My experience with efudex
Efudex is a topical lotion that finds and kills pre-cancerous skin cells. When you have a small spot the dermatologist is concerned about, he usually blasts you with liquid nitrogen. But when it’s a larger area, you get efudex.
It was invented by a Dr. Dex and named by his patients.
Okay, I made that up.
Anyway, here’s what happened to me during my treatment. Captions are below the pictures.
This was the first day of treatment. Nothing happens for a while.
After a week, I looked like this.
After two weeks, it was getting pretty nasty and itchy.
Three weeks. Getting worse all the time.
Four weeks. At this point I should note that my doc said I was having a mild to moderate reaction to the treatment. So some people get it a lot worse than this.
After four weeks I stopped the efudex and started using hydrocordisone to calm down the irritation.
I had hoped things would clear faster than this. This is week five — one week after I stopped the efudex.
Six weeks. Still red, but not quite so sore and itchy.
By this point I didn’t need the hydrocortisone cream any more.
Eight weeks out, things are almost back to normal.
So, kids, wear your sunscreen and a hat. You need vitamin D, so get out in the sun, but keep your exposure regulated. Don’t get burned.
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19 February 2012 @ 6:46 pm
24 April 2013 @ 12:54 pm
Just been told to use this. The area is smaller than yours, seems like you needed to treat the entire forehead!!
Better than cancer I suppose.
24 April 2013 @ 12:56 pm
Yes, it is better than cancer.
There is another medicine that my dermatologist asked me to use recently on the top of my head. It didn’t have nearly as ugly a reaction, and I only had to use it for three days. I can’t remember the name of it, but I’m sure your dermatologist would know about it. You might ask if there are other options before starting efudex!