Side Effects of Carac or Efudex

thanks, Carol, and everyone!

I finally got in to see the doctor yesterday (day 24 carac/face).  My day 24 looked like aceace's day 12, so indeed, everyone is different.  She told me to stop the carac on the bright red, swollen cheeks and nose and prescribed a cortisone cream called Desonide.  That has helped alot.  And just watching ace's slideshow was such a relief, knowing that my swelling was not really too out of line.  Thank you so much, Ace, for posting that.  Just knowing what to expect takes much of the fear and apprehension away. 

The doc said that I now need to treat the area between my nose and upper lip.  I wasn't originally treating that area, but I sort of accidently dabbed a little carac there while I was putting the tx on the bottom rim of my nose.  Well...I got a red spot there, so I went ahead and kept putting carac in that entire area for the last week or so (especially knowing that many of you have had quite serious bcc's and scc's in that upper lip region).  The doctor told me to keep treating the area for a full 21 days.  My next appointment is in 19 days.  You figure, if your face lights up in one area, you are likely going to have damage in other adjacent areas that were similarly exposed to uv.  For those of you just starting out, you may want to ask your doctor about treating the whole face at once, if you are up for it.  In hindsight, that is probably what I should have done, so as not to drag out the process for so many months.

Hope everyone is doing well today!  Have a great weekend. Hang on in there!

Aceace....Thanks so much for the slide show.  Though I'm finished with the treatment, I still was glad to see it, and I know it will help others getting started or in the middle treatment.  My reaction was not as strong as yours.  I did Carac for 21 days.

Carrieann...yea...if you can just get psyched for it, I think doing the whole face at once is the way to go....get it all over with.  My doc wanted me to do forehead for one round and the rest of the face for the other round.  He didn't think I'd make it through the whole thing at once.  I'm glad I did it all at once now.  My forehead reacted about like Aceace's, which I think is weird, because I never wore hats.  I feel like my forehead was one of my most frequently and severely burned areas over the years.

At 18 days post treatment, I look like I have a 'healthy' amt of sun.  When I warm up...I get the pattern back...racoon eyes and all.  I was at my spin class the other day...first time since treatment, and the instructor got off her bike and came over to me and said I needed to slow down.  I looked in the mirror and I was BRIGHT deep red...under my eyes even looked brown.  I knew it was stinging under my eyes.  (when I exercise, I exercise hard, and get really red and sweaty anyway).  She thought I was overdoing it until I explained the situation.  Several other people at the gym commented on my RED face.

For the first time yesterday, someone commented on how smooth my skin looked.  I don't see much difference, but I do still have some flaking going on.

THanks again Aceace for the pics!  Very helpful!

Thanks so much for posting these pictures Ace.  I'm sure everyone starting treatment is extremely curious about what might be in store for them.  Knowing helps put your mind to ease.

Nan

I'll join the chorus "THANKS ACE!" for the slide shows.  It looks like the Efudex works differently than Carac in that it really heats up AFTER applications - or maybe that's just one of the ways our skin reacts differently patient to patient.  I applied Carac all over my face 1/day for 28 days.  The burning, redness, and swelling began to relent the next day     (29th) by a tiny degree, and for about 2-3 weeks, each day by degrees.  I'm sad for all your burning and swelling AFTER you thought you were done.  Thank you so much for sharing your "journey" through treatment.  As well as your actual journey - all that traveling!!  I laid low at home, not wanting anyone to make a mental picture of me with the screaming red and peeling...  blech!  You are a braver soul!  I had also heard people mentioning the brown spots and I never had them, so it was interesting to see.  So people??? Is the afterburning and brown spots an Efudex thing, or an individual thing?  My derm suggested this could be an every 10 year kind of thing for my skin, so I'd like to know what to use next time!!  I'm drawn by the "done in 2 weeks" of Efudex, but if the effects persist the whole time, is it better to do it gradually? 

I was working in my yard today - the first really sunny day I've had to be outside since my treatment - and I had on 23 sunblock UNDER MY HAT.  I need to get some stronger stuff, but this is Banana Boat for Faces and I really like the way it feels on my skin.  Very light, even lighter than my 15 Oil of Olay moisturizer.  Oh, somebody mentioned little pimples in the weeks post treatment.  I began getting them just as I finished treatment (thinking "hasn't my skin suffered ENOUGH!?!?!) and wondered if it was the lotions and vaseline and steroid cream... I am 4 weeks post treatment and they are tapering off.  I have very oily skin and have even gone a couple of days without putting anything on it lately and I think my poor pores are finally starting to breate again.  My quest will continue for the lightest possible sunblock - I'm planning to try the Neutrogena "dry touch" someone mentioned.  Hope it's not the same Neutrogena that's giving you trouble!

Summer is coming guys!  Defend yourself! We've all gone through a LOT to repair the past.  Let's keep this new skin happy.   

I'm glad I posted the pics; I was worried about it.  Some of them are even amusing.  I tried to put in the ones were I was smiling. Yes, there are a lot of them were I wasn't that I didn't post, but I'm sure you can all relate.

That was me that said I was breaking out in pimples here and there. I am guessing it is from the sunscreen that I am apparently not used to wearing every day.  I put it on every pretty much every day now.  My Dermo told me that UVa sun rays go through glass, so they want me to wear it even though I'm inside of a car.  So at the end of the day I have been washing my face with soap more now, and letting the soap sit on my face awhile longer than I used to and that is helping.  I suppose I should be useing a special face clenser? Anyone have any ideas? 

I mentioned I found Neutrogena SPF 70 in a spray bottle which I really like (I think I found it at Walmart).  It was $10, which I think is expensive, but then I think all sunscreen is expensive, but now in retrospect all sunscreen is really really *really* cheap compared to the consequences. Oh, and I wear my big wide-brimmed hat all the time now, into the grocery store, restaurants, gas stations, whereever.  But I think I need a new hat.

My dermatologist gave me Aldara Cream. Is that the same as Carac and Efudex? It's to put on my lip and I'm really a wreck about doing that as I will be ingesting it somewhat.I had my entire lower lip tissue removed and tissue from the inside of my mouth brought forward to make a new lip. As a result the Aldara is going on some very sensitive tissue. has anyone out there heard of it being used on the lips?

Gloria

A big  "Thank you"  to everyone who has shared their experiences on this message board. Reading the messages has helped me to stick to the program for the full 14 days, even though I was tempted to call it quits on day 12. I am now on my second day of post treatment following 14 days 2X per day of 5% Fluoroucil on my face. So far I have a lot of red spots on my forehead, temples, nose, above my upper lip, chin, and a sporadically over my cheeks.  Some of the red spots have developed a dark brown or black 'head' on them, similar to a blackhead. My upper cheeks have a burned appearance and are very sore, and my entire face is swollen and itchy. However, I do not have any blistering, drainage, nor any peeling. I've also experienced some of the worst hearburn I've ever had in my life, along with bouts of nausea especially after I eat or drink anything. I expected the heartburn to go away as soon as I stopped treatment, but so far it hasn't.  Before the Fluoroucil treatment I had laser treatment on some AK's on my lip, nose, and forehead, and had a couple of stubborn AK's frozen afterward, so I'm hopeful that this third treatment will do the trick. I have enough sick days left to take off one more week from work, so wish me luck that I'll heal quickly. 

My husband offered to take me to breakfast this morning (I am on day 17 of using 5% fluorouracil 2x per day for 14 days on my face) and since I haven't been outside of the house in almost a week I was eager to accept.  However, I wanted to cover these horrible looking red and dark blotches on my face, and had some bare minerals makeup in my drawer. It worked super!  And, it wasn't painful to apply even on the most tender parts of my face, probably because it is a dry powder and I used a very soft brush to apply it.  I used a bisque powder to cover all the red and dark areas and followed it with a medium beige powder foundation, and I was amazed how the red disappeared from my skin (well, it didn't disappear but it was hidden super well.)  My face is still swollen and puffy, but at least the red wasn't screaming "Look at me!"  The make up only has an spf of 15, so it isn't much of a sunscreen, but I only went from the car to the restaurant and wore a wide brim hat, and regular sunscreen burns like the devil right now. I was still a little self conscious of how I looked, but at least no one stared!  I washed it off as soon as we returned home, and it came off relatively easy except for the crevices where I needed to use a gentle facial cleanser on a qtip.  Now if I could only find something that will take care of the lingering heartburn I'm still experiencing from the fluorouracil.  Any suggestions besides tums?

carieann,

im on day 21 0f 28 tx with carac and im a mess!  im doing my face, chest arms, and back.  i look like a burn victim with blisters and eroded skin all over.  my face was bleeding in spots this morning so i put a call out to the derm and am waiting for a return call.  maybe i have to stop.  when i started the tx, the doc said i wouldnt have to take and time off work but ive called out the last 3 days and im going to tell him today i cant go back for a while.  i work as a nurse in an icu and im around horrible germs daily.  i cant see how i could work like this.  not to mention how horriblle i feel.  i live on advil and vaseline. i read you had to stop early. im hoping he says to stop but after going thru all this, i hope it worked!