Maybe the inactive ingredients are different and you are having a reaction to them. I had a severe reaction to an anti stress Med!! I got extremely stressed and at 3:45 pm on a Friday afternoon in the summer Hamptons, had to have the script resent to another pharmacy that stocked my brand and now I travel an extra 15 miles to get it ! Look up the pharmaceutical company listed on your bottles and type in "inactive ingredients in Plaquenil (and then off brand hydroxy) made by so and so pharmaceutical company (and also give dose i.e. 200 mg pill etc.) and print out or copy the inactive ingredients. You'll be surprised at the differences. You might be having a reaction to the inactive ingredient NOT the actual medicine.

my dr took me off of both because they can ruin your eye sight

Yes they're the same thing. At the dose they know to give nowadays, having eye problems is extremely rare.

When I was put on hydroxy, my rheumatologist insisted I get an eye exam with an opthamologist every 6 months to check on my retinas. So far, after 2 1/2 years, everything is great. I think you just need to monitor, and if there's any change, they'll take you off it.

Hydroxy is plaquenil i believe. Not sure what makes em different if anything tho. Could just happen to be a flare when u started taking it? I always give it some time, cuz it usually turns out it's my body just adjusting w/ meds. Usually after a few weeks tho, itll start to work...or not.