Hello,
I am writing because I noticed that you had some facial flushing after the Carac/Efudex? treatment. I am experiencing this too, after Carac. Maybe you would be so kind to give me some insight.
I applied the Carac cream earlier this year just (2008) on my nose and now, it has been about 3 months, and I too have facial flushing, mainly in my cheeks and sometimes in my nose. The flushing feels like a great amount of heat rising into my cheeks and is uncomfortable, then my cheeks turn bright red. The flushing occurs when I lie down, when I exercise and when I am exposed to heat. When I rinse my face with cool water, the flushing goes away. Also if I am in a hot area, I have to rinse my face and also get out of the hot area to relieve the flush. Sometimes I can cool the flush with a handheld fan.
I did the Carac cream from Jan 9-30 this year only on my nose for some small precancer spots. It went very well with just a couple of small scabs and healed up about 2 weeks after I stopped using it. Right after that, in mid Feb, I travelled from my home in Florida to Montreal for a long weekend. Because of the dry heat indoors in Montreal, my skin where I put the Carac, on my nose, became very red and felt like sunburn. I waited a couple of weeks and then saw my dermo, she prescribed one week of Topicort cream (a steroid) on the nose, followed by 1week of Protopic cream (on nose) . I ended those 2 creams on about March 15th.
I had mild facial flushing a few times starting around Feb 15th, maybe once or twice a week, but it didn't last very long and it was when I was in a hot place without air moving - like an airplane or hot restaurant. Around March 17th the flushing started at night when I would lie down and seemed to last longer and happen more often. It continues today.
My dermo thinks it may be Rosacea like symptoms caused by the Carac and it will pass in a couple of months. I am hoping it will pass.
How is your flushing doing and did you find anything that helped to prevent it? This flushing is very inconvenient, as I have to avoid many places.
Thank you so much for sharing your information. I hope this finds you well.
Lavande