It's always fun to try to explain to people what hydroxychloroquine is and why I have to take an anti-malarial. I didn't think it would make me more susceptible to infections, but thought it was something I should ask. Other than the lupus symptoms, I don't get "regular" sick that often.
Some good news I wanted to share with you (or anyone else who's interested) is that I didn't experience any side effects with Plaquenil, even when I had to double the dose, and I'm up to 115 pounds now. So I'm gaining about 1 pound a month. Hooray! And, since I went up to 400 mg I haven't had any IBS symptoms - not sure if it's just a coincidence or due to amitriptyline or what, although I'm positive Heather's EFI guidelines have been a great help. I shared this with the rheumy who said he wasn't sure if it had to do with the Plaquenil, but that he's really interested to see what happens with my IBS over the course of treatment. In September, after six months at 400 mg, he's lowering it to 200 mg since I'm still underweight. My rheumy is very cautious - and even though I'll be on a low dose he still wants me to see the eye doctor every six months because I "only have two eyes."
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Re: Michele
