I took Plaquenil (which is a malaria medicine) for a skin problem several years ago. I was not taking Prednisone, but was using a strong steroid cream. I didn't have any side effects at all from the Palaquenil... but did tire of the frequent eye tests that had to be done since it can damage the retina.

Hope someone else can give you more information.

I have RA, and was taking Plaquenil with Methotrexate(a standard combo for many drugs)for about 4-5 years.
A couple of months ago, my doctor said that recent trials have shown that Plaquenil doesn't seem to make any difference, and suggested that I stop taking it.

No difference at all....only that it saves me the $10/month co-pay at the pharmacy.

Oh....stress can and does cause severe, but short flare-ups with RA and other systemic arthritis.

One downside of dropping the Plaquenil....my insurance paid for yearly eye exams because of it...now I have to pay the bill myself.

I'm not sure what your specific questions are but I'll ramble on for a bit with what I know/think...

It sounds like your Dr. knows he may need to wean you off prednisone (or that he is worried it's not working well enough) so he is trying Paquenil (which often takes months to kick in). Please be sure to keep up with your eye doctor appointments. Is your eye doctor charting you on this medicine?

Regarding flare ups... I don't think anyone knows what causes them. They say it's a cross between genetics and environment (what ever that means). You personally are probably the best indicator of what causes your flares up. Did you eat anything out of the ordinary (bean sprouts, shell fish, etc), did you over work yourself... Seriously, chart what you have been doing to see if a pattern exists with flare ups (It could be a new body lotion).

Another thing I want to mention is that plaquenil is often given to Lupus patients. He may be evaluating you for Lupus. Have you spent a lot of time in the sun -- because that can cause Lupus Flare Ups. Some people with joint problems/pain also have big problems when the barometric pressure changes (storms come in and out, etc) - do you notice that?

Try to take care of yourself. Massages or Yoga may help your health tremendously. Think of them as medicine, not luxury things to do. I hope you feel better soon and they figure out what is exactly wrong so they will be able to treat it. Hopefully, this flare up won't last long.

Oh, and be sure to take Plaquenil as directed (Check your directions -- does it say to take with food or milk?). If it does, that can be a lot more imporatant than you think. And, remember you have to keep up with the eye exams. Take care.

I have lupus, and I've been on plaqenil for, geez, maybe 10 years or more? Now, I'm a bad patient, and there have been some phases of my life where I didn't want to be on maintenance meds and didn't take it, and I didn't take it during any of my pregnancies.

During a flare, I add prednisone into the mix - starting at 10 and going down every other day. That seems to tone down my flare ups.

I've had lupus for seventeen years - since I was 14. In that time, I've found two things that trigger flares - season changes from summer to fall and stress. My largest flare (and diagnosis) came when I was a freshman in high school. I also flared my freshman year of college, during wedding planning, after each pregnancy, and other stressful periods in my life. Some of that also goes with the seasonal changes - starting school in the fall, my son was born in the fall, but there have been other small flares in the fall.

Part of it is overall health. I feel better when I am exercising regularly and taking care of what I eat. I do worse when I quit exercising and eating everything in sight.

Back to your original question. Plaquenil caused fewer stomach problems than other medicines I've taken. However, after I had my gall bladder removed, the medicine increased the "dumping", IBS like side effects. To resolve that issue, I simply take it at night before I go to bed.

If you have other questions, please let me know. My rheumatologist is my FIL, so I have unlimited access to my health care provider :)

I have not experience with the plaquenil or your condition, but there is a wealth of info at sites like WebMD, Mayo, and RxList, if you just Google 'plaqueni'.

I like to read askapatient.com for users experience with prescribed drugs. Everyone has a different experience but sometimes you see patterns of side effects that come up quite often that the doctor did not mention.

http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=9768&name=PLAQUENIL

Here is a link that might be useful: plaquenil experience posted by patients

That is an interesting site, but be careful though, so many of the side effects listed are symptoms of the diseases the people have too, so sometimes it's hard to tell if they are actually side effects or just that the medicine hasn't fully started working yet and they are just experiencing flare up symptoms.

One other thing I wanted to note is that Plaquenil does make you more sensitive to the sun so be sure to wear sunblock. It is also very dangerous to children even in small quantities so be sure to keep it out of the reach of children.

One other quick thought about Plaquenil: I believe this is the drug my friend's dh took as a malaria preventative, and it gave him horrendous nightmares. Do check out the listed side effects.

Thanks for all the replies.

Strange, I have had some weird dreams - wouldn't call them nightmares, just very weird.

The flare up has settled down, a lot, for one reason or another. I am going to try to do some charting and see what comes up.

Thanks again.

Ivamae..has your doctor suggested Enbrel at all?