Posted by Tina on Friday, 16. October 1998 at 08:46 Bali Time:
In Reply to: Careful with them little pink tablets posted by Traveller on Thursday, 15. October 1998 at 21:24 Bali Time:
The Pepto Bismol tablets are for PREVENTATIVE use. They coat the stomach to help with the onslaught of foreign bacteria, help with indigestion that is often experience by travellers when they try new foods, etc. While they do also aid in diarrhea relief, as "Traveller" mentioned (in a hilarious manner), if things are starting to really brew in there....don't use the Pepto Bismol to plug things up! Nature is trying to get rid of something!
Also, many travellers may be using Doxycycline for malarial prevention on their holidays. This antibiotic interacts with Pepto Bismol (actually, quite a few drugs do). Simply, it kind of binds with the Doxy, making it inactive. In other words, if you were to take your Pepto and your Doxy together...you may have an O.K. stomach, but you may catch malaria! Just take them at different times. At least 2 hours apart should be fine.
Not to discourage anybody from using the "pink pills". I think they work great, and have used them on several different trips.
Bon Appetite!!
Ti