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Have Light Colored Stool With Dark Brown Patches. Carrier Of Hepatitis B. What To Do?

Posted on Mon, 9 Dec 2013

Question: I have light colored stool with dark brown patches? I am a carrier of Hepatitis B and have been for 20+ years. A little worried.

Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (18 minutes later)

Brief Answer: You should have your liver checked. Detailed Answer: Hello! Thank you for the query. As you are chronic HBV patient, every abdominal issue, stool color change should be checked with liver condition and bilirubin level. Please note that normally liver secretes bilirubin into the stool. This makes stool yellow and due to bacterial digestion of bilirubin it becomes brown at the end. Any liver issue which disturbs bilirubin production or secretion will give pale stool and/or dark urine. You may also have itchy skin. I suggest you to visit your doctor, have abdominal ultrasound, blood work, liver tests (AST,ALT,GGTP,AP), amylase, urine amylase and bilirubin level. Hope this will help. Feel free to ask further questions. Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (1 hour later)

I am followed by my MD with liver function labs every 6 months, my enzymes were checked about 6 months ago, and were normal. I also had an ultrasound at that time, which was also normal. I don't have any jaundice, my urine is pale yellow, and my stool was very light just the one time today. I do have recurrent discomfort in the upper right quadrant and back from time to time. I started a vitamin a couple of days ago, but I felt sick to my stomach after, so I didn't take any more. I also began taking supplemental Calcium with Vitamin D3 due to my age. Just wondering if any of these things could contribute to the lighter stool. I am a nurse and notice everything about my body that is different from day to day. Guess I should see how it goes the next few days. I did make an appointment with my doctor for this week. Any other thoughts given the additional information?

Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (10 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Detailed below. Detailed Answer: Upper right abdominal discomfort and back discomfort sounds like gallbladder issue. 6 months is a very long time and many things could change including liver function. Gallstones could appear as well. Calcium intake could have some impact to gallstones appearance but you should take it for few month now to suspect it as a symptoms cause. Of course if you feel it is getting better you may wait few days. But still I would advice you to have your liver and gallbladder checked at first. Regards.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar