Skip to main content

Can Pepto Bismol Relieve Indigestion and Upset Stomach?

Image
By

Pepto Bismol remains one of the most popular over-the-counter medicines that my patients swallow.

They take it for all kinds of digestive distress.  Does it work?  Hard to say.  The elixir does have anti-bacterial and anti-diarrheal properties, but I suspect that there is a potent placebo effect at play also.  I personally think that these sales are largely the result of decades of brilliant marketing by the company.  We can all remember their television commercials in the days of yore when we would watch the pink liquid oozing down the esophagus and then gently coating the stomach creating a blanket of healing and protection.  What a graphic!  Many patients have internalized this marketing believing that this medicine is the fire extinguisher that can quiet their internal flames.  



Right out of the doctor's 'black bag'.

Patients are generally unaware of two important properties of this product. First, Pepto Bismol can turn the stool black.  Three or four times a year I receive frantic calls from patients with black stools who are scared that they are experiencing internal bleeding.  At times, a medical colleague refers such a patient to me wondering if a bleeding ulcer might be present, when the culprit is actually the pink drink. 

Secondly, Pepto Bismol is actually an aspirin product, which is not a medicine that most gastroenterologists recommend for stomach distress.  I have not yet met a single Pepto Bismol consumer who was aware of the medicine’s aspirin component.  Following this same therapeutic strategy, many of my patients drink apple cider vinegar – an acid – to combat heartburn which is caused by acid.  And many of them swear it delivers relief!

Healing is complex and extends beyond the boundaries of science.  We have all experienced this phenomenon and have witnessed it in others.  We simply cannot understand every pathway that leads to relief.  Those of us who are in the healing business need a daily tincture of open-mindedness and humility if we are to heal others.  This shouldn’t be too much for doctors to swallow.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When Should Doctors Retire?

By
I am asked with some regularity whether I am aiming to retire in the near term.  Years ago, I never received such inquiries.  Why now?   Might it be because my coiffure and goatee – although finely-manicured – has long entered the gray area?  Could it be because many other even younger physicians have given up their stethoscopes for lives of leisure? (Hopefully, my inquiring patients are not suspecting me of professional performance lapses!) Interestingly, a nurse in my office recently approached me and asked me sotto voce that she heard I was retiring.    “Interesting,” I remarked.   Since I was unaware of this retirement news, I asked her when would be my last day at work.   I have no idea where this erroneous rumor originated from.   I requested that my nurse-friend contact her flawed intel source and set him or her straight.   Retirement might seem tempting to me as I have so many other interests.   Indeed, reading and ...
69 comments
Read more

The VIP Syndrome Threatens Doctors' Health

By
Over the years, I have treated various medical professionals from physicians to nurses to veterinarians to optometrists and to occasional medical residents in training. Are these folks different from other patients?  Are there specific challenges treating folks who have a deep knowledge of the medical profession?   Are their unique risks to be wary of when the patient is a medical professional? First, it’s still a running joke in the profession that if a medical student develops an ordinary symptom, then he worries that he has a horrible disease.  This is because the student’s experience in the hospital and the required reading are predominantly devoted to serious illnesses.  So, if the student develops some constipation, for example, he may fear that he has a bowel blockage, similar to one of his patients on the ward.. More experienced medical professionals may also bring above average anxiety to the office visit.  Physicians, after all, are members of...
8 comments
Read more

Inpatient vs Outpatient Care;: Can Doctors Do Both?

By
Five years ago, I left hospital wards and emergency rooms behind and entered a new & improved medical practice model, at least for me.  Since then, I only see patients for office consultations and procedures.  Office medicine is a very different trade than hospital practice each having very distinct skill sets.  If I were to return to the hospital now to see patients, it would be uncomfortable for me (and them) having not used these skills for years.  Similarly, hospital-based doctors might find transitioning to an office practice to be clumsy and uncomfortable. While it might seem that a gastroenterologist or any medical specialist should be able to see patients in any location, this is not the case for most of us.   Hospital medical issues are quite different from office medical complaints.   Physicians, as in so many other occupations, need repetition in order to maintain high competency levels.   There’s a reason, for example, that airline pi...
7 comments
Read more