# Quinine for leg cramps



## tanisha (Feb 14, 2008)

I asked the question about severe leg cramps and lots of women have suggested Indian Tonic Water, which has quinine in it.  How safe is this in pregnancy.  I used to take quinine in tablet form prior to pregnancy to help with cramps but was asked to stop teh drugs during pregnancy.

would appreciate any advice as cramps are quite severe and now i`m getting them frequently

Tanisha


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## mazv (Jul 31, 2006)

Hi Tanisha,

Sorry not to reply, been struggling to keep up recently and been very busy. I hope that things have settled for you and the cramps aren't causing problems  

Quinine has been used in pregnancy to treat malaria so can be used safely if used in normal treatment doses (large doses over recommended maximum can be harmful) Usually treatment courses for malaria would be for 7 days and not long term (as is the case when treating leg cramp) so this is possibly why you were advised to stop. It is also a case of weighing up risk/benefit when pregnant as I'd imagine that use for leg cramp would be felt to be less essential than treating potentially life threatening case of malaria and therefore better to stop it if you can do without.

If things are getting that bad then I'd speak to GP/prescriber again to see if they would consider restarting it in the short term, but would obviously need to discuss your individual situation to see if it is necessary or not.

Best wishes
Maz x


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