Blue light photophobia, eyestrain, muscle spasms, pain, twitching
Gurm probiotics... I swear by (literally they have changed my life) PB-8
Do you mean you take them all the time or only to recover from an antibiotic cure? If you can disclose, did you target some specific health issue? I guess you are talking of wellness in general and it is not eyestrain related?
AGI I'm not shy - I have diverticular disorder (diverticulosis/diverticulitis). It's well managed with fiber, water, and a reasonable diet but discomfort remains... unless I take the PB-8. A few days on that and my gut is right as rain, and stays that way as long as I take a maintenance dose. Works for my mom also. And I know people without large intestines for whom it works wonders as well.
Been looking around this site for the past month and have found very useful advice but felt I needed to register for an account to warn people about the dangers of taking Quinine. Its a dangerous and lethal drug and I don't recommend anyone ever tries this. I was prescribed quinine years ago for a health issue and had horrendous side effects - dizziness, nose bleeds, severe brain fog. But it was the effect on my brain that the worst. I literally thought I was losing my mind, had severe paranoia and ended up accidentally overdosing, resulting in a trip to A&E. I still have a 4 months memory blank from around that time. I have photos of my 21st birthday party but I don't remember being there. I also left a job around that time but I don't remember if I quit or they fired me.
No one should ever be trying this drug. I felt fine until somewhere in the 3rd month of taking it when the symptoms really started kicking in but my brain was just too fried to know it was the drug that was causing my problems and I kept taking it until my A&E trip. If you need more evidence of just how bad it is google 'US soldiers gulf war quinine' and see what comes up. Not trying to scare people, just inform them.
Larkenn AWW SHIT, so I should stop drinking gin and tonics? Might explain some things, like after I've had 4 or 5 G&T's my brain gets all foggy and if I have like 10 of them I can't remember anything from the night before.
(How was your quinine taken and in what doses? The world has been drinking tonic water for 100+ years now...)
I was prescribed Mepacrine. I can't remember the exact dosage, I just know I took 2 tablets a day. It must have been a pretty strong dose because I had to have regular blood tests to make sure it wasn't damaging my liver. I think you'd be fine drinking tonic water. Though maybe lay off the gin a bit 
Larkenn I use an all natural, alcohol free organic quinine tincture on an as-needed basis. It is the ONLY thing that alleviates the occasional twitching in my eyelid. I'm not sure the difference/what additives are used in pharmaceutical quinine. I would think if it was lethal, it wouldn't be available whether via prescription or herbal. The side effects you experienced sound horrible. I've had absolutely no issues with taking the quinine tincture, but this is valuable information for others nonetheless.
reaganry Thankfully, I never took the two together. I only take quinine when I'm having the twitching, which is an occasional issue and wasn't happening while I was in the hospital. I stopped the antibiotics after two days of IV and one pill the first morning I was home. I will never take Levaquin again and hopefully never need antibiotics for anything again either. Good looking out though! Thank you 
Blair Well I'm assuming the pharmaceutical quinine is pure quinine. It was mixed with other ingredients, but there was no additives and the other ingredients weren't the problem the quinine was.
Yes quinine is available on prescription in different forms but it's now listed as a 'drug of last choice' because of its horrific and sometimes permanent side effects.
I would advise anyone trying this to stop taking it immediately if you suffer any side effects. Because eventually you will get to the point where you won't be able to tell anymore that the quinine is the problem and you'll keep taking it.
Blair I only take quinine when I'm having the twitching
I am not a medical doctor but maybe ask one about the cyanocobalamin eye-drop option. I have been taking the droplets for 4 days and I noticed immediate relief of my twitching. There should not be side effects, as they are just vitamin B12.
Gurm I have to read back through this but have we already covered lutein/zeaxanthin/astaxanthin supplementation? That really helps for me. But the fact that the symptoms began shortly after cessation of dairy indicates... something.
Hey, I am looking into some papers on astaxanthin. New for me, but not for some of you guys, I see...
https://www.vitexpharma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/July-2016-Astaxanthin.pdf
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/70320160.pdf
https://www.flexnews.com/files/bioreal031209.pdf
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213434415000262
Could you briefly say which dose you have been taking and for how long? Any side effect you know of, especially if used for months?
What do you mean with "symptoms began shortly after cessation"? Thanks!
AGI What I meant was that Blair's symptoms began within weeks after stopping her dairy intake. Might be unrelated, but you never know.
As for Astaxantin, I take 8mg a day (4 in the morning, 4 at night). I feel like my night vision is better, and glare bothers me less, but my tolerance for bad display tech hasn't increased drastically. Lutein made a much bigger difference. There have been no untoward side effects that I know of.
AGI So...
Daily intake: Lutein 40 (2x20), zeaxanthin ... included in the lutein. Astaxanthin: 8 (2x4)
I cannot 100% rule out placebo, but when I've accidentally missed a couple doses of lutein I do see a difference without knowing which kind of makes me believe it's not placebo.
I didn't switch, I added.
Lutein really has NO side effects. You can take pretty much a ton of it with no negative effects at all.
- Edited
I have started B12 eyedrops. "Bausch + Lomb Vitamine B12 Chauvin" , they are cyanocobalamin eyedrops in a preservative-free formulation (I can't tolerate BAK).
degen "Bausch + Lomb Vitamine B12 Chauvin"
I struggle understanding the instructions of the product I was prescribed because of language reasons. I googled about yours, and read "Warning: This is a medicine. The eye drop solution is treatment for eye infections." So apparently they are not just a supplement of vitamin B12? Did you get them over the counter or did you go to a doctor?