Seems odd that the Plaquenil would cause the indifferent feelings you described. It has a half-life of 30-60 days, so takes a long time to get out of your system. Plaquenil is known (and specifically used) to help reduce joint pain in autoimmune disease. So maybe it was helping more than you thought...until you stopped it and now have more pain now that it's out of your system.

I'm guessing you have some autoimmune aspect to your PN, if you're (or were) taking Plaquenil. If that's the case, another idea is that something triggered a flare of the AI disease itself.

I would suggest you call the doctor about the Plaquenil. Maybe a lower dose might help with the joint pain, but not give you any of the negative side-effects you attribute to it.

Hoping you feel better soon.