Jen, I think I would give Plaquenil a try if your doctor says that is one of the things that might help. When my RA was diagnosed as "mild" it did wonders for me. The main thing with it is that you want to have your eyes checked regularly since at least I was told one of the main side effects as possible blindness. I never had a problem and as was mentioned earlier side effects are not givens but possibilities. One benifit of Plaquenil i that it is an anti-malarial drug so you won;t get malaria....
...Living with RA is easier than living with many other chronic diseases. Yes it can be very painful and it can slow us down, but if managed and watch carefully it is not usually life threatening. There's not much I don't or can't do at least after a good dose of Aleve and my regular meds. I just can't do them as soon as I get up in the morning. It takes a hour or so to work out the kinks.Oh and water aeobics are WONDERFUL!
Suzanne