huevos con vino

My wife and I celebrated our 6-month anniversary last night.  Unbeknownst to one another, we each surreptitiously tried to make reservations at the same Japanese restaurant, Nishino.  I believe Nishino is the finest Japanese restaurant in the Seattle area, and I have tried many of them by now (including a few that don’t exist anymore, such as Nikko).  So we went there to get some wonderful food and relax after a long week, although I know it was only Thursday.  You don’t need a reason to enjoy Nishino.

When we got home, I realized that I ate a bit too much food (the tempura banana and ice cream put me over the top).  So I decided to take two Pepto-Bismol tablets. 

Now, I never take Pepto-Bismol.  I bought this stuff for my India trip last November and since then, I have probably eaten 5 or 6 Pepto-Bismol tablets.  That’s it.  I’m more of a Tums man myself.  Tums don’t have that weird acidic aftertaste.

Well, I got up this morning and scared the hell out of myself.  When I looked in the mirror, I noticed that the back half of my tongue was discolored.  We’re talking green and black discoloration, and not just a little bit.

I started wondering what might be wrong with me.  Did I eat something weird?  Did I drink something weird?  Do I have a tongue disease since last night?  What the heck is going on here?

I drove to work a bit worried.  I felt fine, though, and that was a good sign.  I still have my tonsils but they didn’t look inflamed.  All the way to work I kept looking in the rearview mirror…the black and green stain was still there.

At work I saw an old friend in the parking lot.  She asked me how I was doing.

“I don’t know…check out my tongue!”  I stuck out my tongue and opened my mouth wide.

Without blinking, my friend said, “You had some Pepto-Bismol last night, huh?”

“Uhh, yeah.  Why?”

“Pepto-Bismol can do that to your tongue.  My husband swears by it”

And you know what?  My friend was right.  Check out the Pepto-Bismol FAQ.  Near the middle of the list is the question that applies to my situation: “I noticed that Pepto-Bismol sometimes darkens the tongue/stool. Why does this happen and how long does it last?”

The answer is bismuth.  Bismuth is one of the atomic elements (#83 if you’re keeping score) and it’s fairly similar to lead in certain ways except for its lack of toxicity.  Apparently I had enough sulfur in my saliva to cause a reaction that created bismuth sulfide, which stained my tongue.

Thus, the warning for wine drinkers: If you take Pepto-Bismol, be aware that a bismuth sulfide reaction in your mouth makes your tongue feel as though it has been burned by really mild acid, sort of like you just ate some Sour Patch Kids.  If you plan to taste wine, you might want to forego the Pepto-Bismol the night before because of this bismuth reaction.  I don’t know if I could taste wine right now and really know what I was tasting with any accuracy.  Hopefully my tongue will return to its normal color soon…I’m getting thirsty for some Pinot Noir.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 2nd, 2007 at 10:04 am and is filed under commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.