Alright, boys and girls - who uses plaquenil? How well has it worked? How bad are the side effects for you? Was it your first drug, or did you switch from something else? What else do you take with it? If you used to take it but don't any more, why?
Been taking it for about 15 years now...no problems with it for me. Not sure that it does much on it's own. I went off of it for a bit and noticed a difference and then when I went back to it things got better. So for me I think that it works well with my mtx. On it's own it did nothing.
I took it from age 10-13 and it worked wonders for me. No side effects that I can remember. I just had to get my eyes checked frequently. Hope it helps!! oh yeah and Happy Thanksgiving!!I have been on it for almost 2 years and it works great. No side effectsThis is my first/second? time on plaquenil. I switched from mtx because I had problems tolerating the med. I started plaquenil in early Sept/07, took 200mg per day for 21 days but every day was awful... abdominal cramps, bowel problems, itching,& blurry vision. My rheumatologist and I talked about taking a probiotic along with palquenil to see if that would ease the GI problems so at the end of oct. I started plaquenil again. The probiotic has really helped me... the GI problems are almost gone... my hands are still itchy so i often have to take an antihistamine.
Any body getting headaches? I've been getting low grade ones for the past 2 weeks. I'm hoping it isn't from plaquenil. We've had a number of snowy days ... maybe it's the change in air pressure.
Jesse88, I'm having the ringing in the ears too. Is there dose lowere than 200mg? I wonder if increasing my hypertensive med will help.I was on it for about 4-6 months in the begining (varying doses) but it gave me strong stomach cramps and little if any relief. I take it as a substitute for straight quinine sulphate for the bizarre leg cramps I was having, after QS was recently taken off the American markets. Guess malaria is eradicated in the US. My rheumy reluctantly put me on plaquenil as a substitute at my insistence. Now that I know I have osteoporosis, which is what is probably causing the leg cramps, I am going to talk to him next week to get off it. He said I could 1 or 2 a day, he didn't care. Have you ever tried chugging tonic water for the leg cramps? I think it's something like 80mg quinine/liter of tonic. I was on it for a couple of months earlier this year with no problems. I also didn't see a whole lot of improvement so we have switched meds since then. Unfortunately, I have struck out with this flare and nothing is really working. So, I have gone back to plaquenil and humeria just to have something flowing through my veins to hold back some of the joint damage. I am doing a little better than before but it has not been a miricale drug for me.I've been on plaquenil and prednisone for over a year. At first plaquenil caused some gas, and it has made my eyes much more light sensitive, but nothing scary. It helped tremendously with my fatigue, and toned down the swelling and pain, especially in my feet. I wouldn't want to be without it, but alone it doesn't manage my symptoms. I've just recently added MTX and am hoping that I can keep at a low dose of that and finally get things under control. I hope that the plaquenil will help you too.it was my first drug, i've been on it for just over a year. the only problem i had with it was migraines but it was only for about 3 or 4 days (however when i started adding other meds i got migranes as well so i think it was just my bodies reaction to new meds). i take 200mg because i'm small and my dr didn't feel comfortable going up to 400mg, i added sulfa about 5 months later and i've been on mtx for a month now. the major difference i noticed after about 3 months was the dramatic improvement in my fatigue- i had sevear fatigue as one of my symptoms.
i think its a good drug to start with and then build into other meds- good luck!
< =text/>_popupControl(); Danielle (she is 12 years old) is on plaq and it has worked very well for her. She is on 200mg ONCE a day tho. She has had no side effects from it.
When I was on it I had some gas
Make sure you get your eye exam done!!!
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Danielle (she is 12 years old) is on plaq and it has worked very well for her. She is on 200mg ONCE a day tho. She has had no side effects from it. When I was on it I had some gas
Make sure you get your eye exam done!!! Jasmine - I don't want to hijack the thread, but thanks for the reminder about the tonic water. I had forgotten - frain bog. And extra calcium/magnesium helps me too. I also have a nodule in my right hip and I think it's a combo of alot of things, as most of our complaints seem to be. It's trying to sort it all out, which is what unfortunately, our MDs don't have the time to do. I am hopeful the osteoporosis drug will handle the leg cramping, which did go away with the QS and now the Plaquenil. We now return to our usual thread programming. My sister is on Plaquenil. She has Lupus, Raynauds, UCTD, and unspecified inflammatory arthritis. She has had chronic diarrhea ever since she started taking it. If she puts food in her mouth, she is in the bathroom 2-5 times within 10 minutes of eating. Now, I know she also suffers from eating disorders, so it could be that too; I don't know. She goes back to her Rheumy Dec 4th I think to see about a change. Hi Jesse Thanks for replying. I'm thinking that the ringing's probably my bp being a bit elevated. I've been on it almost a month and so far it's worked great for me. I still have some tenderness in areas of my hands and feet which I'll probably always have to some degree, but the stiffness and soreness in the morning are almost gone, and my energy level is MUCH better. A month ago staying up until 11 pm or not taking a nap during the day was unthinkable, and now I'm back to pretty much a normal sleeping routine. I would recommend taking it with your meal, and no earlier or later. I waited to take it one evening about 2 or 3 hours after dinner and felt nauseous almost immediately. I think AI disorders cause stomach sensitivity to begin with (at least that's been the case with me) so you definitely want to take every precaution with medications that have the capacity to further aggravate it. Good luck to you!
Yep... gonna call for the eye exam on Monday. As for the "toots"... that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing... I would have some ammunition to answer back when the men in my house let 'er rip!!!
It started a couple days after the plaqenil. It could also be the cold, dry weather, as it's gotten quite a bit colder here this last week. But I don't remember "winter itch" being this annoying. So far about the only thing that stops the itch is Ben Gay or Icy Hot. So I smell real nice.i have been on it almost a month and i have had really awful abdominal problems, severe cramping, nausea, you name it! i have tried every trick my dr has suggested and nothing has helped. plus the really vivid freaky dreams are disrupting my sleep! i got an eye exam last week and my eyes are great so i am hoping they stay that way. i am so over plaquenil. i feel like it gives me bad side effects and i have seen no improvement from it, rather the prednisone is doing the job, so why am i taking something that makes me feel as bad as the disease does, yet is going to take up to five more months to show signs of helping. i cant work that one out yet in my head...
Yup...itching is one of the side effects my sister has too; forgot that one.
[QUOTE=GrammaKathy]Yup...itching is one of the side effects my sister has too; forgot that one.
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Does it improve with time? Or are people going to start thinking I have fleas? What does your sister do for the itching?
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