What drugs interact with quinine?
Noah Mitchell
Published Jan 13, 2026
Other medications can affect the removal of quinine from your body, which may affect how quinine works. Examples include cimetidine, erythromycin, ketoconazole, phenytoin, rifampin, HIV protease inhibitors (such as lopinavir, ritonavir), urinary alkalinizers such as sodium bicarbonate, among others.
Does quinine interact with any medications?
Quinine has no known severe interactions with other drugs.
What are the risks of taking quinine?
Among the most serious potential side effects associated with quinine are: bleeding problems. kidney damage. abnormal heartbeat.
...
If you do have a reaction, it may include:
- nausea.
- stomach cramps.
- diarrhea.
- vomiting.
- ringing in the ears.
- confusion.
- nervousness.
Can quinine raise blood pressure?
This tea has been used in folk medicine to treat a variety of problems, and scientists have confirmed that it lowers blood pressure as well as cholesterol (Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, December 2017; Indian Journal of Pharmacology, September-October 2015).
Is it OK to drink tonic water every day?
According to the American Heart Association, excess levels of sodium (they recommend staying under 1,500 mg) can lead to water retention, along with puffiness, bloating, and weight gain. Our verdict: Avoid tonic water as a daily drink if you're concerned about your waistline.
15 related questions foundWhy do they put quinine in tonic water?
The quinine present in tonic water provides a distinctive bitter flavour. The inclusion of quinine in tonic is often associated as a primary health benefit of tonic. Quinine's primary benefit is for the treatment of malaria. It's not used to prevent malaria, but rather to kill the organism responsible for the disease.
Can quinine cause liver damage?
The hepatotoxicity of quinine is usually mild and resolves within 1 to 4 weeks of stopping. In many instances, jaundice and liver test abnormalities may worsen for a few days after stopping quinine, but fatalities have not been reported, and recovery is usually rapid.
Does tonic water interact with medications?
The amount of quinine in tonic water is not likely to interact with a person's medication or cause issues for people with the medical conditions listed above. However, people with these risk factors should not take quinine supplements or medications unless a doctor prescribes it.
What is the antidote for quinine?
Specific drugs and antidotes
Treat cardiotoxicity with sodium bicarbonate (See Bicarbonate, Sodium), 1–2 mEq/kg by rapid IV bolus. Stellate ganglion block has previously been recommended for quinine-induced blindness, the rationale being to increase retinal blood flow.
Who Cannot take quinine?
You should not take quinine if you have a heart rhythm disorder called Long QT syndrome, a genetic enzyme deficiency called glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G-6-PD), myasthenia gravis, optic neuritis (inflammation of the nerves in your eyes), if you have taken quinine in the past and it caused a blood cell ...
Can you take magnesium with quinine?
Taking quinine with an antacid may prevent your body from absorbing quinine. Some vitamins may contain "hidden" antacids such as some forms of magnesium.
Does quinine cause inflammation?
“We found that quinine reduced the levels of the inflammatory molecule interleukin 1-beta which is known to cause fever,” said Rehman. One of the challenges for treating excessive inflammatory responses is that many anti-inflammatory medications have major side effects.
Does quinine interact with metformin?
Interactions between your drugs
No interactions were found between metformin and Qualaquin.
Can you take quinine and paracetamol together?
No interactions were found between Paracetamol and quinine. However, this does not necessarily mean no interactions exist. Always consult your healthcare provider.
Does quinine interact with statins?
Quinine is a cytochrome P450 isoenzyme 3A4 inhibitor, the very enzyme which is involved in the metabolism of most statins. Therefore the use of both substances simultaneously increases blood levels of the statin thereby increasing the risk of side effects including symptomatic myopathy and myalgia.
Does quinine affect the heart?
Conclusions: Use of quinine was common and associated with increased mortality in heart failure, especially if administered together with β-blockers and shortly after treatment initiation.
Is Schweppes tonic water good for you?
People who regularly drink tonic water need to consider the amount of sugar and calories consumed in the body. Carbonated soft drinks, including tonic drinks, have very little nutritional value but also increase unnecessary calorie consumption. Schweppes also did not help with cramps or restless leg syndrome symptoms.
Is quinine an antimalarial?
Quinine is used to treat malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum. Plasmodium falciparum is a parasite that gets into the red blood cells in the body and causes malaria. Quinine works by killing the parasite or preventing it from growing.
What drink contains quinine?
Today, you can find quinine in some of your favorite beverages, most notably in tonic water. Historically, tonic water contained very high levels of quinine and was extremely bitter, requiring sugar and, at times, gin to improve the flavor profile.
Where does quinine come from in nature?
Quinine is extracted from the bark of the cinchona tree, and despite over a century of trying, no synthetic recipe has been found that is cheaper and easier than the natural extraction.
Is quinine a poison?
Quinine, termed a "general protoplasmic poison" is toxic to many bacteria, yeasts, and trypanosomes, as well as to malarial plasmodia. Quinine has local anesthetic action but also is an irritant. The irritant effects may be responsible in part for the nausea associated with its clinical use.
Why does quinine glow?
According to Scientific American "In general, something fluoresces because it has absorbed light energy, which makes it excited, and then it releases (or emits) light as it returns to its normal, unexcited state." Quinine absorbs ultraviolet light and then re-emits it as visible light, meaning it appears to glow when ...
Is tonic water high in histamine?
As the table shows, the tonic water makes a difference in terms of calories. But always unbeatable: the very low histamine value.
What are the benefits of quinine?
Quinine is used to treat malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum. Plasmodium falciparum is a parasite that gets into the red blood cells in the body and causes malaria. Quinine works by killing the parasite or preventing it from growing.