Efudex, skin cancer and rosacea

By VeranoPanama Tuesday, October 02, 2007

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I had a little red spot on my face appearing to be skin cancer, which I have had and treated (with Efudex) on my arms and legs. I applied Efudex, and discovered a couple more red spots appeared next to the spot. So I smeared Efudex all over my face to see if there were more--and there were ... many more. However, I have a mild case of rosacea, and the rosacea area swelled and scabbed and is very painful. Metrogel causes more pain. Alovera and ice packs help, and I am using coconut oil. What to do? Also, some of the skin cancers that were discovered are on my lips, and they are blistered. What should I do?

Comments (4) | Add comment

mkstump, Editor

10/ 3/07 10:17am

Hi and thanks for writing. My name is MK and I am the producer of this site.

You ask really some really great questions. I am not a health professional, so I cannot answer them specifically, but I can direct you to some information on our site that will help.

If you want to learn a little mor abotu Efudex and its side effects, check out Efudex, Aldara and Other Skin Cancer Topical Chemo Creams. You can also go to our Drug Information Page to see if there is a drug there that might be better for your skin.

To learn more about how to treat rosacea, see our Rosecea index page, which will tell you the causes of rosacea and ways that you can treat it. One of our experts on the site, Dr. Kevin Berman, wrote about a new study on the causes of rosacea in Study says cathelicidin and SCTE are potential causes of Rosacea.

I hope this helps. Let us know if you have any other questions.

Barb in Texas

3/14/08 3:09am

V, I noticed this was posted in Oct. '07 so you might not even check back here any more, but am wondering if maybe you had an allergic reaction to the cream base of Efudex or something? I was told very few people are allergic to petroleum jelly but I'm one of them, so the red spots might be a reaction to something in the cream. Did you change meds after this? Or Drs?

RHONDA44

3/21/08 5:42pm

Barb,

It me again margaret,,,, Thats showing my age... Listen did you ever go outside during your treatment without sunscreen. Two day I could not put it on it burned so bad. Now my lips are chapped and dry.. Do you think I increased my chance of cancer on my lips now since system is kind of down with treatment. Tonight will be day 9 and I had to work and go outside. Wore hat and glasses and forgot the lips.. Help....

Barb in Texas

3/21/08 6:09pm

Have your book in my bathroom, "Margaret". haha (We're ageless.)

No, I did NOT go out after the warnings, just to car and back, because it's so easy to miss a spot so I hibernated during the treatment as much as possible. (TEXAS, remember? Our winter is 88 degrees and sunny!. . . then 8" of snow, but that's another story) AND like I wrote, I didn't allow my skin to break or weep, for fear of infection. So, when it got close to raw, I quit for a couple of days until it calmed down again. Might not be good for active ca but mine wasn't that far yet.

Carac makes one photosensitive like crazy, so be real careful. Don't obsess over future risk, you have enuf stress now without borrowing trouble. Use one of those recommended creams on your lips if it won't go against Dr's orders. One of them, Aquaphor , was given to me by a dermotologist for early, early AK. Relax and do your best with whatever instructions you were given. I had to kindof fly by the seat of my pants, but will do more research before using again. Stupid me, thought it was a miracle cure and didn't worry too much about it. But it's wonderful to have smooth skin where it was bumpy and scaly and itchy!!! The itching drove me absolutely crazy~

Hang in there.

Efudex, skin cancer and rosacea

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