Tonic water: Last night we were talking... - Atrial Fibrillati...

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Tonic water

Morzine profile image
18 Replies

Last night we were talking about India and the subject went on to gin and tonic how in old times it was the tonic that was supposed to stop malaria having quinine in it.....someone looked up where quinine came from and it saud in the text it was known to produce arrhythmia .

Well that instantly hit a nail on the head with me....as when I got my afib, I really missed my wine at night and stopped it initially to a glass of white wine topped with tonic water, got an afib attack........then I had just tonic water at night, but got afib during the night.....this happened a few times I’ve never linked this and thought it was just the beast at work being rAndom.....in fact my cardio upped my tablets due to these attacks......having read this it all fits in.......so I’m writing this to say maybe tonic water is a definite no no.....it still has quinine in it albeit less that hundred years back.....interestingly..... on the site I looked at think it was Wikipedia it listed other drinks with Quinine in......just thought I’d throw this in.....sue xx

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Morzine profile image
Morzine
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18 Replies

Interesting! I shall bear this in mind when I order " just tonic water with ice and lime " !!

CDreamer profile image
CDreamer

I also linked tonic water, which I loved, as an antagonist to both chronic conditions. I believe there are some tonic waters without quinine so far I’ve not found one in supermarkets etc.

Hilly22 profile image
Hilly22

Thank you for this. I very rarely drink alcohol since my diagnosis, but recently went to a lavish wedding where I decided to forget about my arrhythmia - drank a lot of wine and champagne over three days. No episodes whatsoever. A few days later I optimistically (with a smile on my face!) had one gin and tonic and I was off! Tried it since and the same thing happened. I've been blaming the gin but maybe I shouldn't. Time to experiment! ;-)

Morzine profile image
Morzine in reply toHilly22

Lucky you with the wine and champagne what a bonus, I do have two halves of beer and I’m fine ....and I have had a glass of red and been ok, but the whole thing has scared me I tend not to, if I go out I have 2 beers.

Hilly22 profile image
Hilly22 in reply toMorzine

Frankly, it was a bit foolish of me to take the risk. I think I was encouraged by knowing that because I have frequent episodes of mainly SVT I can usually revert to NSR fairly quickly using breathing exercises and vagal manoeuvres. I sometimes wonder too whether my particular arrhythmias have a psychological element (stress) and that forgetting about it and having fun could be a magic formula. Don't tell anyone, but when I'm feeling brave again I'm going to try a gin with freshly squeezed orange juice! Cheers, enjoy your beers ;-)

Morzine profile image
Morzine

What I miss is that gay abandon of just going out and not thinking about it....whereas I now think about it and only have two beers or two wines.....

Just in case......I’m more worried about the 3 tablets reacting to alcohol than the afib reacting.....oh to go back to my carefree life!!!!!

in reply toMorzine

Yes😂

Hilly22 profile image
Hilly22 in reply toMorzine

You're right to worry about mixing tablets with alcohol, especially anticoagulants. It's a sobering thought and I'm going to stick to a very very occasional one glass from now on 🙂

secondtry profile image
secondtry

Yes could well be a contributory factor as I used to drink quite a bit of tonic, now I just have sips of it and wine and no pints of Guiness anymore. It is a pain and especially to find alternative drinks when out but I am trying to 'press the reset button' on everything for a few years and then maybe slowly introduce things back.

jondeanp profile image
jondeanp

I wrote a similar post a few months back myself after a similar random chat

healthunlocked.com/afassoci...

Morzine profile image
Morzine in reply tojondeanp

Weird isn’t it must be the quinine.....I thought I was doing good using it to make the glass of wine longer and weaker...it clearly upset me. On its own too so deforges was the tonic.....oh to be normal!!

jondeanp profile image
jondeanp in reply toMorzine

It doesn't appear to affect me, but i thought i'd share it with others who it might.

I find my heart feels more like it's playing up if i drink red wine

Morzine profile image
Morzine in reply tojondeanp

Could it be the percent alcohol.....?? I’m wary of those 14 % plus ones...we had a party for my husband 70 recently and lots of the red was that strong I darent have a glass.....I find a glass of 12% seems ok to me, but I feel more safe having beer....in fact I hav e two beers if we go out and I am fine. .....how life has changed.....

jondeanp profile image
jondeanp in reply toMorzine

Definitely not alcohol content because the gin that goes in my tonic is higher than wine.

Morzine profile image
Morzine in reply tojondeanp

Just read your old post....

mavisrich profile image
mavisrich

I have slimline lemon tonic from Tesco every night (to keep cramp at bay) and have no bad effects from it at all.

wilsond profile image
wilsond

I found exactly the same,even just tonic...soda water now ! X

Morzine profile image
Morzine in reply towilsond

Yes soda water Good idea

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