Side Effects of Carac or Efudex

 

On 3/24/2009 Queenbmw1965 wrote:

On your lips?? Wow!  What if you accidentally ingest it?  Maybe you should wait for it to dry to eat or drink anything,   You're gonna need lots of chapstick when it starts to peel & crack.  I did a spot just above my lip for four weeks.  I stopped last Wednesday and use Biafine to help heel the skin - works amazing.  There is a rebate for Carac on the Carac website you can print out ($30.00).  Good luck!!

yes, my lips are thin and got damaged with sun living in Miami and then Boston...so i started using a straw for liquids today and it seems to help not "rubbing" to much that area. It is drying out but I wonder if you can put chapstick as it might do something to the treatment...

Thank you for the 30$ rebate hint

 

On 3/24/2009 Queenbmw1965 wrote:

On your lips?? Wow!  What if you accidentally ingest it?  Maybe you should wait for it to dry to eat or drink anything,   You're gonna need lots of chapstick when it starts to peel & crack.  I did a spot just above my lip for four weeks.  I stopped last Wednesday and use Biafine to help heel the skin - works amazing.  There is a rebate for Carac on the

Yes,

Thank you for your messages.  I am going to call my doctor about Biafine today.  My face is not only red but it is now swollen.  I feel just like I did when I used to get sun poison.  I can't stand it!  I've resorted to smothering my skin with Eucerin (in a tub).  I look like I have a white face mask on.  Needless to say I am avoiding going out in public too.  I do have to go to my daughter's school tonight to see her perform and I'm in a panic.  I swear my face is so red I'll glow in the dark!  It is also painful.  I am moving into week 4 tomorrow and am praying that everything will calm down.  My chest and arms have not started reacting but I'm dreading this next week.  At least I can wear turtle neck shirts. 

Irishgirl,

I did wear a hat and stood in the shade during the soccer games.  I looked like a vampire lurking in the shadows.  Imagine the looks I got. :( 

How did you all exercise during this time?  Perspiration stings and I can't go out in the sun.  Not only am I turning into a tomato but I'm also turning into a slug.  Yikes!

Day 3 of Carac; lips and surrounding area are dry, no pain yet. Anybody else has to put it on their lips? Please let me know, I could use advice. If only they had Carac in a stick, like a lip baulm or something, it would be so much easier!

 

Hi all.  I haven't seen it mentioned in a while.  I'm just finishing week 4 on my face and neck.  I did my chest in December.  Great results.  Face hasn't been nearly as bad as chest.  I was always more careful to wear sunscreen on my face...

 Anyway, I've had great luck with using OTC cortizone ointment (not cream, the cortizone creams contain alcohol) which greatly relieves the itching and other symptoms.  I also use neosporine w/ pain reliever when I want to go out without so much grease on my face, but it has to be applied often.

It really helped having seen the results on my chest.  The skin looks ten years younger, far fewer wrinkles and more elasticity, just younger overall.  I'll be fifty this year and was a sun worshiper for years.

I apparently need to treat my arms soon as I see lots of spots there now.  I'll probably wait until fall, though, so as not to have to deal with the sun and heat.

Hang in there everyone.  The results are worth it, both getting rid of future cancers and getting younger skin!

Hi, Everyone!

I am an old timer (I started posting back when there were only about 300 entries....when I was just beginning to treat my lower lip w/ carac).  This message board is so great, I feel like you are all my friends.  I treated my neck and chest most recently (in January) and I thought it was brutal, I only lasted 3 weeks (instead of four).

Eli, the lip is an odd area to treat, and can be a little scary if you don't know what to expect.  But it seems that most people have an almost identical reaction, so if you have a reaction like I will describe, just know that it is normal, and you will get through it just fine.  My lip was not too bad until around day 11+.  At that time, I started to get a little more self conscious, as it was much redder and rougher.  I don't remember the exact time frame, but a few days later, a yellow line formed all the way across my lip.  This would later wipe away.  The lip is also very swollen, so it was easier to cut my hamburger into small bites rather than attempt to eat it whole!  I didn't seem to be too affected by ingesting carac (make sure to wait 2 hours for it to sink in).  The next stage is when huge scabs form on your lip.  I know this sounds horrible, but I don't want you to be alarmed when (or if) this happens.  When you are finished with your time on carac, your lip should heal right up.  Then next winter, you may want to use the carac again.  I got a much milder reaction the next time, mostly just gentle peeling.  Actually, it is still peeling some (and I stopped using the carac at the end of January!).  One last thing for everyone, if you have not been out in the sun and don't plan to ever get much sun in the future, please have your vit d tested at your next physical.  It's just a blood test.  Chances are we all need some heavy duty supplements (much more than in a multivitamin).   I was shocked when mine was way off the charts low.  But it does make sense.  I'm surprised our dermatologists don't warn us of this.  Off to watch basketball now, too!  Have a great weekend, everyone!

Suzanna,

My face did get swollen as well. I would call your doc, you may be able to stop sooner than expected. I felt like I could glow in the dark I was so red. When the doc saw me, she was pretty shocked at how red I was.

 

As far as excercising I am an early morning runner and I live in Connecticut, and was being treated Jan. and Feb. so perspiration wasn't a problem.Wind burn was more of a concern, but Aquaphor took care of that.  I am super careful now. I went out yesterday (it was actually warm and sunny) I wore SPF 70 sunscreen and a hat. Don't worry about what people think we are taking care of ourselves for our families. Good for you going to the games anyway. 

Good Luck Ladies

I have squamous cell on my forehead and several sun spots on my cheeks. After freezing several off I was given Carac to use on my temples and cheeks for 2-3 weeks. After the biopsy came back on the forehead spot to be a squamous cell cancer she told me to use the Carac on that spot for a full 6 weeks.

I've read all the horror stories and have an idea of what to expect. However, though more men get this than women obviously more women participate on this forum.

My big concern, other than how to stay looking healthy enough to not scare my real estate clients to death, is what do you do about shaving your face if it is all messed up like "hamburger". Shaving over open sores could cause an infection I'd think.

This forum is great...I'm on about day 15 and would have stopped if it were not for these messages.

I use CARAC at night.

Fried all summers from 65-79 at New England Beaches as a kid followed by 28 years in Sun Diego.

Three years ago I had a chunck of Melanoma cut out of my back near the left shoulder at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla CA. I get a check-up every 3 months now. I get all the barnicles sliced off me and set of to the lab now...so far...so good

Treatment started around March 16th...Face was fine up until about day 5-6 then the invisable AK's came to the surface and my face/forehead was full of pea size dots, no pain. Day 7-10 brought out some more but kicked in the area's below my eyes and left/right side of my nose (on the face area). This area became very red (no pain) and I appeared to be wearing a "red Racoon's mask" . This area in the past was also very sensative to lotions/sunscreens in the years past and always flared up without any CARAC. I did have some spots that were sore to the touch and had tiny scabs on them that are peeling off and still sore to the touch as of today.

I kept using up until today (about day 15) when I just walked into the doctors and he took a look at me. He said everything was working as it should. He told me a could lay off the "Racoon's Mask" area but keep it up everywhere else. He gave me a prescription for Triamcinolone Acetonide Ointment 0.1% for the "Mask" flare up area.. I put it on and rubbed it in real good about 3 hours ago and "Bam" knocked the inflamation right down and the redness is disappearing...good stuff, it a Steroid that Petroleum mineral Oil based..goes on greasy but kind of goes away.

I'm going to keep going on now that the "Mask" area looks like it will calm down with the Rx as that was the area that really bugged me in public. I also wear a baseball cap outside with no pain to cover my forehead from the sun and public view.

Would like to mention that hot showers flared up my face during treatment. Lotions also made it worse including Aveeno Methol (I know but it was there so I used it) and Cetaphil Moisturizer. The doctor said to lay off that kind of stuff also..I feel it's better just to let it dry out. No problems sleeping, just rubbing against the pillow at times felt like a bad sunburn.

The doctor said to come back the middle of May and if anything is left, we can freeze them off.

Biggest issue...being in public.

Thanks

Carrieann,

Thank you for all the details. I am now on day 9 and so far here is what is happening:
Cream is put in the am on dry lips and right away they start getting all chapped. The surrounding part of the lips is getting super red, as if I put lipstick around it. The worst part right now are the corners of the mouth, they are very irritated and it hurts to open too wide.
Food, I eat what I can pick with my fork and put in my mouth with no touch, I avoid the spoon where the lips usually play a big role. Liquids, I use a straw.
I took a picture before the treatment and then yesterday after week one, that's when you realize the changes even more.
As far as being in public, I told a few people at work so they don't think it's contagious or something and the word will go around by itself.
I called the doc to let him know the status and the nurse was rather honest; she said:
"be ready for it to get ugly!"..so we'll see, I will give more details when things happen in a few days.
Again, this is so important to read other people's story, so if you read this, share your story with us.
By the way, I am 37, is that a young age to do this treatment?
THANK YOU!
Eli

Hi Everyone - just checking in to wish everyone going through this treatment the best.  It really is an hour to hour, day to day process and no one really knows how difficult it is unless you've experienced it.

I'm over a month post treatment and my skin looks wonderful.  I still have some pinkness here and there, but overall it is smooth and clear.  I still can't believe how soft it is.

 I definitely had good results with Biafine ointment post treatment.  My doctor prescribed it and said I would like it and it was great. 

During treatment it was so wonderful to have the support on this board - it really helped with the challenges of this treatment.