Hi, I posted recently about how my fatigue seems to be worse than ever at 6 months into treatment.
I have been on mino for 6 months and zith for about 4.5 months. I was on Bactrim, but switched to plaquenil around a month ago.
I can't be sure, but I sense that my increased fatigue is due to plaquenil. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this?
I was taking 400 mg Plaquneil every other day, and then reduced it to 200. Now, I am debating either further reducing or stopping the plaquneil completely until my next LLMD consult later this month.
I'd be very interested in the experiences of others with plaquenil, especially if you noticed enhanced fatigue.
My diagnoses are Lyme and Bart. I have some symptoms that my LLMD says suggest babesia.
Thanks!
Posted by sutherngrl (Member # 16270) on :
My fatigue improved when I was on 200mg of plaquenil a day for one month; then when I moved up to 400mg a day, I actually felt worse overall. Don't know if that is any help or not.
Posted by Wonko (Member # 18318) on :
sutherngrl,
Did you stay on that dose and eventually overcome the fatigue, or did you back down?
It would be helpful to know if you stuck with it, and if so, did you ultimately benefit?
Thanks.
Posted by sutherngrl (Member # 16270) on :
I started having all kinds of weird side effect and my doc had me stop it altogether. I have only been off of it for 3 days.
Posted by Wonko (Member # 18318) on :
Thanks! That sounds exactly like what happened to me with Bactrim:
I seemed to make a lot of progress with one pill a day, but when my LLMD had me up it to twice a day, I got way too many symptoms and then stopped it altogether.
The plaquenil was supposed to "replace" the Bactrim in my treatment. I only reduced the the dose about a week ago, but still feel so fatigued that I may just stop it and rely on the mino and zith for a few weeks.
Thanks for sharing your experience, and I hope you get over those weird side effects.
Posted by Wonko (Member # 18318) on :
cottonbrain,
If you come back to this post, can you tell me what ultimately happened? Did you gut through the plaquenil and eventually get positive results, or did you change your regimen?
If you continued, how long did it take?
At this point, I think I am going to stop the plaquenil. I'm not convinced that the pain and discomfort it is causing now will benefit me in the long term, and it's sure throwing a wrench in the short term.
Posted by Chaya (Member # 12880) on :
I've been studying about Plaquenil--the pharmaceutical literature. It can suppress the bone marrow's function of making new cells.
In other words, it can decrease numbers of white blood cells (for immunity), platelets (for blood clotting), and red blood cells (causing anemia).
That would make you very tired. You might also feel chilled and notice that your fingernails are pale.