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View Full Version : Malaria, Quinine based meds & Deafness/Tinniitus


pzu
26th Nov 2014, 19:55
Being brought up in EAfrica in '50's/'60's and having worked in Indonesia (E Kalimantan) in mid '70's plus Sudan (Coast) in '00's have taken various anti-Malarials over the years

In'70's suffered a few go's with Malaria and again '00's

In '03 suffered 100% deafness in R ear after a short flu like set of symptoms - was in France, returned to UK and various tests (no mention of Malaria) plus MRI scan viewed by ENT consultant (ruled out stroke type probs), at same time developed severe Tinnitus in R (deaf ear) and moderate occasional Tinnitus in L ear (had balance problems whilst adjusting to this) - at same time confirmed 50% loss in L ear - this put down to short military + 35 years Oil industry

Yesterday on a Kenya 'when/we' F/B site came across strong thread suggesting that many folk with long term useage of anti-Malarials had similar histories

OK primarily anecdotal but has got me wondering, as over the years i've used most of the main ones

Also was advised (by a long lost school chum) that nowadays Many in Africa no longer take the 'dawa' but instead rely on 'Test Kits' can be self administered which give results in approx 15 minutes and treated accordingly

OK I've rambled a bit, but any comments

PZU - Out of Africa (Retired)

Mac the Knife
27th Nov 2014, 18:49
Quinine in normal doses only occasionally rarely causes tinnitus/hearing problems.

At one time, in large doses, it had an reputation as an abortifacient - tinnitus was normal and deafness did sometimes occur (it is not an effective abortifacient).

Mac

:cool: