I took Plaquenil for a month and let me tell you, they were not kidding about the side effects!!! I had nausea and the most severe migraine pain ever. And for me, the pain relief from the medicine was not even worth the side effect I was experiencing. The only good thing about this medicine was it curbed my appetite ;-)
I hope it works out for you though. I've moved on to Mobic (meloxicam) and I've had more success with it. Good luck!

I've been taking plaquenil for a few years now and don't have very severe side effects. I do have nausea from time to time, but I'm on another medicine to help with that. I was scared about the retina thing too, but your doctor makes sure you have yearly eye appointments to get your eyes checked and so far I've had no problems. Hopefully it works well for you! It definitely helps me with the pain.

I've taken it for over a year and have had no probs - go to the opthalmologist every 6 months. Remember Mobic is just an NSAID for the pain and inflammation, and Plaquenil is a DMARD for the disease itself to help with pain. It did well for me, but eventually got to where I needed something else with it (added metho.)

I feel for you. The RA medications scare me too. I've been on this med. for about 4 months now. With the exception of small white dots on my skin (from sun exposure), I haven't had any problems. It's a photo-sensitive drug, so I wore a high SPF in the sun, but I got the dots anyhow. No biggie. It just hurt my vanity. :) I actually wish I could stay on it longer, because the side effects were minimal and it doesn't limit your lifestyle as much as the others. Unfortunately, I'm told it's not strong enough for me. I've been having a flare-up since March, so the Dr wants me to switch to metho. (oral chemo) as well. That one terrifies me, but the pain is so bad and deformities are starting, so I have no choice. Best of luck to you.