Difference

[shadyelafifi1979]

Plz I wanna know the diffrence between avara and plaquenil

[Hidden]

Hiya,

Arava and Plaquenil are two different DMARDs. Obviously as they are different drugs they must act in slightly different ways. How rheumys decide which one to go for is beyond me! Often it seems to be a case of try it and see. But both are intended to 'modify' the disease i.e. to stop it damaging joints by limiting the inflammation in our bodies.

[nomoreheels]

Arava is the brand name for the generic drug leflunomide & Plaquenil is the brand name for hydroxychloroquine. As Postle says both are DMARDs (Disease Modifiying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs) which work in different ways but can also be used together, this is called double therapy. There are more DMARDs your Rheumy can prescribe, maybe this link will help you nras.org.uk/getting-establi...

If you need any more help or information just ask here or you may find having a look through the NRAS site nras.org.uk helpful.

[Livingston]

Additionally:

Arava (leflunomide) is a newer DMARD than Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) and was developed specifically for RD. The other DMARDs are drugs which were originally used for other things, but have been found to have beneficial effects in inflammatory diseases. Plaquenil was originally used as an anti-malarial. All of them have been in use for long enough for potential problems to be pretty well understood.

Prescribing practices vary widely around the world. Leflunomide has had greater usage in the US and Australia than in the UK although there doesn't seem to be any particular reason for this.

Just because something is newer doesn't necessarily mean it's better and failure/intolerance rates across all DMARDs are pretty similar. All of them come with long lists of potential side effects. Arava needs regular monitoring of both blood work and blood pressure. Plaquenil is the only DMARD which doesn't require regular blood tests, but you do need regular eye tests if you are on it.