Side Effects of Carac or Efudex

I knew it would be busy once I went back to "life".... I am 3 weeks out after 4 wks of 1/day Carac.  The raccoon eyes are gone, but I still get flares of itchiness and redness/splotchy redness/red dots - these alone or in some combination - but not to the "hide out at home" extreme.  We all seem to get the red face but are unsure about the why and when.  I'm THINKING it comes up after I've been hurrying, so my heart rate is up maybe?  I haven't started working out and that may tell... anyway I have to admit that I feel pretty good, and look okay, but not "ten years younger' as some have posted.  The elementary kids don't seem to be bothered by the remaining redness.  And I don't feel like a freak in public venues.  Hey, life is good!   haha

To the teacher expecting to go to work at high school day 13 - wow - you might want to arrange more time off.  But if you can't, be sure to stay connected to this site for moral support.  Teens can be brutal, however I remember thinking that there are youth with acne that look a lot like this and they still have to face each day in public... so you may have some sympathizers.  As for using up the tubes of poison too fast, my derm said to use a very thin layer, as thin as possible and still cover, and if you use too much you know because it kind of pills up when you're trying to spread it.  I didn't get what he was talking about until I was trying it.  It is a strange un-lotion stuff.  Wet but dry?  I understand the Efudex has a different medium and is not that way. 

If you are in the middle of treatment, as all have said, HANG IN THERE!  That insane feeling of itching from the inside and burning from the outside WILL PASS.  Really.  The screaming white circles around your eyes (where you are not putting the "poison" on your skin) are your REAL color, and the crazy intense redness WILL fade to match the cirlces until they disappear.  If you are almost or are just done with the applications, try benedryl for the residual itchies - it helped me a lot - even a half dose seemed to stop the creepy-crawly feeling under my skin.

I agree with the post saying that people are curious, but a little standoff-ish about the treatment.  Nobody wants to admit that their skin is in trouble.  Nobody wants to deal with "hiding" from the sun forever, or even at all... we don't like being hassled in any way.  But some of us have had to face it (no pun intended, yet haha to all of us in face treatment) and that seems to make some others uncomfortable - I've noticed the most uncomfortable are the other pale/freckle-y folks... understandably.  We are a stark reminder of what they need to be dealing with as well.

If you are new to this message board I'll try to save you a step - my first post got really messed up - if you just reply to the last message posted - where it says to reply in the lower right corner - your message will be the next one and fit right into the chat.  I'm not too computer friendly - maybe people who chat online already know how it works. 

Thanks for the feedback.  Have a great weekend! 

Hi Eveyone,

Today is day 10 of my 1x day Carac and my chest is very red with red "eruptions" all over it.  My forehead, nose, and around my eyes have lots of redish-purple dots but the rest of the skin looks fairly normal.  These areas look like dark red and white polka-dots.  My side and lower cheeks have not been affected at all.  They do have AKs though and I was wondering if this happened to anyone else. 

 It is so good to hear about everyone's experience and just how similiar they are.  The Aquaphor is great; the itching was gone about 10 minutes after using it.  I would not have slept without it. 

What kind of sunscreen is best for during treatment.  The stuff I have stings a little now and I know it will sting a lot in days to come.

Thanks for all your support!

This is such a great website. It's been so helpful to me. Thank you, everyone, so much!! I am on day 12 of being on Carac cream 1X a day for 4 weeks. I put it on a spot on the side of my nose, just below where my glasses hit. I went to a dermatologist about 3 weeks ago for my annual skin check. I told her that I was concerned about a particular spot on my nose. She confirmed that it was probably a pre-skin cancer for squamous cell and prescribed the Carac cream. What bothers me is that she didn't use any magnification and/or bright light to look at me. She just eyeballed it, in a very dim room I might add. I think that I have more AKs on my nose. I can see them in my 7 magnification mirror. They are definitely smaller versions of what I am presently putting the cream on. I think that she missed them because she didn't properly look at them. And she rushed me, walking backwards out of the room, as she was explaining how to use the cream. (Plus I was totally naked when she opened the door to leave.) I have since made an appointment to see a dermatologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering but they are so booked up, it's not until the middle of May. I decided to get the cream going instead of waiting around until May. Because the rush-job dermatologist spoke so quickly about the cream's directions, plus processing the fact that I have a potential skin cancer prevented from being able to listen properly, I don't know when I am finished with this cream or what it looks like when I am finished. Does anybody know... How do I know that the cream has done it's job and I can stop? Or do I just apply for the whole 4 weeks? And... what if you get the cream on skin that is NOT AKed. Does it turn red and scaly too or does nothing happen? I am using a great moisturizer/sunscreen. It is not oily and it doesn't burn or itch where the Carac cream has dried and reddened/purpled my skin. It's called Derma MD, Ultra Shield, Daytime Moisturizer, SPF 41, Oil Free. It is a medical cosmetic. Dermatologists sell it. Take care.

Hi Scouty,

Looks like we are about at the same point in treatment (I'm on day 11 -Carac, face and chest).  I have applied the cream all over my face and chest.  I can tell you that since starting my treatment that many more AKs have appeared and some have gotten larger and they are starting to react.  I am certainly glad that I'm doing everything so I know that I will get them all in one shot.  It is quite maddening when you often have to wait at the drs office for so long just to have them rush through the appointment.

 Good Luck...

Hey all,

Hope it's going tolerably for all of you still in the midst of tx.

I am on day 5 post tx and it feels so much better! It still itches and looks atrocious but I can sleep anyway I want and move about without feeling like my chest is going to split. I continue to put the steroid cream on but just once a day now and the aquaphor I put on right before I go to sleep. Besides that, all is well. I just hope the redness and blotches go away before too long. I wear scrubs to work everyday and have to wear a high necked t-shirt under it to hide the ick!

Hello, Everyone!  I hope you are all doing well, it has been so long since anyone has posted.  Let me know you are out there~

Nan, how are you progressing?  I imagine that you are in the thick of things right now.  I hope that it is tolerable for you and you are able to get some sleep.  I know you are doing a lot of skin!  Hang in there.

I am on Day 24, carac to the face.  This morning I woke up looking like a ripe tomato.  My eyes are so swollen.  I was supposed to have my doctor's appointment yesterday, but they called to cancel because a conflict came up for the dermatologist!  They will call back to reschedule.

I am now pretty much red ear to ear.  The red spots are running together on the outer cheeks.  The left side of my forehead is beginning to catch up w/ the right side in terms of redness.  Apple of the cheeks is thick red skin now.  But still no erosion.  I am tired of waiting, it seems that most folks start the bigtime peeling around day 15.  I don't have the pins and needles feeling, I think that might be associated w/ the erosion (because I definitely had that while I was doing the lip). I do have plenty of stinging, and am using the aquaphor regularly.  Do you think perhaps this is keeping me from peeling?  The process just seems agonizingly slow.

Well...enough of my moaning!

Take care, everyone, and have a great week!

Redcat, how are you doing?  Sarla, I am ready for another joke~  Congrats, Gala and others who have completed the regime!

Scouty, how is your nose coming along.  I know what you mean about the doctors always being in such a hurry.  And not listening.  They often only seem to notice a problem area if you point it out to them.  Very frustrating.  Good that you have made an appt. at Sloan.

Hi Everyone,

It's good to see some posts out there! 

Carrieann,  You sound miserable.  I don't know whether to be envious or thankful.  I would like to be closer to the end of this but I'm certainly not looking forward to that kind of pain.  Hang in there, we're thinking about you.

Scouty,  To answer your question about putting the cream on non-AKed areas of your face - I went to the derm 2 days ago (day 13) and asked why my cheeks were not reacting and he said they probably didn't have any damage.  I thought it might be because it was tougher skin, but that was just my guess.

My reaction is really different.  I went back to work 4-7, having been on spring break for a week and since it was day 13, I looked pretty bad.  I looked like I had been in an accident.  My eyes looked bruised, swollen, and crusty.  My forehead, nose, chin, and around my mouth had dark red spots (some crusty and bleeding).  Yesterday, my whole face looked better, lighter red and fewer crusty spots.  Today it is even better!  My students noticed both days.  Several said "I thought you said it would get worse, it looks better."  I have used a steroid cream (prednicarbate 0.1%)in the morning twice now as the derm prescribed, but I know that didn't make the improvement Tuesday because I hadn't used it yet.  This is really bizarre!

I decided to take a week off later when I really need it so I grit my teeth and went to work.  In order to answer all the questions the high schools would have, I gave them the following oral quiz on the overhead projector at the beginning of each hour:

What happened to Mrs. W’s face??? 

1.  Was attacked by a rabid porcupine

2.  Mistakenly used battery acid instead of night cream before going to bed

3.  Slid on the concrete after falling off her skateboard

4.  While on spring break, was lost at sea on a raft for 2 days and was badly sunburned

5.  Face caught on fire and tried to put it out with a fork        (got this one from this board)

6.  Crazy medicine is making her skin fall off

 

 Most of them thought it was the porcupine :-)

 

Good luck everyone and keep posting.

Hi, 

Very funny NanMich. Good sense of humor.

I haven't writen for a few weeks. I mentioned way back a month ago that I had taken photos almost every day for 30 days of my 5-FU Fluorouracil treatment (generic form of Efudex).  I debated with myself since then if I should post the photos of my face treatment or not. Some of them are graphic enough I was afraid it might scare some people out of doing the treatment. Well, since it has been a few weeks maybe I am forgetting how mentally traumatic it was, so I went ahead and posted. I found a nice free website that makes slideshows, so I uploaded them there. They are slideshows so you can sit back and watch them go by pretty fast.

Now remember, one of the things that I learned from this forum is that everyone reacts different, so your will be different than mine.

Here is a slideshow of the first 14 days of my Fluorouracil treatment. I thought this was the hard part, but turns out, it was the easy part.

http://www.slide.com/r/UOS38iRG0z_1PeL2Uf6edu7M91i06eJ3?prev

Post treatment slidshow photos, days 15 to 35:

http://www.slide.com/r/pOmkFem46z_jzpLKJMlRmWNzCCtwz3Xk?prev

I have lots more photos but these are just 1 or 2 phtos from each day so I wouldn't bore you to tears.

I would be interested in hearing if your treatment reaction is similar to mine. 

Hi everyone! I'm 2 weeks post 28 day Carac to the face treatment and looking and feeling great. I don't really see much difference from before I started the tx. I don't have the perfect new baby skin that everyone talks about, but at least I'm pretty much back to normal.  My skin is smoother, and makeup glides on easier without the AK flakey, dry spots that I used to have.  I didn't used to use moisurizer with sunscreen, and now that I am, I have been getting some small little white pimples.  Using the Nutrogena caused the most pimples. Now I'm using Oil of Olay, and I only get an occasional one. I'll probably stick with Olay till it runs out, then maybe try another till I find one that doesn't cause breakouts.                    

Carrrieann, My face also reacted very slowly.  In fact, I never got crusty or bleeding. My face got extremely red and raw and  peeled, but only with very small flakes, usually while just gently washing during my shower.  I felt MUCH worse than I ever looked, but I think the tx was successful.  I will go back to my derm in a couple of weeks to check it out again. Hang in there, it will end soon.  Carol