Observations placeholder
Quinidine
Identifier
017508
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
One of the drugs for which very few experiences exist is Quinidine. Quinidine is a stereoisomer of quinine [the stuff in tonic water] , originally derived from the bark of the cinchona tree. The effects of cinchona was known long before our understanding of cardiac physiology arose. Jean-Baptiste de Sénac, in his 1749 work on the anatomy, function, and diseases of the heart, stated that, "Long and rebellious palpitations have ceded to this febrifuge" and "Of all the stomachic remedies, the one whose effects have appeared to me the most constant and the most prompt in many cases is quinquina [Peruvian bark] mixed with a little rhubarb."
Sénac subsequently became physician to Louis XV of France. As a result of his influence, throughout the nineteenth century quinine was used to augment digitalis therapy. It was described as "das opium des herzens" (the opium of the heart). But the use of quinidine to medically treat arrhythmias only came about when a physician listened to the observations of one of his patients.
In 1912, Karel Frederik Wenckebach saw a man with atrial fibrillation. The man had found by chance that when he took one gram of quinine during an attack it reliably halted it in 25 minutes: otherwise it would last for 2-14 days. Wenckebach often tried quinine again but he succeeded in only one other patient. He made passing mention of it in his book on cardiac arrhythmias published in 1914. Four years later, Walter von Frey of Berlin reported in a leading Viennese medical journal that quinidine was the most effective of the four principle cinchona alkaloids in controlling atrial arrhythmias.
A description of the experience
On Aug, 22, 2015: 183 people reported to have side effects when taking Quinidine sulfate. Among them, 4 people (2.19%) have Hallucination.