Any concern

Diagnosed with acid reflux 7 years ago, negative for Barretts   Been on nexium 40 mg. daily for last seven years. One week ago I had pain between shoulder blades and went to Dr.  He said I had a slight case of pleurish and put me on super charged anti inflammatory (can't remember the name.  I took 800mg of anti inflammatory on empty stomach.  That night I was very sick, nausea, vomited once.  24 hours later I was better, however, noticed black tarry stool.  I went to the Dr. ran blood tests.  Hemoglobin and hemadcrats (sp) were fine, however, I did have blood in my stool.  CNP who saw me thought it was a bleed due to anti-inflammatories.   Still have the back pain.

Your insight please.

[Ratnakar Kini, MD]

Hi,
Black stools indicate bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract.
It could be probably be due to the anti-inflammatory medication you took.
An upper GI endoscopy should be done for confirmation.
There are many causes of pain between the shoulder blades of which the GERD you have is one of the causes.

[thedocsquawk]

Sure sounds like a gastrointestinal bleed. These can be caused by taking too many antiinflammatories or by ulcers in the stomach or intestine. You might want to get checked out for Helicobacter pylori or H. pylori infection. This can cause someone to have GI bleeds, or be more prone to bleeds with antiinflammatory medications.

It would probably be a good idea to avoid anti inflammatories for now until you get worked up.