So my two questions are 1) How long do they work, and 2) what is the cost per month?
It absolutely blows me away that so many folks completely overlook the horrendous KNOWN side effects of these drugs. I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid in 2005, prescribed with methotrexate. I took it for 4 months with typical chemotherapy side effects of nausea, diarrhea, extreme fatigue and flu-like symptoms that only subsided a day or two before time for the next dose. I put an end to it when I met another woman who’d been on this drug for a year and was diagnosed with Lymphoma. It was only then that I became fully informed of the full range of catastrophic side effects these drugs can produce. For me, the risk of cancers, stroke, and the risk of death was far too great. I refused all the modified biologics in favor of Hydroxychloroquine (essentially quinine). I still suffer the occasional painful flare, but not the severe crippling effects of the disease. I’m not battling cancer or other life threatening disease, either. Only you can decide the risks you will take with no guarantee of benefit. For me, this was a no-brainer choice. You are concerned about cost? My insurance covers the HCQ with no co-pay. Pay out of pocket and the cost is less than $10/mo.