Hi return to life,

thanks for answering my questions and befriending me. Tough times with this stupid condition. As I said in the comments- I'm well into month 3 (week 11) on xeljanz and the results are so far a bit depressing. I think i am a responder as body hair and eye lashes are beginning to come back but my scalp is only showing   little improvement.

I am from Sydney Australia and unless you have arthritis then Xeljanz is somewhat expensive ($1300 AU  a month). I am lucky because my sister is a diplomat and worked for a while in India, so I was able to import some in (I have scripts from both an Aussie doctor and an Indian doctor) with her contacts that is still expensive but less then Australian prices ($US460 for 60 (5 mgs). I'm currently getting 3 months worth sent over and then get 8 months (of 10 mg a day) over in December as my brother in law does aid work there so is going to bring me the balance of 12 months worth (after the stuff I've used). If i go up to 20 mgs I kind-of have to wait til January when my BIL gets back but I've upped myself to 15 mgs and will subsidize my India load with some bought in Australia. I am going to plan on returning to India in 2018 to resupply and then I hope like hell the generics come to market.  

I've only been AT/AU for 6-7 months before I started and have had two very minor spotty episodes in my early twenties (am 35 now). I'm just so hopeful this will work. For me, yes some of it is vanity- when my hair is "normal" its thick and brown and I've always worn it long so this truely sucks but what people who don't have AU/AT don't realise is that its a pain in your ass- you get stuff in your eyes, your head gets hot/cold, you get massive anxiety...so for me finding a solution is my number one aim (after being a good mummy- which is hard to do when you feel so crap). Anyhow thanks so much for your advice.

I'm hoping one the patent expires we get flooded with cheap generics and then we can all go to a optimal dosage based on our bodies needs as opposed to be dictated by our bank balance..

Again Thanks for responding. Its hard at the beginning not knowing if its gonna work or not (I tried Methotrexate, Cyclosporine and prednisone and topical steroids prior to started on xeljanz - they didn't work hence my shift to xeljanz, luckily my bloods are continuing to be perfect but the roller coaster of ups and downs is getting hard to ride....).

Frida (Deb)

Hi, nice to meet you.