Quinine

[jondeanp]

After a random chat at work which began with the new flavours of coca cola, one of my colleagues mentioned tonic water but said it has quinine in it which is not very good for you.

I disagreed and said its good to keep the mosquitoes at bay, but then googled "quinine" to see what i could find online.

According to Wikipedia "Quinine can cause abnormal heart rhythms, and should be avoided if possible in patients with atrial fibrillation, conduction defects, or heart block."

I thought there must be some posts on this forum discussing this but only found quinine related discussions on other HealthUnlocked forums.

Should we be cutting down on the gin & tonics?

[BobD Volunteer]

If you have AF you shouldn't be having the gin let alone the tonic!

[pottypete1 in reply to BobD]

I gave up alcohol 2 years ago as I wanted to remove all possible triggers. I felt I should also do it to give my EP every chance of making my 5th, 6th & 7th ablations successful.

I have now had the longest period of being AF free since I first was diagnosed.

Prior to giving up alcohol I was by no means a heavy drinker but my favourite tipple was indeed Gin & Tonic.

There is a moral somewhere in all my waffle.

Pete

[Dadog in reply to pottypete1]

Hi pottypete1. I reckon the moral in what you say is to switch to Scotch and water?!

[Hidden]

Thanks for that .....I often have plain tonic water when out but will change that now!

[jondeanp in reply to Hidden]

I’m not sure if the amount of quinine in tonic water would be enough to do any damage.

It seems from other forums that people have quinine prescribed for things like restless legs

[secondtry]

Thanks for raising this Jon. Tonic was a favourite of mine and still is albeit at very low amounts now. Coincidentally, I am just trialling the Fevertree tonic that has Angostura Bitters added, half a small glass around 9pm to settle my digestion and hopefully cut out some waking up in the night. Recent improvements could be down to this?? I have some mild digestion issues and have found this tonic helpful before lunch and supper - just a couple of gulps only.

Also, on the same subject of Quinine, my father had regular doses I believe in WW2 as he went to West Africa; I wonder if some heart weakness was passed on when I was conceived later. He never had any AF as far as I was aware.

[icklebud99]

It only takes a sip to trigger my AF. It goes directly into the blood stream and I imagine pumps through the heart in seconds which triggers my AF. Wine, beer, fizzy water, build up drinks and a number of food stuffs have all caused me to go into AF and I know immediately I have swallowed it as I feel the arrhythmia starting within seconds. I avoid all of the triggers as my symptoms make me feel quite ill and Id rather do without than go into AF. Everybody is different but I appear to be sensitive to lots of triggers.

[Hidden]

I remember my mother used to drink her gin with water and a dash of angistura bitters which turned it into a pink gin! It was a ritual that fascinated me as a child. Of course the inevitable cigarette always accompanied the drink! And who remembers Gin and Orange as a one time favourite as well? There's always a way to get round the tonic problem!😂😃

[wilsond]

Well it's funny you found that out! I used to enjoy a G a nd T,had one at a wedding ,then stuck to tonic water alone all night.Had AF quite severely for most of next day blamed the gin! As I had enjoyed the tonic water,and knew there was no caffeine in it,decided to have it alone with ice etc few days later...same response.So not for me now!

[BernardS]

Interesting as I was prescribed Quinine tablets for leg cramps!

[irene75359]

Gin and tonic isn't a trigger for me (although I only have maybe one or two a month). But my daughter introduced me to adding slices of cucumber, it is absolutely delicious! And in Spain we buy blue tonic which is lovely and different yet again.

[Hidden in reply to irene75359]

I call that one a Gin salad, it's how I drink mine. 1 glass every couple of months.

[Janith]

I don’t drink tonic water any longer because of the quinine. I researched it extensively ... anyone who has afib should not drink quinine. Hence, l use ginger ale and bitters in my very occasional gin and “tonic”. Very yummy. Cardamen bitters.

[heartmatters1]

😱Nooooo - as I read this I have a G & T in my hand - I’m going to have to rethink my tipple (looks like water is the only thing recommended!) ☹️

[Bagrat]

I drink G&T with no ill effects.( about 2 a week!) I seem to remember that most tonics don't contain much quinine these days but think fevertree might have a little more as it's so much nicer!! ( yes just checked fevertree has natural quinine) Also found this " A glass of tonic water holds roughly 20 mg of quinine, whereas a dose for the treatment of leg cramps would be in the 200 to 300 mg range."

[jondeanp]

I hope my post hasn’t made me enemy no. 1 of the gin fans 😬

I was hoping to only raise the issue for awareness in case it might be one of those hidden triggers

p.s. I enjoy gin & tonics too, but more of a summer garden drink for me

[Kn177yn0ra]

Quinine is a trigger for me so I tend to have lemonade with gin. I find that alcohol is not a trigger at all; hunger is tho!

[LaceyLady]

Well my mum used to have gin n lime 🤷‍♀️ Love the Fevertree brand 🙄 Id asked a friend who also has AF and he went ‘DON’T have it’, but I’ve not noticed any problems and I only drink rarely 🤷‍♀️