Who do I turn to?

[Frankiefocus]

I just need advice concerning my sister who has had black stool for over a year now and her GP keeps prescribing her tramadol for her sore knees..Im so worried she has IBS and this is not being addressed properly. I called her today and she can hardly walk and still has black stool. My question is what kind of private specialist can I contact about this as I will have to get a referall from her GP?

[Viklou]

Black stools are a sign of an upper GI bleed and tramadol won't help, plus addictive.

[edwangy]

Tell her to demand a referral to a gastro specialist

[xjrs]

Has you sister told her GP about these symptoms and has the GP run blood and stool sample tests to rule out anything serious?:nhs.uk/conditions/irritable...

If the GP has not run these tests with this knowledge of her symptoms, they could be acting negligently and you could make a complaint to PALs:

nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-...

In the mean time, she urgently needs to seek help from a different GP and ask for these tests. Black stools require urgent medical attention. It could be something that she is eating or supplements she is taking, but better to be on the safe side.

[tansy-ann8]

Your sister needs a second opinion immediately. To be blunt, black stools may be a sign of 'digested blood', which would indicate a gastro bleed. She needs referring to a gastroenterologist right away. There are of course some foods that cause black stools, but unless she is on a constant diet of something like blackcurrants this seems unlikely and it needs urgent investigation.

[Hidden]

Hi there does she take iron that causes black stool if not then she needs to be referred to gastric or colorectal as the painkillers could of caused inflammation leading to ulcers x

[Wayback]

In my experience GI docs are are worthless. They might identify your issue and give you a diagnosis but they don’t know what advice to give for actual healing and repair. I spent three years trying to find answers and was bounced around from doc to doc. It was frustrated and terrified. The only thing that finally got me back to normal was GAPS. Have a look at this article: nourishingplot.com/2015/08/... regarding what the pooo color means.Then

Have your sister consider the GAPS NUTRITION PROTOCOL. There are no pills or fancy things to buy on this protocol. Just foods that heal the digestive tract and push out harmful bacteria and parasites. It’s not an easy program because the food list is so restrictive; depending on how sick she is it could take a long time for healing (six months to a year) but she should start seeing results very quickly.

What is your sister’s diet like?

[Frankiefocus in reply to Wayback]

Thanks so much for this info, my sister told me she is not eating processed meats or drinking alcohol anymore and eats her greens. Typical main meal would be chicken greens and a starch. I explained the GAPS diet to her but it looks like she would not like tha sort of food. Her doctor has now prescribed her lanzoprazol to help her stomach. I have told her to buy a tub of Kefir to help her gut bacteria aswell.

[Evonne02]

She needs to contact the governing body that oversees their compedency, complaints, etc.

[Frankiefocus]

Thanks everyone for the advice very helpfull indeed.