How long before Plaquenil helped joint pain & fatigue?

[DP]

Hi everyone,
I started on 200 mg Plaquenil x7 days and have been taking the 400 mg/day dosage for three days.

It may be psychological (and we've had warmer weather) but I could swear I have less joint pain already. Is it possible to see improvement this early? How long did it take for you to notice improvements in your joint pain & fatigue?

I am astonished that i was able to do some heavy-duty yardwork yesterday and I'm not in bed exhausted and hurting today. Don't get me wrong, I still have the usual hand & foot pain, but they are not as stiff and crampy. But I'm not exhausted and bed-ridden like I would expect to be. Does that make sense?

I am very hopeful that the Plaquenil will help enough so I can go off my Lodine (NSAID) in a few months. My rheumy thinks I will be able to cut back on it, but he's pretty guarded & conservative about hoping to stop it. I've been on it for over 3 years!

Also I had headaches for the first 4 days I took it - for all of those who wondered if it was related, I am pretty sure it was. Because I've been on a NSAID for years I don't get headaches, so I'm positive it was me adjusting to the Plaquenil. But it went away.

I am a hospital pharmacist and it's so strange to be on the illness side and see a rare side effect like headaches with Plaquenil become quite common.

Dawn

[Liz D.]

Dawn,

For me personally, it took three or four months for it to finally kick in and feel the benefit.  But for everyone it is different.  Some less, some more.  And of course, do not underestimate the power of positive thinking now that you are taking it.  That is always a big plus!?

Liz D.

[irish]

I noticed some improvement quite soon also but it took time for other things to improve. Just generally feeling some better with less fatigue and aches is a wonderful feeling. Good luck.

Everyone is different. I have had to come off of it a couple of times and I am always surprised at the symptoms showing up. After a person has been on the Plaquenil for some time we start to think that it really isn't doing that much for us. When we go off we are soon reminded by the symptoms that begin to rear their ugly head that we were indeed getting relief from the med. Irish

[deniselb]

About two months for me.

[SunshineDaydream]

I had very noticeable improvement regarding fatigue and joint pain within 2 weeks of starting, but from what I understand that may be unusually quick.

[belovedchaos1]

Honestly it helped me within days from a muscle and joint pain perspective! My pain was so severe I was starting to be bed bound, so how I noticed the pain shift was being able to be functional without pain.

However - when it came to flares I was still pretty frequent until the 3-4 month point. The plaquenil has been a life saver. It's given me back my life.

Hope that it helps you in the same way, and I wish you the best!

[DeadGirl75]

My rheumatologist told me that it takes 5 to 6 months to have the full effect.  I started in November and I can say that I have more energy, less pain and I can breathe through my nose because it's not stuffy. I initially had issues with nausea, but that passed fairly quickly. I hope you feel better soon!

[eye2dry]

hello DP.

I didn't feel improvement till 4 months on it. My dr. said to wait a few
months for it to help and not give up on it. Apparently he had some pts. that
didn't see improvement right away and quit it. I am glad you seem to have
earlier improvement.

It helped with my fatigue mostly and some with joint pain relief. It definetly helps
but not completely.

welcome to the forum.

shelly

[Scottietottie]

Hi 

Took me six months before I felt a difference. Thought it was never going to happen - but it did.

[SjoDry]

2 weeks

SjoDry