Hydroxychloroquine

[suracon]

Has anyone been prescribed Hydroxychloroquine with Predisnolone? And if so jave you experienced any after effects?

I have been one Predisnolone for about a year now and my consultant recently prescribed Hyd on top of my 10mg Predisnolone.

[jeannette67]

Yes I take Hydroxychloroquine with pred. Was on hydroxy for R A then with pred for the last 2 years since GCA. I've had no probs found it o k

[polkadotcom]

Hydroxy is more commonly prescribed for RA. It isn't used very much for PMR, off the top of my head I can only remember one other person being given it, she found it wasn't helping either the PMR or steroid reduction so it was stopped. I can't remember for how long she took it.

As far as steroid-sparing drugs go, methotrexate seems to be the main one used, with leflunamide now coming up on the list. I used methotrexate for 2 years and was no better off at the end of the 2 years than I was when I commenced it, so it was stopped.

[Mrsd12f]

Hi suracon,

I'm on Hydroxychloroquine and Pred. I haven't had any problems with it, though I am aware of possible damage to eyesight, long-term; my optician says he's never come across a case of this in his entire career, which is reassuring, I suppose.

However, having said that, I'm not sure that it's having any effect and am thinking of stopping it. The trouble is, as it takes a little while to become effective, I'm not sure whether stopping will have an instant effect or whether the effect will be felt further down the line. I suppose I'll have to suck it and see!

[Anna135]

I was given Hydroxychloroquine 2 years ago because my crp was going up as I tried to taper the Prednisone. Crp went up to 37, I was on about 15mg of prednisone still (down from 60mg). My rheumatologist talked about methotrexate but them decided to try Hydroxychloroquine. It brought my crp down to 17 after a few months. I was personally surprised as I hadn't been expecting it to work. I'm being treated for GCA, not PMR.

The Hydroxychloroquine caused some hair loss while on 400mg, but no bald patches, my hair just thinned a bit. On 400mg it gives me stomach cramps a few hours after taking it, but on 200mg I don't really notice side effects. Oh and also on 400mg I became noticeably more photosensitive and burned more easily from the sun (living under the harsh Australian sun).

[Griggser]

Hi been on hydroxchloroquine with pred for several months now. Difficult to say if it's doing anything. I have been feeling better for a couple of months but think that's more to do with being on a low carb diet. Have had methotrexate and leflunomide in the past and that did nothing. Azathriaprine was also tried and made me very poorly. Good luck.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I really do have to say here that I am convinced that when the so-called steroid sparers work in patients who have been diagnosed with PMR and then struggle to reduce their pred it is because they don't actually have "only" or "just" PMR. About 1 in 6 people who are given a PMR diagnosis originally later are given a different one, usually of an inflammatory arthritis (PMR is a vasculitis, but produces rheumatic symptoms). The "steroid sparers" would work better than pred there. So often people have something different or something extra. It doesn't really make that much difference since about the only thing that can be done in much autoimmune disease is manage symptoms - there is rarely a cure.

[Gonfreecs]

Hi, I have been prescribed hydroxychloroquin since beginning my prednisone about 7months ago for GCA. Have had no side effects so far. I was originally prescribed methotrexate, had to stop that because of low platelets. Then I was prescribed azathioprine; had to stop that too because of elevated liver enzymes. As others have noted above, It is hard to say if it is helping or not but since my doc prescribed mycophenolate as a sparing agent and I chose not to take it (because I have had so many adverse effects with the other ones) I decided to take hydroxychloroquin because it isn't hurting me at least...

BTW has anybody else here been prescribed mycophenolate as a steroid sparing agent for GCA???

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Gonfreecs]

I haven't come across anyone on any of the forums in 8 years who has been on mycophenolate for GCA. It is used in other forms of vasculitis but isn't mentioned in any guidelines for GCA.

[Gonfreecs in reply to PMRpro]

Hi. Thanks for the response. I felt suspicious about that as well and with my high rate of adverse reactions, I chose not to risk it! Thanks.

[rockyandzeus]

Hi Suracon,

I took this drug for about 8 months. Had to avoid sun which was annoying, but did find that mosquito bites did not swell and itch as much as they usually do. Other side effects were mild. As far as aiding in pred reduction I would have to say there was no benefit to me personally in that regard and it was discontinued.

Good luck

Dorothy

[IslandShell]

Sorry for this late reply, I just saw your post. I was prescribed Hydroxychloroquine for approx. 2 years. I did not find that it assisted with tapering the Prednisone so I opted to stop taking it. I have had no ill effects from having taken it. There are special precautions with your vision, if you haven't already be sure and check with an ophthalmologist .

Merk