Day 1: Starting Xeljanz today!
I'm planning to share my experience here in case it's helpful to others. I know there's already a lot of Xeljanz stories on here, so I'll keep it consolidated to this one thread.
Background:
Diagnosed about
14 years ago with chronic, mild UC. In remission on mesalamine for the first 4 years or so. First official flare/prednisone tapper around year 7. Finally tried Remicade at year 9 but only had relief for about
a month. Next, I tried Entyvio and was in remission for about
2 years, 3 years ago. The past year has been a struggle of mild/moderate flaring, multiple courses of prednisone. We upped Entyvio to every 4 weeks, but symptoms persisted. At the time of my last Entyvio infusion, I was feeling good before the infusion, trough levels confirmed high drug levels and no antibodies, but I quickly worsened immediately afterward, and my doctor and I agreed to start Xeljanz. Unfortunately, I had to wait 4 more weeks to start Xeljanz after my last Entyvio infusion. After a long 3 weeks of waiting, I finally started Xeljanz today!
I'm hopeful that I'll get my life back. I'd really like to confidently leave my house in the morning without fear of an accident and get back to the things I enjoy. I continued to plan camping/hiking trips and other travel for this summer despite my current health. I remember being able to do those things when I was in remission on Entyvio, but after the past year I'm starting to wonder if that was every really possible. It's hard to imagine right now.
Post Edited (suttie) : 5/17/2022 11:31:36 AM (GMT-6)