Took Bismol Tablets. Noticed Dark Stools. When Will Stools Be Normal?

Posted on Wed, 1 May 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 1 May 2013 Answered on

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : I had taken two pepto bismol tablets on sat. And then two more on Sunday. Went to bathroom on Monday and my stool was dark, didn't go again until today, I have ibs. When I went today it was still dark. When will the pepto be out of my system and my stool be back to normal. Thanks

Answered by Dr. Shoaib Khan (18 days later)

Hello and welcome to XXXXXXX

Thank you for writing to us.

If you do not mind could you describe the exact color of your stool? By dark do you mean dark brown or black?

Pepto-bismol has two components, the bismuth component takes 25-100 days to be completely excreted, whereas the salicylic acid takes 4-10 hours to be completely excreted. You could drink more water and have a high fiber diet to accelerate the excretion of pepto-bismol from your body.

Ma'am, if you feel that this medication is the cause for your stool changes, then your stool should normalize within a few days (eg. 3-7 days). But we cannot be sure of this duration, as either the salicylic acid or the bismuth could be causing the irritation.

There is another possibility also, whether your stool has changed its color due to other reasons. This might also have to be considered.

I hope I have succeeded in providing the information you were looking for. Please feel free to write back to me for any further clarifications. I would gladly help you.

Best wishes.

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