P.

[Guest guest]

Hi, !

You've been very quiet. I'm happy to hear from you and so pleased that you

report that Plaquenil seems to be working for you.

Sorry that you are worried about your recent fevers. As Pat suggested, they

could be from the RA itself. Many inflammatory disorders such as RA and

lupus can cause patients to run low-grade fevers, so maybe it's just a

coincidence.

I checked out my books here and looked around the Net for adverse reactions

to Plaquenil, but I couldn't find that fever was a very common or dangerous

side-effect of the drug. My favorite lupus author, Dr. Wallace, talks

at length about antimalarials in two books I have and he does not warn about

fevers (antimalarials are widely used in lupus). One thing that he did say

is that some side-effects spontaneously resolve after a period of time (and

you have only been on the drug for a month). Also, a common solution to

adverse reactions when using antimalarials is to lower the dose and, if the

reaction subsides or disappears, the amount of the drug you take can be

gradually increased. Another suggestion that Wallace had is to take the

brand name Plaquenil, not a generic. He said that in his experience

Plaquenil is " better tolerated and more effective " than the generic

hydroxychloroquine.

Hope this helps ease your mind a bit until you can discuss this issue with

your doctor. Good luck and please let us know what happens.

Happy New Year to you and please keep your snow!!

----- Original Message -----

From: " linda " <linda@...>

" " < egroups>

Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2000 6:57 PM

Subject: [ ] welcome

> Welcome to all the new members. You will find that this is a wonderful

and supportive group. I haven't been posting much lately, but have been

keeping up on my email and keeping various individuals in my prayers.

>

> Right now I'm feeling a little bummed. I started plaquenil a month ago.

It seems to really be working for me. However, I have been running a low

grade fever every day for about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks. I was just doing some

research (one of the sites someone posted) and found out that this is one of

the things to talk to the doctor about if it happens. I am worried that I

will have to stop the plaquenil. I don't know what we will try next -

everything else has caused a lot of stomach problems. My doctor told me

that I am one of his most challenging patients as far as finding a drug

that I can take that works for me.

>

> I know that there must be something out there that will work but as many

of you know it can be very frustrating dealing with the pain as you wait.

>

> I hope each of you have a Happy New Year!! (If anyone wants more snow, I

have a lot I would like to give away!)

>

> P