I too am on Xeljanz and Plaquinil. Plaquinil took at least 6 months to get any effects, but I had no side effects. Xeljanz started to work in weeks but has more side effects as you know. I also have alopecia and the xeljanz is helping my hair grow back!

I take Xeljanz and plaquenil. It took 5 weeks before the Xeljanz kicked in. I almost quit taking it,but I was encouraged by friends on this site to continue. I'm grateful I did. I have more dexterity in my hands than I've had in several years. Hope it works for you as well

Methotrexate works for me so far. The side effects are fatigue, brain fog, headaches but it took a while to control my RA. The oral Metho for 4 months was not working So I've been injecting for 6 months now and I finally feel better this past month. It slowly worked for me.

But I've heard about some of the horrible side affects of these drugs. Do any of you suffer these side affects? I'm just on anti inflalmatories and pain killers right now, which don't seem to handle a lot of the pain, but I'm afraid to take the stronger drugs. My hip and hands and back constantly hurt and the pain killers don't seem to do much for it, so perhaps the stronger drugs might help, but then create a whole new set of problems. I can't take the Palquinal becuse the Retinal Specialist says I have macular degeneration and Paqinal puts me at risk for losing my eyesit. What's been your experience?