I am a 58 year old man. I had hernia surgery a month ago and everything has been fine. Today I woke up with pain in my stomach and my stool is black. I recently had the flu this past week. Is this normal?
Hello and welcome to Chat Doctor. As you said that you had flu recently, for which you might have taken analgesic medications. There medications are known to cause gastritis and sometime also bleeding from the gastric mucosa. This blood due to its reaction with acid gives black color to stool. You will require a course of proton pump inhibitor like pantoprazole to your gastric ulcer. Now onwards make habit of taking painkiller along with antacid. Best of luck.