It does help with pouchitis, but you have to be careful not to take too much as bismuth is a toxic metal and will mess with your liver.  

I find a small teaspoon when needed.

Definitely a no no like CTBARRISTER said. For slowing down stool, Loperamide and Metamucil are pretty popular or a high fiber diet.

Yogurt is pretty good for pouchitis. 

Yes, I take it regularly before I eat something like pizza or mexican food.  I take it a half hour before I eat and it stops the burn when going to the bathroom after eating these types of foods.  My gastroenterologist is aware and even said he would tell his other patients about this to help them.  

@Julie715 posted:

Yes, I take it regularly before I eat something like pizza or mexican food.  I take it a half hour before I eat and it stops the burn when going to the bathroom after eating these types of foods.  My gastroenterologist is aware and even said he would tell his other patients about this to help them.  

Be careful with that though, it does have side effects if used for periods of time. Have you tried magnesium supplements or pantoprazole???

Thank you.  No, I haven't tried that.  I'll look into it though, I'm always looking for new things to try that may help. 

@Julie715 posted:

Thank you.  No, I haven't tried that.  I'll look into it though, I'm always looking for new things to try that may help. 

You are welcome! I would just hate to see you get side effects from peptobismal in the future. Happy to hear you are going to look into it. Thanks for being soo nice

We should distinguish using Pepto Bismol for pouchitis, or slowing down stool or controlling butt burn- all of which would require somewhat frequent or regular use- and using Pepto Bismol for the irregular very upset stomach, Intense explosive diarrhea or nausea from bad meals, really fatty food, food poisoning, or some other cause. For the latter conditions there is nothing better in the world as a remedy than Pepto Bismol.

When I suffered frequent pouchitis flare ups in my pre-Remicade days, I used PB judiciously and never took more than the maximum recommended dosage. Generally, I would use it between antibiotic dosages during a flare and it definitely helped to calm things down. Then I wouldn't need it again for another month or two when the next flare occurred.  But using it regularly beyond what I have described above is definitely not recommended.

I found Pepto-Bismol does not work as well for me. I use Imodium AD. I go through a bottle of Imodium A.D. week! Also Metamucil once a day to bulk up the stool. Be sure not to take them at the same time though. One in the morning and one in the evening.

Chronic pouchitis here for over 10 years. I used PB tablets in rotation with my other antibiotics early on.  It worked amazingly well.  I didn't know enough about rotating my meds early on and stayed on for several months instead of weeks.  I had zero side effects, but it just stopped working (similar to other antibiotics that I stayed on too long).  My combo now is 3 weeks on, few days off, and switch antibiotics (Flagyl, Alinia, Xifaxan).

Clz81,

That's a very sound and well reasoned treatment plan. I did something similar and used Pepto Bismol while on antibiotics when I felt slippage or flaring and now I do the same at the end of a Remicade cycle. If I feel a flaring I take the PB and it crushes the situation.

Julie,

Neither magnesium nor pantoprazole would be appropriate for slowing digestion or easing pouchitis. Magnesium would speed up digestion and make you very uncomfortable with frequent bowel movements and pantoprazole is used for esophagitis or stomach ulcers.

Rose