Hydroxychloroquine

hey , One of our awesome advocates wrote an article about her experience with hydroxychloroquine. I'll include a link in case you're interested in reading more. She talks about her side effects, how it works and her experience overall: https://lupus.net/living/about-hydroxychloroquine
Hope this helps!
Gabby (team member)

I have been on hydroxychloroquine for a while. It is a mild treatment for lupus that has worked well for me. It's important though to be screened yearly to make sure there is no damage to your eyes as it can cause some issues with prolonged use. And I don't say that to scare you, just to make you aware that is one of the things I do yearly to be safe. ~Racquel~ lupus.net team member

I have been taking Hydroxychloroquine for over 20 years. I am fortunate to not suffer from any side effects. If I have flare ups, they're very mild and have not slowed me down much at all. Others have taken this and don't feel any relief or in some cases feel worse. My suggestion, keep communicating with your doctor(s) and make them aware of any changes. You know your body better than they do. Much luck to you! I truly hope it does for you what it does for me.

I was diagnosed in about 1996 or so. Thank goodness I had a great rheumatologist who shunned steroids.
It took 5.5 months for the Plaquenil to reach therapeutic level and my first reaction was to note how much pain I must have been in daily because suddenly I felt so much better!
Very important that you have an ophthalmologist check your eyes every year. It took 25 years but my eyes now show signs of toxicity damage from the drug.
However, I would take it again for all those years of pain relief. It allowed me to work full time, exercise regularly, raise a family, travel extensively….
I’m choosing at this point not to take anything. I pile on the spf 100, wear spf clothing & hats, and continue to exercise, volunteer and keep busy. Hoping for the best.