I have been on Plaquinil for about 6 weeks. Last week I started to have a sore throat and ear ache. When do you call the Dr, how sore should it get? I don't know if I am coming down with a cold. It's crazy because I am tired and I don't know if I am sick or it is this "syndrome" :-\
Call your DR. You have an ailment.
I have stabbing pains in my ears from time to time. It's caused by the parotid glands. They produce a lot of our saliva, but dryness means our saliva moves too sluggishly and can sometimes almost form a plug. It helps to put a warm, damp washcloth along your jaw for a few minutes, starting just below your ear, and then massage the area by stroking downward with your index and middle fingers in the same area. This gets the saliva moving again and relieves the discomfort. If it doesn't help after 10 minutes, I take some Advil. I get this very infrequently now that I've been on Plaquenil for a long time.
Of course, this applies only if this is the cause of your ear ache. The technique I just described may answer that question if it relieves the pain. When I first got this pain (before my SjS Dx), I thought my ears felt weird because I was coming down with a cold and I was congested. So I'd take Sudafed. Bad move, because Sudafed dries a person out -- just the opposite of what I needed.
I agree with Joe that it sounds like you are coming down with something.
Prairie Gal's advice is excellent if you think it might be your parotid glands.
For me, one of the most difficult things about having Sjogren's is knowing when your are sick and knowing when to go to the doctor.
Hi :)
It sounds to me like you are coming down with something too.
I'm 99.9% sure it's not a side effect from Plaquenil.
Hope you feel better soon.
Take care - Scottie :)
I forgot to say that having a sore throat for a week or more doesn't sound like a cold because other very identifiable cold symptoms usually rear their ugly heads after 2-3 days. Could even be strep throat, which is treatable. And serious. I hope you've made an appt. to see a dr. to get to the bottom of this.