Fecal Color (Colored Stool)

Color

Potential Causes

black

blood (upper GI bleed), bismuth subsalicylate, iron, charcoal, acetazolamide, aminophylline, chlorpropamide, clindamycin, corticosteroids, cyclophosphamide, cytarabine, ethacrynic acid, fluorouracil, hydralzine, iodides, manganese, melphalan, methotrexate, phenylephrine, potassium salts, procarbazine, sulfonamides, theophylline, thiotepa + other drugs

blue

chloramphenicol, dithiazanine, methylene blue

pale to white

barium sulfate, malabsorption, antacids or aluminum salts, complete bile obstruction

pink to red

blood (lower GI bleed), beets, tomatoes, carmine, oxyphenbutazone, phenylbutazone, phenazopyridine, phenolphthalein, rifampin, hematoxylin

yellow

santonin

orange

phenazopyridine, rifampin

green

spinach, other green vegetables, calomel (mercuric chloride). biliverdin, indomethacin, medroxyprogesterone, bile, food coloring