Comments on: Rollin’ down the street

By: Janet J Hart

Janet J Hart — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:16:07 +0000

Has anyone heard of using quinine for restless leg syndrome? A doctor suggested it to me and it seems to help some. I am an alcoholic, so I make a “ginless tonic” every night. It helps that I used to love G&T’s before I stopped drinking. When I go out to a bar with friends, I now order the ginless version with a lime. It calms my legs and is more enjoyable than a diet coke. Its hard to find a cold, non-alcoholic beverage, that isn’t sweet. I do love the taste. British foods are an aquired taste. I guess thats why you don’t hear people saying “lets go out for British food”, or “let’s try that new British restaurant in town”. There aren’t many cook books featuring British quisine. Still, they did give us G&T’s and a very good muffin to toast for breakfast! AJ

By: ottobhatt

ottobhatt — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 03:16:06 +0000

I accidentally forgot to refill my mefloquine prescription, only to realize this in the customs line in Bombay. On my uncle’s recommendation, I chanced it and proceeded with my six week daily g&t therapy. Some might say that extending this therapy two years after my trip is overkill, but for once my inner hypochondriac and inner lush are singing in unison, so who am I to argue.

By: ace

ace — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 23:15:43 +0000

Bombay Sapphire hurts, too; don't drink a whole bottle of it, or anything really.

i'm sure it does if you drink a whole bottle of it. everything in moderation...

By: timepass

timepass — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 23:00:15 +0000

Lately I’ve developed a taste for Marmite — a little dab of the sticky salty goo does wonders on a bagel.

I spent a month in India drinking water with dissolved anti-malaria pills (think they were quinine) — this was before bottled water was widely available — it was the most unbelievably bitter and nasty stuff I’d ever tasted.

By: siddhartha m

siddhartha m — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 22:42:24 +0000

mefloquine ("lariam") is horrible. way over-strong medicine with nasty side-effects.

dd, i don't know if this is the one you were referring to, but there's a relatively new anti-malarial on the market, brand name "malarone." i took it last time i was in a high malaria zone and everything was cool. no side effects. only minor inconvenience is you have to take it once a day, instead of once a week as with lariam.

highly recommended!

peace

By: cicatrix

cicatrix — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 22:22:57 +0000

British colonials in India mixed quinine with gin and lemon or lime. Over time they learned to love the godawful stuff. (You can see this principle at work in a lot of British cuisineÂ…)

ha! too true…see also: marmite, breadpudding (useful dumping ground for week old bread), cucumber and sardine sandwiches…

I love it

By: DesiDancer

DesiDancer — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 21:56:49 +0000

but will tonic & vermouth give you the same fun side effects as Mefloquine? Last time I went to India, the doctor prescribed it instead of the particular script I wanted, and I couldn’t sleep for 3 days and started hallucinating. Might have rather had a gin & tonic, innit?

By: GujuDude

GujuDude — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 21:50:37 +0000

But some strains of the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum became resistant to the synthetic drugs

My Dad had this strain, which was immediately recognized by my neighbor doctor. Pops was strung up on IV lines and some heavy duty anti-malarial medication.

Unfortunately, that very same doctor, my good neighbor, died of this strain a year later. He knew he had malaria, but blew it off as a lesser strain(Doctors should not self diagnose) and only took a regular chloroquine treatment. When things got bad, he finally jumped in a rickshaw but it was too late. The fever was too high and he died on his way.

When I had malaria, I also had a broken foot the same time. So everytime a cycle of chills repeated itself, my foot despite the cast shivered along with rest of my body. It hurt. Bombay Sapphire hurts, too; don't drink a whole bottle of it, or anything really.

By: oz

oz — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 21:04:48 +0000

Note to self: One more reason why drinking is good for health.