Okay, so today my doctor gave me a prescription for Plaquenil. I'm pretty anxious to try it because I'll be starting college in a few weeks and my goal was to be on it by that point, even though it takes a few months to get going. I know the side effects can be in the eyes, so I got an eye doctor appt. set up as well.
For those of you on it, I would love to hear your opinion on it and how it has affected you!
Hope you had a good day today. <3
Hello Lark,
It's a brilliant drug and like no other drug can carry side affects as we all know and i'm back on it also till i see my new rheumo.
I can advise this but wheather you take my advice is up to you as another member did what i mentioned and had hardly any affects....instead of taking it through the day as side affects do hit you more, take it at night before bed..i take mine at 11pm and your sleeping any affects off through the night and it does take upto 6mths to work but when i first took it, it started working on me just before the 3rd month.
Best of luck Terri xxx
I have virtually no side effects and have been on it for years
Hi poobie,
I'm pleased you got virtually no sides affects but with me the first time around taking it at 2pm in the afternoon did affect me until i was advised to take it at night. xxx
poobie said:
I have virtually no side effects and have been on it for years
I don't have any major side effects. I have been on Plaquenil for six months now. Sometimes I get a little nauseous when I take it without enough food in my stomach, so I try to take it with meals to avoid that. I found that in the beginning, it was causing my stomach to empty really fast, causing some constipation, and it sped up my digestion process as well (I know it's gross, but it's a reality, I want you to be prepared). After a while that subsided. But even the nausea is mild. I am taking 400mg daily now, each pill is 200mg, which I take twice a day. As far as my eyesight, I really can't tell if it has been affected by the medicine. I always had light sensitivity when it came to my eyes, which increased as my Lupus symptoms began to surface. Over time my eyesight in general began to diminish, I used to have 20/20 vision, but now I feel I could benefit from reading glasses. Again, I don't attribute this to the Plaquenil, but it's a great idea that you scheduled a visit with an eye doctor. I plan to do the same thing now that I have been on the medicine for a few months. Some people have different side effects, and they get allergic reactions like rashes or hives. Some people lose their hair, or have increased sun sensitivity. Some people have reported that it helped them grow their hair back or stopped the hair shedding. There is nothing that cannot predict how you will react to the medicine, you will just have to look out for any weird symptoms that arise once you start it. I hope it works well for you! It's been great for me, it's basically restored me to where I can be a little more active with less pain. Last year this time, it hurt to hold my cell phone to my ear, and all I could do was lay around. I'm glad to have it! A word of advice, don't try to ween yourself off of it if you begin to feel better, and always take it when you are supposed to. Make sure you keep up with your refills as well, so you don't have to go for a long period without it. Otherwise you may find that your symptoms may come right back, or you may cause a flare.
I had some side effects for the first month or so with stomach upset but after my body adjusted I didn;t have any side effects. I thought that it had helped me go into remission - they say it helps keep you in remission longer and makes your flares shorter. I was afraid to take it becuase of the possible effects on vision but if you get them checked every 6 months they can spot early signs of any problems and vision problems are rare. It took 6 months for it to take full effect for me but I have heard others say it took effect for them in 3-4 weeks - everyone's body is different. I hope it works quickly for you!
Hey, I just responded to another person asking about plaquenil. I was very recently diagnosed and plaquenil was the first drug my doctor tried. I started with 200 mg on a sunday afternoon around 4PM and the next morning woke up with severe muscle cramping that lasted for hours. I was having difficulty standing and even when I wasnt standing the pain was very uncomfortable. At first I thought maybe my potassium was very low seeing as I had been on prednisone for over a week and a half however when my bloodwork came back it was a normal level. I was hospitalized for the day and once the drugs were flushed out I started feeling better. My doc has taken me off plaquenil since obviously. At least make sure you are keeping in touch with the doctor, plaquenil sounds like a serious drug and I wouldnt want you to feel any extra unnecessary pain. However my cousin Missy has been on it with no problems! I have heard there is a blood test you can get first to check if you are able to take it. Maybe you can ask your doc? Hope this helps!
Hello sjohnson,
Plaquenil can give off side affects to people and it is strong with the side affects and some don't have none, it sounds to me that you may have either had an allergic reaction to the drug or your DNA did not match for anti-malerial drugs.
When being put on these drugs your DNA is the main match to these drugs.
Love Terri xxx
sjohnson4888 said:
Hey, I just responded to another person asking about plaquenil. I was very recently diagnosed and plaquenil was the first drug my doctor tried. I started with 200 mg on a sunday afternoon around 4PM and the next morning woke up with severe muscle cramping that lasted for hours. I was having difficulty standing and even when I wasnt standing the pain was very uncomfortable. At first I thought maybe my potassium was very low seeing as I had been on prednisone for over a week and a half however when my bloodwork came back it was a normal level. I was hospitalized for the day and once the drugs were flushed out I started feeling better. My doc has taken me off plaquenil since obviously. At least make sure you are keeping in touch with the doctor, plaquenil sounds like a serious drug and I wouldnt want you to feel any extra unnecessary pain. However my cousin Missy has been on it with no problems! I have heard there is a blood test you can get first to check if you are able to take it. Maybe you can ask your doc? Hope this helps!
Hello Lark!
I'll be also starting college in a few days! But I was prescribed Plaquenil around 3 months ago. I take it twice a day, one in the morning after breakfast and a little later a night after dinner time, 200mg each pill. So far, what I noticed that I suffered some massive bloating, but I wasn't sure if it was the other medication I was taking, such as Cellcept. But you can take Gas-x for the bloating! it works wonders! But I would double check with your doc before taking it!
Some other things I noticed when I started plaquinil, not sure if it was due to other meds, but my eyes were very sensitive to the light. If my eyes were exposed to bright lights, my eyes would saturate and I wouldnt be able to see properly for a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the severity. But eventually after a few weeks that faded away and now everything is okay! :D
-Julie
Hello Lark,
How you feeling in general with your health and when's your eye appointment plus when do you start the drug?
Love Terri xxx
My eyes got really sensitive to the light recently too! I started taking plaquenil a few months ago. So that would explain it....didn't make the connection til I read your post.
Ibie Monstah said:
Hello Lark!
I'll be also starting college in a few days! But I was prescribed Plaquenil around 3 months ago. I take it twice a day, one in the morning after breakfast and a little later a night after dinner time, 200mg each pill. So far, what I noticed that I suffered some massive bloating, but I wasn't sure if it was the other medication I was taking, such as Cellcept. But you can take Gas-x for the bloating! it works wonders! But I would double check with your doc before taking it!
Some other things I noticed when I started plaquinil, not sure if it was due to other meds, but my eyes were very sensitive to the light. If my eyes were exposed to bright lights, my eyes would saturate and I wouldnt be able to see properly for a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the severity. But eventually after a few weeks that faded away and now everything is okay! :D
-Julie
My biggest paranoia is losing my sight. The eye doctor was blunt with me as well; he wasn't rude about it but he didn't hide anything back when I asked him about the drug. I play violin, piano, and teach kindergarten, so losing my sight isn't an option. I am really anxious about that side effect. but it hasn't bothered me yet.
Hello LMB,
Lupus can cause sensitivity to light also but did the opthamologist say you can carry on taking the drug because if your eyes are bad, alot of opthamologist won't let you carrying on with the drug or even start it because of eye vision.
Love Terri xxx
LMB said:
My biggest paranoia is losing my sight. The eye doctor was blunt with me as well; he wasn't rude about it but he didn't hide anything back when I asked him about the drug. I play violin, piano, and teach kindergarten, so losing my sight isn't an option. I am really anxious about that side effect. but it hasn't bothered me yet.