Generic Name: Efudex for Keratosis (fluorouracil-topical)
Efudex for Keratosis Reviews
"I'm a 68-year-old male. This is the second time I have used this fabulous cream. Enjoy the results, YES! Enjoy the experience, NO! I applied the cream twice a day to my entire face for two weeks. After two further weeks, all of the scabbing has gone and my face has peeled. Still a few weeks to go before the worst of the redness goes. I must be honest - the pain was bad: Burning sensation, needle pricks, scabbing, and blood spots on my pillow. Sometimes it was so bad, I had to ease the pain with ice. But all of the pain described above was worth it. The cream detects the worst-affected areas - some I had no idea were damaged. It leaves the undamaged skin alone. This cream has reduced my number of visits to the seriously expensive dermatologist to almost zero. My skin feels and looks twenty years younger. I cannot recommend this cream enough. You should be thrilled with the results. But, as with most rewards in life, there is some serious pain involved."
"This is the best!! I've been using it for 4 years and it is absolutely the best solution for AK's. I am 60 years old, fair skin, been outside for years and developed way too many AK's, not to mention basal and squamous problems too. For years, the dermatologist only used spot nitrogen and prescribed caramac. I can only assume she didn't prescribe Efudex because she needed the steady income stream from me and my insurance. By chance, I was having a physical from my family doctor. He asked me when I was going to address my AK's on the forehead. I told him I did, and he told me he could write me a prescription for medicine that solves it, Efudex. He did and I am amazed at the end results. Yes, the Efudex was painful, looked bad when it was working, but results speak for themselves."
"This is my second time around for using Efudex. The first time was 6 years ago. I've grown up on the West coast and spent my summers in the deserts or at the beach. I am of Irish descent, brown hair, blue eyes. By the time I was 60, my face looked terrible. High danger for skin cancer, many trips to dermatologist. Began to hurt significantly on day 14. Everything I read and saw on the web said 'stick it out'. I made it to day 25. Couldn't do another minute. Dragged myself into the doc's office on a Friday afternoon. I looked like Frankenstein. Appt's clerk gasped. Doc said 'Great job. Looks like it was very effective.' That night I washed everything off, and applied Aquaphor. Next two days were most painful. After that, it got better every day, and within two months, there was no trace of the 40 years of sun damage on my face. So...I would give this a 10. I'm a teacher, and did the treatment over the winter holidays. It was all done by January 7."
"I’m 52-year-old sun-loving female and started treatment of Efudex. I’m 3 weeks in and last dose on day 20. I didn’t react too badly to start at all. 3rd week in saw big changes as skin became more inflamed but very manageable. I was anxious with all the reviews I read but think it’s important to remind ones that everyone is different. The last day and night after finishing has been the most painful. I’m putting 1% hydrocortisone on in ointment form. Keeps area oily. Some benefits of COVID are mask-wearing. With hat, sunnies, and mask, I can go out and people don’t notice how hideous I look. Taking pain relievers to sleep. Itching, burning at night is worst. I’m a runner and I’ve continued all the way through but will see what the next few days bring."
"I am now into my 15th day of using the Efudix cream, and I look scary. I was told by my skin specialist to do my whole face, and as directed, have done so. I am a 51-year-old woman that grew up on the coast and never thought anything of it. After having a melanoma removed last year, the ugliness, pain, and itchiness of this treatment is far better than an alternative outcome. Like others, I googled pictures and was horrified, but I remember the outcome will be beautiful. I would do it again in a heartbeat."
"Put it on the obvious parts of my face that I thought needed to be treated, found that the Efudex somehow seeped to cover much more of my face, had lots of redness followed by crusty scabbing, had to stop treatment after just short of 3 weeks as my eyes were in agony with stinging gritty feeling, even though I didn't put any anywhere near my eyes - wonder if it gets into sinus system and makes its way there."
"I'm an engineer, now in my 60s, and I have worked outside all my life. I have red hair and fair complexion, you can imagine the skin damage I have accumulated in my lifetime. I had used the Efudex 5% cream years ago and had good results. Three months ago, I began seeing a dermatologist that recommended the 'new' technology 'BLUE LIGHT TREATMENTS'. This did NOT work for me, gave me a very mild 'sunburn' with no apparent effect on the former skin damage, and it was very expensive even after insurance coverage! I requested my treatment to be changed to the proven Efudex. My doctor insisted I stay with the 'blue light', that my skin was 'in very good condition', and that I only needed 'maintenance'. As you may guess, I have changed physicians and now I am being treated with Efudex again. My skin is now in full reaction after only two weeks' treatment with Efudex. Yes, with Efudex, your skin is unsightly and uncomfortable from week 2 through to week 4, but, this is a small price to be cancer-free. Efudex works!"
"Have used it for pre-cancer on my face probably 6 times since 1996. Using it now on a couple of spots on the back of my hand. Have always found it perfectly effective. Yes, after a couple of weeks, it begins to look raw and ugly, but that quickly clears up after treatment stops. In every case, the spots were cured. Luckily, I have never experienced any of the pain or itchiness that others have reported. Perhaps mostly the ones who had problems bothered to report? And I still have the original tube of the product I got back in 1996, and yes, it still works. There was enough in it to keep me going when needed, and obviously it didn't go bad. The fact it's in a metal tube may have enabled its long life vs. a plastic tube."
"I have done this Efudex treatment three times over a 20-year time span. It is a hideous process, but it beats the alternatives! KNIVES cutting you up in particular. I use and recommend AQUAPHOR instead of the expensive prescribed cortisone cream for a quicker, more effective healing process. I think EFUDEX is great!"
"Used the product on my face for 6 weeks twice a day for two days every week. Depending on the extent of sun damage, the effects are dramatic and nasty looking. After the 2nd week, the treated area looks like a bad sunburn, it itches, peels, weeps, bleeds and burns. But the results after stopping for 3-4 weeks are very good."
"I was diagnosed with actinic keratosis in August and then decided to apply the Efudex cream to face in the middle of September. I thought that I only had a couple of spots which I was concerned about, but after applying the cream to my forehead, temples, cheeks, nose, around the eyes, and my ears, it became quite apparent that there were a vast amount of areas that had been affected. In the first week, I saw that these areas became inflamed, although not painful. In the second week, these areas started to merge together and then looked like blisters and sores on my face, especially below my eyes. In the third week, these started to scab a little and became a bit painful, I think due to the skin feeling very dry. I am now in my fourth and final week."
"Efudex works great but is very painful and itchy after about two weeks. I tried many creams to relieve the symptoms between applications of Efudex. One cream that REALLY helped was Traumeel. What a sanity saver. Just thought I would pass this on for others to get some relief. I hope it can help you too."
"This is my second time around with Efudex. I swear by it for effectiveness. Side effects are bad: breaking out looks unsightly, itching makes you feel like you want to scratch off your skin. The best relief I have found is Tylenol for pain and Calendula Cream (Marigold Cream) for the relief of irritated skin. That's keeping me sane and I am on week 4 overall: 16 days using medication the remainder trying to overcome side effects. Good luck to everyone. I still have more to go..."
"Had a very adverse reaction after 8 days of applying cream to the chest. Ended up with severe open skin wounds and needed antibiotics, lidocaine gel, Silvadene cream, prednisone, oxycodone, altrax, and Ambien to sleep. It was so painful."
"I tried the Traumeel another user suggested. It did nothing to help with the pain. The only relief I have found so far is Tylenol, Extra Strength, and Aquaphor once everything has been pulled to the surface. Of course, keeping the affected areas uncovered is a huge help. I sleep on a beach towel over my sheets so the shedding and peeling are 'contained'. It's the only way I don't itch throughout the night, and even if I do, the roughness of the towel helps to get it off the skin. Hope this helps."
"Treatment with Efudex on both arms for keratosis caused damage, had a bad reaction creating an auto-immunity situation; still being treated by a dermatologist after 12 months. Itching unbearable on arms, bleeding after scratching and left with a watery mess. Relief from ice packs helps and then moisturizing. Treatment from Prednisolone, Cyclosporin lasts for a few weeks and then I break out again. Been around this way 6 times now! Efudex: seek all the info you can before treatment."
"I have been using Efudex now for two weeks. I have been putting my regular moisturizer on every day, and my skin stays soft. I use pure shea butter. I am having a little itching, but it's not bad. I thought users might try shea butter to help keep the area moist."
"I ended up in the hospital with a very serious allergic reaction to Efudex. Started with nausea and diarrhea, went into hives, swelling in my lips, mouth, all over my body. I have been out of the hospital for a week, my voice is still hoarse, I still have a rash, not feeling well at all. I'm on Prednisone to counteract the allergic reaction."
"I have applied it for three weeks, once a day. I increased it to twice this last week. My face is quite red and sore, and I am amazed at how many spots have come out. I will continue for a few more days. This site has encouraged me. I wasn't sure whether to keep going."
"Been using Efudex for 3 weeks now, applying it nightly on a small spot on the left cheek. The area of skin has been scaly, now really red and has spread to double the size. I have stopped applying it as the soreness has gone and will wait a month to see if it clears. The treatment gave me a funny taste, dicky tummy, and terrible itching on my back for ten minutes after a bath or shower. Scored 5 at the moment because my cheek looks a mess with the redness, but hope it will clear over the coming weeks. Applying Sudocrem, hope it helps!"
"I am a 70-year-old woman originally from Britain. Used Efudex on chin, side of nose, and cheek. Went up a little too close to the corner of my eye, which swelled up. I used it twice a day for 15 days, which was enough to bear. Big crusty scab on chin. Very sore, itchy, and burning. Can't do the other side of my nose as it's too painful."
"Fluorouracil 5% used on the lower lip vermillion border for over a year. Two biopsies confirmed actinic keratosis. After application once a day for 4 days, the lip would swell and ulcerate, then heal over 5 days. The lesion would return on day 6. I repeated this over and over for one year. Now I am going to participate in a study for Solaraze Gel. I will report findings in three months."
"Be careful not to exceed the recommended time period, otherwise, there will be extreme redness and pain. On the whole, it seems to work, but I have still got red skin after a few days without using it. The doctor recommended following with Eumovate, but I'm not too happy with the results."
"Dermatologist prescribed Efudex for keratosis, 1 week on and 3 weeks off x 4 to treat my face, but said not to apply on chin. After a few days, freckles appeared, and by day 7 today, my skin feels quite irritated, itchy, and a slight sting - especially the sides of my nose. One spot above my eyebrow has bled slightly last night and tonight after washing my face. My dermatologist said I could continue to wear foundation but to wait 15 mins after applying cream."
"I’m a 73 year old throat cancer survivor who never wore a hat or sunscreen but loved the beach and golf. I’m paying for that now after just finishing three weeks of Efudix to whole face. It was tough getting through radiation/ chemo with tonsil cancer and this is short of that discomfort but nevertheless challenging with the itching, burning and soreness. Hiding under a hat and mask means I can go out without scaring the children. The biggest problem has been finding relief as the flaking and scabbing picks up speed in the week after treatment. I tried all of the recommended solutions I found on the net but none really helped me enough to sleep more than an hour or two at a time. In desperation I went to an Amcal chemist and asked for some Famigel which I know works with burning from cancer treatments. He didn’t have any but the pharmacist recommended a cooling, soothing, hydrating gel called Solosite. It worked and I am so so happy now."
More about Efudex (fluorouracil topical)
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Other brands
Carac, Fluoroplex, Tolak
Professional resources
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Other brands
Carac, Fluoroplex, Tolak
Related treatment guides
- Actinic Keratosis
- Basal Cell Carcinoma
- Keratosis
- Skin Cancer
