Afraid of the side effects.

foxylock

Hi guys.

My first post in this forum, I'm wondering is anyone taking Arcoxia and Plaquenil? I have osteoarthritis in most every joint in my body and now lucky old me has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis as well. My rheumatologist has just prescribed one 200mg tab twice daily of Plaquenil and one 90mg tab of Arcoxia. Have you experienced any side effects or relief? My job is quite hectic and I really dont want to make myself any sicker than is entirely necessary.

mathepac

Have you discussed this in detail with your doctors and/or pharmacist? Have you read the PILs included with all prescription medicines?

foxylock

Doctor said no side effects, pharmacist said there is, information sheet with the drugs is full of worrying side effects. Who does one believe? Anyone with personal experience of these drugs?

Nonoperational

You need to just try them yourself and see how they agree with you. If it makes you more comfortable introduce them one at a time, but while Arcoxia should work quickly Plaquenil takes time to exert it's effects. Arcoxia is basically am anti-inflammatory/pain killer while the Plaquenil modifies the disease process in your joints. It's true some people will have no (or very minor) side affects while others may not tolerate the drugs as well.

Saying that they are two generally well tolerated drugs and I wouldn't be afraid to try them at all. Your doctor obviously considered their suitability for you before they prescribed them. You need to weigh up the discomfort the diseases are causing you vs the possible side effects of taking long term medication.

One thing I would say is to be careful of being too freaked out by patient information leaflets. They correctly list all possible side effects but some are extremely rare.

up for anything

My ex has been on Arcoxia for years and has never had any side effects. I don't know about the other one.

This reminds me, there is a tablet I need to ask about but I'll start my own thread.

nesf

Drug sheets can be intimidating, full of weird and wacky side effects. Thing is the average person doesn't get any of them or maybe just one or two of the really common side effects. You won't know how the drug will suit you until you try it. You usually cannot predict in advance how a drug will work for you.

Best of luck with it anyway.

cafecreme

I've been on Plaquenil for over 2 years with no side effects so far but as others have said everyone is different, the main thing to look out for with Plaquenil is your eyes, you must have a complete opthamologist's exam every year as it can cause sight problems in a minority of people. If you notice any change in your vision stop taking it immediately-that what all the warnings say anyway. Its been prescribed for RA and SLE for a long time now so there's plenty of data on side effects, why not give it a go, as gpf says it takes a bit of time to build up in your system (long half life). its worked well for me but my RA progressed so I now take another drug alongside it.

All the latest RA research shows the best thing for RA is to control the disease (plaqeunil) rather than just treat the pain symptoms, its safer for you long term. Osteo needs pain control so you can keep moving as best you can. You're very unlucky to have osteo and RA so your doctor is just covering both diseases. Good luck with it

foxylock

Thank you all for the replies, you have brought some ease to my mind, so here goes ........

nesf

foxylock wrote: »

Thank you all for the replies, you have brought some ease to my mind, so here goes ........

The best thing to do is to talk to your pharmacist about any side effects you need to especially look out for. They'll be able to give you good advice in this regard.