Xeljanz.....and yes, it's incredibly expensive.

My rheumy put me on this at the beginning of June 2017. For me, it was not a great option. The big deal about the drug is that its a daily pill. The first biologic to come in pill form. Unfortunately, it's not having the results researchers have hoped for. Ultimately, for me, it dipped my hemoglobin and red blood cell count down into the very anemic area. So, by mid July, I was taken off of that and started Enbrel injections.

If you do not have good insurance, it's unlikely they will approve the use of Xeljanz. We are talking thousands of dollars for a 30 day supply. The Enbrel is slightly less than that.

When I get a new medication, I always ask what the actual cost of the medication is and what portion I'm paying. I've never had anyone not tell me the costs.

Hope this helps.

I'm on Xeljanz and it is working well for me, but even with my insurance, I couldn't afford it. I told my doctor and he called Pfizer. They now send it to me for free. They have various plans that assist people with co-pays in addition to the free meds. Don't say no to Xeljanz just because of the cost until you call Pfizer to see if you qualify for any assistance. I had to give them my tax returns and a list of all my meds along with my insurance information. They used all of that to calculate that I couldn't afford their med. It was an uncomfortable, invasive experience, but I really needed the meds. The pain was worse than the invasion of privacy.

@ broken4him & Kimhurts

Interesting info. I figured the cost was probably why we rarely see anyone on the board using but cool to know that at least someone out there has been on it or is it on currently. I'm doing fine off of good ol' Methotrexate but noticed the commercial for Xeljanz came up a few times last night & was just curious.

Have a great weekend!

I was on Xeljanz for 5 months in 2015. The company supplied it free, with my extended health and provincial Pharmacare.

I had no side effects, but it didn't work at all. My rheumatologist was so disgusted, he won't prescribe it for anyone. I was his first patient on Xeljanz, but I am ultra-severe. I think he should have tried it on some people with milder RA before giving up on it.

I started it in March of 2014. It has just started failing me now. I absolutely loved it while it worked as I had zero negative effects from it. Out of pocket with no insurance, it usually costs around $3500.00 for a 30 day supply. There is a copay assistance program if you are not on medicare or medicaid that should bring your cost to $0.00 (zero) per a month. I had to mail in for my rebate checks but some pharmacies will take the copay card directly so you don't have to bother with that hassle. It is a manufacturers rebate and I have yet to hear of anyone on private insurance to be denied the copay assistance card from Pfizer.

@ MarleneJ
Wow! So you think Xeljanz as far as potency & effectiveness leans more towards Plaquenil than towards like a Methotrexate or Humira?

@smith101,
Seems like one of those type of drugs that, "If it works, it's like heaven but only for a little while, then fails. That is, if it works at all"? But then again I guess you could say that about all our medications geared toward RA.

Just noticed after a week up that I completely shredded the spelling of the name! LOL! Oh well, I corrected it.

@oceans11,
This was the longest a single drug has substantially helped me. I've been on Plaquenil through them all but it really doesn't seem to dent the path of my RA. Xeljanz definitely did and was tolerable to me. However, it does seem, like you noted, that the meds only work for a while and then stop. I do recall hearing some stories of people being on Remicade (or some other drug but for some reason Remicade comes to mind) for a decade and it still working but those seem to be more rare than common. Hey, happy drug hunting in the mean time!

I am taking Xeljanz, and it is working great. In the past, I have taken Embrel, Humira, Orencia, Actemera. I responded well to all these drugs, but they all stopped working except Actemera, had to stop that one due to other problems. I am very disappointed to hear that Xeljanz stopped working for some. I really like taking the pill, rather than injections. Darn. So far, on average, I need a new biologic every 10 or months. This is not good, I am too high maintence.
Lynne

Xeljanz worked about 10%' whereas Plaquenil was a total zero. So, is that severity, OT the tripe of RA?

My rheumatologist said he has a huge list of biologics the province pays for, so why would he add one that doesn't work? Except for no biologic has worked well or long without a DMARD for me, so why would Xeljanz?

I think the label said moderate to severe RA. I guess I am beyond that?