New to Group

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to introduce myself. I was recently diagnosed with RA (although I'm

sure I have had it for a while). In 1992 I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

I had a positive RA back then, but was told it was a false positive. I would

have occasional severe bouts of not being able to walk well, but they chalked

it all up to the fibro. The last couple of years I can not go a day without

an NSAID. I then went on Vioxx about a year ago. This past fall I read up

more on RA and found that they were starting to treat it more agressively

than before. I had just moved and had pneumonia. I wasn't getting any

better with the fatigue and the morning stiffness, hip pain, feet, wrists,

etc. was not going away. I went to my doctor and asked for blood work again

for RA. Well, my RA factor was 94 units with normal being <40 and I had a

high white blood count. Sed rate was normal. He sent me to a

rheumatologist. My C-reactive protein is at 15 with normal 0 to 5. He

started me on Plaquenil as a test to see if it worked, and if it did, he

would definitely diagnose me with RA. Well, after 4 weeks of this, I felt

better, but had an allergic reaction to it! Now he has me on Chloroquine,

which I have had no trouble taking, but it doesn't seem to be working as

well.

Is anyone here on chloroquine, or has been on it? How is it working for you?

nne