There went that free time!

[cjsmith]

I got home a little earlier than expected last night. I had a big list of stuff I wanted to get done: feed the cats, take my meds, fold laundry, scoop the litterboxes, subq the cat, do a load of dishes, edit an important letter I need to send soon, divide a roast into serving-size containers, and test some handsets for work.

Start at the beginning, right? With cats all locked away with their separate special diets, I took the "evening" portion of my meds. There's not enough space in the pill minder to separate "evening" from "bedtime", so I picked out the ones I needed.

I now realize just how much hydroxychloroquine (generic for Plaquenil) resembles Zolpidem (generic for Ambien).

I did manage to get into the bedroom. By crawling.

Comments

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

It can cause retinal damage, but ophthalmology exams every six months throughout the period of taking, if you're going to be on it for more than a few months, it can catch any damage before it's an issue. Skip the tests, you risk eye damage. Take the tests, there's really no risk, they can see any problems almost before they start. You might need a baseline. You should ask about that. Also, being as it's an antimalarial, you should go to cooking school in India while you're on it. ;)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Sigh. My doctor didn't deign to mention that. Exams are expensive... I suppose that means cooking school in India is right out of the budget, huh? :)

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

If you are taking hydroxychloroquine for a long period of time, your doctor will recommend frequent eye exams. It is very important that you keep these appointments. Hydroxychloroquine can cause serious vision problems. If you experience any changes in vision, stop taking hydroxychloroquine and call your doctor immediately. (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a601240.html)

I can recommend a couple of wonderful opthalmologists at PAMF if you like.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I <3 PAMF. I've had a couple of "pretty good" and one "pretty bad" doctor there. Every other doctor I've seen there has been stellar.

[psi-star-psi.livejournal.com]

If only you could find some way to learn the same cooking skills, but locally...

Oh, well.

Hmmm, anti-malarial. I recall that a long-term side effect of quinine is hearing loss. (Random trivia researched for an old role-playing character with Addiction: Quinine.) I guess this one isn't quinine-based but still goes after a sensory organ. Wacky.

Edit: And then I actually looked at the name and see that it ends in "quine". My reading comprehension skills are really diving these days.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

It's the synthetic, but the recent versions aren't as toxic to body parts as earlier versions.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Google gets me this: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/eyecare/archive/54.html

The management of patients on plaquenil has been a controversial subject. Alot [sic] of the concerns are related to the problems caused by chloroquine, the predecesor to hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil). It was much more toxic to the retina and much more likely to cause permanent visual problems. Hydroxychloroquine, on the other hand, is much less toxic to the retina and there have been fewer reported eye problems. In general, a baseline ophthalmic examination should be performed upon initiation of therapy. In addition, a central visual field test and color photographs of the retina are usually taken at that time. There are differing opinions regarding subsequent follow-up exams. The most conservative opinion would include exams every 6 months with repeat visual fields every 6 to 12 months. My general feeling is to perform annual exams with visual field testing. One study determined that the risk of retina toxicity when patients are taking less than 6.5 mg per kilograms per day is rare. This means that a person weighing 150 lbs is likely to be safe if they are taking 200 mg twice daily. I calculate this number regularly and if the person is on more than 6.5 mg per kg per day than I will follow them more closely.

You might be on a lower dose than I was, and mine was 8 years ago, so recent research might have further informed your current doctor.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm taking 200mg twice daily, but I'm a runt. 6.88 mg/kg/day. If I were a normal human I'd be fine. Hmm.

Anyway, thanks for the info! Another thing to ask the doc about.