hi, is anybody else on this and how are you finding it? I am a little concerned about some of the possible side effects, in particular the one with abdominal problems and having to take antacids, as I take lansoprasole twice a day. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Tia x
Extremely few side effects..the only RA medication that has been effective long term with no side effects..
I've been on it for 3 years (generic for plaquenil) with very few side effects. I did have some hair thinning at first but that leveled off after a couple months. Also, I have to have thorough eye exams every year while on it. So far, no problems, but I still have some RA flares from time to time.
Thanks for replies. I decided to take one earlier afte lookingup again on here, but I am sure I read the are usualy taken alongside another ra drug? I am only taking these and painkillers.
well its great that side effects are low
Hi sandy67, I was prescribed these along with mtx, felt sick most of the time so they didn't work out for me, I felt at the time the cure was worse than the disease. I think you just have to try it and see with all these things, I think it is very much a personal thing whether you get along with them and whether they make any difference to your disease, it may be that the positive effects are worth the side effects sometimes. I hope they work out for you :-)
Thans Caz, I have had diarrhoea since starting taking them, but not sure whether this is a side effect or whether I hae a bug, also git a bad headache this evening and feel horrible, but Again it may be a bug, will wait and see how it goes x
These have helped more than any other RA treatment for me..going on 4 yes with these..failed the sulfa drugs, biologics, and methotrexate.. I take 2 of these daily and supplement it with just 5 mg prednisone which has kept me pretty much flair free..about once a yr I go into a flair..but find its due to not getting enough rest or sleep, extra stress, sugar binges, drinking milk or spaghetti sauce, or other foods I am sensive to, or a combination of these things.
Also awhile on this medication ( also called plaquenil) a flair has been triggered by stopping my Calcium with D3 supplement with my multivitamin..not sure why!!??
Not sure! I have had a strange headache last few days and have a horrible feeling of my body shifting, I cant explain it properly!
Body shifting?
Do you mean you are dizzy?
No not dzziness, hard to explai, but whenI move my eyes there is a kind of buzzing right through my body. Weird and horrible. I hate it x
Hi Sandy, when i researched this strange feeling you are talking about, ive read that this is usually caused ny great anxiety..ALS. Or MS..do you have either of thesr conditions?
I would avoid this drug like the plague! I'm now into my fourth week of giving this drug up after being hospitalised with the most severe drug reaction. I was only on it a month. I'm still coming out in it. It's not a rash really it looks like burns. My skin is peeling and even this morning some new patches have came up I wish someone could tell me how long this wretched drug will take to get out of my system.. all together i have been off work five weeks so far. I had a tempreture and my liver has been affected. I'm so angry with myself as i argued against taking these type of drugs but was told it would improve my quality of life! I never want to go through anything like this again. If you can manage without these drugs my advice is to do so. They told me 1 in 10,000 people this could happen to buyt ive read a lot of people get itching and rash but probably not to the degree i had. My body was covered head to foot. I find light brings it all out again.
This medication has very few side effects and is one of the very safest, reliable meds for RA and has been around a very long time. It is the only med that has not caused pain or additional sickness.
Hi, blimey i do hope its not ALS, that is just dreadful. Ms has been something tha has crossed my mind over the years and a brain scan suggested something like that a few years ago, so it is possible, but now they have diagnosed ealy Ra they will not bother looking for anything else! The pain in my muscles would fall into that. I should tell doctor but have just neve been able to describe this horrible feeling. It doesnt happen evey day thankfully x
blimey I am so sorry you had such a bad reaction! I couldnt cope with that on top of everything else. I have only just come out of hospital after having dreadful abdo pains and ovarian cyst pains and abnormal,bleeding. Feel like giving up sometimes. Thanks for your advice x
Thank you cheria, just hope I don't get the same reaction as poor rose! X
I've been on this a few weeks. The first week I felt slightly nauseous but anti-emetics took that away. I have dry skin that may or may not be related to this med but exfoliation and moisturiser should help there too. Aside from that I've not noticed anything negative. The hair loss is nowhere near the prednisolone or methotrexate levels.
Forgot to add I take omeprazole and it does require some fancy timing. I wait four hours after morning dose to take the omeprazole then take my evening dose as normal - thankfully I'm not needing two PPIs at the moment or it would get awkward. My GP says you only really need to wait two hours rather than 4