I just started last night taking it and went to see my Rheumy today since bad pain in all my joints. He gave me an injection on my hip but says it takes about 4 weeks to notice anything. It is very expensive and my copay was $1400.00 a month but went online to their website and apply for financial help and was approved so I pay 0 dollars. If ever anybody needs help with medications always go to the website for that product. They all have financial help for you. Hope everyone is good or feeling better. Hugs to all and god bless.

must ask my ra dr now that you mentioned it I see the commercial all the time. Keep you posted. big hugs, and prayers, take care butterfly. and stay well.

Hi there,
Just started Xeljanz 3 days ago. My Rheumatologist says it takes 3 days to start working and took my official third dose this morning. I have been having a severe flare up in my chest wall, that spreads to my neck and shoulder, and have been bed ridden for a month now. Along with 2 visits to the ER and a sedimation rate of 67. I was diagnosed with Costochondritis caused by Rheumatoid arthritis, which was aggravated by increased Lupus activity.

Since my diagnosis in 2005 I have tried every lupus medication you can imagine: @Benlysta, @Imuran, Epratuzimab, @Aralen, @Methotrexate, @Rituxan, the list goes on. The only medication that improved may quality of life was Cellcept. I was in remission for more than 2 years, but being that I am of child bearing age and want to start a family, my doctor and I have been working hard to get me off. It has been 4 months since stopping Cellcept, and this is my first flare since then. I have been doing @prednisone pushes, but they have not been helping much. and I have put on 30 lbs in the last 3 months, despite eating healthy. I have Cushing's syndrome now due to the prolonged use of @steroids. So the new plan of attack is getting me off @steroids completely. I was on 40mg, just dropped to 20mg and will be stopping them completely next week. I have always been tapering off @prednisone very slowly over that past decade. At one point during remission, I was only taking 3mg a day. Since the side effects of prolonged @steroid usage have been outweighing the benefits, Xeljanz is the next course of action. I am aware that this drug is not safe during pregnancy, but my doctor wants to get the lupus under control first before I came continue on with my plan to start a family.

So far my side effects have been abdominal cramping, loose stools, and fatigue. My body is definitely going to take some time to adjust, but just wanted to let you know you are not alone. Every drug we take to try to get our disease under control is a journey on its own.

Going back to the doctor in two weeks to have blood tests and review improvement, if any.

Will keep you posted, stay positive, laugh as much as you can, and try to surround yourself with good people.

All the best :)

I just saw the commercial. I am very curious myself now. Going to ask around. However it has some insane side effects. But lets see. All the best on this rainy wet Monday.

: hi hope you are enjoying your sunday. no I never tried Xeljanz. As a matter of fact, this is the first time I actually heard of it, going to google it and see what I can find out about it. Keep you posted, and have a blessed sunday. stay well.