Side Effects of Carac or Efudex

I have used the Carac before with no scarring but I would much rather have a scar than skin cancer. I have a spot on my forehead that I have had to use the Carac on many times and it looks the same as the rest of my skin.

I have just finished 2 weeks treatment of twice a day of the Efudex and I just wanted to say that this message board helped me through it.  Whenever I would get discouraged I would read the messages (old and new) and know that others have gotten through the treatment.  That kept me going.  I was suppose to apply it for 3 weeks and thought I could get through the 3rd week but on the 15th day I had to call my doctor.  She took a look and said I could stop treatment except for on my nose (where a biopsy showed squamous cell carcinoma)  I was so happy.  A red nose is nothing compared to my whole face being red.  She gave me Biafin cream to help with the healing.  I think it is worse today than yesterday but such a weight has been lifted by not having to apply the Efudex to my whole face.  That was getting harder and harder to do. 

The other thing that got me through was thinking of others who have it way worse than I do. Hang in there and you too will make it through.

 

Hi Franklin,

I'm using Carac right now.  I'm on day 10 of 14 and I look like I have a severe case of measles.  My face is very raw.  EVERYTHING that comes into contact with it hurts, even water.  And it itches terribly.  The best way I can describe it is it feels like it's being poked with needles on the outside and bugs are crawling beneath the surface.  I woke this morning with dried blood on my face and pillow from where I apparently scratched it open during the night.  Everything I've read tells me weeks 2 and 3 are the worst.  If you're wedding is in 3 weeks, I would wait if you can.

 

On 5/18/2008 aceace wrote:

Hello All,

I posted these one-a-day photos of my TX experience a little over a month ago (last April 10th 2008 actually), but thought I would share the links again, because I see all new names on this thread now.  Sorry to all of you going through this right now, but I am glad that this thread keeps on. It is full of great inspiration.

Beware a few of the photos are painful and intimidating to look at.  Especially if you are just now starting. But I can assure you that everyone is different. Mine might have been close to a worst case scenario, but my dermotologist did tell me they see worse.

Here is a slideshow of the first 14 days of my Fluorouracil treatment.

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 finished my tx on 3/2/2008 so it has been over 2 months. I wear SPF 70 every day now (keep 3 tubes of it in my car), and I see that Walmart now carries SPF 85 !!  I go in next week for my post dermo appointment to see if all my spots are gone. Wish me luck.

Hi aceace and to all,

I want to thank everyone for their input and especially aceace for the slides. I have posted 2 messages on 10/10 but cannot find them anywhere. What am I doing wrong?  All the postings have been very helpful to me, don't feel so alone in this. I am on Carac 1x/day, now day 10 and I look almost like aceace's twin. Especially around the eyes. I hope this post shows up, I do want to participate and hopefully be able to help someone like all of you have helped me.  Carolyn

Hi to all,

I found my first posting in my messages folder and copied and pasted it to this one. I still don't know what I did wrong ?

 

Hi to all,

I would like to thank everyone who has posted, all of your info has been very helpful.  I am on day 8 of Carac 1x/day. So far the areas under my eyes, cheekbone area and inside bridge of nose Iright where the glasses sit) are the most affected, with other scattered areas of redness on forehead cheeks and surrounding lips.  I have already had 4 mohs surgeries on my face with plastic surgery, one with a skin graft on my nose for squamous cell. 4 melanomas (2 on neck,1 on arm and 1 on leg) which were all caught in stage 1 , numerous other squamous cell, basal cell and malignant nevis removed over the years. Both of my parents had skin cancers and 6/6 of us (the children) have had skin cancers 5 of us Melanoma. My younger sister died at 46 from Melanoma, (she had a mole burned off when she was 13 that was never biopsied) They were unable to identify the primary site, but believe that mole must have been an unidentified melanoma.  My last mohs surgery was 4 months ago, I am having a hard time believing that so much more of my face could be involved, after all the other surgeries about 6 in the last yr on my face alone. I am very hopeful that the Carac will kill early cells and/or help identify affected areas earlier and possibly decrease the future surgeries.

God Bless all of you and keep posting!

Hi goodtobeme,

I've been checking in about every other month to this site.

I'm glad that you found your lost post, and also, happy the slides I photo posted have helped.  I debated for awhile before posting them.  I thought maybe it would scare people out of the tx, but hopefully everyone knows that there are no two cases that are identical, and your tx might be way better than mine. 

Hang in there with the treatment, you will be glad you did, it will be over b4 you know it.

To the poster on the previous page who is worried about scaring, I was in the same boat, really thinking that there was no way I could get through this withoug scars, but  within weeks after I stopped tx my face was as smooth as a babies butt.  I had people that had no idea I did the tx ask how I kept my face looking so nice and smooth.  No guarantees though, I suppose it could scar, but I think most likely you are OK.

One other word of warning that just happened to me, I have been out of the sun every day since Feb when my treatment started, wearing sunscreen every day and big hat too, being really careful. Then last week I needed to mow a small part of a lawn, and couldn't find my hat and didn't bother to put on sunscreen either because it would only take a minute.  I mowed for maybe 15 minutes and some of it was in the shade, plus it was October so I thought the sun wouldn't be significant. Well ... the sun is significant any month anyplace is what I found out.  My face turned medium red about 4 hours later, and it stayed red for 2 days.   So put on the sunscreen. I even had SPF 85 Neutrogena i in the car only a few feet from me. Dang it. Just plain lazy I guess.   It is a lifestyle change of constant awareness about the dangers of the sun that will make us live longer, healthier and happier.

I'm going back outside, so I'm putting on some SPF 85 right now.

Ace

Hi to all,

Went to my Dermatologist yesterday and he is pleased with my messed up face and said Carac is doing exactly what it was meant to do. Asked if I could continue till 21 days (10/23) and then see plastic surgeon for the eye area. I tried to beg off seeing the surgeon but he said, "  We already have a + biopsy for that site with squamous cell, and if we wait it could spread more involving more extensive surgery, that would be more disfiguring so close to the eye. Carac kills most of the early cells and prevents them from turning malignant, but I don't know how good it is at killing squamous cell that is already there. Also it will help the surgeon identify potential site and not to use grafts from there or attach a graft to a site that may later turn malignant."  So  I will use the carac till 10/23 and see the surgeon on 11/4. He also gave me Locoid Lipocream which he said will help the severe dryness, I complained of now,  and help with healing once the carac is stopped. I used it last night and it worked great, and my face felt so much better this morning.

I hope all of you are holding up well. Thank you all for you input on this site.

Kevin here...just got my prescription for Carac. I'm going to start treatment the first week of November after I get back from vacation. I play tennis a lot, always wear a hat and 50+ sunscreen...guess it wasn't enough. I work for an advertising agency in new york and as you can guess, its very 'looks conscious'. So I was wondering if anyone took any time off from work during the worst phase of treatment? Aside from the physical effects I'm also a little worried about lack of sleep during the procedure. I'm in the office by 9am and sometimes my day isn't over until 10-12am. I usually have a 100 different things coming at me at once and if I'm going to walking around like a zombie I'd rather have someone cover for me. I've gone through some of the other posts and it seems like its worth the ordeal and I'm trying to focus on the end results. Any info is appreciated, thanks!

 

On 10/16/2008 Woodsideguy41 wrote:

Kevin here...just got my prescription for Carac. I'm going to start treatment the first week of November after I get back from vacation. I play tennis a lot, always wear a hat and 50+ sunscreen...guess it wasn't enough. I work for an advertising agency in new york and as you can guess, its very 'looks conscious'. So I was wondering if anyone took any time off from work during the worst phase of treatment? Aside from the physical effects I'm also a little worried about lack of sleep during the procedure. I'm in the office by 9am and sometimes my day isn't over until 10-12am. I usually have a 100 different things coming at me at once and if I'm going to walking around like a zombie I'd rather have someone cover for me. I've gone through some of the other posts and it seems like its worth the ordeal and I'm trying to focus on the end results. Any info is appreciated, thanks!

 

Hi Kevin,

Sorry it is necessary for you to join the club of those overexposed to the sun and Carac . I have to say the boards have been very helpful to me, and know that I am not alone in this. 

Everyone seems to respond a little differently, mine was quite extensive, but not as bad or annoying as some of the others. Everything seems to come to a head around day 10, with some response starting around day 3-4. I started on 10/2 and am still using the carac. but the worst of it seems to be drying up and less painful than it was around day 10. Some new areas are popping up on my forehead but not as bad as the areas just below the eyes. If you look back a few posts you will see were I answered a post from aceace. click on that link to see pictures he was so kind to share with all of us. That will give you some idea of what to expect, although not necessarily the same. Most of this damage was done to us in childhood and compounded over the yrs. So its important for parents to watch their little ones and start educating them early.

Keep us posted on how you are doing. Taking time from work will be up to the individual, their  response to the treatment and their work environment.

 Good luck and know you will be helping to prevent future skin cancers.

Carolyn

 

  

 

 

 

Hey Carolyn, thanks for the prompt reply. I looked at aceace post and I have to admit I was a little intimidated. I know every case is different and I sure hope mine is one of the better ones! Either way I'm going to go through with it and I'll update my progress. Good luck with the rest of your treatment Carolyn. Thanks for posting the link aceace, love the picture of you with and the baby!