Malaria Tablets in chocolate??

Question

I am currently taking malaria tablets...DOCTORS pleasee?
I am currently taking mefloquin or something like that, and i can not swallow tablets, so i crush it up, and put it in ralph's chocolate syrup. Is that okay? Like, will the malaria tablet work properly, because i am leaving to india soon...and i want it to work properly. So, will crushing the mefloquin malaria tablet into powder, and putting it in chocolate syrup work? Because i couldn't really taste anything...


thankss
Also, the chocolate syrup has citric acid in it, so wouldn't it dissolve and not work?
Are you sure it wont affect it?

Answer 1

It would be best to contact the doctor that prescribed the medicine for you and ask if what you are doing is OK.

Answer 2

chocolate syrup will be fine. Mildly acidic substances like citric acid will neutralize quinines like mefloquine (Lariam). Neutralizing them eliminates the bitter taste, but does not change its effectiveness or how it is absorbed (since they are going into stomach acid anyway).

Incidentally, this is the whole reason you use a lime for a garnish in a gin and tonic--the British needed a way to take quinine for malaria since their empire was in many malaria-infested locations. However, the quinine was too bitter to take, so they put it in water, added a ton of sugar and a fragrant liquor like gin, then added the lime to help reduce the bitterness. Nowadays, they actually acidify tonic water to eliminate the bitter taste, but there is still some quinine in tonic water.

As always, discuss these and any questions with your doctor.