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Did hydroxychloroquine make you nauseous with diarrhea?
Newly diagnosed with RA after a couple years of thinking it was OA with no meds given till now. I also have IBS and a very sensitive stomach to meds of any kind. Tried hydrochloroquine but it made me so sick. The doctor then said to try it at night and when I read it causes insomnia I didn't because I can't sleep either due to RLS....I feel like a mess and failure and don't know where to now turn as far as relief. No NSAIDS allowed so only tylenol arthritis which does nothing. Anyone else struggle with these issues and meds prescribed? thanks for any thoughts....
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@ruralgal76 I'm about to give it another try so will do it your way with milk at night...Hope it works as my body is killing me and I need something. She was reluctant to give me methotrexate due to my reaction to the milder hydroxychloroquine. Guess I'll find out! Thanks!
Yes for about a week but I took it with toast and some tea. No longer have any issues
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1 Reaction@omnipair314
No. It really helped after 1 year, I took it 4 more years. Then like all good doctors she moved on. Other Dr's would not give. Took it with 1 baby aspirin.
Been on it for a couple of months. It makes me intermittently queasy, but nothing else. It did as promised and after about two weeks my pain was barey there. I''ll take queasy over pain.
@purehope2022 I'm about to try it again next week....have a wedding to go to this weekend and didn't want to feel those side effects for that. I took it for a few weeks the first time and felt no pain relief, just the nausea and diarrhea. Doctor said it could take up to 4 months before I noticed any pain relief. Hopeful this time I can deal with it and get relief like you did...thanks...
I've been on hydroxychloroquine for years. I know it helps me because when I had to stop taking it for surgery life became a lot more miserable than usual. I take it around 6am with other pills, then go back to sleep. I hope it helps you.
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1 ReactionI believe that initially that can be a side effect, but usually goes away. I have been on it since September and it has been helping with painful body aches, without it not sure how much I’d be able to get done in my life.
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2 ReactionsI wrote before about struggling with side effects of hydroxychloroquine. I pushed through and am tolerating it by taking it at night (200 mg) with dinner. Nausea and diarrhea have subsided. It has been three weeks now and I am curious for those who use this for their RA, how long was it before you felt anything as far as symptom relief? Thanks....
Hello, @kmg218,
As you mentioned, I combined your update on the effects of hydroxychloroquine with your previous discussion so members you connected with could see your update:
"Did hydroxychloroquine make you nauseous with diarrhea?"
- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/did-hydrochloroquine-make-you-nauseaus-with-diarrhea/
It is good to hear that the unwanted side effect has started to subside, but you ask a good question of how long other members like @fairn, @reets70, and @omnipair314 were on it before they started to notice any symptom relief for their RA.
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1 Reaction@kmg218 I was told it would take 6 months to see noticeable results. I didn’t have much in the way of side effects except for increased GERD for about 6 months then I got sun sensitive and two different rashes. Both caused by allergies. I stopped taking it and my skin is pretty much back to normal.