Efudix to treat actinic keratoses

Hello  

A wee update from me. Now three weeks into the treatment and still no real reaction to speak of. Hubby thinks the lesion itself looks a bit redder than usual, and my friend thought my cheek looked a bit swollen last week, but certainly not experiencing the gradually worsening reaction I was ‘warned’ about.

Spoke to a different pharmacist yesterday. She suggested using slightly more cream and simply spreading it on, no rubbing in at all, so will try that. 

Called Dermatology secretaries on Tuesday. and asked to speak to the NHS dermatologist I saw a month ago. Was told she only works Wed - Fri. Though5 she might have called sometime over the past three days but no. Not sure where to go from here. 

I'm just joining the group too as I've recently been prescribed efudix for what I thought were a couple of patches on my neck and face  I was told to use it for 3-4 weeks; no more instructions given.  I therefore followed advice on enclosed leaflet and spread thin layer over the area.  Skin reacted within 2 days and after 5 days face and neck were covered in red patches.  By day 10 the pain was almost too much and some blistering and weeping had started.  I'm really worried by so much reaction so quickly but have been totally ignored by dermatology dept and doctor when I try to get advice. Has anyone else had this type of reaction and were you able to get advice?  I am finding it all very worrying and stressful just being left to my own devices.

Hi Missie2, 

My concern was the opposite of yours; very little reaction after 4 weeks. I eventually managed to talk to the dermatologist the day before the 4 weeks were up (having been advised by the GP’s secretary to keep hounding the hospital!) and she told me to continue to use the cream for a further three weeks. I’m at the end of week 6 now and my skin is sore, red, weepy and beginning to crust. 

I absolutely get where you’re coming from when you say you find being left to your own devices stressful. That’s what’s good about this community .  On reflection, I think I was being over cautious with the cream, perhaps understandable given it says in big bold letters that it’s very important not to use too much. How are we supposed to know much too much is? The Cancer Research website says you will be shown by hospital staff how to apply it but that certainly wasn’t my experience. 

I was told only to apply the cream once a day. Are you applying it twice daily? If so, that might be the reason your reaction has been faster and more severe? I was also told that, if my face became too uncomfortable, I should either stop or ‘take a break’ until it settled. I was also told if it didn’t settle to contact my GP for some steroid cream to calm things down. So, I suppose my advice would be to ‘keep hounding’ until you get some proper advice.

Not sure how much help I’ve been. As I said, my ‘worry’ is/was the opposite of yours. Hopefully someone else with a fast, extreme reaction will be able to advise you further. Please keep in touch and let me know how you get on. 

FaithA x 

Me again! 

Just remembered something else that might help. I was advised to apply the cream with a cotton bud and be careful not to get it on healthy skin - just the lesion itself