Urgent? or not? What would you do?

[Tiggatoo]

My GP has an afternoon walk in clinic for "emergencies that cannot wait until the next day" (when you can attend the non emergency walk in clinic in the morning).

I have had an intermittent gut problem for a while now and last week it started up again and I'm so bored of it (and also a little worried about it too ) I just wanted itsorted. I've been to see the GP before and had various suggestions of what it could be but no tests as yet.

Anyway this morning I decided enough was enough and have taken it upon myself to errrmmmm... provide a sample which I thought I'd take along to the GP this afternoon to the walk in clinic, as I didn't realise it's emergencies only. Should I still go along today with my sample or wait until tomorrow?

unless you want to be ticked off by the gp, wait until tomorrow!

you've had this problem for how long? Several weeks by the sound of it. You've seen the gp before and you now say you're "bored of it". It doesn't sound like an "emergency that can't wait until the next day to me"!

Go tomorrow and tell the GP you're worried.The sample will keep till tomorrow if you put it in the fridge (obv wrap in a plastic bag first!).

Fair enough! It's just that the symptom I am most concerned about (v. dark poo) could indicate something nasty. However I've been taking quite a lot of pepto bismol which I believe can do odd things to someone's output. Anyone else had this?

Dark poo can be a sign of altered blood in the gut, usually from somewhere high up, like the stomach/ small bowel. If you are taking a lot of Pepto-Bismol, do you get a lot of indigestion? Could be a stomach ulcer, and should be tested for. Cut right back on smoking/ alcohol in the mean time, and tell your Gp how much Pepto-Bismol you're knocking back!

Just to reassure you - check the pepto-bismol bottle label, I think dark/blackish poo can be a side effect from the ingredients.

dark poo can also be the result of iron supplements

you're not taking iron supplements are you?

No iron supplements. Took a big dose of PB each night for the past 3 nights before bed as had general dodgy feeling guts, stomach ache and general malaise. Dark poo all weekend - can't remember if it was dark before PB tho.