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Quinine for Eye Tics?


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This week I went to my eye doctor for my yearly checkup. The same doctor had seen my son several times for his 'Dry Eyes'. This was before he was dx with Pandas. I filled by doctor in on the latest happenings with my son and his treatments, etc., and let him know the dry eye problem was actually tics. (He should have been the one catching this symptom after 3 visits for his eyes... ugh). Anyway, I explained his eye tics are the remaining symptom, but everything else is doing good. He said I should have my son drink tonic water with Quinine and this has helped some with eye tics.

 

I haven't seen anyone post anything about Quinine before and after researching it on the internet, it doesn't look safe in high doses.

 

Any experienced with this? I guess a glass of tonic water can't hurt? Might have to add some juice to help the bitter taste.

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interesting...never heard this before. did he specifically say for eye tics only or for any tics?

 

I grew up in a malarial area and they gave quinine to help stave off the fevers from infected mosquito bites that caused malaria. but never heard of it for tics.....

 

tonic water should be ok in moderation but yes, high dose quinine isnt something I would think you want to give to a child

 

I will do some checking into why this may work a bit later.

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I didn't clarify with him on just eye tics or tics in general. I'm guessing since Quinine was used for cramping, perhaps it relaxes the muscle enough to help the tics? My eye doctor is going into his 30th year of practice and has worked with our local NBAA team with sports opthalmology, so just to clarify he's not a quick walk in type clinic.

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Quinine is in tonic water, right?

 

Oh man, tonic water is so gross (IMO). When I was in college and I used to go to the bars, I would get a vodka + Sprite and a lime. It was good. So one day, someone recommended that I try a vodka tonic. I remember thinking that it tasted rotten, like maybe the vodka had gone bad (I thought that "tonic water" was just another word for "carbonated water").

 

Then I tried tonic water alone.

 

GROSS.

 

But still, I'd drink it if it would reduce my blinking tic! Heck, I would drink some of that nasty liquid every day if it helped.

 

Maybe I'll buy a bottle of it next time I go to the store and report back.

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Guy

ever since my son started an anti-inflammatory diet and supps for his Crohn's Disease, he also noticed it helps his tics and OCD as well, he feels likely an indirect result of the better condition of his GIT but I think likely that as well as damping other areas of inflammation too, possibly even the basal ganglia?

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I could be wrong, but when my mom used to get charlie horses in the night, she was recommended to drink tonic w/ Quinine,, it did help!!!

So that would/could mean its all muscle related.

I cant ask her since she and my dad went to heaven and left me orphan a couple of years ago...I don't want to be grown up anymore!!!!

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sounds like that is why it helped your mom Fixit.

 

I saw on that website I linked that it is also used for restless leg syndrome so same idea re the neuro-muscular relaxant properties

 

very interesting multiple properties it seems to have

 

but just a word of caution to those reading here....please do be very careful with quinine as too much of it is dangerous! Tonic water has tiny amounts in.

Edited by Chemar
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Guy

ever since my son started an anti-inflammatory diet and supps for his Crohn's Disease, he also noticed it helps his tics and OCD as well, he feels likely an indirect result of the better condition of his GIT but I think likely that as well as damping other areas of inflammation too, possibly even the basal ganglia?

 

Interesting.

 

Marijuana (a powerful anti-inflammatory) is also beneficial for Crohn's Disease and tics (depending on the strain of marijuana). Of course, I wouldn't recommend that for your son until he's 18 or under the guidance of a knowledgeable (non-propaganda "pot is evil") doctor.

 

But hypothetically, it's nice to know that a drug with no serious side effects is beneficial for both conditions which affect him. I'd much rather deal with weed's side effects than some neuroleptic and expensive immune suppressing Chron's drug.

 

Any other anti-inflammatory foods you would recommend? Have you tried pomegranate?

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I could be wrong, but when my mom used to get charlie horses in the night, she was recommended to drink tonic w/ Quinine,, it did help!!!

So that would/could mean its all muscle related.

I cant ask her since she and my dad went to heaven and left me orphan a couple of years ago...I don't want to be grown up anymore!!!!

 

On that note, I've tried muscle relaxers (methocarbomal) for my tic and it had no effect. However it is my understanding that methocarbomal isn't terribly powerful and may act on some other mechanism than other muscle relaxers. I don't know much about that drug class.

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Well, I bought a 6 pack of tonic water today (it's more expensive than I thought it would be!) and I will test this out next week.

 

I'd do it now but I've got a cold (strangely enough my tic seems to have reduced, altho it could be cuz I'm eating less), and I don't want any external factors such as being sick or cold medication interfering with my tonic water experiment.

 

Questions:

 

- Does anyone know how much tonic water (quinine) was supposed to have an effect? I got these little 8 or 10 ounce bottles or something. I hope it's not much. Tonic water is gross. Which brings me to my next question:

 

- Anything I can put in it to make it taste better? I don't like vodka tonics, I think gin is awful (gin and tonics are like mixing two of the worst-tasting drinks around). Can I mix it with juice or anything that will make it easier to drink without messing up the effects of the quinine? For the sake of this experiment I would like to not involve alcohol B)

 

Maybe if it works I can mix it with pomegranate juice and make a super anti-tic drink (also a super expensive drink!). lol.

 

edit - I was just reading about it on wikipedia, and I found this pic. This is the brand I bought (it was the cheapest of them all). Under normal light and UV:

 

220px-Tonic_water_uv.jpg

Edited by guy123
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Thanks for being the forum guinea pig... I'm interested to see what happens. My son had some with cranberry, but not enough to validate any results.

 

I think one small bottle should do... at least it's a good place to start. Then bump up the next time...

 

I think if it were me, I just try to chug it down. I agree it's very bitter...

 

Stay in touch. Hope you feel better. These seasonal allergies has everyone I know worn out!

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