Peppercorns in stool? Black pepper in stool? Panicking like crazy

[daisy4001]

I'm 17, female. Almost 3 months ago, first week of March 2017, I had my first case of the scary bright red blood in stool on the toilet and I have checked with the doc using rectal exam. The doc said it was not piles but probably some fissure or internal hem but he sent me to colonoscopy for a more proper diagnosis.

Unfortunately, we can't afford the colonoscopy check up since it is costly and a doctor friend said that it is not really urgent to do a colonoscopy since I was young and all.

I had no other symptoms, just the bleeding and some anal itch after every BM, oh and also one anal skin tag. Thank goodness, the bleeding stopped after two weeks after being on a high fiber diet to soften my stools.

Although slightly relieved, I was still pretty scared by the fact that my bleeding before had no proper diagnosis. The next days and weeks made me stressed about it thus I developed some sort of IBS as I became constipated for like a week or two and then have 3-4 days of watery or loose stools after the constipation.

The alternating constipation and diarrhea often flare up due to great deals or stress, anxiety and panic.

But recently I try to preoccupy myself more and distract myself and not google anything sinister and try to drink at least 2 liters of water a day. I have had normal BM for the past two weeks (YAY FOR THAT)

But this evening, I had a slightly yellowish but normal poop like a hotdog, although my problem was it had around 5+ pieces of what looked like black peppercorns AND NOT BLACK SPECKS OR ANYTHING.

And I am panicking again. I don't know what to do. I haven't eaten any black pepper for the past few days although I did think I some a week ago on a dish my mother made. But obviously, peppers won't last this long in my stomach right? And I didn't eat any dish that included peppercorns yesterday.

I read before that bananas cause black specks? And I had a banana yesterday but I doubt that would be the cause since mine are not specks but really full sized peppercorns, similar appearance and size.

I don't take any medication, but I drink Vitamin C (500mg) everyday and just started drinking a vitamin B complex (B1+B6+B12/100mg/5mg/50mcg) daily for the past 2 weeks as well.

I hope someone can relate to me here and I hope I can hear some answers about why I have these mysterious black dots on my poop. I also hope to have a normal poop tomorrow onwards and just think of this as a once in a lifetime event.

PS. I have also read that Vit B6 causes black spots in poop? I don't know if that's reliable.

UGH WORRYING REALLY SUCKS.

[somethingsomething]

I've had the exact same problem too a few months back and just like you i went bats**t crazy making everything 100x times worse that they can be.

Do not ever google symptoms and self diagnose because 99% probability you're wrong. most times even the smallest symptoms is made out to be some form of terminal illness.
for example, i'm a smoker and after these symptoms you mentioned started i also started getting a lump in my throat. foolishly, i googled this and i thought i had some form of throat cancer and i went insane. i'm going through a rough patch in life and i just expect the worse out of every situation so that's how i came to conclusion. after many tests my doctor told me i have generalized anxiety disorder and i started fighting my thoughts and the lump went away as well as your symptoms.

Mine went away after i completely switched my diet to as much healthy as I can, with strictly no deep fried and no junk, and started excercising. take a multivitamin and fish oil supplement. it went away after a while. relax, you're still young and surround yourself with good company and sleep well.

don't overthink this like i did now i'm just so hyperaware of everything my body does. it's gone really bad that i just can't live like i used to but i hope someday it'll be better.

[daisy4001]

I've had the exact same problem too a few months back and just like you i went bats**t crazy making everything 100x times worse that they can be.

Do not ever google symptoms and self diagnose because 99% probability you're wrong. most times even the smallest symptoms is made out to be some form of terminal illness.
for example, i'm a smoker and after these symptoms you mentioned started i also started getting a lump in my throat. foolishly, i googled this and i thought i had some form of throat cancer and i went insane. i'm going through a rough patch in life and i just expect the worse out of every situation so that's how i came to conclusion. after many tests my doctor told me i have generalized anxiety disorder and i started fighting my thoughts and the lump went away as well as your symptoms.

Mine went away after i completely switched my diet to as much healthy as I can, with strictly no deep fried and no junk, and started excercising. take a multivitamin and fish oil supplement. it went away after a while. relax, you're still young and surround yourself with good company and sleep well.

don't overthink this like i did now i'm just so hyperaware of everything my body does. it's gone really bad that i just can't live like i used to but i hope someday it'll be better.

hello!!! thank you for replying although i'm a biiiit late. i am not worrying so much anymore about the black specks in my stool. sometimes i have them, sometimes i don't. i think it might be because of oxalate dumping? i've read oxalate dumping causes black specks in stook.

i'm also not worrying about any bowel ca or anything because it's been months since my that and i never experienced any symptom related to that ca anymore woot woot!