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Xeljanz Update and Side Effects

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 2/1/2023 10:16 PM (GMT -5)
It will be 7 years next month that my husband started on Xeljanz, and he still is in remission. He is finally down to 15 mg a day. Started flaring when he tried to go down to 10 mg a day, so staying at 15 and will probably try tapering down again at some point.

Has had elevated cholesterol, which is one reported side effect, though it went down a little now that he is at 15 mg. It was a level considered borderline high so no need to take medication for now.

Please please please be sure to go to dermatologist at least annually for a check. Your GI should be pushing you to do this. In his recent checkup, they found a small patch on his head of squamous cell skin cancer. He had it all removed and hopefully with close monitoring this will never become an issue. But it is a reported possible side effect so take it seriously.
Posted 2/2/2023 11:18 AM (GMT -5)
I am also on 15 mg per day of Xeljanz and will certainly mention it to my GI when my next checkup in the spring.
Posted 2/2/2023 7:05 PM (GMT -5)
Hopefully they were able to remove the skin cancer. My new GI recommends that I get annual skin checks. Old one never mentioned it.
Posted Yesterday 3:25 PM (GMT -5)
Thanks for sharing suzy-q! Happy to hear that your husband is doing well on Xeljanz and that it's been working for 7 years and counting. After Entyvio stopped working after about 1.5 years, I'm afraid that Xeljanz will stop working soon too. My doctor didn't mention anything about dermatologic check-ups, but I will definitely add it to my to do list!
Posted 2/18/2023 3:13 PM (GMT -5)
Glad he is still in remission. Sorry about the skin cancer. Do they think it's linked to the xeljanz? I'm going for my dermatology checkup this week actually. I try to go once a year. My old GI recommended I do so but the current one has never said to. I have fair skin and a lot of moles as well so it is not a bad idea to do so regardless of my medication. I'm still in remission on Xeljanz as well--for over 1.5 years now!
Posted 3/13/2023 4:23 PM (GMT -5)
I was just doing a search on squamous cell skin cancer because I am currently dealing with several spots on my hand. I've been on Stelara several years and Xeljanz before that. I think it definitely has something to do with being immune suppressed and was wondering how many others have dealt with this. Mine started with one spot on my right hand that took over a year to properly diagnose. I had that removed in the beginning of February (last month). While waiting for that appointment, two spots appeared on my left hand. Those were removed at the beginning of this month and I still have 22 stitches in place. Then I found another spot on my right hand over the weekend at the site of the scar on my right hand. Also, found another spot on my leg a few weeks ago that gets removed on Thursday. So, now 5 spots. This seems really out of the ordinary. I am waiting to hear back from my doctors. Kinda freaked out at this point. Scared to stay on Stelar and scared to go off.
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