What are your thoughts on taking plaqunille? I have felt no different on or off of it. I would like thoughts and opinions please.... Thanks! :D
You have not been on it long enough It can take several months and in many cases Plaquenil will lessen but not eliminate symptoms. It also prevents the more severe flares and overall keeps things in moderation. Lupus is not curable but it is manageable and this is one of the most benign drugs in the treatment arsenal
I understand your question. I think this is a trust question for me. I have to trust in my doctors. Sometimes this can be a really hard and scary thing to do. I have attended many conferences, gotten many second and third opinions, and every doctor I've heard from says take plaquenil. SO I end up with the same thoughts....whether its helping me or not because the doctor says it is I'm going to trust that and their research and take the plaquenil.
I had been on it for almost 9 months.... then my one doc wanted me off of all meds. so I stopped. I have not been back on it yet. 1st is I haven't been back to my new rheumy. 2nd reason is I don't want to risk my eye sight yeah I get that as long as you get your eyes checked etc. and its really not that common problems shouldn't arise. I am still iffy on it as I have had such negative side effects from many meds already. 3rd reason is kinda vane but my hair has been so much better since quitting and I dont want to go through all that again or lose more I have lost so much already..... so I guess I will know more when I see the rheumy. but I want to go with all my thoughts together.
Plaquenil may help your body without you feeling it, though I’d guess most of us feel better. It has affected my eyes, but it took almost 18 years. I have never heard of it affecting anyone else. It hasn’t affected my eyesight because I go to the eye doctor once a year to make sure. Plaquenil got rid of most of my pain and got rid of the lupus pleurisy I’d been suffering from- after 2 1/2 to 3 months. I might add that it took about that same 18 years to give me diabetes. The lupus was worse for me than the meds. When I first suspected that I had lupus, one book suggested that I not read anything written five years before (that would have been early90’s, or late &0’s) because it would tell me I would die within 5 years. They ve come a long ways in treating us, thanks to the meds! I 'd rather have side effects now than not have lived the extra years in better health.