Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Bismuthum subnitricum is a single remedy used in homeopathy. It is made from bismuth subnitrate, a white powder that holds the metal bismuth. Its Latin name is Bismuthi subnitras, and it is also known as bismuth subnitrate.
Homeopaths give it for belly pain, vomiting and burping. Some also use it for headache that comes with an upset stomach. These uses come from old case notes, not from trials.
The remedy is diluted again and again. At 30C none of the source metal is left, and trials do not tell it apart from a placebo (a dummy treatment). Long use in one tradition is not proof that a remedy works.
Homeopathy rests on an idea called "like cures like". The idea is that a tiny dose of a substance can treat the signs it causes in a large dose. Raw bismuth can upset the gut, so the diluted form is given for gut complaints.
The making method is called serial dilution. One part is mixed into 99 parts of liquid and shaken. At 30C this step is done thirty times over.
After that many steps, no source material is left in the pellet or drop. There is no known way such a product could act on the body. Human trials have not shown an effect beyond placebo.
Most people take it as small sugar pellets that melt under the tongue. It also comes as liquid drops made with water and alcohol.
You may also see tablets and single-dose tubes. Common strengths on the shelf are 6C, 12C, 30C and 200C. Low strengths such as 3X and 6X are sold too, and these can still hold traces of bismuth.
Bismuth salts have been used for stomach trouble since the 1700s. Homeopaths added bismuth to their materia medica (their list of remedies) in the 1800s.
Its remedy picture came from provings and case notes. Most of those notes describe burning belly pain, vomiting of water, and pain that spreads to the back.
It is a smaller remedy, not a mainstay of the tradition. Only homeopathy uses it in this heavily diluted form. Regular medicine still uses bismuth salts, but in real, measured doses.
See a doctor if your belly pain lasts more than a few days, wakes you at night, or keeps coming back. Go the same day if you vomit blood, pass black or bloody stools, or cannot keep fluids down. Get urgent help for severe pain, a hard belly, fever with pain, or pain that spreads to your chest, jaw or arm. If you have taken a low strength with real bismuth and feel confused, unsteady or very tired, stop it and get checked.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
Reviewed by the HealisticMD editorial team How we grade evidence →
The published evidence for Bismuthum subnitricum is weak or absent. That usually means no controlled trial has tested it, not that a trial found it ineffective — the two are different, and we grade only what has been published.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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