Symptoms of heart-related problems Plaquenil may cause include: fatigue (low energy) irregular or fast heartbeat. swelling in your legs or feet.
These may occur for the first few days a person takes the drug while the body adjusts to the medication. Loss of appetite, tiredness, weakness, or headache are uncommon side effects and typically go away over time.
This medicine may cause muscle and nerve problems. Check with your doctor right away if you have muscle weakness, pain, or tenderness while using this medicine. Hydroxychloroquine may cause some people to be agitated, irritable, or display other abnormal behaviors.
Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are the most common side effects of hydroxychloroquine. And some people may also experience stomach pain.
Serious side effects
muscle weakness, cramps, stiffness or spasms, or changes in how your skin feels such as tingling. frequent infections with a high temperature, sore throat or mouth ulcers. bruising that happens more easily than usual.
Avoid taking an antacid or Kaopectate (kaolin-pectin) within 4 hours before or 4 hours after you take hydroxychloroquine.
Hydroxychloroquine starts to work gradually. For inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, it can take 6 to 12 weeks before you notice any benefits. It's important to keep taking hydroxychloroquine. You may not feel any different at first, but it is likely to be working.
Plaquenil may cause certain problems with sleep, such as nightmares. And with nightmares, you may be unable to sleep well, leading to fatigue. (With fatigue, you have a lack of energy and feel tired.) It's not known how many people have had sleep problems while taking Plaquenil.
In FMS/CFS patients with an autoimmune prbblem, Mease has noticed that Plaquenil can sometimes help the FMS/CFS symptoms. This drug can cause toxicities in the retina of the eye in rare instances. For this reason, people who take Plaquenil should have an opthomology exam every six months.
Side effects aren't common. However, in some people hydroxychloroquine can cause: skin rashes, especially those made worse by sunlight. feeling sick (nausea) or indigestion.
Joint pain and swelling also decrease. Over time, Plaquenil helps reduce inflammation around the heart and lungs and improves symptoms such as fatigue, fever, and cognitive dysfunction. And patients report more energy because it's a mild stimulant.
Using Plaquenil for a long period of time may harm the retina, causing serious vision loss. People with retinal damage from Plaquenil are not aware at first that they are losing vision.
No interactions were found between Plaquenil and Vitamin D3.
Plaquenil isn't known to interact with alcohol. However, certain side effects from Plaquenil could be worsened by drinking alcohol. Examples of these side effects include headache, nausea, and dizziness. (For information about Plaquenil's side effects, see this article.)
After patients respond well to the medication, medical providers will reduce the dose to 200 to 400 mg once daily or divided into two doses. This is a maintenance dose. The dose shouldn't exceed 600 mg or 6.5 mg per kilogram of body weight, whichever is lower.
The study found that a person who decreases her/his HCQ dose is 54% more likely to experience a flare sooner than someone who maintains the same dose. And, if someone stops taking the medication entirely, she/he is 61% more likely to have a flare sooner than someone who continues on HCQ.
One of the side effects of hydroxychloroquine is that it can cause changes in emotional lability. Emotional lability means a person may have sudden and exaggerated changes in mood, with poorly controlled strong emotions that may include anger, dysphoria, sadness, or euphoria.
However, some of the medications commonly used to treat RA – including hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), methotrexate and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as naproxen (Naprosyn) or celecoxib (Celebrex) – can cause reactions such as rashes or sunburn with ultraviolet (UV) light exposure.
Plaquenil works very slowly. In 1 to 3 months you should start to feel better. You may continue to get better for up to 1 year. Most people who take Plaquenil also take other medicines for pain and stiffness.
If a medical condition isn't causing your fatigue, lifestyle changes may improve your symptoms. To reduce fatigue, you can: Practice good sleep habits: Aim for seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Don't drink caffeine, use electronics or exercise right before bed.