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I have missed 2 days of my Plaquenil- I have questions!

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Rheumatoid Arthritis
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Posted 10/1/2010 1:15 AM (GMT 0)
I feel like such a dingbat! I have a medication- keeper doohickey that I put all my pills in for the week, and I forgot that I was low on Plaquenil. This was 2 days ago. I called me Rheumy & told her I was out of it & she said that she would call in a prescription that day. Well, she didn't. I am going on day 3 of not having Plaquenil at all. At first I felt nauseous in the morning, but then I was thinking, "Oh, this isn't that bad, I am not really having much pain, maybe I dont' need to be on it." Now my fingers are really starting to bother me, but the that could also be the weather. We've had rain for a couple days, but today turned really warm & muggy for a while. Weather like that always bothers my joints.

  So here's my questions: am I really screwing up my system by not having the Plaquenil or is it something that stays in the system for a long time? Will I need to take a higher dosage when I start it again? How do you know it's working if the pain never goes away completely?

  Also, I noticed earlier tonight that my finger joints actually looked swollen- normally they just hurt but I usually have swelling in my MCP joints only. I don't know if this is from me not taking the Plaquenil or if it's weather related. My wrist and thumb are starting to hurt too, which bothered me a while ago. I know I need to call my doc firsdt thing in the morning, but I wanted to get feedback from those of you that have taken Plaquenil for a while. Thanks!

Posted 10/1/2010 6:19 PM (GMT 0)
i am on plaquenil and have missed days when i first started them too, its not a bad thing....I take 400mg daily
I actually am still taking plaquenil, and my rhuemy has told me to skip two days a week of taking them as plaquenil is supposed to build up in your system,and she says after a while that the patient needs to wean off of it. I too feel the pain more on the day after i skip ( i take mine at bedtime so i feel the pain most when i get up and all the next day....) but when i told my rhuemy this she said that its not possible because of the build up in system...I left her office with the attitude that I DO TOO HURT, why doesnt she believe me? and the attitude that on my days 'off' I would take pain releivers which are necessary and try to co-ordinate no meds with not to big event days.... Like if I have to work Saturday I take the med Friday night, but maybe switch it so I skip Saturday night instead.
I just make sure the days that I skip, that the next day is not anything too big or important going on.... I suggest you get back on your prescription and take it the way it was prescribed as soon as possible. I am no doctor, but my rhuemy did say you cannot quit cold turkey, its a weaning process.
So what I'm trying to say , is that from my experience, not from my doctor's point of view, YES skipping plaquenil will make you feel different possible hurt or swell more. I personally didn't take extra for the days I missed when forgetting to re-fill my script, just took the new ones as prescribed and waited patiently for a couple days for it to get back into my system and help relieve my pain and swelling again.
Now that I have talked in circles I hope that this helped even a little. Hang on and someone else may also reply and make more sense then me....
good luck and gentle hugs
TayIsa
Posted 10/1/2010 7:10 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the reply! I called my dr.s office this morning and asked about it, and the receptionist said that when the doc takes calls (the doc actually answered the phone when I called because everyone else was at lunch) she sometimes forgets about the messages and she had just brought up my chart this morning. She said that the Plaquenil does build up and your system. I wonder why your rheumy told you to skip days? I wish that doctors would explain more about the medications they give up! Sometimes they just write you a prescription and say, "Here take this" and avt like you're not supposed to ask what it's for.
Posted 10/2/2010 3:20 AM (GMT 0)
Plaquenil is subtle lots of people start to wonder if they really need to be on it.
Usually a few days to a week is all they need to convince them that yes indeed they do need to be on it.
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