I looked this up in the Wikipedia and it redirects to Bisacodyl
And says it’s a laxative.
Where does the liver come in? What’s it got to do with one’s liver. Or was it made from some animal’s liver or something?
Note that the name of the product has been changed to Carter’s Little Pills. The FDA made them take the word “liver” out of the name because they considered it a false health claim - the pills have no effect on the liver (and are not made from liver). The pills were originally advertised to treat “headaches, biliousness, torpid liver, constipation and indigestion.” I guess they actually worked for constipation.
What, not restful spleen, lugubrious thymus, languid pleura, or lax appendix? I demand more of my fraudulent quack nostrums! I demand at least 15% opium by volume, and alcohol to fill!
Seriously, was ‘torpid liver’ ever a legitimate disorder?
There was a common saying when I was young that went, “He’s got more [anything you can name] than Carter has liver pills.” 
So why the liver? Did people used to worry about their liver in the “old days.” I’ve never heard anyone say “Gee I think my liver’s out of whack” 
Here’s a Time Magazine article on it from 1951
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,814704,00.html
*Half a century later, a new advertising technique gave the sexagenarian business an added boost. The ominous crow was retired; the slogan became “Wake up your liver bile!” Jingles urged readers and radio listeners: “When you feel sour and sunk, and the world looks punk . . . Take a Carter’s Little Liver Pill.” Carter’s went on to claim that the increased liver bile would enable the pill-taker to overeat and overindulge in “good times” without morning-after regrets, to wake up “clear-eyed and steady-nerved,” “feeling just wonderful,” and “alert and ready for work.” Copywriters combed the thesaurus and found no less than 30 synonyms for the sluggishness which the pills were said to cure. *
A friend posted his dislike for eating liver on facebook. I wanted to reply by linking to radio advertising slogan that I remember from my youth, “If life’s not worth living, it may be the liver.” It was used to promote “Carter’s Little Liver Pills” later the word liver was dropped. I tried but was unsuccessful in finding any hits on this slogan, let alone a link to a youtube recording of it. I wanted to pursue a link to the Carter factory (if it still exists) but was unsuccessful. The Wikipedia article is sketchy, I would like to add to it if I can secure more information. Would appreciate any direction that others can provide.
There was a long stretch in folk/patent medicine when all ills were attributed to liver malfunction. I believe the French are still a bit hung up on “liver cures.”
I guess so, from the entry on Bisacodyl itself…
When administered rectally in suppository form, it is usually effective in 15 to 60 minutes. Two suppositories can be inserted at once if a very strong, purgative, enema-like result is needed. A few hours after the initial evacuation, there can be a secondary action which will continue as long as there is unexpelled bisacodyl present in the rectum.*
I can’t believe Chuck Lorre hasn’t included this in his agreeable comedic art.
I know someone who used Carter’s Little Liver Pills and he told me they were completely useless. They had no effect on him. But I suppose the effect could be different for different people.
I use Bisacodyl myself and you should be warned about them. They are a very tiny little pill. But I tried several laxitives before trying Bisacodyl and I couldn’t believe how such a tiny pill had such a huge impact.
Be very careful. Try one (or maybe even one half) and wait for 2 or 3 hours. If you get no effect, then try another one.
If you take too much Bisacodyl, you will be sorry. You will be stuck on the toilet and you will defecate liquid for long periods of time. I don’t know for sure how it will effect you. But on several occasions I had some small uncontrolled “emissions” while I was sleeping.
Bisacodyl is a wonderful drug for people who are having problems defecating. It is strictly speaking a “stool softener”. I would think it should be tried last after trying other laxatives.
Be very careful not to take too much. It’s hard to believe that just a tiny dose of that med can have such a huge impact.