Who knew?

I just read this morning that Quinine is ototoxic (affects the inner ear). I drank an entire small bottle of tonic water a week ago Wednesday to deal with a major hamstring cramp, my worst ever. It helped with the cramp, but the next day and subsequent days, I've noticed some dizziness, weakness, spacial disorientation, and my everyday tinnitus got significantly louder. 

 

I've had other issues going on for the past week, for which I saw a doctor on Friday, and have been taking an antibiotic until today. But I was curious about my entire suite of symptoms, so I asked an AI to try to integrate and analyze all the information I could think to provide about my activities and symptoms for the past week. I was surprised when it mentioned that the much louder tinnitus was probably the result of drinking the tonic water. What?! 

 

So I asked Google to tell me more about quinine and tinnitus:

"Based on your description, you are experiencing symptoms consistent with cinchonism—a syndrome resulting from quinine toxicity, which often causes the exact side effects you mentioned: tinnitus (ringing/buzzing), dizziness, and vertigo. While quinine in tonic water is diluted, sensitive individuals can experience these effects, which are recognized as being ototoxic (harmful to the inner ear)."

 

The attached image contains the complete response. Interesting!

 

P.S. My dad got me started on tonic water for cramps decades ago. This time, with a massive and repeating cramp that was getting the best of me, I gulped down the entire 12oz bottle, instead of just taking a few sips. So that could have been a factor in why it affected me so much more than before.