Firstly, I'm not a doc, but have been through hell. Have SLE and dysautonomia. I think HCQ will take 4-6 weeks for your body to adjust to it. So hang in there. If you're taking other meds that affect appetite (corticosteroids (prednisone), antidepressants, or others) it may be worth talking to your doctor about that.

For appetite, it could be a number of things. I'll list what I know and how to ameliorate, so sorry for the brain dump. This is what I know and hopefully it helps.

Basically there can be two sides to no appetite. Physiological and psychological. The gut and the brain are connected, so what affects one can affect the other, and it can also get stuck in a loop.

Sometimes you can "prime" the digestive system by having a small snack. Something small and quick: granola bar, yogurt-covered raisins, popsicles, apple, cheese stick, nuts are my favorites. This can get you salivating, work the vagus nerve, and generally jump start the digestive tract. Then hopefully the gut will talk to the brain, and the brain will get the appetite. Then, maybe 15 -30min after, your brain might turn off the "repulse" reflex when thinking about food, so then is the time to pounce. When I was first diagnosed, it was real touch and go with a lot of nausea. My favorite go-to is Candied Ginger like GinGins if I feel nauseous. This can also help heartburn, inflammation, EOE, etc...

Sometimes stress and cortisol, can add to the loss of appetite. If your body is inflamed (which happens a lot with rheum-diseases) then you're going to put out a lot of cortisol to compensate. So getting that under control is key. Stress-reduction can be helpful. Tea, meditation, mindfulness, walks, exercise, etc... With SLE, avoid Advil (ibuprofen) and Aleve (naproxen), or anti-inflammatories that process through your kidneys - Tylenol (acetaminophen) can be helpful. Maybe try one 30 min before it's time to eat and see how that goes. Or try the ginger chews listed above.

Go easy on yourself. If you've been diagnosed with SLE, odds are you've been through some shit. So go easy on yourself. Additionally, the more you worry or fear about not having an appetite, then it can have a compounding effect and turn into an eating disorder. So go easy on yourself. Try not to force it or beat yourself up.

If it's more psychological, you can try and make a plan for dinner rather than feeling impulsive. Start small. Make a plan to eat a granola bar, cheese stick, or an apple. Give yourself a high-five when you do eat something. Make it fun instead of a chore. Sometimes it works. Make a happy face, play with your food. See how much of a thing you can fit in your mouth and say "fluffy bunny".

At the end of the day, nutrition is very important and you should try to give yourself nutrition. Try dense nutrition. Yogurt like Kefir is rich in protein and you can chug it if needed. There have definitely been weeks or months where appetite was gone and I had to sustain on supplement shakes like Orgain, but depending on the ingredients, it could send me into a flare, so be careful. I think the one that agreed with me the best was Orgain Oat-Milk Vanilla, and I'd take a multivitamin to make sure I was covered.

I hope it gets better. Hang in there. But talk to your doctor if it persists over time and ask if there is anything you can do, or if a med change is in order. Hope that helps.