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Hydroxychloroquine side effects

Autoimmune Diseases | Last Active: 8 hours ago | Replies (43)

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Profile picture for naturalcranberry @naturalcranberry

@cptrayes Yes, I’m in the US. Here you have the eye exam the first year you start it, year 5, and then annually after that (or at least that’s what they do at Mayo, where I’m seen). Though I feel like that changed between when I started my meds and when I clarified this fall..? I seem to remember during the medication education appointment that it was every 3yrs, but that was in 2022. Could be they updated the standard recently or I was just getting incomplete info that was nonspecific to my case/circumstances.
I suppose my age could also factor in - I was quite young at the time of diagnosis (34), so it could be the age of my eyes, liver, kidneys, etc and ability to metabolize meds may impact the initial frequency of the eye tests.
It’s always interesting to hear how standards of care differ from one country to another!

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Replies to "@cptrayes Yes, I’m in the US. Here you have the eye exam the first year you..."

@naturalcranberry I wouldn't be happy with that schedule of eye exams. If my memory serves me right, 1 in 13 people will have retinopathy at 5 years. If they are only being tested at 5 years, then some of those people could have been saved further eye damage at 2,3,4 years.