Xeljanz Forums

Hi. I'm prescribed Xeljanz cream, 11 mg once per day. My blood pressure at my visit with the rheumatologist was 196/70. It always runs super high during visits especially. I do take Atenolol 100 mg twice a day. I’m 69 with RA. We’ve tried several drugs that caused other issues. I was then started on HUMIRA for 6 months with no improvement. My next appointment with my regular pcp is next month. Wondering if I should wait to see if my blood pressure is getting better before starting? So sorry this is so long. Thanks for listening! ## Xeljanz has been known to cause high blood pressure as a side effect, along with nausea, diarrhea, and anemia. Ref: Xeljanz Information What are you blood pressure readings at home? Are they always high, or are they only that high, when you...

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I am 67 and have been taking Xeljanz for about 2 years. I have RA and ulcerative colitis. My UC has been in remission for about 7 years. I have been having what my GI doctor thinks is IBS. I have been nearly debilitated by lower abdominal pain. Taking dicyclomine 4 times a day helps somewhat. Has anyone else developed IBS after starting or after taking Xeljanz for a period of time? I saw there currently is a study showing an increased incidence of IBS in people, especially women over the age of 60, who are taking Xeljanz.

I am in hospital and have been put on antibiotics. I have a bone infection (left knee) and an abscess in my TMJ. Could taking Xeljanz have caused this? ## One of the most serious side effects of Xeljanz is the risk of serious infections, other side effects may include high blood pressure, diarrhea, anemia, Rheumatoid arthritis, and pyrexia. So yes, it is possible that the Xeljanz caused these issues by making you more susceptible to infectious bacteria. What have your doctors said about the issue?

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I started on Xeljanz Feb 5; 5 mg twice a day. Within a week I experienced a very raw, sore tongue, mouth, loud ringing in my ears, blurred vision and dizziness. Anyone else experienced any of these? ## Wow! I'm sorry about the experience you had. Are you feeling better, now? Has anyone else experienced this? Blurred vision and dizziness are listed as typical side effects of this medication, by the FDA. They also list ear congestion as being possible, so that may be why you experienced the ringing. It can also cause a sort throat, but I didn't see anything about the rawness. ## I have alot of these symptoms mentioned but I've been suffering with severe neck pain, in the muscles and tendons, on one side, which seems to be causing earache and sinus headache for 6 months now. I...

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Can these two medications be used together (xeljanz 11mg and oxycodone/apap 5-325 mg)? I have RA but just started xeljanz and am still healing from surgery in pain. ## Yes you can take these medications together. There are no drug interactions with the two drugs ## I didn't find any interactions listed, either, but it is always best to check with your doctor, or pharmacist to be sure. The FDA lists the typical side effects of Xeljanz as possibly including: diarrhea, heartburn, nausea, and trouble sleeping. Is anyone else taking both of these medications?

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When taking Xeljanz I'm finally able to stop prednisone after 30yrs. Now I'm having shortness of breath. It's so bad I can't walk to the next room and back without sitting down so I can get my heart to stop pounding and breathing back to normal. Anyone else having this problem? Thanks for any feedback. ## Xeljanz has been known to cause trouble breathing, and high blood pressure, as side effects, either of which could causing your issues. Have you consulted your doctor? It is very important to do so, in order to rule out any possibly dangerous issues. Are you on any other medications? Did you taper off of the Prednisone? ## Yes it took 5 months to taber off.Dr says its not the Xeljanz so I started taking again the same problem started so I stopped it.When taking Xeljanz ...

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I've bern on xeljanz for 3 months for RA. It worked great at first but the last month I've had joint pain and the stiffness return along with constant chills and insomnia since commencing this drug. Has anyone else experienced these symptoms? ## Hello Sandra, I did some research and I sourced the list of adverse reactions that the manufacturer claims that are associated with Xeljanz. upper respiratory tract infections, headache, diarrhea, and. cold symptoms such as sore throat, runny or stuffy nose. The chills that you are describing as feeling could be part of the cold symptoms that they claim some of their users are experiencing. As for the joint pain and stiffness there could be a number of reasons that the medicine stop working. One of them is that your body has started to d...

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Can I cause harm to my body if I accidentally took two extended-release Xeljanz 11 mg tablets? ## From what I could gather, Xeljanz (Tofacitinib Citrate) is immunosuppressive, which means that your immune system could potentially be compromised more easily with an increased dosage. However, if you are in otherwise good health, then I'm of the opinion that you should be fine after that second tablet wears off... Nevertheless, I would still encourage you to let your prescribing doctor and/or pharmacist know just to be on the safe side, since this would ultimately mean that you'd have 1 less tablet to take prior to getting a refill -and whether or not this is something you'd have to be concerned about as well? I hope this helps and wish you good health!

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I was on xeljanz for 4 months, unfortunately had to stop last week due to decreased platette count. Since then I became very depressed and increased anger, I could even say I have rage, which is very unlike me. Has anyone experienced this by stopping this drug? Please respond. I'm very concerned over this behavior. ## Hi Susan, Sorry to hear about your experience coming off of Xeljanz. It sounds like your best bet would probably be to sit down and talk with your doctor about ways to provide more relief from your symptoms; at least until they start to subside. When it comes to symptoms of anger, depression, and irritability, I believe those are really just chemical imbalances trying to sort themselves out as your body continues to adjust to not having the medication. Knowing that, ho...

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My sister started xeljanz for r.a. about one month ago. I have noticed irritability...something she rarely ever exhibits. Just wondering if that is a common or uncommon side effect of xeljanz.....and could xeljanz increase blood pressure? ## That can be a normal side effect of most medications, according to the FDA, as well as the blood pressure elevations. Is this the only medication she is taking? Is she displaying any other symptoms?

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I have colitis and one of the size effect xeljanz is diarrhea. Has anyone had any experience with that. I'm was on Humira but the Dr wants me to switch to xeljanz. Thank you ## Hi Barb, Sorry to hear about your condition. I see what you're saying though about having colitis along with the possibility of Xeljanz (tofacitinib) causing diarrhea as well. However the thing about these medications is that there's really no way to tell ahead of time how you might end up reacting to it until you "take it for a test drive" if you will. A lot of these side effects only occur in a smaller percentage of patients, but the risk factor is always going to be there while you're taking the medication. In such cases, my opinion would be to weigh out the benefits vs risks and see if...

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I just started xeljanz 6 days ago 10mg yesterday felt only slight pain so I went to gym, swimming, and was more active. Today the pain came back. Just wondering if I over did it or normal. How long did it take before you noticed any improvement? ## Hi, Susan! Sorry that you're in pain. Are you feeling any better? You may have overdone it getting that active that soon. I know we always want to do that, just rush out and do everything we've been unable to do for awhile, but sometimes you just can't let yourself, because your body requires more time. Learn more Xeljanz details here.

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