Treatment with hydroxychloroquine may be continued indefinitely as long as it is effective and no serious side effects occur. If you stop hydroxychloroquine treatment for more than a few weeks there is a risk that your condition may worsen.
You can take hydroxychloroquine for a long time if it's working for you, but your doctor will monitor you while you're taking it. For example you may have regular full blood counts (tests to check the types and numbers of cells in your blood) and eye examinations.
Plaquenil and other anti-malarials are the key to controlling lupus long term, and some lupus patients may be on Plaquenil for the rest of their lives.
Keep taking hydroxychloroquine until your doctor tells you to stop. Do not stop taking it just because you feel better. If you stop, your symptoms may get worse again.
Long-term use and high doses of hydroxychloroquine are risk factors for the development of cardiomyopathy. Cardiac failure, conduction disorders (including QT prolongation and Torsades de Pointes) and sudden cardiac death are consequences of the cardiomyopathy.
The study concludes that hydroxychloroquine therapy is safe for long-term use at doses <5 mg/kg/day. Learn about how lupus affects the eyes and hydroxychloroquine.
Because it's a long-term treatment it's important to keep taking hydroxychloroquine unless you have severe side effects: even if it doesn't seem to be working at first. even when your symptoms improve (to help keep the disease under control).
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.
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.
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. Unfortunately, once they lose a severe amount of vision loss, it is permanent.
Hydroxychloroquine may potentially result in adverse effects on the central nervous system, mainly irritability, nervousness, emotional changes, nightmares, and even true psychoses [3, 4].
Plaquenil binds to retinal pigment cells, causing adverse changes in vision that occur slowly over time. Objects may start to appear blurry or distorted. In the most serious cases of Plaquenil-induced retinal toxicity, the macula is completely destroyed.
You may want to limit your consumption of grapefruit or grapefruit juice during treatment with hydroxychloroquine. Grapefruit juice can significantly increase the blood levels and effects of hydroxychloroquine, which may result in an irregular heart rate or other conduction disturbances.
Hydroxychloroquine is metabolized in the liver and may alter metabolism of other medications. Therapy is unlikely to cause liver injury in normal individuals, but can trigger an acute worsening of porphyria cutanea tarda in susceptible individuals.
It can decrease the pain and swelling of arthritis which can prevent joint damage leading to long-term disability. Hydroxychloroquine is in a class of medications that was first used to prevent and treat malaria but today is the standard drug in lupus. It can be used in many other autoimmune diseases.
Can Plaquenil have effects on my teeth? No, side effects related to teeth weren't reported in Plaquenil's clinical studies.
Experts haven't found any interactions between alcohol and hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), a drug you may use in your lupus treatment plan. But you may also take other drugs alongside hydroxychloroquine, like methotrexate. If this is the case, you shouldn't drink alcohol.
Adults—At first, 400 to 600 milligrams (mg) taken as a single dose or in two divided doses per day. Then, 200 mg once a day or 400 mg taken as a single dose or in two divided doses per day. Your doctor may adjust your dose if needed. Children—Use and dose must be determined by your doctor.
Hydroxychloroquine may cause a condition that affects the heart rhythm (QT prolongation). QT prolongation can rarely cause serious (rarely fatal) fast/irregular heartbeat and other symptoms (such as severe dizziness, fainting) that need medical attention right away.
What is Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil®)? Hydroxychloroquine is used in the treatment of arthritis to help relieve inflammation, swelling, stiffness, and joint pain and also to help control the symptoms of lupus erythematosus (lupus; SLE).
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.