Zyclara

Your Dr told you to repeat the 2 week treatment 6 times?  I thought mine indicated I would just do 2 weeks treatment, then take 2 weeks off, then repeat (just 1 repeat).

I am trying to count out the days to figure out if I can even get in a 2nd treatment before the Thanksgiving holidays (as I don't want to have oozing, bleeding scabs and a swollen face with family and company at my home).  I am thinking of starting a 2 week treatment Oct 9 so I would be done by Oct 22.  If I stop for 2 weeks, it would be time to start again on Oct 23 and continue til Nov 18.  My out of town family arrives Nov 15.

Can people tell me:

how soon into the 2 week treatment does your face start looking bad (so bad you can;t hide it with makeup)?

how long does it look bad (I mean things that face makeup can't hide completely) after you finish the 2 weeks of applying nightly?

Should I maybe not start the 2nd round of treatment until after Thanksgiving?  Would it matter if I waited a month between the 2 weeek treatments?

I use it for two weeks then give myself a two week break and ten start up for another two weeks, I do this for a total of 8 treatments so 16 weeks total but it causes blisters on my lower lip an the pain is intense. I can deal with the sickness it causes but the pain from the blister on my lip is so intense that I can't sleep

Well, thought I would make it through the final stages but can't do it.  My upper lip swelled up again really bad and has crusted over again. October 3rd was the last night I used zyclara and within 24 hours after stopping, my whole upper lip turned so red it looks like it is bleeding.  Everywhere that blistered is red which is my whole upper lip.  Did anyone else get the solid red where it was applied?  I kind of relate it to a really angry, ugly red birthmark if you can imagine that, almost looks like a solid mustache.  Very unsightly, I have not left the house since the 3rd and today is the 9th.  I really am wondering if I ended up with a severe reaction again.  At least I can finally see in one SMALL spot where the reddening is slightly less.  It definitelky bled in the areas that had blistered and scabbed the worse. I have decided I won't finish the remaining 10 days that I have. 

I did not make it throught the second round either.  Both lips were blistersed along with the other 35 scabs/sores on my face.  I was taking vicodan to go to sleep at night---and founs=d out that my own dermatologists found it too severe for her sensitive skin.  I was nauseous,achy, running temps, with a very overworking liver.  I was done.

Sometimes I think the dermatologists really don't have a clue as to what we are going through on zyclara.

Is there anyone who had a good experience with Zyclara?  What would the reason be for using it instead of freezing off the AKs?

Everybody reacts differently and it depends on how much sun damage there is. Based on my experiences of using zyclara by day five I had ulcers and wounds develop where I placed the medicine. they do say pace yourself. so if after x number of days, the wounds get unbearable or painful, stop the medicine, heal, wait, then start again. it is a slow process. it generally took me 2 weeks to heal. it is not easy to hide the wounds and the makeup can be irritating especially if it starts to ooze. I have an office job, still went to work and fellow coworkers were supportive, they knew what I was doing. but it was hard to do, I looked terrible. once the sores arrive, it takes two weeks or more to heal, so if you want to appear fresh for family, you may want to wait until after they leave. my doctor said waiting between treatments was a non-issue. every treatment is helpful. and you keep doing the treatments until you stop reacting to the medicine. hope this helps.

freezing may cause scarring. and my dermatologist also explained it is possible to freeze an AK and still have cancer develop below the freeze and not know it. if you have a lot of skin damage, the zyclara allows you to attack a larger area all at once and take care of it. my derm said, do you want me to keep freezing stuff and cutting stuff a little at a time, leaving scars or do you want to try a cream that will work globally and not leave scars? I was vain and took the cream, she made a good point, I didn't want a bunch of freeze scars on my face so I was willing to tough out the sores.  

If you have used Zyclara for fewer than the 14 days, at which point do you decide to stop using it (how red or inflamed should you let the spots on your face get before you give your skin a rest before starting again?)

Is there a minimum number of days you can use it between resting periods for it to be effective?  For example, could you use it for only 3 or 4 days, stop for 14 days, then repeat the 3 or 4 days?

I am now on day 6 and when I applied Zyclara tonight, the spots were quite red, but not bleeding/oozing as some people have described.

If Zyclara is still effective when used for fewer days at a time, but with the treatment extending over a longer period overall, I would like to try this method.

Anyone know?

I stopped using after the first 7 days because the pain was unbearable (blisters on the inside of lips).  I waited a week and restarted and went another 11 days and only stopped because the blisters/scaling on upper lip appeared to be bleeding bad.  I will start again the end of January after the holidays and birthdays are over.  I would use it as long as you can stand it as this will help you get over it quicker.  I don't know if using just 3 or 4 days at a time will allow the cream to work as it should. I would advise asking your derm.  I can say after this point in time I am glad I lasted as long as I did.  October 3rd was the last night I used it and it is still tender where the scaling/blisters were the worse but there is just a little redness that makeup will cover. The rough patches are gone for now. Am curious to see how bad it blisters when I restart.....