Arthritis Information -Anyone on Plaquenil?

I was recently Rx'd Plaquenil for RA, but after reading up on some of the side effects, I'm scared to take it.
My Dr. assured me it's the safest & most natural of the drugs out there, & side effects are quite rare. He did explain the need for annual eye exams due to the risk of retinal damage, but didn't mention any other worries...
Also, does it help at all with the fatigue? If not, any suggestions for that?
Thanks!


Green Girl2008-05-03 19:42:02Hi, I take plaquenil .It was added to my mix about 6 months ago when my other med just werent quite covering the pain, stiffness etc. I started on methotrexate 5 years ago and had to go off that due to bad side effects. I then started on arava, then enbrel was added. The enbrel has been the best thing ever, lifted the fatigue straight away, and most of the other problems,but after a few months my rheumy added the plaquenil. It didnt seem to be doing anything at first, but now I find I can get out of bed in the morning with no morning stiffness. So I take arava, enbrel and plaquenil with no side effects at all. Its a matter of personal choice whether you take the plaquenil or not, but I weighed up the benefits of having a functional life to enjoy living and play wih my grandchildren. All medication (and food for that matter) can have side effects. But it doesnt mean you will have any. All the best ,Ally.hey there i took plaquenil until about 2 weeks ago when my rheumy agreed it was no longer working, so he switched me to methotrexate.  i had some pretty bad side effects at first-what i called dishrag gut where i had such bad stomacg cramping and nausea that it felt like my stomach was a dishrag someone was wringing out.  but eventually that tapered off.  plaq helped me for about 6months-i felt good.  then its effectiveness stopped suddenly with the last flare i had.  i was assured as well it was the mildest safest agent to begin with and that those retinal problems reported were more from dosing issues, but idk.  i never had any problems but i was on it less than a year but i was told my my eye dr that it was a real problem if you were dosed too much or on it too long, and that with proper prevention and eye appts yearly you could avoid that! oh btw it did not help me with the fatigue at all I have been on plaquenil for 9 months and can't say it has really helped me but have had no side effects.  I have just started MTX but rheumatologist has kept me on plaq as he feels it may be helping and some thoughts are that it helps with the MTX.  I have had eyes tested and no problems yet.Dr Wei -

HI, I'VE BEEN ON MTX FOR ABOUT SIX YEARS AND PLAQINEL FOR 2 YEARS. THE ONLY SIDE AFFECT I NOTICE IS THAT I GET KINDA SPACEY ONCE IN AWHILE AND WOULD JUST LIKE TO FLOP DOWN IN THE OL LAZ-BOY, BUT I REALLY DON'T HAVE ANY PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS SINCE I'VE BEEN TAKING THESE MEDS.