Tonic water warning!

[Soos]

i've seen couple of posts over here saying to drink tonic water against leg cramps. tonic water is potentially dangerous to drink during pregnancy and breastfeeding

Pregnancy


Quinine crosses the placenta; one study found the cord plasma concentration to be approximately one-third the concentration of quinine in maternal plasma. Studies in rabbits and guinea pigs have shown that quinine is teratogenic. However, no teratogenic effects were seen in mice, rats, dogs, or monkeys.
Quinine has been used to treat patients in the third trimester of pregnancy with P. falciparum malaria. However, the risk of quinine to the fetus must be balanced against the danger of P. falciparum malaria, which is potentially life-threatening, especially during pregnancy. Studies in humans have shown that quinine causes congenital malformations, especially when given in large doses (e.g. up to 30 grams for attempted abortion).
These malformations include deafness related to auditory nerve hypoplasia, limb anomalies, visceral defects, and visual changes. In addition, quinine may have an oxytoxic action on the uterus and has been shown to cause abortion when taken in toxic amounts. Stillbirths have also been reported in mothers taking quinine during pregnancy. Quinine should only be given to pregnant women where the benefit gained greatly outweighs the risk.
Breastfeeding


Quinine is excreted in breast milk in small amounts. One study suggests that a breastfed infant will receive approximately 1.5 - 3.0mg per day of quinine base from maternal therapy. Problems in humans have not been documented.

 

[ladykara]

OMG !! women have been told to drink tonic water for years and now its a no no ! its the only thing that got me through my morning sickness....

 

[Tadpoley]

Eek - thanks for the warning. Have drank this a couple of times already. Will stop now and cross my fingers no harm done!

Saying that, read something a few weeks back saying that modern tonic water contains very little quinine, certainly not the quantities that would be used in cases of malaria.

 

[Soos]

Saying that, read something a few weeks back saying that modern tonic water contains very little quinine, certainly not the quantities that would be used in cases of malaria.

well it still contains it, it's better to avoid it altogether imo...

 

[Soos]

bump!

 

[Newt4]

What about club soda?

 

[quaizer]

I take quinine in tablet form (hydroxychloroquine used for various auto-immune diseases and anti-malarial), it keeps my disease (Lupus/SLE) controlled enough for me to carry my pregnancy to 36/37 weeks. Without this drug I probably wouldnt have been here to have my second son and this baby. I am carefully monitored at hospital and so is baby.

If the risks were very high, there would be a warning on the bottle.

 

[Soos]

I take quinine in tablet form (hydroxychloroquine used for various auto-immune diseases and anti-malarial), it keeps my disease (Lupus/SLE) controlled enough for me to carry my pregnancy to 36/37 weeks. Without this drug I probably wouldnt have been here to have my second son and this baby. I am carefully monitored at hospital and so is baby.

If the risks were very high, there would be a warning on the bottle.

the risks are there, otherwise it wouldn't be published all over internet saying to be careful with tonic water. in any case it is a personal choice to drink it or to ignore the warnings no matter what.

smoking and drinking is also dangerous for an unborn but there's nothing on a bottle of JD saying that it shouldn't be taking by pregnant women either.

you said you're being monitored in the hospital--they are keeping everything under control to eliminate any risk. women who drink tonic water because of leg cramps are not monitored by anyone.

 

[Soos]

What about club soda?

haven't found anything against it hun

 

[Newt4]

What about club soda?

haven't found anything against it hun

Good I drink it mixed with juice. I love pop but it has way to much sugar so dilute juice it with club soda.

 

[emmi26]

im going to sound stupid but i dont understand what tonic water is ? obviously ive heard of it but how is it different to normal water ?

 

[lozzy21]

Dunno where you are but in the UK there is a warning on bottles od JD telling pregnant women not to drink it as with most alcoholic drinks.

 

[starcrossed]

I've been having a read around about levels of quinine, benefits and dangers.

There is absolutly no danger with drinking levels of quinine in commercial brands of tonic water such as schwepps and canada dry.

In UK the level is 0.67mg/l which is less than a 100th of a low safe dose for a woman with SLE to take in pregnancy as like Quaizer quinine was mentioned for the treatment of my lupus should it flare during pregnancy. (so far so good)

In the new version of pregnancy book in the UK (the purple one) it actually suggests it as an alternative to alcoholic drinks. Again if there was any danger the NHS and Department of Health would leave themselves open to a massive law suit.

In conclusion of all the reading I have done, pro's and con's unless you are about to drink gallons of tonic water in one day it is a pretty safe bet, and if you are having cramps then it is the best treatment.

If you dont want to "risk" it fair enough, but dont worry if you've had it as as I've said above amounts of quinine teeny weeny these days.

Delly xx

 

[Farie]

I spoke to my m/w about this and she confirmed that retail grade tonic water (Schweppes etc) poses no risk to unborn babies - the quinine content is far to low to cause any issues at all

She did say that some brands that are manufactured abroad (such as in India say) and in countries with malaria may have a higher content as its is still believed to help malarial symptoms.

 

[Youngling]

At my antenatal class last night they were saying it was fine to drink tonic water.
Hmmm guess its different it different places
xx