Side Effects of Carac or Efudex

Once I started to use Aquaphor or Vaseline I found that ibuprofen worked pretty well, along with taking it easy on yourself and not talking, smiling, etc. too much.

 There were only a couple days that I really felt miserable, during week 3 and at the end of week 4, but the discomfort in week 3 was somewhat self induced since I decided to go for a 4 hour snowmobile ride with my boyfriend and my son.  I put on my sunscreen and wore my face mask along with my helmet & goggles. After the 4th time digging out my son's snowmobile, then mine when we were having issues getting up a hill in the powder, my face was quite upset with me from taking my helmet off & putting it back on each time!

 I'm glad that the treatment is over for now and I'm glad I did the snowmobile ride too because our snow melted shortly after that so we haven't been back out since.  I'm on day 9 being Carac free and it gets better EVERYDAY!!!  I'm still a bit pink and tender and flaky but the itching is pretty well gone.  I made the mistake of trying to take my dogs for a run Saturday in the cold weather - we only made it about 200 yards from the house and the intense stinging from the cold was too much for me so we headed back into the house.

 

I"M DONE!!!  I saw the derm today and NO MORE CARAC!  No more of this self imposed hell that I refer to it as.  My face is horrid and the thought of doing even one more treatment was enough to make me cry!  He took one look at me, shook his head and said he's never seen a 41 year old with it this badly, BUT, it was the right thing to do and i am ever so happy with that.  I'm looking forward to healing...and all the fun that goes along with it.  Right now, i'm in pain, and trying to ward that off with cold compresses and a glass of wine! 

 

To those of you just beginning, it goes by fast and is worth it!  This board has made the difference in me-stay tough and I'll be here for you whenever!  Pam

I finished 6 weeks of 2-a-day treatments to my face, ears, neck and arms with 5% Efudex on 12/19/06. The last 3+ weeks were strictly mind over matter, but results contiually were changing in that some really dark purple to black areas such as on the side of my nose actually showed improvement. I had a hard time keeping my hands off my face, picking away dead skin. I don't think that helped, but the number of layers coming off was significant. I haven't seen a lot of improvement in appearance yet as peeling is continuing. I started using the steroid cream after about 3.5 weeks as the continual stinging and itching got to be too much. It definitely reduced both after an initial stinging period from putting it on. I was using a wash cloth with soap and water before each treatment which, toward the end particularly resulted in some really raw stinging areas - forhead, cheeks, chin and behind the ears. Bleeding became a problem in the raw spots, but stopped quickly with pressure. My pillow cover got really gross a few times and this has not stopped. I'm ready for some serious moisturizer. and read the comments about vaseline with interest. Has anyone tried an aloe gel? There were some days I really felt sorry for myself, comparing my looks to Lazarus after 3 days in the grave; then I remembered he was saved from the dead. Maybe this has done the same for me.

Well, I head into the infamous week 3 tomorrow.  There are some very sore, open spots, but with the aquaphor and tylenol it's still manageable.  I'm not hiding from the public yet, but I expect that people will stare more and more.  My eyes were so puffy this a.m. that I could hardly see.  Sigh!  Halfway there . . .

hang in there-you've made it this far.  I'm on day 6 of recovery and I have to say, other than lots of flakes on my face, and some pinkness, you'd never know what i have been through.

Yes, you'll get plenty of stares, i didn't stay home either, went out and about my daily business and then some...even went to a job interview, AND got the job.  I think the fact that my face isn't so ungawdly tight, is one big plus.  It isn't fun when you have to put the stuff on your face, when it feels like it's going to fall off in the first place, but, stay strong...lots of tylenol...plenty of water....

keep us posted on your upcoming week.  thinking ofyou!

Pammy, you're so sweet!  I'm glad to hear that you are recovering quickly.  It was cold and rainy today, and I very much enjoyed the feeling on my face. :)

I spent my life outdoors, have had many skin cancers, and am now trying another solution.  I just started this Efudex treatment about 14 days ago, and am extremely uncomfortable and experience more pain each day.  It is really good to see that this is not unique, and that others have had varying degrees of ease, pain, desire for seclusion, and angst.  My doctor was not very infromative or candid about the treatment problems, so this was a great find.  The tips on aquaphor and vaseline were useful; I will try them soon to see how they work.

 I am not sure this is getting posted yet - my first time on a chat/blog, so will  see if this ends up in the right message board.    Thanks for nice thoughts.

Outdoor person

 

Hang tough you guys!  It does suck, that is the plain ugly truth.  And it hurts constantly, and makes life miserable, but only for a short time.  I'm one week off the carac and I cannot BELIEVE the change in my face.  I'm a medium shade of pink, with some, but not tons, of flaking.  It felt so good to wash my face with a washcloth this morning in the shower.  So many people have said they cannot believe the change in such a short time period.  I can smile, I can eat, I can sleep!  It's still somewhat tender, but I expect that will go away in time as well.  Outdoorsman, I too knew nothing about this-and finding this board was a life saver for me.  I just hope that I don't have to endure this treatment again!  I may not be able to do it.  Happy New Year everyone!  Pam

 

On 12/27/2006 Pammy123164 wrote:

Hang tough you guys!  It does suck, that is the plain ugly truth.  And it hurts constantly, and makes life miserable, but only for a short time.  I'm one week off the carac and I cannot BELIEVE the change in my face.  I'm a medium shade of pink, with some, but not tons, of flaking.  It felt so good to wash my face with a washcloth this morning in the shower.  So many people have said they cannot believe the change in such a short time period.  I can smile, I can eat, I can sleep!  It's still somewhat tender, but I expect that will go away in time as well.  Outdoorsman, I too knew nothing about this-and finding this board was a life saver for me.  I just hope that I don't have to endure this treatment again!  I may not be able to do it.  Happy New Year everyone!  Pam

Thaks for notes, Pam.  Your many comments were certainly the most helpful.  As somebody suggested, I bought some I And aquaphor and it is much better than vaseline...Not so greasy, and more soothing as well.

 

I will certaily read the blog each day to cheer me up with progress of others. 

 

Cheers,

 Outdoors person...

 

Hi Everyone,

I'm on day 8 using the carac cream and I just noticed that a vein on the right side of my forehead is very swollen and a bit tender. I am using the carac cream on my nose. Does anyone think the cream could be causing the vein to swell? I haven't read about anything like that. Also I have burning on my nose which I expected but hope will not get much worse.

Thanks,

Tracey