Hi AnnieRae,
I have RA, and it typically does hit both sides of my body (if my right wrist is affected, so is my left). That being said, the joints on the right side of my body tend to be worse than on the left. This is consistent with almost all of my affected joints (wrists, hands, elbows, hips, shoulders, ankles, etc...). My rheumy told me that for reasons unknown, some people do report one side of the body as being worse than the other, even if they have apparent swelling on both sides.
I took plaquenil for a couple of years, but it honestly never did much for me. I finally caved and started methotrextate, along with enbrel, and it was the best decision I've made. within a couple of months, the methotrexate had my pain under control, and when I add in the enbrel, I feel 100% normal most of the time. Methotrextate requires closer monitoring than plaquenil, but all this means is that you have regular bloodwork done (every couple of months). Although I was terrifed to start mtx, I'm very glad that I took the risk.
El