General Information on Quinine Sulfate
Quinine Sulfate is the generic name of a drug used for the treatment of malaria. Malaria is a disease spread through mosquito bites, primarily in Asian and African countries. The malarial parasite is injected by a mosquito and takes up residence in the red blood cells or liver of the patient. You can buy Quinine Sulfate only on a physician’s prescription. It may be necessary for the doctor to combine Quinine Sulfate with some other drug to give total relief from malaria.
Quinine Sulfate is classified as an anti-malarial drug. It is sold under different brand names in various countries. The generic drug is a must in the fight against malaria and one can buy Quinine Sulfate almost anywhere in the world. However, it should be understood that it is not a preventive medicine and should not be taken as a prophylactic.
Quinine Sulfate is an oral drug and should be taken with some food. It should not be taken on an empty stomach. Malaria is a very persistent disease, so Quinine Sulfate should be taken for the full course of treatment at regular intervals. Doing so otherwise can be harmful and delay recovery or cause a relapse. Quinine Sulfate only works best when it is taken at evenly spaced regular intervals.
Side effects of Quinine Sulfate
The common side effects of Quinine Sulfate are nausea, headaches and dizziness. The drug can also cause the lowering of blood sugar or hypoglycemia.
Most people do not suffer from any side effects after taking Quinine Sulfate. Some people report a blurring of vision or a change in the color spectrum of the eye. These complaints should be immediately brought to the notice of a doctor.
In rare cases, Quinine Sulfate may also cause a sudden brown coloring of the urine or abdominal pain. It may also lead to a persistent sore throat and easy bruising. All these symptoms are to be immediately reported to a doctor.
Dosage of Quinine Sulfate
Quinine Sulfate should only be taken as per the prescription of a doctor. It is to be remembered that one has to be strict with the regularity of the intake of the medicine. This is so because the drug is only effective when a certain level is maintained in the body.
Quinine Sulfate is available in tablet and capsule form and should be taken at regular intervals of eight hours. The duration of the regime could be for a period of three days and can be extended up to seven days as the physician deems fit.
Quinine Sulfate is available as oral capsules with strengths of 200mg, 260mg and 325 mg, and as an oral tablet with a strength of 260mg.
Interactions
A total of 398 drugs are known to interact with Quinine Sulfate. Therefore, it is important for a patient to inform the doctor about all drugs he/she is taking. Quinine Sulfate can interact with anti-convulsants, blood thinning medicines, statin drugs, and drugs used to cure heartburn and ulcers. Antibiotics like erythromycin might also interact with Quinine Sulfate.
