What does hydroxychloroquine do to your body?

Hydroxychloroquine is a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD). It works by calming your immune system. This helps reduce swelling (inflammation) in people with autoimmune conditions, where your immune system attacks your own body.

What is the downside of taking hydroxychloroquine?

Serious side effects

any eye problems, including changes in the colour of your eye or problems with your eyesight such as blurred vision, sensitivity to light or changes to the way you see colour. muscle weakness, cramps, stiffness or spasms, or changes in how your skin feels such as tingling.

How long can you stay on hydroxychloroquine?

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.

How does hydroxychloroquine make you feel?

Hydroxychloroquine may cause some people to be agitated, irritable, or display other abnormal behaviors. It may also cause some people to have suicidal thoughts and tendencies, or to become more depressed. If you or your caregiver notice any of these side effects, tell your doctor right away.

What is the major toxic effect of hydroxychloroquine?

Its main side effects are gastrointestinal upset (vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps), skin rash, headache, dizziness, and ocular toxicity. However, serious side effects including arrhythmia, bronchospasm, angioedema, and seizures can rarely occur.

Hydroxychloroquine And What It Does To Your Body

Is hydroxychloroquine hard on the body?

Hydroxychloroquine (brand name Plaquenil) side effects range from more common, mild issues such as headache, nausea and stomach pain to serious but rare conditions such as heart problems, muscle weakness and convulsions. Side effect risk may increase with higher doses and long-term treatment.

Is hydroxychloroquine a form of chemo?

Chemotherapy drugs, such as hydroxychloroquine, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving trametinib together with hydroxychloroquine may work better in treating patients with pancreatic cancer.

What foods should I avoid while taking hydroxychloroquine?

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.

How do I know if hydroxychloroquine is working?

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.

What is the best time of day to take hydroxychloroquine?

If you take Plaquenil once daily, there's no best time of day to take it. But you should take it at about the same time each day. And it's recommended that you take your dose with food or milk. If you take Plaquenil twice daily, you can take one dose in the morning and one in the evening.

Does hydroxychloroquine help with fatigue?

Hydroxychloroquine is the immunomodulatory drug most frequently used for primary Sjögren syndrome,⁷ usually prescribed for patients with fatigue, arthralgia, and myalgia^8-10 rather than severe systemic manifestations.

Does hydroxychloroquine reduce inflammation?

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). A common brand name for hydroxychloroquine is Plaquenil®.

Do I have to take hydroxychloroquine forever?

With most diseases, it can take 4-6 months to experience the full benefits of this medication. The primary goal of hydroxychloroquine is to control lupus long-term, in fact, most patients may be on it for the rest of their lives.

Does hydroxychloroquine affect the brain?

Hydroxychloroquine can induce adverse effects on the central nervous system, from irritability, nervousness, and emotional changes to true psychoses.

Does hydroxychloroquine make you sleepy?

Hydroxychloroquine oral tablet doesn't cause drowsiness, but it can cause other side effects.

Does hydroxychloroquine help with pain?

Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) is a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD). It can decrease the pain and swelling of arthritis. It may prevent joint damage and reduce the risk of long-term disability. Hydroxychloroquine is in a class of medications that was first used to prevent and treat malaria.

What vitamins should i not take with hydroxychloroquine?

No interactions were found between hydroxychloroquine and Vitamins.

Can you take vitamin D with hydroxychloroquine?

Interactions between your drugs

No interactions were found between hydroxychloroquine and Vitamin D3.

What vitamins should I take with hydroxychloroquine?

Why is hydroxychloroquine used for autoimmune diseases?

Hydroxychloroquine is a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD). It regulates the activity of the immune system, which may be overactive in some conditions. Hydroxychloroquine can modify the underlying disease process, rather than simply treating the symptoms.

What autoimmune diseases use hydroxychloroquine?

Due to its cost‐effectiveness, safety and efficacy, HCQ is especially used in rheumatic autoimmune disorders (RADs), such as systemic lupus erythematosus, primary Sjögren's syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis.

Is hydroxychloroquine the same as prednisone?

Are Plaquenil and Prednisone the Same Thing? Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) and prednisone are used to treat symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Plaquenil is also used to treat or prevent malaria, and to treat symptoms of discoid or systemic lupus erythematosus.

Does hydroxychloroquine affect your teeth?

Can Plaquenil have effects on my teeth? No, side effects related to teeth weren't reported in Plaquenil's clinical studies.

What does hydroxychloroquine do to your stomach?

In some people, HCQ may cause gastrointestinal problems, such as nausea, vomiting, upset stomach, cramps, or diarrhea. These may occur for the first few days a person takes the drug while the body adjusts to the medication.

Does hydroxychloroquine cause hair loss?

Usually Plaquenil related hair loss starts 2-6 months after the Plaquenil was started. We call this a drug induced telogen effluvium.