Pepto Bismal!!

After living for years in the USA and being able to just buy such things as Pepto Bismal straight from store shelves actually on the store floor, I find it so laughable that when I want to buy Pepto Bismal here(I swear by that for all stomach problems and wont use anything else). I have to ask for it cos it is stocked behind the pharmacist counter!! I tell the pharmacists that in the USA you can just buy it from the shelves on the store floor and they look at me as if I am mad!! I then ask why it is stocked behind the counter and they say its because it contains aspirin, which I know it doesnt!!

Basically, I beleive that they keep it "hidden" cos they know that everyone will be buying Pepto Bismal instead as its so good and effective and they wont buy all the British stuff which is so useless for stomach problems!!

Any thoughts???

If you mean Petpto-Bismol, it's an age restricted product in the UK and you have to be 16 or older to purchase it...which is why it's behind the counter.

The active ingredient is Bismuth subsalicylate which carries this warning:

Children should not take medication with bismuth subsalicylate while recovering from influenza or chicken pox, as epidemiologic evidence points to an association between the use of salicylate-containing medications during certain viral infections and the onset of Reye's syndrome.[6] For the same reason, it is typically recommended that nursing mothers not use medication containing bismuth subsalicylate (such as Pepto-Bismol) because small amounts of the medication are excreted in breast milk and pose a theoretical risk of Reye's syndrome to nursing children.[7]

Thats a load of BS, IMO, over here, when over in the USA you can buy it freely and openly from the store shelves!!!

This confirms to me even more how nannyfied this country has become!!!!

You should be grateful they have it at all!  So many American brands are not obtainable in the UK.

Oh here we go with the UK bashing again....

Seriously..not being funny.....if you hate it so much here..why live here???

Sometimes I am not a huge fan of the place..but I don't come on here and spew volatile remarks about the this country and clearly that is not going to win you any fans here. We have all adapted...honey when I came over 14yrs ago you couldn't even find French's Mustard here...so things have improved greatly....

We have a active visa application ongoing..but you know what I doubt that I will carry it thru...I don't want to give up my 4 weeks holiday a year..and as bad as NHS can be sometimes..free treatment over $$$$$$$$$$ in Doctor and Hospital bills is a no brainer.

Thats so true!! Theres so many other things I would love to be able to get over here, like for example, Tylenol or Aleve, or the AZO brand of urinary tract infection over-the-counter releif medication!!

Oh here we go with the UK bashing again....

Seriously..not being funny.....if you hate it so much here..why live here???

I was wondering the same thing about the OP myself.

There are things about everwhere that have their drawbacks, perhaps by focusing on the good things about the UK and just accept that there are differences then perhaps she might find life a bit less miserable in general.

That's when you have to bite the bullet and adapt. Better to accept what they do have on offer and forget about the other stuff. Tylenol is just paracetamol with a fancy name anyway.

Listen!! I am NOT an American!! I am British born and bred, but have lived for many years in the USA, where everything is at your fingertips, theres so much more CHOICE than here and its a nation that has it more "together" than here, in many aspects of life, and then I compare the UK to the USA and I know which country I prefer to be honest!!!

Personally I prefer Gaviscon.

I love Pepto just as much as the next person, but is all the negativity really necessary?  You aren't an expat even... why are you actually a part of this online community?

Listen!! I am NOT an American!! I am British born and bred, but have lived for many years in the USA, where everything is at your fingertips, theres so much more CHOICE than here and its a nation that has it more "together" than here, in many aspects of life, and then I compare the UK to the USA and I know which country I prefer to be honest!!!

Yes I do realise you aren't American as I read your other postings...but I did live most of my life in the USA..and you know what I was poor from the age of 21 until 32... after I got married..I had to rely on welfare and food stamps and all the other bullsh*t that comes with it....and you know what I have a better life here...I have a nice home..a Lexus...I go on holidays..I have been to places I had only DREAMED about....where I had never been on one in the USA....

alot of the stuff you mention are mere conveniences...I am am talking about real life stuff here...not being in thousands of $$'s in debt over hospital bills...I can do without American Food and when I do get it...it's a treat...

When I do go back for visits...the averroes nature of how American's live their lives mind boggles me now...the quantity of food...and the variation of what the stores stock....it's just over abundance...no one needs 35 different kinds of crisps/chips....


I know where I would rather live......here...

Personally I prefer Gaviscon.

I've found that milk of magnesia works just as well as pepto bismal here.  I usually have a bottle near the bed in case dinner decides to bite back. 

Personally I prefer Gaviscon.

Gaviscon and I have gotten quite friendly of late.   Although I am not a fan of their new "cool mint" antacid tablets.  Give me the plain old peppermint any day.  I've been hoarding, in case they do away with them completely.

I still love my US Maalox, though.  We have been through so much together and will always be BFFs.  Instead of b!tching about their lack of availability, though, I do this crazy thing and stock up when I am home or have family/friends send them to me when I run out.  It's the nuttiest thing.  

Keep it together, people.

I have to agree with BD's posts. If that's the medication you prefer then you should just be happy it's offered in the UK at all. If you were born and bred in the UK, you shouldn't have been so surprised at what was available to you (or not) when you returned to your home.