quinine and Pegasys & Riba

[liz276]

I have been drinking diet tonis water with quinine for a while now for leg crapms at night sometimes. I just started the meds. Oct. 22. Will the quinine interact with the Meds? Can someone find out for me. New to all this. Thanks

[liz276]

Thanx for all your helpful info. I will be asking more questions for sure. How  do you just stop thinking in terms of weeks. Tomorrow is only my 2nd shot and I'm like I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS TO BE OVER!!! Already. Lots of anxiety about doing the shot. My husband is going to help me. Did not think he would be able to do it, but I mentioned that it would be easier for me if he could help and he said sure. I'm going to give him one of my mothers insulin needles and an orange to practice on.. ! I'm sure it will get easier with the shots with him doing it for me. I give my mom her Insulin shot on the week-ends when I have her. But it's different when it's you your ready to plunge a needle into. Again, Thank You  Liz  

[Diane12855]

I never heard of quinine affecting platelets either so I looked it up and low and behold....

"Changes in platelet function and reactivity induced by quinine in relation to quinine (drug) induced immune thrombocytopenia.
Connellan JM, Deacon S, Thurlow PJ.

Department of Haematology, Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
Abstract
Quinine, a drug known to induce immune mediated thrombocytopenia, has been postulated to mediate binding of drug dependent antibodies to a range of platelet membrane glycoproteins. Quinine may not act solely as a hapten however, as we have shown that it inhibits platelet aggregation (ex vivo and in vitro) and release and modifies the ability of activated platelets to bind the adhesive proteins fibrinogen and fibronectin in a dose dependent fashion. Studies on the effect of quinine on the binding of monoclonal antibodies HuPlml (GpIIIa) FMC25 (GpIX) and AN51 (GpIb) to platelets shows a selective reduction in AN51 binding. In addition quinine induced platelet antibodies from thrombocytopenic patients, in the presence of quinine, have been shown to inhibit binding of these monoclonal antibodies to platelets to varying degrees. These observations suggest that quinine causes widespread but specific conformational changes in platelet membrane antigens which may expose neoantigens resulting in the production of quinine induced antibodies.

PMID: 2028452 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]"

I just love all the stuff we learn here!

Diane

[Diane12855]

A bar of soap???????????????? That's the weirdest thing I have ever heard of. And you say it works? How in the world? Nothing I ever learned in science explains that one.

Hmmmmm

Diane

[babs824]

good to know, thanx

[HaveHope21]

They actually have pills at Walmart called restful legs. Of course, check with your doc, but they seem to help me. You just put them under your tongue and let them dissolve.

[babs824]

call me riba crazed but i read that if u put a bar of hand soap (like ivory) under your bottom sheet when u sleep it will magically help. guess what? when i tried it there was a definite improvement. since i thrash about i decided to put it in each sock and still had good results. it certainly cant hurt. exercise also helps. when i started stair climbing the cramps totally disappeared. i go up and down as much as possible. i live in 12 floor building so i just go up and down for as long as possible. cant do so well on treatment so i break up into 10 minute treks. leg cramps can be very nasty and ruin restorative sleep. i used to take quinine pills but i was concerned when i read about sx. good luck

[tashka]

Bananas definitely. They have a lot of potassium.

[kosh33]

i also heard that bananas and drinking lots of water  is beneficial for cramps, good luck w/ tx

[tashka]

Yes, in some people in can occur. This happened to my brother. He doesn't have liver disease, actually he is a pretty healthy man. One day his platelets just fell to zero. He started bleeding. The doctors said that they never saw anyone with no platelets at all. After extensive research into what could cause such a drop, one of hematologists asked about quinine-containing drinks. And sure enough, the few previous days he drank a whole lot of these drinks. That is how I learned that quinine can contribute to thrombocytopenia. I also never heard of this before.

I am sure that this effect is not universal-or these drinks would be removed from the market. But it can happen to people who are somehow predisposed. And as I already said, platelet count is a weak spot for hepatitis C patients, especially when on treatment.

[viaduk]

I never heard that quinine lowers platelets. Are you sure?

[tashka]

Quinine will not interact with these medications. But you still have to be careful with it, because quinine can cause the destruction of platelets in some people. Interferon often causes platelets to go down during treatment. Platelets is a weak spot for many patients with liver disease.

I am sure that occasional drink will not cause any harm. But if you experience very frequent cramps, it is better to use something else. My husband had frequent cramps, and magnesium helped him greatly.