Your Complete Guide to Xeljanz for Rheumatoid Arthritis

What Is Xeljanz and How Does It Work?

Xeljanz (tofacitinib) is an oral prescription medication used in several inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

For many patients, one of its biggest distinguishing features is that it’s a pill, rather than an injection or infusion.

This makes sense.

Taking an oral pill by yourself is a much more tenable and repeatable form of treatment than needing to drive to your doctor’s office every single time you need to take a dose of medication.

But, as it turns out, Xeljanz’s convenience is only one reason that people tend to like it.

Xeljanz also has a fairly powerful and unique mechanism of action that patients can use to alleviate their symptoms.

Xeljanz works by targeting specific immune signaling pathways involved in inflammation.

Because rheumatoid arthritis is driven by an overactive immune response, reducing this inflammatory activity can help relieve symptoms and potentially slow disease progression.

You can buy brand-name Xeljanz through NorthWestPharmacy.com for about $10.00 per tablet – savings of nearly 90% when compared to typical brick-and-mortar pharmacy prices in the United States. And there is a generic of Xeljanz for far less than that too!

Now let’s take another step back before we go into Xeljanz uses and administration tips.

What Exactly Is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease.

Primarily, it affects a patient’s joints.

In autoimmune conditions, a patient’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues.

In rheumatoid arthritis specifically, this immune activity targets the lining of the joints. This leads over time to fairly intense inflammation and pain.

The specific way this manifests varies from person to person, but common rheumatoid arthritis symptoms tend to include:

Unlike occasional joint pain from overuse or aging – which can feel similar, at times – rheumatoid arthritis is a persistent inflammatory condition.

If rheumatoid arthritis is left untreated, you could progressively damage your joints.

That’s why treatment is important.

With rheumatoid arthritis, there’s no such thing as toughing it out. That will not help anything.

Proper medication and supervised treatment with Xeljanz, if your doctor recommends it, is important for symptom relief and for long-term joint function.

What Else Is Xeljanz Used For?

Xeljanz is a rheumatoid arthritis med, but it’s not only used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

Since it works by helping modulate an overactive immune response, it can help treat several types of inflammatory conditions.

Doctors often prescribe Xeljanz to support symptom relief and overall health goals for people with psoriatic arthritis, ulcerative colitis, or other inflammatory conditions (as seem like good fits for this type of treatment, per healthcare professionals).

In rheumatoid arthritis specifically, doctors may consider Xeljanz when a patient’s inflammation remains active despite other therapies … or when a patient and provider decide an oral targeted therapy may be appropriate.

Because rheumatoid arthritis affects people differently, treatment plans with Xeljanz or otherwise are highly individualized.

Some patients may use Xeljanz only after trying medications like methotrexate.

Others may discuss it as part of a broader long-term treatment strategy.

Xeljanz Drug Class: What Type of Medication Is It?

Xeljanz belongs to a category of medications called JAK inhibitors (or, to turn a phrase, medications that inhibit something called ‘JAK’).

‘JAK’ is short for a small biological machine called the Janus kinase. The Janus kinase, itself, plays a critical role in the immune response (and inflammatory pathways).

JAK inhibitors work by blocking these specific JAK signaling pathways involved in the inflammatory process.

In rheumatoid arthritis, those pathways help transmit immune signals that contribute to chronic joint inflammation.

In even simpler terms, Xeljanz helps interrupt the communication signals that tell the immune system to stay overly (and unhelpfully, painfully) active.

How Xeljanz Works in Rheumatoid Arthritis, Specifically

To better understand how Xeljanz helps rheumatoid arthritis, it helps to look at what’s happening inside the body during chronic inflammation.

In rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system mistakenly stays switched on all the time, whether there’s a trigger for immune activity or not. This produces inflammatory signals that attack joint tissue … all the time.

Over time, this can lead to:

Xeljanz works by blocking parts of this pathway, which helps reduce inflammatory signaling throughout the body.

This may help:

And here’s more: Since Xeljanz targets a specific part of the immune system and doesn’t blanket numb an area (or take another, similar, more generalized strategy), Xeljanz belongs to a class of therapies called “targeted immune-modulating therapies.”

This, too, can make it more attractive to patients and doctors who want more precise treatment options.

So Is Xeljanz a Biologic?

The answer is no.

Xeljanz is not considered a biologic medication.

This confusion is understandable, though, because both biologics and Xeljanz are used to treat autoimmune diseases and both affect immune system activity.

However, they differ in several important ways.

What Makes Biologics Different?

Biologics are typically:

There are many, many injectable rheumatoid arthritis medications that target specific immune proteins.

Xeljanz just isn’t one of them.

Here’s Exactly How Xeljanz Differs

Xeljanz is officially known as a small-molecule medication. It’s taken orally, not infused. And it’s manufactured and stored differently, when compared to biologics (more easily, as it turns out).

Also, instead of targeting one specific inflammatory protein outside cells, Xeljanz works inside immune signaling pathways to reduce inflammation.

When Should Xeljanz Be Used for Rheumatoid Arthritis?

The only universal answer to this question is simple:

Xeljanz should be used for rheumatoid arthritis when your doctor tells you that’s the best bet for you in your specific situation.

There’s no single perfect rheumatoid arthritis treatment for everyone, of course.

When your provider is helping you choose your ideal treatment plan, they’ll go over a laundry list of various factors that may include:

After going through these and any other relevant factors, your doctor might lean towards prescribing Xeljanz if:

Your doctor may recommend that you start with more traditional medications like methotrexate before discussing newer targeted therapies, like Xeljanz.

How Long Does Xeljanz Take to Work?

Once you start taking Xeljanz, how long will it be before you see any results?

With Xeljanz, some people begin noticing improvement within several weeks.

It may take a little longer for you to develop the full benefit of your Xeljanz treatment.

As with many autoimmune medications, consistency is important.

Taking the medication exactly as prescribed gives it the best chance to work effectively.

Xeljanz Generic: Is There a Generic Version?

In the United States, a 30-day supply of Xeljanz can cost as much as $9,000.00.

That’s a lot to begin with, and, since Xeljanz is a chronic med, that adds up fast.

Generic medications can give people a way to save a good amount of money on their most-needed prescription medications.

However, not every medication has a generic equivalent … and, often, the most expensive brand medications are the precise ones that don’t have immediate generic alternatives.

We have good news to share:

While generic availability can vary depending on a wide variety of factors, here, through NorthWestPharmacy.com, you can buy generic tofacitinib.

Instead of paying thousands for brand-name Xeljanz in the States or even $10.00 per pill for brand medication through NorthWestPharmacy.com, you can buy tofacitinib for about $3.50 per pill right here.

A word of caution for you, though:

There are a lot of people (and companies) out there who are aware that rheumatoid arthritis patients want a cheaper option. Accordingly, if you look online, you’ll find sites advertising low-cost generic alternatives to Xeljanz.

How do you know which websites to trust?

To make sure you’re receiving your medication from legitimate, properly regulated pharmacy sources, you’re going to need to vet your online pharmacy website to make sure it’s safe.

Or you could just select a Canadian online pharmacy from the Canadian International Pharmacy Association’s list of safe pharmacies. (This is a very difficult list to get onto, and CIPA is known throughout the industry for making extremely good selections.)

Common Side Effects of Xeljanz

Your immune system is inextricably connected to just about every part of your life.

It stands to reason that a very powerful medication that modulates your immune system, then, would have some significant side effects to be aware of.

Fortunately, even though that is the case, most patients tolerate treatment with Xeljanz very well – especially if they take it precisely as directed by their doctor and stick to their ongoing monitoring schedule.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be aware of the side effects, though, or be prepared to help mitigate them to boost your own quality of life.

Some of the more commonly reported Xeljanz side effects include:

Because rheumatoid arthritis itself can cause fatigue and other systemic symptoms, it can sometimes be difficult to separate medication effects from disease-related symptoms.

If you are experiencing any of these side effects, report them to your doctor. You may be able to implement simple lifestyle changes or slightly update your administration techniques to alleviate any pain or discomfort you may be feeling.

Serious Risks and Safety Warnings for Xeljanz Users

As a powerful, newer medication, Xeljanz does come with a few important safety warnings that you need to know before starting your treatment.

Because Xeljanz suppresses parts of the immune response, it may increase the risk of:

These warnings can sound alarming, but context matters.

Your specific, actual level of risk of experiencing these effects depends on factors such as:

If your doctor recommends and prescribes Xeljanz, that means that they’ve looked at your specific health profile and concerns and determined that the potential benefits of controlling rheumatoid arthritis outweigh the risks associated with treatment.

Here’s Why Ongoing Monitoring Matters on Xeljanz

Routine monitoring is an important part of treatment while taking Xeljanz.

Healthcare providers may recommend:

This can feel like a lot to commit to, and we don’t want to downplay that. It can be.

But the data you get from this monitoring is important. It can help you and your provider see exactly how well Xeljanz is working for you, identify any oncoming side effects as early as possible, and decide whether you need to consider treatment adjustments.

Monitoring is especially important because some changes associated with Xeljanz may not cause obvious symptoms initially.

For example, cholesterol changes or certain blood count abnormalities may only appear on lab testing before becoming clinically noticeable.

Questions to Ask Before Starting Xeljanz

If you’re discussing Xeljanz for rheumatoid arthritis, asking thoughtful questions at your next healthcare appointment can help you better understand the treatment plan and what to expect.

Just a couple questions that you might want to keep tucked away for that appointment can include:

Having these conversations early can make treatment feel less intimidating and improve long-term medication adherence.

Being able to afford your medication can help with adherence, too, of course!

When you’re ready to purchase your prescribed Xeljanz, check out our Xeljanz medication page to save up to 90% on your rheumatoid arthritis medication.

The entire team here at NorthWestPharmacy.com looks forward to supporting you and your healthcare journey!