my belly discomfort is different and more than usual. Today has been quiet thusfar ( ) so I'll see what the day brings. Thanks all for your insights.

Vegetarians claim the fiber makes their plumbing run faster; and the absence of meat makes the resulting gas smell better.
I have never had (nor do I want) the opportunity to check the accuracy of said claim.

After taking iron supplement for a week my stool was black. After that again it came to normal as before. Is my body absorbing iron?

Jannat wrote:After taking iron supplement for a week my stool was black. After that again it came to normal as before. Is my body absorbing iron?

Probably, that's why you took it! For sure the toilet is! Jim

kteague, I would get it checked out simply because you were having problems. No, it is unlikely that what you took would give you a dark stool that fast. It takes at least 8 hours and that's presuming you have a high fiber diet.

Can't really answer the rest. I was on daily iron sulfate for over 2 years (anemia) and just got off last Fall. I think stools returned to normal color pretty quickly - within 48 hours anyway.

SewTired wrote:kteague, I would get it checked out simply because you were having problems. No, it is unlikely that what you took would give you a dark stool that fast. It takes at least 8 hours and that's presuming you have a high fiber diet.

Can't really answer the rest. I was on daily iron sulfate for over 2 years (anemia) and just got off last Fall. I think stools returned to normal color pretty quickly - within 48 hours anyway.

Her post was 7 years ago, she probably has it figured out by now. (?) Jim

Goofproof wrote:
Her post was 7 years ago, she probably has it figured out by now. (?) Jim

LOL!! Caught!! But at least you responded to it before I did!!