Hydroxychloroquine side effects

The visual side effects can be avoided by regular
follow up testing with your ophthalmologist and
tracking the the cumulative dose to limit it over time.
A baseline eye exam and blood testing at intervals
prevents most ill effects while the drug is administered to control autoimmune diseases.

Thank you for this information! I already have no feeling or blink response in my left eye due to radio frequency ablation on my trigeminal nerve so it scares me that this can cause other issues as well. I will get with my eye dr and devise a plan to monitor things.

@jonesc - You might find the following 2020 article helpful as it contains some resource links and other cardiac risk information on Hydroxychloroquine - Dr. Ackerman in National News:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/genetic-heart-rhythm-disorders/newsfeed-post/dr-ackerman-in-national-news/.
There are also several related discussions where members have shared their experience - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/discussions/?search=Hydroxychloroquine%20side%20effects.

I will definitely check those out. Thanks for sharing!

jonesc, I tried it 2 different times as it was prescribed by my then Rheumatologist. It gave me shooting pains in my head and I felt like bugs were crawling on my face. It helped with my symptoms, but, the side effects were not good.

I know a lot of people that take it and have great success with it.

Praying for you. Blessings & Happy New Year!

I have been taking hydroxychloroquine for 20 years and have absolutely no side effects. This medication helped me immediately and continues to help with a vasculitis condition. Regular eye exams are critical to assessing this drug over time. My eyesight is fine still, and I’m 84 years old!

Thank you so much!

I started taking hydroxychloroquine about six months ago and my only issue is I have to eat something before I take it or I get a headache. It has helped with my symptoms. I have testing scheduled with my eye doctor so he can monitor my vision, my rheumatologist told me this was necessary.

I have no side effects or occular concerns, and it helped my dryness a lot.

My rheumatologist prescribed it to help me reduce on Prednisone. However, within 2 days, I developed the rash from heck from neck to toes. Took a month to go away even though I stopped taking the drug. Good luck!