What is Hydroxychloroquine?
Hydroxychloroquine is a prescription anti-malaria medication that helps treat and prevent the disease. This medicine belongs to the class of quinoline medicine that also contain chloroquine. Anyone with a doctor’s prescription can easily buy Hydroxychloroquine online or at their local drugstore, as it is a readily available medication.
Hydroxychloroquine is available as a generic as well as a brand name drug. You can purchase either depending on what your doctor prescribes.
Uses
Doctors primarily prescribe this medicine to people suffering from malaria or those visiting an area with a high probability of malaria infection. Malaria is common in parts of Africa, Southern Asia, and South America.
While this medicine is effective against the parasite that enters the body via a mosquito bite and causes malaria in most parts of the world, you can find some palaces where the parasite has evolved to become resistant to this drug’s effects. Make sure to consult a medical professional before visiting any place with a high malaria exposure risk.
Doctors often recommend using this drug to treat symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Experts are also testing this drug’s effectiveness against the coronavirus causing COVID-19. However, you should not consume this drug for COVID-19 unless you are participating in a study.
How to take Hydroxychloroquine?
Try only to consume this drug as prescribed by your doctor. Follow the prescription label and the medication guide you get when you order Hydroxychloroquine online or offline. It is crucial not to increase or decrease the amount without consulting a doctor, and you should also not take this medicine for longer than the prescribed period.
Take this drug with a meal or milk unless your doctor advises you otherwise. Doctors usually recommend using this drug daily for treating lupus or arthritis.
For treating malaria, doctors recommend using Hydroxychloroquine as one high dose, followed by smaller quantities for the next two days. Try not to quit this medicine before the prescribed period, even if the symptoms disappear early.
For preventing malaria, make sure to take this drug once a week on the same day each week. You can begin consuming this medicine two weeks before visiting the area that has high malaria exposure risk. Keep taking the medication for your entire stay, and continue medicine intake for at least four weeks after leaving that area.
Remember that no medicine is 100% effective at preventing all types of malaria, so talk to a doctor if you experience vomiting, fever, or diarrhea during the treatment. Also, take ample precautions such as protective clothing, mosquito netting around the bed, and insect repellents to decrease your chances of catching malaria.
Side effects
Hydroxychloroquine is potent anti-malaria medicine, and like any powerful drug, it can also cause some adverse effects. It is an FDA-approved medication, so the possibility of side effects is not high, but you should still take caution while using this medicine. Usually, people who order Hydroxychloroquine online and start using it without consulting a doctor tend to experience the worst of its undesirable effects.
Common side effects
- Hair loss
- Itching
- Skin rash
- Irritability
- Nervousness
- Mood change
- Ringing in ears
- Headache
- Spinning sensation
- Dizziness
- Diarrhea
- Weight loss
- Loss of appetite
- Stomach pain
- Vomiting
- Nausea
These side effects usually last for short-term and not highly severe. However, if they linger for long, talk to your doctor and seek appropriate treatment.
Serious side effects
- Seizures
- Unusual thoughts and behavior
- Confusion
- Bleeding
- Easy bruising
- Pale skin
- Seeing halos around lights
- Light sensitivity
- Blurred vision
- Loss of balance
- Twitching
- Uncontrolled movement
- Muscle weakness
This medicine’s severe side effects might turn life-threatening if not treated in time. If you get any of these severe symptoms, make sure to visit the ER or call 911 immediately. Also, let your doctor know about the occurrence of side effects.
Interactions
Try consulting a doctor about the drugs that can interact with this drug before deciding to buy Hydroxychloroquine online. Medication that helps treat asthma, infections, high blood pressure, depression, cancer, mental illness, malaria, or HIV, can interact adversely with Hydroxychloroquine.
Inform the doctor about all the medications and supplements you are consuming before starting the treatment, especially if you are using:
- Seizure medicines
- Insulin
- Oral diabetes medicine
- Heart rhythm medicine
- Tamoxifen
- Praziquantel
- Methotrexate
- Cyclosporine
- Cimetidine
Keep note that this is not a complete list of all the medications that can interact with Hydroxychloroquine. Various other substances, including over-the-counter drugs, prescription medicine, vitamins, and herbal products, can adversely interfere with this medicine.
Precautions
This medicine can be hazardous if not used cautiously. Make sure to follow the standard precautions listed in the medication guide or prescription label you get when you buy Hydroxychloroquine online or at a local drug store. Below we have listed what you should do and avoid to make sure you don’t face this drug’s adverse effects.
- Avoid using this drug without consulting a doctor if you any medical condition, including diabetes, psoriasis, porphyria, heart disease, stomach disorder, liver or kidney disease, allergy to quinine, etc.
- Long-term use of this drug might damage your retina, causing permanent vision damage. Make sure to inform the doctor as soon as you experience any vision changes.
- Try not to mix this drug with alcohol because doing so will worsen this medicine’s side effects.
- This drug can cause complications during surgery. Make sure to inform the doctor ahead of time about this drug’s usage.
- Strictly regulate older people’s dosage because they are more prone to this medicine’s adverse effects.
- Try not to consume this drug without consulting a doctor during pregnancy, as it might harm the unborn child.
- Also, try asking a doctor about this medicine’s safety before breastfeeding because it might pass into breastmilk and have undesirable effects on the nursing infant.
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