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Did you know...

That taking chewable pepto bismol without water can make your toungue turn black???

Well apparently the bismuth that is in the medication can bond to the sulfur in your mouth, creating a black dye that will stain your tongue and teeth.  I woke up this morning, and my tongue was black!!!! After freaking out for a minute and several frenzied google searches to try and figure this out (and of course a "slight" over reaction, in the form of "Oh my gosh, I hope my tongue doesn't have to get amputated!!), DH and I found the explanation on the pepto website.  

Apparently it doesn't happen to everyone, and with some pretty vigorous brushing the stain came off in time for work.

 So now you know- if you take pepto bismol and wake up with a black-dyed tongue, don't panic!  It comes off if you brush it, and drink some water with your pepto next time!  But it did make for a slightly panicked and then very funny morning :)

Re: Did you know...

  • Sorry meant to add the question- has this happened to anyone else??
  • I haven't had that happen but I have heard about it before.  What a way to start off your morning!
  • I have had patients come in with a black tongue...freaking out...only to find out that they had taken pepto.  I know I shouldn't laugh but it is kind of funny.  If I didn't know any better, I would freak out too!
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  • It's never happened to me (I hate pepto, makes me vomit), but early in our relationship, I think it was DH's favorite drink, especially when he was around my dad.  We had laughed at the warning on the bottle about the temporarily darkening of tongue or stool. Didn't realize it would be black, though!  How disconcerting.  I would have been freaked out, too!

  • I've had it happen to me.  Although I've never taken chewable Pepto, just tums or regular Pepto, so I guess the same goes for one or both of them.

    Also, an interesting thing that I never knew that I heard from two separate people in the past week- regular old baking soda is really good for settling your stomach.  It's the same active ingredient (bisodium carbonate) that is in chewable antacids, so it works the same but it's way cheaper.  I tried it last night (there's even directions on the side of the box- who knew!) and it worked way better than anything I've ever used before.  I'm not sure if that's common knowledge or not, but I had never heard it, so I thought I would pass it along.

  • This happened to my roommate in college and she FREAKED out!! She called me into the bathroom to look at her tongue because it was black!
  • This happened to me awhile back, freaky isn't it??? I almost had a heart attack when I looked in the bathroom mirror.
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  • Yep, Pepto usually turns me tongue black.  I already knew it was a common side-effect, so it didn't concern me, but it is really strange.
  • Yep it happened to me back in high school. I figured that was what it was from and drank some water and brushed my tongue. I have slight IBS issues and I use to take pepto frequently.
  • It usually happens to me. But usually it comes right off when I brush my teeth & tongue.  The benefits definitely out-weigh the black tongue anyday...I love the pepto tablets (regular, not the cherry!), especially since my stomach can be quite sensitive to high fat foods.
  • I think I just freaked out because I have taken pepto pretty frequently, but this has never happened before, so it being from that didn't even cross my mind!  DH and I had a pretty good laugh about it later- he is still making fun of my tongue amputation comment...
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