What is hydroxychloroquine?
Hydroxychloroquine is an oral medication used for treating or preventing malaria, a disease generally caused due to the mosquito bite. But this medicine does not work for all strains of the disease. Hydroxychloroquine is also used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
Symptoms of hydroxychloroquine overdose
Hydroxychloroquine overdose needs to be treated quickly. It is must to get an emergency medical help if there arise certain symptoms.
- Trouble in focusing.
- Seeing flashes or light streaks in vision.
- Color change in the eyes.
- There can be allergic reactions, such as, swelling of face, tongue, or throat.
- Chest pain.
- It may feel like fainting.
- Slow heart rate.
- Shallow breathing.
- Weakness of muscle.
- Tingling sensation in the body.
- The blood sugar becomes low.
- The blood cells reduce in number.
Hydroxychloroquineoverdose or even it is taken for a long time; itmay affect the retina of the eye, as it can be seen from the symptoms. The overdose can be dangerous for children. Hence, call the doctor at once or stop taking the hydroxychloroquine once you grow such symptoms.
When and how to take hydroxychloroquine?
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Follow the doctor’s prescription
Follow the doctor’s prescription and take the medicine accordingly. Neither has it in smaller or larger amount nor takes it for longer than it has been recommended. Preferably the medicine should be taken with a glass of milk or with a meal.
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In the common place of malaria
If you go to some area where malaria is common, you can start taking hydroxychloroquine before two weeks of going. After you leave the area, also continue taking it for at least eight weeks. In this way you can prevent malaria.
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Take the dose properly
Now to treat malaria, the medicine is given for three days. On the first day the dose is high, and on the other two days the dose gets smaller.
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Use protective clothing for taking the medicine
Apart from taking the medicine timely and properly, protective clothing should also be used. Nowadays there are insect repellents that can be used as well. Mosquito net should also be used to prevent the malaria.
Benefits of theplaquenil
The medicine has some beneficial properties, such as it helps to improve lipid profiles. Plaquenil has also been found to control glucose. It helps to lower the risk of diabetes mellitus and thrombosis in people.
Consumption of plaquenil is generally safe during pregnancy, but it is recommended to control birth throughout the plaquenil treatment course and also for at least six months after the course gets over.
Side effects of plaqueniloverdose
Among the possible side effects of plaquenil overdose the most common are nausea and diarrhea. The side effects which are less common are skin rashes, hair fall, weakness, headache. The retina of the eye may get affected due to plaquenil taking and it may even lead to loss of vision. This is considered a rare side effect of the medicine. Hence, if there is any problem in seeing, it is necessary to consult a doctor and stop the medication. A regular eye check-up is also required for the people who are on plaquenil.
There are certain people who are at higher risk of growing this change in vision problem. People, who have been taking plaquenil for over 7 years, are aged over sixty, are obese, and are already having kidney or liver disease, have high chances of suffering from hydroxychloroquine retinopathy. Annual eye examinations are highly recommended for such patients.Make sure the dosage of plaquenil is according to what has been prescribed, as Plaquenil overdose may cause several serious side effects.